The Lady with the Little Dog and Other Stories, 1896-1904

PUBLISHING HISTORY AND NOTES

The House with the Mezzanine

First published in Russian Thought in 1896. On 29 December 1895 Chekhov wrote to A. S. Suvorin: ‘I’m writing a short story and I just cannot finish it: visitors keep disturbing me. Since 23 December people have been knocking around all over the place and I long for solitude. But when I’m on my own I get angry and feel revulsion for the day that has passed. All day long nothing but eating and talking, eating and talking.’

Chekhov’s first reference to this story is in his First Notebook (1891–1904) for February 1895, where he writes: ‘Missy: I respect and love my sister so dearly that I would never offend or hurt her.’ The first mention of actual work on the story is in a letter of 26 November 1895 to Yelena Shavrova: ‘I’m writing a little story now, “My Fiancée”. I once had a fiancée, she was called Missy. That’s what I’m writing about.’

The story’s setting – and possibly prototypes for the characters – is largely derived from Chekhov’s stay at Bogimovo, Kaluga province, during the summer of 1891, where he rented part of a large country house on the estate. Chekhov’s brother Mikhail states that the owner of Bogimovo, Ye. D. Bylim-Kosolovsky and his wife Anemaisa were possibly the prototypes for Belokurov and Lyubov Ivanovna.

Chekhov described the rented house (clearly the house in the story) in a letter to Suvorin on 18 May 1891: ‘If only you knew how charming it is! Huge rooms… a wonderful garden with avenues of which I’ve never seen the like, a river, pond, church… and every comfort.’ And Chekhov’s brother Mikhail writes: ‘Anton Pavlovich occupied the large drawing-room in Bogimovo, a vast room with columns and a couch of such improbable size that you could sit twelve men on it side by side. He slept on that couch. When a storm passed over at night those huge windows were illuminated in the lightning.’

The main theme of Lida’s quarrel with the artist – the state of the peasantry – had become particularly topical since the famine and cholera epidemic of 1891–2.

Chekhov’s attitude to the peasant (exemplified in the artist’s speeches in the story) echoes some of Tolstoy’s pronouncements at the time, especially the articles What Then Must We Do? (1886) and On Famine (1891), where, like the artist in the story, Tolstoy stresses that the condition of the suffering peasants cannot be improved without changing one’s own life.

1. Amos stoves: A special kind of stove invented by Major-General Nikolay Amosov (1787–1868).

2. Lake Baikal: So-called ‘pearl of Siberia’, seventh largest lake in the world and the deepest.

3. Buryat: A Mongol people, forming a large indigenous group in southeastern Siberia, living near Lake Baikal and in Irkutsk district.

4. Ryurik’s: Ryurik was a Varangian prince of Kiev, traditionally said to be the founder of the Russian state (A D 862). The Varangians were Viking warriors.

5. Gogol’s Petrushka’s: Chichikov’s comically inept (and bibulous) manservant in Gogol’s Dead Souls (1842), renowned for reading with little comprehension.

6. Vichy: Famous spa in central France.

7. ‘God sent a crow a piece of cheese’: from the fable The Crow and the Fox, by I. A. Krylov (1769–1844).

Peasants

‘Peasants’ was first published in Russian Thought in 1897 and subsequently in a separate edition (1897), together with ‘My Life’, with Suvorin the publisher. The story was written at Melikhovo and, according to Chekhov’s brother Mikhail, ‘every page reflects Melikhovo scenes and characters’, particularly the fire of 1895 (Around Chekhov, Moscow/Leningrad, 1933, p. 280). Later, when explaining to Suvorin his intention of selling Melikhovo, he wrote: ‘From a literary point of view, after “Peasants” Melikhovo ran dry and it lost its value for me’ (letter of 26 June 1899).

Writing to Yelena Shavrova on 1 January 1897 Chekhov mentions his work on ‘Peasants’: ‘I’m up to my eyes in work. I write and cross out, write and cross out…’ On 1 March that year he wrote to Suvorin: ‘I’ve written a story about peasant life, but they say it won’t pass the censors and I’ll have to cut it by half.’ Later that month Chekhov went to Moscow to check the proofs but on the day of his arrival suffered a severe lung haemorrhage and had to stay in the Ostroumovsky Clinic until 10 April. At his request, Lidiya Avilova took the proofs from V. A. Goltsev, editor of Russian Thought, to the clinic for Chekhov to correct.

Whether from his own instincts or following the advice of the editors of Russian Thought, Chekhov deemed it prudent completely to drop the chapter describing the peasants’ conversation about God and the authorities, for censorship considerations. The text of this chapter is unknown.

‘Peasants’ was severely mutilated by the censors – particularly because, according to them, it painted far too dark a picture of peasant life. One censor complained: ‘On first impressions this is something highly suspect’ and a telegram from St Petersburg to the Moscow Censorship Committee stated in no uncertain terms: ‘Omit p. 193 of the Chekhov. To be arrested if in disagreement.’ Accordingly, Goltsev dropped this particular page where the drunkenness of the peasants is described.

