As the young Zinaida and her sweetheart, the student Nemovetsky, stroll
through the idyllic Russian countryside, their memories, dreams and
thoughts about life and the future mingle in the evening breeze. But when
night falls, they hasten to retrace their steps back to town through a
small wood, where they are accosted by three threatening drunkards, who
knock Nemovetsky unconscious and start to chase the girl through the
underwood. When the young student comes round, he is confronted with the
horror of what has just happened. Haunting, disquieting, shocking, 'The
Abyss' – one of the most powerful short stories ever written – is
accompanied in this volume by fifteen other stories by Andreyev, including
'Silence', 'The Thief' and 'Lazarus, some of them never translated before
into English. Together, they provide a clear account of the lasting legacy
of Russia's foremost man of letters of the early twentieth century.