- In A Lear of the Steppes and Other Stories Martin Petrovitch, believing he has dreamed of his own impending death, transfers ownership of his estate to his two daughters. Turgenev"s short story version of Shakespeare"s King Lear, follows his protagonist from that fatalistic submission to the cataclysm of cruelty, betrayal and violence that follows. Three tales written by Turgenev in Constance Garnett"s classic 1898 translation include: A Lear of the Steppes, Faust and Acia. This title comes with an introduction by Edward Garnett.