Other sections, some substantial, were excised and on 16 April 1897 Chekhov wrote to M. O. Menshikov (editor of the monthly magazine The Week): ‘The censors have taken quite a large chunk out of “Peasants”.’ However, in later editions, sections were reinstated. Some of the most ‘offensive’ passages, depicting the general depravity of the peasants, were toned down when published in Suvorin’s edition. In effect, so true to life were the descriptions of the downtrodden, exploited peasants that the censorship committee looked upon the story as a documentary article.

In a letter to his brother Mikhail, Chekhov states that the fire in the story was based on an actual occurrence at Melikhovo, his country estate, two years previously. Mikhail writes in his memoirs most revealingly: ‘These five years in Melikhovo were not wasted by Anton. They laid their special imprint on his works of this period, influenced his literary activity and made him a profounder and more serious writer.’ Chekhov’s brother categorically states that Chekhov’s direct dealings with peasants on the estate had a strong influence on both ‘Peasants’ and ‘In the Ravine’. As one would expect, Chekhov was a good master and life at Melikhovo was peaceful. Chekhov’s picture of the peasants’ sad lot contrasts sharply with Tolstoy’s idealization of the peasant with his ‘unsullied virtues’, and in both ‘Peasants’ and ‘In the Ravine’ he shows up the cardinal error of regarding these poor creatures as the living embodiment of God-like purity and true guardians of Christian morality.

The unfinished continuation of ‘Peasants’ (chapters X and XI) has survived in draft form, but it is difficult to date precisely – possibly 1900. However, the idea of a continuation probably arose earlier, since Goltsev wrote to Chekhov in March 1897: ‘I need your “Peasants” and their continuation…’ These final two chapters considerably broaden the canvas, describing the further lives of Olga and her daughter Sasha in Moscow, after leaving the village. Although Chekhov possibly intended continuing the story with a portrayal of low city life, as intimated in the Introduction (p. xiii), he may have come to feel that this would clash with the harrowing depiction of the peasantry in preceding chapters.

1. Slav Fair: (Slavyansky Bazaar) Famous Moscow hotel and restaurant, frequently mentioned in Chekhov’s stories. Chekhov often stayed there.

2. ‘But whosoever shall smite thee…’: Matthew 5:39.

3. ‘Come unto me…’: Matthew 11:28.

4. Vladimir: Ancient city about 120 miles east of Moscow, formerly the capital of central Russia.

5. Hermitage Garden [or Variety] Theatre: In Karetny Ryad (Coach Row) where Stanislavsky first achieved success with the Moscow Art Theatre’s production of Chekhov’s The Seagull (1898). This Hermitage has no connection with either the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg or the Hermitage restaurant in Moscow.

6. Aumont’s: Well-known amusement house.

7. ‘And when they were departed…’: Matthew 2:13.

8. Exaltation of the Cross: 14 September.

9. I lo-ove the flowers that bloom…: According to Chekhov’s sister Masha, Chekhov had often heard the village girls at Melikhovo singing this song.

10. Fast of the Assumption: One of the strictest fasts, a two-week period preceding the Feast of the Assumption which took place on 15 August.

11. kasha: A kind of porridge or gruel made of cooked grain or boiled groats. Staple peasant food.

12. the serfs were emancipated: The serfs were officially emancipated in 1861.

13. used to ride out with wolfhounds… : The skilled hunters were from Pskov province. They would work in threes and drive the wolves or foxes from cover for the huntsmen.

14. Tver: Large town on the Volga, about 100 miles north-west of Moscow. Known as Kalinin in Soviet era (after Stalin’s puppet president).

15. freedom: Marya means freedom from serfdom.

16. portrait of Battenberg: Alexander of Battenberg, Prince of Bulgaria (1879–86), forced to abdicate by Alexander III of Russia, after being kidnapped by Russian officers and deported to Russian territory. W. H. Bruford, in his Chekhov and His Russia (1948; 1971), states: ‘These details … indicated perhaps the elder’s ignorance, for one so loyal would not otherwise have given the place of honour to an enemy of his Tsar.’

17. Elijah’s Day: 20 July.

18. Patriarch’s Ponds: Actually one large pond formed from three fishponds that were dug out of the medieval Goat’s Marsh. Patriarch’s Ponds is where two literary hacks meet the Devil in the first chapter of Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita.

19. Filippov’s: Moscow’s most fashionable coffee house before the Revolution, richly decorated with stuccoed ceiling and caryatids. Founded by the court baker Filippov.

