Summary

In Chapter 15, a woman’s cry for help in the yard alerts Misail. He takes a gun and goes out. It turns out that it is Ivan Cheprakov, not a woman, crying out for help. Moisei is beating him up. Misail pulls them apart and—unable to resist—hits Moisei himself. Moisei mutters that Ivan was trying to kill him. Misail leaves them both and returns to Masha. Masha says that it is a frightening thing to live in the country. He watches her spend the rest of the night lying awake.

Masha leaves the next morning. Misail waits for her at Dubechnya for three more days before going into town himself. By the time he arrives at the Dolzhikovs’, it is evening, and no one is home. He heads to the Azhogins’ to look for Masha. He finds her there and watches...