Text Organization

Part I: The early equilibrium

Paras. 1 - 12

A couple of former lovers met by chance in a café six years after they departed. The man failed to recognize Vera at first sight.

1) Characters and settings are introduced to the audience in this part.

2) The author reveals the relationship between the man and woman are prospective lovers instead of saying it straightforwardly.

Part II: The rising actions

Paras. 13 - 51

Paras. 13 - 21: They recalled the feelings of the first afternoon they had spent together at Kew Garden. (haunting memory vs. absurd scene)

Paras. 22 - 44: The man was showing off the travelling experiences, especially the ones in Russia, without noticing the women’s feelings and paying no attention to Vera’s wretched condition.

Paras. 45 - 51: They recalled the man’s boyhood story together, but Vera remembered some details clearer than the man himself.

Part III: The climax

Paras. 52 - 64

The man considered the letter Vera once wrote to him was funny to read again. After being hurt by the man’s insensitivity, Vera got some comfort when he pleaded her to stay. Her hope for renewing the relationship aroused until the man’s egoism hurt her again.

Part IV: The final resolution

Paras. 65 - 66

Vera made up her mind to leave the man again bravely.