# Opanas — Short Fiction character guide

> Opanas in Short Fiction by Vladimir Korolenko.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Here Opanas, Lord Opanas, Only Opanas, Opanas the Cossack

**First appearance:** 0001-short-fiction

## Snapshot

Opanas the Cossack, a name whispered in a Siberian hut on a night of Egyptian darkness, is the man a traveler is warned he may regret hurrying toward.

## Who they are

Opanas is invoked in the tense consultation between a driver and an old Molokán host as the traveler insists on pressing forward through storm and rumor. The old man warns that haste makes waste and that the night is Egyptian darkness, while mysterious fellows have already asked after the traveler's route. The name Opanas—the Slayer—hangs over the journey as the unseen threat that turns a simple errand into a test of nerve.

## Relationships

### [The Count](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_54_se/characters/the_count)

_professional_

Opanas appears to be a servant or subordinate to The Count, with frequent interactions suggesting a master-servant dynamic.

### [Raman](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_54_se/characters/raman)

_friendship_

Opanas and Raman are fellow workers or friends, sharing a bond of common labor.

### [The Count](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_54_se/characters/the_count)

_professional_

Opanas appears to be a servant or subordinate to The Count, with frequent interactions suggesting a master-servant dynamic.

### [Raman](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_54_se/characters/raman)

_friendship_

Opanas and Raman are fellow workers or friends, sharing a bond of common labor.

### [Raman](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_54_se/characters/raman)

_friendship_

Opanas and Raman are fellow workers or friends, sharing a bond of common labor.

### [The Count](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_54_se/characters/the_count)

_professional_

Opanas appears to be a servant or subordinate to The Count, with frequent interactions suggesting a master-servant dynamic.

## In the story

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_54_se/chapters/ii)

The Cossack who warns the Count, is rebuffed, and later participates in the murder.

### [Chapter X](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_54_se/chapters/x)

The drunken ox-driver who lies in his cart staring at the sky, oblivious to the miller's plight.

### [XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_54_se/chapters/xi)

Reached home drunk and without his boots, suggesting the events might have been real.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_54_se/characters/opanas
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_54_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_54_se/characters