Comprising four dramatic scenes—*The Covetous Knight*, *Mozart and Salieri*, *The Stone Guest*, and *A Feast in Time of Plague*—the *Little Tragedies* focus on gripping tales of destructive passions. Greed and lust, envy and a craving for immortality take possession of Pushkin’s characters. They do not merely experience passion; they affirm it as the supreme value of existence, serving and worshipping it with a readiness to sacrifice both themselves and others. The central tragic conflict plays out not between the characters and the outside world, but within the characters themselves—in the internal contradictions of their minds and personalities.