White Nights in Russian with translation

Белые ночи

Fyodor Dostoevsky

White Nights is an early novella by Fyodor Dostoevsky. A lonely St Petersburg dreamer meets Nastenka by chance and, over four white nights, lives through a whole life of hope and unrequited love. It is short and told in the first person by a narrator who keeps turning to his "dear reader". In Russian you hear the lively, slightly old-fashioned conversational voice of the 1840s, which a translation can only approximate.

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Language: Russian
First published: 1848
Levels: A2
Original: B1
Pages: 107

Languages you can read it in: 22

The opening, phrase by phraseExcerpt in the original (B1)

......

Иль был он создан¹Or was he createdдля того,for that purpose,Чтобы побытьTo stayхотя мгновенье²if only for a momentВ соседствеIn the proximityсердца твоего?..of your heart?..

Whole sentenceOr was he created for this: to bide, if only for a moment, in the neighborhood of your heart?..

Ночь перваяNight the First

Была чудная ночь,³It was a wonderful night,такая ночь,such a nightкоторая разве толькоas perhaps onlyи может быть тогда,can be then,когда мы молоды,when we are young,любезный читатель.⁴dear reader.

Whole sentenceIt was a wonderful night, the kind of night that can perhaps only exist when we are young, dear reader.

Небо было такое звездное,The sky was so starry,такое светлое небо,such a bright sky,что, взглянув на него,that, having looked at it,невольно нужно было⁵one involuntarily had toспросить себя:ask oneself:неужели же могут жить⁶can it really be that there liveпод таким небомunder such a skyразные сердитыеvarious angryи капризные люди?and capricious people?

Whole sentenceThe sky was so starry, such a bright sky that, looking up at it, one could not help but ask oneself: is it really possible that all sorts of angry and capricious people live under such a sky?

Это тоже молодой вопрос,This is also a young question,любезный читатель,dear reader,очень молодой,very young,но пошли его вам⁷but may the Lord send itгосподь чаще на душу!..to your soul more often!..

Whole sentenceThis, too, is a young question, dear reader, very young, but may the Lord send it to your soul more often!..

Говоря о капризныхSpeaking of capriciousи разных сердитых господах,and various angry gentlemen,я не мог не припомнить⁸I could not help but recallи своего благонравного поведенияmy own well-behaved conductво весь этот день.throughout this entire day.

Whole sentenceSpeaking of capricious and various angry gentlemen, I could not help but recall my own well-behaved conduct throughout this entire day.

С самого утраFrom the very morningменя стала мучитьI began to be tormented byкакая-то удивительная тоска.⁹a certain remarkable melancholy.

Whole sentenceFrom the very morning, I began to be tormented by a strange sort of melancholy.

Мне вдруг показалось,It suddenly seemed to me,что меня, одинокого,that me, a lonely man,все покидаютeveryone was abandoningи что всеand that everyoneот меня отступаются.was withdrawing from me.

Whole sentenceIt suddenly seemed to me that everyone was abandoning me in my solitude and that everyone was turning away from me.

Оно, конечно,It is, of course,всякий вправе спросить:anyone's right to ask:кто ж эти все?who are these "everyone"?

Whole sentenceOf course, anyone has the right to ask: who are these "everyone"?

потому что вот уже восемь лет,because it has been eight years now,как я живу в Петербурге,since I have been living in Saint Petersburg,и почти ни одного знакомстваand almost not a single acquaintanceне умел завести.¹⁰have I managed to make.

Whole sentencebecause I have been living in Petersburg for eight years now and have managed to make almost not a single acquaintance.

Но к чему мне знакомства?But what do I need acquaintances for?

Мне и без тогоTo me, even without thatзнаком весь Петербург;all of Saint Petersburg is familiar;вот почему мне и показалось,that is why it seemed to me,что меня все покидают,that everyone was abandoning me,когда весь Петербург поднялсяwhen all of Saint Petersburg rose upи вдруг уехал на дачу.¹¹and suddenly left for the summer house.

Whole sentenceI am already acquainted with all of Petersburg as it is; that is why it seemed to me that everyone was abandoning me when all of Petersburg packed up and suddenly left for their summer villas.

Phrase notes

¹Иль был он создан — Or was he created
LiterallyOr was he created
WhyИль is a poetic short form of или, "or"; был создан is the passive "was created".
²хотя мгновенье — if only for a moment
Literallyif only for a moment
WhyХотя usually means "although", but here it means "if only" (хотя бы). Мгновенье is the poetic spelling of мгновение.
³Была чудная ночь, — It was a wonderful night,
LiterallyIt was a wonderful night
WhyThe verb comes first, as often in Russian description. Чу́дная, stressed on the first syllable, means "wonderful"; чудна́я, stressed on the ending, means "strange".
⁴любезный читатель. — dear reader.
Literallydear reader
WhyAddressing the reader directly is a nineteenth-century narrative habit — English novels of the time say "dear reader" too.
⁵невольно нужно было — one involuntarily had to
Literallyone involuntarily had to
WhyНужно было is impersonal: no subject, just "it was necessary" — English has to add "one".
⁶неужели же могут жить — can it really be that there live
Literallycan it really be that there live
WhyНеужели introduces an incredulous question, "can it really be that..."; же strengthens it.
⁷но пошли его вам — but may the Lord send it
Literallybut may (the Lord) send it to you
WhyПошли is the imperative of послать, "send", used here as a wish: "may the Lord send".
⁸я не мог не припомнить — I could not help but recall
LiterallyI could not not recall
WhyНе мог не, a double negative, means "I couldn't help" — Russian negation stacks where English avoids it.
⁹какая-то удивительная тоска. — a certain remarkable melancholy.
Literallya kind of remarkable melancholy
WhyТоска has no single English equivalent: melancholy, longing, anguish and boredom all fit in part.
¹⁰не умел завести. — have I managed to make.
Literallydid not know how to make
WhyЗавести знакомство is "to make an acquaintance"; уметь, "know how to", here means "manage".
¹¹и вдруг уехал на дачу. — and suddenly left for the summer house.
Literallyand suddenly left for the dacha
WhyIn summer St Petersburg emptied as families moved to their dachas, country houses — which is why the dreamer feels abandoned.

In the reader, every phrase has a breakdown: what it means and why.

About the text and the author

The novella first appeared in the journal Otechestvennye Zapiski (Notes of the Fatherland) in 1848; our text is the proofread copy on Russian Wikisource. The narrator's speech is chatty and breathless — exclamations, repetitions, asides to the reader — with nineteenth-century words and forms (иль, чудная for wonderful, благонравный). The excerpt on this page is the first page prepared for level B1 and stays very close to Dostoevsky's text.

The description and phrase notes were written by AI and checked by a second model, November 13, 2026.

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White Nights in Russian with translation

About the text and the author

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