Mikhail Lermontov's «Stoss»: aborted text or aborted plot?

The article reconsiders the traditional views of the textual structure and plot incompleteness of Lermontov's work which is commonly regarded as unfinished. The abruption in the text and in the plot in «Stoss» is analyzed as to its meaning, which is critical for understanding the story. The author compares the «oral» (aimed at a definite audience) and «written» (designed for potential readers) versions. The article analyzes the problem of the textual boundaries of the story by introducing the notion of expectation, which helps to understand it.