The two friends, full
of new sprightliness, get up a fishing party one day. A foolish
accident makes them both fall into the river, and they are drowned.

* * * * *

"The End of a Story," which we are about to analyze, deserves, as
does "Humble People," a special place in the work of Kuprin. It is a
little masterpiece of graceful emotion.

Kotik, a child of seven, and the son of a celebrated painter, teases
his father to tell him a story. The father racks his memory. He has
told so many that his fount is almost dry.

Suddenly an idea comes to him. Is not his own life a tender,
melancholy, and charming story? It is not a long time, twelve years
at the most, since he was a poor, obscure painter, neglected by his
masters and tormented by the miseries of his life. Discouraged, he
used continually to curse the hour in which he chose to devote
himself to art. One day, a young girl, believing in his talent, gave
him her hand and comforted him with her tenderness and angelic
goodness. And love had triumphed.

To-day his name is celebrated among the most famous, and his
paintings adorn the galleries of kings and emperors. The plot of
the story is ready.

"Listen," says the father to his son. "There was once upon a time a
king who, feeling that he was going to die, gathered his many
children about him and said to them: 'I will leave my kingdom to
that one of you who can enter a marble palace situated in a very
dense forest, and there light his torch from the sacred fire which
always burns there. The forest is full of wild beasts and venomous
serpents. The palace is guarded by three lions: Envy, Poverty, and
Doubt.'

"The young people set out on the road. But, while the older ones
search outside of the forest for a road that is not beset with
dangers, the youngest courageously starts on the regular path. He
there is exposed to many dangers and temptations. Already, his
strength failing, he feels that he is almost on the point of
succumbing, when a fairy appears and stretches forth her hand to
him. The young man blesses this providential aid. The fairy brings
back his courage and leads him to the palace."

Near them on the terrace, concealed by some plants, there sat a
young and beautiful woman who was eagerly listening to the story.
She was Kotik's mother, the fairy of the story, and the favorite
pupil of the painter. Some of her paintings had already made a
sensation.

The story ended,