20. Tversky Boulevard: Long thoroughfare in west central Moscow, stretching from Nikitsky Gates to Pushkin Square.

21. Little Bronny: A Moscow street frequented by prostitutes.

Trilogy: Man in a Case, Gooseberries, About Love

That ‘Man in a Case’, ‘Gooseberries’ and ‘About Love’, all published in Russian Thought, 1898, were to be considered a cycle, or trilogy, was stressed by Chekhov in a letter to a female translator of his stories into English, O. R. Vasilyeva, who for some reason decided to translate only the second two stories: ‘Do as you please, but if you leave out “Man in a Case” it will be unclear who’s talking and why’ (5 January 1899). Chekhov had intended continuing the trilogy – this is clear from a letter to the publisher A. F. Marks: ‘The stories “Man in a Case”, “Gooseberries” and “About Love” are a part of a series which is far from finished…’ (28 September 1899). But this projected series was never written, possibly because of mental exhaustion at the time. After the trilogy was completed he wrote to Lidiya Avilova: ‘Writing revolts me and I don’t know what to do’ (23–27 July 1898). This mood soon passed, but with the coming of autumn Chekhov was forced to go south for health reasons. From Yalta he wrote to P. F. Iordanov (a Taganrog doctor): ‘I’m unsettled and hardly working. This enforced idleness and wandering around resorts is worse than any bacilli’ (21 September 1898). Eventually he started writing again – but independent stories such as ‘A Case History’ and ‘On Official Duty’.

These three stories are the only case of interconnectedness in Chekhov’s work. The ideas for the stories had long been fermenting in his mind: this is clear from notes made in Paris and Nice and from his First Notebook. On 2 July he wrote to N. A. Leykin⁶: ‘As you know, I spent the winter in the South of France, where I was bored without snow and couldn’t work. In the spring I was in Paris, where I spent about four weeks. Now I’m at home and writing. I’ve sent my story to [The] Cornfield and another to Russian Thought.’ This second story was ‘Man in a Case’. Separate publishing histories and notes for each of the three stories in the trilogy now follow in the order in which they appear in this volume.

In early June 1898 ‘Man in a Case’ was prepared for the press and on the 12th of that month Chekhov wrote to Suvorin: ‘I’m fussing about and doing a little bit of work. I’ve already written a long and a short story.’ These were ‘Ionych’ and ‘Man in a Case’.

Chekhov’s brother Mikhail states that the prototype for the main character, Belikov, was a certain Dyakanov, an inspector at the Taganrog Gymnasium where Anton had studied (this attribution is now disputed), adding that his brother also drew on events at the school – the annual spring outing, for example (A. P. Chekhov and His Subjects, Moscow, 1923). It is also possible that the prototype could have been the journalist M. O. Menshikov, editor of the journal The Week, as Chekhov refers to him in his diary for 1896: ‘Menshikov goes around with galoshes in dry weather, carrying an umbrella so as not to perish from sunstroke and is scared of washing in cold water…’ In addition, Professor Serebryakov in Uncle Vanya never ventures out without umbrella and galoshes. Clearly, Chekhov was fascinated by this type of encapsulated, cocooned individual and ‘Man in a Case’ is his fullest portrayal of this strange manifestation of extreme eccentricity. However, it is likely that Belikov is an amalgam of various characters Chekhov had known.

The second story in the trilogy, ‘Gooseberries’, links the first and last and contemporary critics were quick to see the similarity of the thematic material running through the three stories: lack of will, moral cowardice, pettiness and bigotry generated by a complacent society. Chekhov thought that all these defects could be pinned on his own generation.

The story was written at Melikhovo in July 1898 and published the following month in Russian Thought. On 20 July Chekhov wrote in mock-serious tone to Goltsev, editor of Russian Thought: ‘Nine tenths of the story for the August issue are ready and if nothing prevents the happy conclusion of the aforementioned story you will receive it from my own hands on 1 August.’

According to Mikhail Chekhov, several features of the estate of Bakumovka, owned by S. I. Smagin, are incorporated in the story – for example, swimming in the river. Chekhov’s brother interestingly relates the origin of the extraordinary surname Chimsha-Gimalaysky: ‘When Anton Pavlovich travelled right across Siberia to Sakhalin, somewhere, on the very edge of the world, a local gentleman came forth and wanted to make his acquaintance. He gave him his card on which was written: “Rymsha-Pilsudsky”. Anton Pavlovich took this card away and for a long time laughed at a name you couldn’t invent even if you were drunk, and decided to use it when the opportunity arose’ (A. P. Chekhov and His Subjects, Moscow, 1923).

The third story in the trilogy, ‘About Love’ was first published in Russian Thought in 1898. The plot for the story is outlined in Chekhov’s First Notebook. Like the other two stories in the trilogy, ‘About Love’ was written at Melikhovo in the summer of 1898 and was prepared for the August issue of Russian Thought. The first version of the story ended with a matter-of-fact dialogue about Ivan Ivanych’s departure, but in the Collected Edition of 1903 it ends on a lyrical note, with poetic descriptions of Nature and sad reflections about those who had heard Alyokhin’s story.

