Disqualified officer Pechorin is sent off to a remote fort, Evgenievka. Life here is dull and boring, only the livestock traders living in the mountains move around occasionaly. A Circassian Kazbich, a Prince living in a neighbouring village and his son Azamat are frequent guests of the fort. Maksim Maksimovich, the fort’s commandant takes Pechorin with him to a wedding party of the Prince’s eldest daughter. The younger daughter, Bela, attracts Pechorin’s attention. Fed up with living according to standards of high societies of Moscow and Petersbourg, Pechorin finds a new entertainment. He overhears Azamat saying he would exchange hundreds of horses and his sister Bela for Kazbich’s stallion Karagyoz.
