The Lagoon by Joseph Conrad. Short summary

5 seconds

A white man stopped for the night at the home of an old friend, the Malay warrior Arsat, who has lived secluded on the shore of a quiet lagoon with his wife for many years. It turned out that the warrior’s wife was seriously ill.

1 minute

A white man, accompanied by Malay paddlers, is floating down a river in the wild jungle. The white man decided to spend the night in the Arsat clearing. The Malays were not happy with their host’s decision, for that place was inhabited by evil spirits.

The boat sailed into a wide lagoon, on the shore of which stood a house. There lived an old acquaintance of the white man, the warrior Arsat and his wife Diamelen. As the man approached the house he heard wailing and moaning. It turned out that Arsat’s wife was suffering from a severe fever. All night long Arsat and his old friend were sitting by the fire. The warrior told the white man the story of how he met his wife.

Many years ago Arsat was a strong and famous warrior. But one day the young man fell head over heels in love with a beautiful girl. Arsat and his brother stole Diamelen from the palace of a rich raja, at whose service the girl was. A chase was organized after them. Arsat’s brother stayed behind to apprehend his enemies and died. Arsat was drawn to his brother’s death all his life.

By morning Diamelain was dead, and the white man went his way.