In her memoirs, A. P. Chekhov in My Life: A Love Story (London, 1950), Lidiya Avilova wrote: ‘“About Love” concerned me, I had no doubt about it…’ According to her, her relations with Chekhov are reflected in the story and she refers to a ten-year relationship. After reading the story she sent Chekhov a hostile letter in which she ‘thanked him for the honour of figuring as a heroine, even if only in a little story’. However, Avilova’s memoirs are now considered highly suspect and mainly based on delusion.

Man in a Case

1. Shchedrin: M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin (1826–89), Russia’s greatest satirical novelist.

2. Henry Buckles: Henry Thomas Buckle (1821–62), English social historian whose History of Civilisation (1858, 1861) was extremely popular in Russia.

3. ‘Breezes of the South…’: From a popular Ukrainian folksong.

4. Gadyach: Small Ukrainian town, in Poltava province.

5. Mr Creepy-Crawly: (Ukrainian) Lit. The Bloodsucker or Spider, a four-act drama by M. L. Kropivnitsky, written for the actress M. K. Zankovetsky, whom Chekhov had first met at the Suvorins in 1892.

6. Nikolay Aleksandrovich Leykin (1841–1906), journalist, novelist and writer of satirical short stories. He was publisher and editor of the highly popular comic magazine Oskolki (Fragments), to which Chekhov contributed more than 200 short stories between 1882 and 1887.

Gooseberries

1. only six feet of earth: A possible allusion to Tolstoy’s famous story ‘How Much Land Does a Man Need?’.

2. ‘Uplifting illusion…’: Inaccurate quotation from the poem The Hero (1830). The original reads: ‘Uplifting illusion is dearer to me than a host of vile truths.’

About Love

1. European Herald: Liberal monthly journal that published works by leading writers (Ostrovsky, Turgenev, Goncharov). It was published from 1866 to 1918.

A Visit to Friends

First published in the journal Cosmopolis, 1898, and written at the request of F. D. Batyushkov (1857–1920; literary historian and critic, editor of Russian section of Cosmopolis. Author of interesting memoirs and articles about Chekhov). From Nice, Chekhov wrote to Batyushkov: ‘I promise to write a story for Cosmopolis at the first opportunity and if nothing gets in the way I’ll send it in December.’ (letter of 9 November 1897).

In December he wrote a highly interesting letter from Nice to Batyushkov which throws much light on his creative methods: ‘I’m writing the story for Cosmopolis, slowly, in fits and starts. I usually write slowly, with much effort, but here, in a hotel room, at a strange table, in good weather, when I yearn to go out, I write even worse… and therefore I can’t promise the story earlier than in two weeks. I’ll send it before 1 January… You expressed the wish… for me to send an international story, with a subject from the local life here. I can only write such stories in Russia, from memory. I can write only from memory and have never written direct from nature. My memory has to sieve the subject so that only what’s important or typical is left on it, as on a filter’ (letter of 15 December 1897).

Early the following year he wrote to the sociologist M. M. Kovalevsky: ‘I sent a story to Cosmopolis and have already received a thank-you telegram from the editor, although the story isn’t quite right – rather poor, I think’ (letter of 8 January 1898).

‘A Visit to Friends’ was the only late story of Chekhov’s to be excluded from the Collected Edition – for some reason he took a dislike to it.

1. Tula: Large town about 120 miles south of Moscow, famous for the manufacture of guns and samovars. Peter the Great established a small-arms factory there in 1712. The gunsmiths were renowned for the quality of their workmanship.

2. Slav Fair: See ‘Peasants’, note 1, p. 333.

3. Hermitage: Restaurant in Trubny Place in Moscow.

4. Little Bronny Street: See ‘Peasants’, note 21, p. 334.

5. Is something rotten in the state of Denmark?: Cf. Hamlet, Act I, Scene 4, ‘Something is rotten in the state of Denmark’.

6. Ufa: Capital of Bashkir Autonomous Republic, on Belaya River, near the Urals.

7. Perm: Large city on River Kama, in western Urals. An important cultural and industrial centre.

8. The line runs straight… : From N. A. Nekrasov’s The Railway (1865); also the following excerpts. The poem is full of strong civic protest.

9. Before he had time to groan… : From the fable The Peasant and the Workman (1815), by I. A. Krylov.

10. ‘And thou shalt be que-een of the world’: From the opera The Demon, by A. G. Rubinstein, based on Lermontov’s famous narrative poem (1841).

Ionych

‘Ionych’ was first published in the Monthly Literary Supplement to the Journal The Cornfield in 1898. Chekhov completed this story at Melikhovo in about one month. Previously it had been thought that ‘Ionych’ had originally been intended for Russian Thought and then taken back, but this has been shown to refer to another story.

On 13 March 1898 Chekhov wrote from Nice to Y. O. Gryunberg, managing editor of A. F. Marks’ publishing house and of the journal The Cornfield: ‘I’ll send the story without delay, but not before I return home. Here I can’t write, I’ve grown lazy. I’m going to Paris around 5–10 April and then back home… in May or June probably I’ll be able to write for The Cornfield.’

