ON THE EVE

a Novel

BY

IVAN TURGENEV

Translated from the Russian By CONSTANCE GARNETT

[With an introduction by EDWARD GARNETT]

LONDON: WILLIAM HEINEMANN 1895



INTRODUCTION

This exquisite novel, first published in 1859, like so many great
works of art, holds depths of meaning which at first sight lie veiled
under the simplicity and harmony of the technique. To the English
reader _On the Eve_ is a charmingly drawn picture of a quiet Russian
household, with a delicate analysis of a young girl's soul; but to
Russians it is also a deep and penetrating diagnosis of the destinies
of the Russia of the fifties.

Elena, the Russian girl, is the central figure of the novel. In
comparing her with Turgenev's other women, the reader will remark that
he is allowed to come into closer spiritual contact with her than even
with Lisa. The successful portraits of women drawn by men in fiction