Showing results by author "Anton Chekhov" in All Categories

The Beggar is a short story written by Anton Chekhov. The story revolves around the life of a blind beggar named Lushkov, who is trying to earn a living by begging on the streets. The story highlights the struggles of the poor and the difficulties they face in their daily lives.

"A Happy Man" is a very funny and satiric story that tells us that happiness is easy and everything is in our hands. The action happens in the passenger train. One man tries to find his carriage, opening doors and saying "No, wrong again!" every time he misses. But suddenly he hears his name "Ivan Alexyevitch! What brings you here? Is it you?" It was his good mate Pyotr Petrovitch. They start chatting and Pyotr Petrovitch finds out that Ivan Alexyevitch has been married that day and he is coming straight away after the wedding.

The story was written during Chekhov's stay in Nice. It was first published on November 2, 1897, in issue No. 303 of Russkikh Vedomosti. Chekhov later included an edited version of the story in the ninth volume of his collection of works, published by Adolf Marx in 1899-1901.

"The noble father and simpleton Shchiptsov, a tall, stocky old man, famous not so much for his stage talents as for his extraordinary physical strength, had a huge fight with the manager during the performance and in the midst of the swearing suddenly felt that something had snapped in his chest..

Champagne is a short story by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, written in 1887. The story is written in the first person. The young head of a remote railway stop lived with his wife and without children in solitude, amusing himself with vodka and watching passing trains. Life was boring. One day before celebrating the New Year, he sat with his wife at the festive table, drank enough and thought about boredom. We waited for the clock to show the arrival of the New Year. At five minutes to twelve he uncorked the bottle, the cork flew out, and the bottle slipped out of his hands and fell to the floor.

When several employees of the bank are arrested for corruption, the merchant Avdeyev doesn't give the ordeal much thought, figuring the men going to jail deserve it. His opinion changes however when he returns home to find his wife and son very upset - his house had just been searched by officials in connection to the bank corruption. Avdeyev had signed papers for the bankers without knowing what they were and so had essentially signed his life away by his carelessness. During the following trial, he learns the danger of being a "sheep" and just following along without a mind of his own.

The First Lover is a famous story by Russian writer Anton Pavlovich Chekhov. The main character, Evgeny Alekseevich Podzharov, tells the guests a story about his love adventure. However, the story causes slight bewilderment and makes one of the listeners blush.

Miguev, a married, intelligent collegiate assessor, is haunted with anxiety and worry. Miguev has a secret that he doesn't want his wife, the town, or his colleagues to discover. His mistress, after becoming pregnant and having his child, has recently tried to extort money from him in exchange for her silence. She threatens to ruin his reputation and divulge his secret shame to everyone unless he pays her. In the height of his fear and worry about his present situation, his fears seem to come alive when he discovers a baby bundled in a blanket on his porch.

In Exile was first published in May 1892 issue of the Vsemirnaya Illustratsiya magazine. The story was inspired by Chekhov's journey through Siberia and his stay in Sakhalin and, in particular, two episodes of this trip. While on Sakhalin, Anton Chekhov met a boatman nicknamed Krasivy, a self-professed 'happy man' who struck him with his own peculiar brand of Tolstovian philosophy. It was Krasivy, apparently, who became a prototype for Semyon Tolkovy, the story's hero.

In Old Age by Anton Chekhov we have the theme of change, loss, renewal, memories, guilt and despair. Taken from his The Complete Stories collection the story is narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator and very early on in the story the reader realises that Chekhov may be exploring the theme of change. Since Uzelkov has returned to his hometown he cannot imagine the differences the town has undertaken. It is not the place that he has left and there is a sense of modernity. Even the old waiter cannot remember the parts of the town that Uzelkov can.

Doctor Starchenko and Lyzhin, a young deputy examining magistrate, arrive at Syrnya to attend to the case of Lesnitsky, an insurance agent, who, upon arrival to the village three days before, entered the local zemstvo house, ordered himself a samovar, unpacked his food packets, and then all of as sudden shot himself. The suicide was so bizarre, that the inquest was deemed to be necessary.

Misery by Anton Chekhov is a short story that explores the working-class, human despair, and suffering in Tsarist Russia. Chekhov's brief portrait of working-class life follows a sledge driver named Iona as he attempts to process his grief about his son's untimely death.

The Looking Glass is a short story by Anton Chekhov about a young woman named Nellie who is sitting in her room and staring into a mirror. Nellie is dreamy and lost in thoughts of her future and the man she loves. As she stares into the mirror, she sees the reflection of her future husband and begins to imagine her life with him. Suddenly, Nellie's dream is interrupted by a crisis. Her husband is ill and Nellie rushes to the doctor's house for help.

The Requiem is an 1886 short story by Anton Chekhov. Andrey Andreyitch, a shopkeeper, comes to the local village church to ask for prayers for his recently deceased daughter Maria, and is chided by the priest for the wrong kind of language that he'd used in his written request. The shopkeeper's daughter was an actress, and quite a well known one, and he simply fails to understand why the clergymen are so offended by the word 'harlot' with which he described her occupation.

The lottery ticket by Anton Chekhov is a short story. As title suggests it revolves around probability of winning lottery. Ivan and his wife are from middle class background. However, at first skeptical Ivan soon finds hope when he sees probability of his wife, Misha has a chance of winning lottery, The moral of the story is that material possessions and wealth do not bring true happiness, and that greed can lead to bitterness and broken relationships. Instead, the story suggests that people should focus on the love and companionship they have in their lives, rather than obsessing over money and possessions.

AT A SUMMER VILLA (1886) Pavel Ivanitch has been happily married for eight years when he receives an anonymous love-letter fixing a tryst in a secluded spot that evening. Scornful at first at the very thought, then perplexed and then intrigued, he finally decides to see what it is all about, and gets an unexpected surprise, and a good lesson to boot.

The old man Malakhin, accompanied by his rather useless son Yasha, makes a journey to Saint Petersburg in a freight train with the view of selling his cattle. Everybody around is bent on extorting the money from him. The train driver simply refuses to move the train without being paid, and the uber-conductor has to have his reward too. Malakhin is so distressed as to file a written complaint to the police, still he throws his money around, even on the occasions when this does not seem necessary.

In Sorrow by Anton Chekhov we have the theme of desperation, struggle, guilt, cruelty, hope, loss and self-pity. Taken from his The Complete Short Stories collection the story is narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator and from the beginning of the story it becomes clear to the reader that Chekhov may be exploring the theme of desperation.

The story takes place in the village of Shalmovo, where two peasant sportsmen, Filimon Slyunka and Ignat Ryabov, are sitting in a pothouse turned restaurant. Slyunka is an old man who used to be a house-serf and now lives off his old wife's alms. Ryabov is a silent, sturdy peasant. Slyunka and Ryabov are trying to convince the innkeeper, Semyon Mitritch, to give them a gun that they had left as collateral. Semyon refuses, citing the Lenten season and the lack of game. Despite their pleas and promises to return the gun, Semyon remains firm in his decision.

The short story focuses on a schoolmistress who is returning home after collecting her salary from the town. The weather is terrible, and makes the journey far longer than it should be. She meets a man named Hanov, an aging man who is joyful and seemingly ignorant of the misery of life. On this journey, Marya Vassilyevna ponders her life, her happiness and the repetition of it all. When a train goes past, she sees a woman who looks much like her late mother, which fills her with joy she hasn't felt in a very long time.