According to Mikhail Chekhov the cemetery in the story is based on that in Taganrog, together with other details from Chekhov’s earlier life in the provincial town (A. P. Chekhov and His Subjects, Moscow, 1923).

*

1. ’Ere I had drunk from life’s cup of tears: From the poem Elegy (1821) by Anton Delvig (1798–1831), a close friend of Pushkin. The poem was set to music by M. L. Yakovlev, a friend of Delvig’s.

2. ‘Die now Denis, you’ll never write better!’: Words attributed to Prince Potyomkin after seeing the first performance of Denis Fonvizin’s satirical comedy The Minor (1782). The same quotation also appears in Dostoyevsky’s Winter Notes on Summer Impressions (1863).

3. Thy voice for me is dear and languorous: Line from Pushkin’s Night (1823), slightly altered. The original reads: ‘My voice for thee is dear and languorous.’ The poem was set to music by A. G. Rubinstein, Rimsky-Korsakov and Mussorgsky.

4. Pisemsky: Aleksey Feofilaktovich (1821–81). Novelist. His A Thousand Souls (1858) is an entertaining satirical novel about the rise and fall of an ambitious young man from the provinces. The requisite number of serfs for a landowner to be considered wealthy was one thousand. The shortened version of the patronymic is conversational.

5. The cemetery: Possibly the cemetery in Chekhov’s native town of Taganrog, or Feodosiya. Chekhov was very fond of wandering around cemeteries.

6. ‘The hour is coming when…’: John 5:28. The full verse is: ‘For the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice.’

My Life

‘My Life’ was first published in the Monthly Literary Supplement to the Journal The Cornfield in 1896 and subsequently published by Suvorin as a separate volume (together with ‘Peasants’) in 1897.

On 11 July 1895 Chekhov was invited by the editor of The Cornfield, A. A. Tikhonov (pseudonym A. Lugovoy), to contribute to the journal and he accepted. The first definite indication that work on the story had begun is given in a letter to I. M. Potapenko (1856–1928; writer and close friend of Chekhov after 1893): ‘I’m writing a novel for The Cornfield…’; and shortly afterwards he added: ‘I think it will be called “My Marriage”… I can’t say for certain yet… the subject’s from the life of the provincial intelligentsia.’ On 16 June he sent the first nine chapters to Lugovoy, which he did not consider as final, for he asked for them to be returned after being read: ‘I’ll have to correct a great deal, since it’s not a story yet, only a crudely constructed framework that I’ll whitewash and paint when I finish the building.’ On 11 July he told Suvorin that the story was nearly finished and it was sent to the editors on 10 August. The following day Chekhov confessed to M. O. Menshikov: ‘A big story, exhausting, and hellishly boring.’

After the Coronation of Nicholas II there had been a great increase in the number of workers’ strikes and Lugovoy expected a more oppressive regime, with a harder line from the censors. Moreover, at this time a new censor had been appointed, which did not bode well. Therefore Lugovoy suggested that the first and ‘safest’ five chapters be printed in the October issue of The Cornfield, hoping to ‘lull the censor’s vigilance’. As it happened nothing was excised in these chapters. Lugovoy, however, foresaw problems with the continuation, especially in the sixth chapter with its discussion about social progress, and told Chekhov to ‘tone down’ a few details – for example, the father beating the son, and the son of a general’s wife fighting with her lover. In particular, Lugovoy, who had great experience of the censors’ methods, advised Chekhov to be especially careful with the last chapter.

When the completed story was submitted to the censors, in galley form, it was severely mutilated: they cut the scene with the Governor and the son’s final humiliation with his father. These were later restored. The publication was sorrowfully greeted by Chekhov and in letters to Lugovoy, Suvorin and T. L. Tolstaya (Tolstoy’s eldest daughter) he voiced his distress, complaining to Tolstaya: ‘Toward the end of summer I had a story ready… “My Life” – I couldn’t think of any other title and I was counting on bringing it with me to Yasnaya Polyana, in page proof form. But it’s now being printed in the Supplement and I feel revulsion for it, since the censors have gone over it and many parts are unrecognizable’ (letter of 9 November 1896). He was particularly shocked at the rough censorial treatment of the last chapter, writing to Suvorin: ‘It’s horrible, just horrible! They’ve turned the last chapter into a desert.’

Chekhov never liked the final title (Lugovoy had persuaded him to retain the present title, with the subtitle ‘A Provincial’s Story’), which struck him as ‘revolting’ – especially the word ‘My’, preferring to call it ‘In the Nineties’, which Lugovoy thought pretentious.

It was the mutilation at the hands of the censors that prompted Chekhov to have the story published as a separate book, together with ‘Peasants’, but in accordance with conditions laid down by A. F. Marks’ publishing house this could not be published until one year later.

