The Dualist

The Dualist (sometimes translated literally as "Brether" (?????? in Russia) is an 1846 story by Turgenev. The narrative is about a regiment of cuirassiers stationed in the village of Kirilovo and the social life that unfolds in that village. The village is an island in a sea of ploughed, black earth fields. The owner of the manor house where the regiment is quartered lives partly in Petersburg and partly abroad, and has completely forgotten his estate. The social life of the officers is typical: some are good, some are bad. One officer, Avdey Ivanovich Lutchkov, has a reputation as a duellist. A young cornet, Fyodor Fedorovitch Kister, joins the regiment. He is a Russian nobleman of German descent, very fair-haired and very modest, cultured and well-read.

Interesting, Tolstoy once challenged Turgenev to a duel, but later rescinded the challenge.