Tempting Providence Page #4

"Tempting Providence" is a poignant short story by Aleksandr Kuprin, set against the backdrop of early 20th-century Russia. The narrative explores themes of love, longing, and the tumultuous nature of human relationships through the tale of a love-struck soldier and a mysterious woman. Kuprin's lyrical prose vividly captures the emotional depth of his characters as they navigate the complexities of passion, desire, and the impact of fate. The story delves into the moral dilemmas they face, ultimately revealing the delicate balance between hope and disillusionment in the quest for genuine connection.

• Novel

								


His widow--I visited her afterwards, and she asked me many questions
about him--said that they both had tempted Fate by their impatient
love, in their certainty of meeting, in their sureness of the morrow.
Perhaps so.... I can't say.... In the East, that tried well of ancient
wisdom, a man never says that he intends to do something either to-day
or to-morrow without adding "Insh-Allah," which means, "In the name
of God," or "If God will."

And yet I don't think that there was here a tempting of Fate, it seemed
to me just the absurd logic of a mysterious god. Greater joy than
their mutual expectation, when, in spite of distance, their souls met
together--greater joy, perhaps, these two would never have experienced!
God knows what might have awaited them later! Dischantment? Weariness?
Boredom? Perhaps hate?
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