The background of the story is most probably Taganrog, Chekhov’s birthplace, and there are several features linked to the author’s childhood. Like Chekhov, the story’s hero, Misail Poloznev, has a loathing for Greek and suffers humiliating beatings from a tyrannical father.

*

1. Borodino: Village about eighty miles west of Moscow, scene of the bloody battle in 1812 between Napoleon’s army and the Russians under Kutuzov. In about fifteen hours more than a third of each army had perished, totalling over 100,000 soldiers. After the battle Napoleon marched into Moscow.

2. Dubechnya: Name of actual village where Chekhov lived for a time; it was close to Melikhovo.

3. Kimry: Small town in Tver province on left bank of the Volga and centre of shoe-making industry.

4. Tula: See ‘A Visit to Friends’, note 1, p. 337.

5. pig-faced freaks: Reference to the human ‘monsters’ in Gogol’s Dead Souls. Lit. ‘swinish snouts’.

6. Serfdom has been abolished: Serfdom was officially abolished in 1861.

7. ‘Make to yourselves…’: Luke 16:9.

8. vegetarian: Vegetarianism, widespread among opposition circles (e.g. Tolstoyans), was deeply frowned upon by the official church.

9. Zalegoshch: Village in Tula province, east of Oryol.

10. Khlyst: Member of religious sect practising flagellation.

11. Russia began…: AD 862 is the traditional date of the foundation of Russian statehood, when the Varangian (Viking) Ryurik was established as Prince of Novgorod. See also ‘The House with the Mezzanine’, note 4, p. 331.

12. ‘Holy Virgin, Intercessor’: Hymn in honour of Our Lady of Kazan.

13. ‘Why do I love thee, O radiant night?’: From Night (1850), a poem by Ya. P. Polonsky, set to music by Tchaikovsky.

14. Exhibition in America: The World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893.

15. Ostrovsky: A. N. Ostrovsky (1823–86), major Russian playwright; his chief plays are The Storm (1860) and The Forest (1875).

The Lady with the Little Dog

Chekhov began writing ‘The Lady with the Little Dog’ in Yalta, in August or September 1899. In a letter of 15 September that year he wrote to V. A. Goltsev, editor of Russian Thought: ‘Forgive me for not sending the story, because it’s not ready yet. Parquet floor layers and carpenters are banging away from morning to night and stop me from working. And the weather’s very good, so it’s difficult sitting indoors.’ The story was published in the December issue of Russian Thought and for the Collected Edition of 1903 Chekhov made significant changes, chiefly in elimination of superfluous detail and material in the depiction of Gurov and Anna Sergeyevna. In the later version Chekhov gave much greater emphasis to Gurov’s capacity for abstract thought and analysing his own actions. Similarly, lengthy description of the heroine’s married life and her life in S— was eliminated.

At the time of writing this story Chekhov’s relationship with Olga Knipper was deepening. Together they made many excursions around Yalta, which are reflected in the story.

1. Yalta: Crimean town on the Black Sea, a major health resort from the 1880s. Chekhov built a villa there in 1899 and lived chiefly in Yalta until his death in 1904. ‘The Lady with the Little Dog’ is his only story set in Yalta. In the summer of 1899 Chekhov had a meeting at Vernet’s restaurant with the young writer Yelena Shavrova, who was infatuated with him.

2. Belyov or Zhizdra: Small, insignificant towns to the south and south-west of Moscow respectively.

3. Oreanda: Picturesque viewpoint about three miles west of Yalta, formerly a royal estate. A summer residence was built there by Nicholas I, but burnt down in 1881. A beautiful park leads down to the sea from the ruins.

4. Feodosiya: Fashionable resort on the south-eastern Crimean coast, about seventy miles from Yalta.

5. the waterfall: Uchasu Waterfall, a beauty spot about five miles from Yalta and very popular for excursions.

6. Petrovka: One of the most aristocratic streets in Moscow and a major thoroughfare.

7. The Geisha: An operetta by the English composer Sidney Jones (1861–1946), written in 1896. This very popular work was performed in Paris, London, Berlin, Vienna, etc., and enjoyed great success in Russia, with more than 200 performances in Moscow. Chekhov had possibly seen this operetta in Yalta in 1899, where it was performed by a local opera group. Impressions of the Yalta and Taganrog theatres are no doubt reflected in the theatre in the town of S—. In a letter of 15 December 1898 Chekhov wrote to his sister: ‘I’m writing this in the theatre, in a fur coat, sitting in the gallery. This lousy little orchestra and gallery remind me of my childhood.’

8. Slav Fair Hotel: See ‘Peasants’, note 1, p. 333.

In the Ravine

‘In the Ravine’ was published in the journal Life in 1900. Chekhov had begun work on the story in Yalta, in November–December 1899, widely using random material from his First Notebook (1891–1904). The close ties with ‘Peasants’ are evident from these preliminary notes. ‘In the Ravine’ was written at the persistent request of V. A. Posset, editor of Life, and of Maxim Gorky, who took part in the literary section of the journal. From December 1898 both Posset and Gorky had repeatedly invited Chekhov to contribute to Life.

