“Pure Monday” by Ivan Bunin is a story of painful and unfulfilled love. A wealthy man passionately pursues a mysterious, “Oriental” beauty who is a university student. Their relationship is filled with erotic tension, yet she keeps her distance, preferring long conversations about ancient Russia, art, and religion. On the first Monday of Lent, she suddenly breaks away from him and enters a convent to “repent,” thus rejecting worldly passions and the luxury he offered her. The story contrasts sensual love with spiritual asceticism, ending with the man’s revelation and his realization of her true, tragically enigmatic Russian soul.