Tale of the Little Quarter

A young man studying law finds a lodging with a young female conductor, thinking that he will find an idyllic small-town atmosphere and will be able to prepare for his exams in peace. The house is populated with distinctive characters. The owner, who occasionally loses his memory, and his lovely, modest daughter, of marriageable age, live here, as do a failed painter and his vivacious wife, and a certain mysterious Provaznik, who writes anonymous letters to his fellow men to gloat at their expense. But the young man's greatest trouble is caused by his landlady, for whose sake he is even forced, through no fault of his own, to undergo a duel with her lover, an officer.