Chekhov mentions the forthcoming story in a letter to his sister (14 November 1899): ‘I’m writing a big story. I’ll finish it soon and begin another.’ On 19 November 1899 he had written to Posset: ‘I’m writing the story for Life and it will soon be ready, probably by the second half of December. There’s only three sheets in all, but masses of characters, a real crush. It’s very cramped and I’ll have to take great care so that the crush doesn’t become too apparent. Whatever, it’ll be ready around 10 December and can be typeset. But the trouble is – I’m afraid the censors might start plucking it. Please return my story if you feel that certain places won’t pass the censorship…’ (After ‘Peasants’, Chekhov was understandably apprehensive about the reception this new story might have at the hands of the censors.) On 6 December Chekhov wrote to V. I. Nemirovich Danchenko⁸ about his work on the story. However, it was not sent to Life until 20 December, with Chekhov repeatedly apologizing to Posset for the delay.

On 26 December he wrote to M. O. Menshikov (editor of the magazine The Week): ‘I’ve written a lot recently. I’ve sent my story to Life. In this story I depict factory life, I discuss how sad it is…’ On 2 January 1900 he wrote amusingly to Olga Knipper about ‘In the Ravine’: ‘My story will appear in the February issue of Life – it’s very strange. Many characters – and a landscape too. There’s a crescent moon, a bird called a bittern, which makes a booming noise far off somewhere, like a cow locked in a shed. There’s everything.’ And in a letter to G. I. Rossolimo (Professor of Neuropathology at Moscow University and once a medical student with Chekhov) he called the story ‘my last from the life of the common people’.

On 11 January Chekhov complained bitterly to Posset (on receipt of the page proofs) that lines had been left out, with chaotic punctuation. For all that, the story appeared in Life with numerous misprints. The exasperated Chekhov concluded the letter with the words: ‘Such an abundance of misprints is something I’ve never encountered before and it strikes me as a veritable orgy of typographical slovenliness. Please forgive my irritation.’

From the memoirs of Chekhov’s brother Mikhail (A. P. Chekhov and His Subjects, Moscow, 1923, p. 146) we learn that an incident from Sakhalin is incorporated in the story and that the scene is set near Melikhovo. S. N. Shchukin, a Yalta teacher and man of letters, who has left interesting memoirs of Chekhov, records his saying of ‘In the Ravine’: ‘I’m describing life as it is encountered in the provinces of Middle Russia. I know them best. And the Khrymin merchants really do exist. Only, in actual fact they are worse. From the age of eight their children start drinking vodka, and from childhood they lead dissipated lives. They have infected the whole area with syphilis. I don’t mention this in the story, because I don’t consider that kind of thing very artistic. Lipa’s baby being scalded to death with boiling water is nothing out of the ordinary. Local doctors often meet with such cases.’ The writer Ivan Bunin (1870–1938) stated that he told Chekhov of an incident involving a parish priest consuming two pounds of caviare at his father’s name-day party, altered by Chekhov and used at the beginning of ‘In the Ravine’.

1. Yepifan: Large village about 140 miles south-east of Moscow.

2. ‘inspection’: Old Russian peasant ceremony when the prospective bride was ‘viewed’.

3. Yegoryevsk: Small town about seventy miles south-east of Moscow.

4. kvass: Fermented drink made from malt, rye or different kinds of fruit, in this case pears.

5. Amur: Siberian river, 800 miles of which form the boundary between Russia and China. It flows into the Tatar Strait.

6. Altay: Mountainous region in southern Siberia.

7. I was on a ferry once: This is reminiscent of an incident recorded by Chekhov in his Out of Siberia (prologue to The Island of Sakhalin) where he describes meeting a freezing peasant when crossing the Kama River on his way to Sakhalin.

8. Vladimir Ivanovich Nemirovich-Danchenko (1858–1943), co-founder, with Konstantin Stanislavsky, of the Moscow Art Theatre. He was one of the first to recognize the merits of The Seagull, with which he launched the Moscow Art Theatre in 1898. Olga Knipper, who played Arkadina in the play, was one of his prize pupils.

Disturbing the Balance

The text of this unfinished story is based on a manuscript, in Chekhov’s writing, in the Lenin State Library in St Petersburg. Probably written in 1902–3, it was published in 1905, after Chekhov’s death, in Everybody’s Magazine, a popular St Petersburg monthly. On the manuscript there are signs of editing by V. S. Mirolyubov, editor of the magazine.

1. Monte Pincio: Hill in the north of Rome, linked to the park of the Villa Borghese, with a superb view, especially at dusk.

