The Kiss by Isaac Babel. Short summary

5 seconds

During hostilities, the narrator finds himself in the house of Elizaveta Alexeyevna. The young people fall in love. The woman believes in a bright future. However, the war will not let this come true.

1 minute

The staff departs for Budyatichi. The narrator and his comrade Surovtsev stay in the house of a schoolteacher. In addition to the old man, his daughter Elizabeth and grandson Misha lived there. Yelizaveta was a widow.

Surovtsev makes indecent suggestions to the woman and asks her to come into his room. That same night, neighbors gather near the widow’s door, who have come «to defend the honor of Elizabeth Alexeyevna.»

A sympathy arises between the narrator and the widow. The man suggests that the Tomilins move to Moscow after the victory over the Poles. The future seems bright for them.

The lovers’ night meeting is interrupted by a telephone call. They learn that the Poles have broken through the front. The narrator leaves.

The man returns to the Tomilins. He sees that their house has been occupied by a trophy commission. The widow, her son, and her father have been chased into one room.

Only then does the man realize that the «way» of the kiss was disastrous. Tomilina asks: «When will you take us away?» The man is silent. In the morning he leaves alone.