The Prisoner of the Caucasus by Alexander Pushkin. Short summary

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A Circassian brings a Russian prisoner to the aul. A young Circassian girl falls in love with the hero, but he cannot reciprocate her feelings. One day the girl helps her lover to escape.

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The Circassian brings the wounded Russian prisoner to the aul. During the day the man comes to his senses and realizes that he has been enslaved. He recalls Russia and his youth. He went to the Caucasus to gain his freedom, but became a slave.

At night, a Circassian woman comes to the man and brings him koumiss. She spends time with her captive, but is hesitant to tell him how she feels. The hero grazes the herd of his captors every day, and in the evenings the Circassian woman comes to him, bringing him food and wine. She loved her captive, but he could not reciprocate her feelings.

Gradually the man becomes accustomed to his new life. The Circassian persuades him to forget his homeland and his freedom. She wishes to speak to her father and brother so that they will not give her up for an unloved man in a foreign village. The captive tells the girl that her feelings are unrequited.

When the Circassians go on a raid, the Circassian helps her lover to escape. He swims across the river and hears a distant moan. On reaching the other shore, the hero sees that the girl is not on the bank he left behind.