This is the first story in the novel told through Pechorin's perspective. Pechorin has a short stay in the coastal town, Taman. He is unable to find lodgings and resigns to staying in a small hut on the very edge of the sea. Upon requesting to speak to the master of the house, a blind boy creeps out of the darkness and informs him that the old woman who owns the hut and the shack beside it has gone to the village, and she is not currently available. Pechorin stays in the hut, but he cannot sleep. He sees a shadow pass by his window and follows it. It is the blind boy making his way to the beach. At the beach, Pechorin witnesses what seems to be a smuggling enterprise involving the blind boy, a young woman, and a man named Yanko. The next morning, he confronts the blind boy and the old woman, who has returned from the village. They him give no answers. He encounters the young woman after he leaves the old woman and the boy. After he questions her and gets nowhere, he tells her that he will tell the authorities what he witnessed the night before. The young woman tells him to meet her in the middle of the night at the beach. He agrees to her request. He goes to the beach and gets on a boat with her. They go far out onto the sea. There, she kisses him and attempts to drown him. Pechorin escapes by throwing her overboard. On his way back to the hut, Pechorin sees the young woman, but she does not see him. She survived the sea. Pechorin decides to spy on the young woman. He witnesses her escaping with Yanko. They leave behind the blind boy and the old woman. Pechorin leaves Taman the next morning. He does not alert the authorities to the events that transpired for fear of being ridiculed.