The narrator shares a strange and terrifying story about a camping trip where he and his friends encountered a mysterious man who emerged from the river. The man had a disfigured face and claimed to be from Krasnodar, saying that "everything drowned." The narrator and his friends tried to help the man, but one of their companions intervened, driving the man away and telling him to swim to the city. The narrator is left with a sense of guilt and uncertainty, wondering what happened to the man and whether he survived. The story is told in a conversational tone, with the narrator reflecting on the incident and its impact on his life.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. The narrator was on vacation with friends and spent the night by a river.
2. The narrator stayed up late by the fire while the others went to bed.
3. The narrator heard something floating in the river and initially thought it might be a log or a dog.
4. The narrator took a lantern and went down to the river to investigate.
5. The lantern illuminated a man's face, which the narrator describes as "the most terrible thing I have seen in life".
6. The man asked for water and food, and the narrator went to get an ax to defend himself.
7. The narrator and others tried to help the man, but another person from their group intervened and chased the man away.
8. The man claimed to be from Krasnodar and said that "everything drowned".
9. The narrator did not see the man again after the incident.
10. The narrator is haunted by the memory of the man's face and is afraid that the man may have drowned.
11. The incident occurred near the city of Pavlovsk.