“May Night” by Nicholai Gogol is a story about the love of a guy and a girl and obstacles between them.
The narration is sincere, stylish and colorful, even poetic. He gives a detailed description of the people, place and surrounding nature.
The plot includes a lot of mysticism, a lot of hidden, secret meaning. Reading it, readers start to believe in spirits (unfortunate souls that roam in the world).
Here is the link to the text of the story:
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/36238/36238-h/36238-h.htm#Page_141
Half a Day is a short story by Nobel Prize-winning Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz. The author uses in this story elements of allegory and surrealism.
The story opens in an unnamed city early in the morning. The narrator, a little boy, walks with his father to school for the first time. The father cheerfully and encouragingly says that this day is an important step forward in life.
This is half a day and … this is all life.
Here is the link to the text of the story:
http://englishiva1011.pbworks.com/f/HALFADAY.PDF
In the story “The Sentry” by Nikolai Leskov, the soldier is standing guard in a sentry box at the palace, and then he hears cries for help - a man is drowning nearby. What to do? He can’t leave his post... But he can’t abandon a person either... What choice will the sentry make and how will he respond to him?...
This is a small story with a lot of meaning.
Here is the link to the text of the story:
https://archive.org/details/NikolaiLeskov-SentryAndOtherStories/page/n17/mode/2up
The main character of the story “A Little Cloud” by James Joyce compared his life with the life of his former friend who was more successful in their careers...
The story ends with a scene of an alarmed mother calming a crying child: “My little man! My little mannie! Was ' ou frightened, love?... There now, love!”. The mother holds the child in her arms. This is the author’s positive assessment. There is a motherly principle here, there is love here. Only for this reason it is possible for the main character to return to himself: “felt his cheeks suffused with shame” …
Here is the link to the text of the story:
https://genius.com/James-joyce-a-little-cloud-annotated