The Bishop

First published in Everybody’s Magazine, 1902. In the autumn of 1899 Chekhov promised to send a new story to Everybody’s Magazine, at the persistent request of V. S. Mirolyubov, its editor, who required the story for the January 1900 issue: he had to wait two years for it. There are many mentions of a story in his letters on this subject that point to a much earlier conception of the main idea. In a letter of 16 March 1901 to Olga Knipper he refers to the subject as ‘already being in my head for fifteen years’. However, work on the story was exceedingly spasmodic, protracted, constantly interrupted by ill health. No story cost Chekhov so much effort.

In November 1899, when he was working on ‘In the Ravine’, Chekhov told his sister: ‘I’m writing a big story. I’ll finish it soon and begin another’ (letter of 14 November 1899). There is no doubt that the second story referred to here is ‘The Bishop’. Although work on the story was interrupted by ill health, Chekhov returned to it after completion of Three Sisters. But work was slow, interrupted by idle visitors, creative self-doubts, as well as by bad health. In January 1901 he wrote to Olga Knipper: ‘I’m writing of course, but without any desire at all. It seems Three Sisters has worn me out – or, simply, that I’m bored with writing, grown old. I don’t know. I should stop writing for five years, travel for five years and then return and sit down to work.’

Mirolyubov, who was in Yalta in February and March 1901, again urged Chekhov to finish the story for his journal. But for reasons of health Chekhov could only return to work at the end of August; despite this he still went to Moscow in the autumn, from where he wrote to the frantic Mirolyubov: ‘Forgive me, dear chap, for not sending the story before. It’s because I broke off work and I’ve always found it difficult to take up interrupted work again. But the moment I’m home I’ll start from the beginning and send it. Don’t worry!’ (19 October 1901).

Replying to Olga Knipper’s request to send V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko a new story to be read at a charity concert, Chekhov wrote: ‘I’d send a story to Nemirovich-Danchenko with the greatest pleasure, but really, what I’m writing now would hardly pass the censors – that is, it’s hardly permissible for a public reading.’ The very mention of censors shows almost without doubt that the story in question here is ‘The Bishop’. At the time the censors were increasingly wary of works where representatives of the clergy were depicted. In early December Chekhov was again forced to break off work owing to a worsening of his illness and on the 17th of that month he wrote to Mirolyubov: ‘… I’m ill – or not quite healthy… and I can’t write. I’ve coughed blood, now I feel weakness and malice, I sit with a hot compress on my side, take creosote and all kinds of rubbish. Whatever, I shan’t cheat you with “The Bishop”, I’ll send it sooner or later.’ Only two weeks later was he able to resume work on the story and on 20 February 1902 wrote to Mirolyubov: ‘Forgive me for dragging it out for so long. I finished the story some time ago, but it was difficult copying it out. I’m ill the whole time… send me the page proofs without fail. I’ll add a short phrase or two at the end. But I shan’t change one word for the censors, please take that into consideration. If the censors throw out only one word, then send the story back and I’ll send you another in May.’

Therefore the story was written in seven periods, starting from the end of December 1899 up to the first part of February 1902, partly in Yalta, partly in Nice, partly in Moscow.

The short story writer A. I. Kuprin (1870–1938), astonished at the accuracy of observation, stated that the characters must have been based on real people – monks from the monastery near Melikhovo. But Chekhov’s brother Mikhail said that the prototype for the bishop was a Stepan Petrov, student at Moscow University, who knew Chekhov when he was living in Moscow. This student later took holy orders and became Father Sergey; when he later went to Yalta, suffering from a nervous disorder, he often called on Chekhov. Mikhail Chekhov goes on to say that the frequent meetings Anton had with Father Sergey provided the basic material for the story. However, according to S.N. Shchukin (1873–1931; a Yalta priest, teacher and minor man of letters), Chekhov happened to see a photograph in a Yalta shop window of a certain Bishop Gribanovsky: Chekhov was intrigued, made inquiries and the present story was the result. Whatever the prototype (and there are autobiographical elements too) ‘The Bishop’ is all the more remarkable for its essential unity and compression in the light of the dreadful burden of ill health Chekhov had to bear during its composition.

1. Betula kinderbalsamica secuta: A linguistic hotchpotch, ostensibly meaning ‘curative birch for beating children’.

2. ‘bridegroom who cometh at midnight’: Cf. Matthew 25:6, ‘And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh.’

3. ‘Now is the Son of Man glorified’: John 13:31.

4. the coming of Christianity to Russia: In about AD 988, when Vladimir, Grand Prince of Kiev, was converted to Christianity, which he made the official religion.

The Bride

Chekhov’s last story, ‘The Bride’, was first published in Everybody’s Magazine in 1903. Chekhov revised the text many times – no fewer than five versions exist. It was written at the same time as The Cherry Orchard.

At the time he was corresponding with V. S. Mirolyubov at the beginning of 1902, about ‘The Bishop’, Chekhov twice wrote that in the event of trouble with the censors he would send ‘another story’ (letters of 20 February and 8 March). There is no doubt that this other story was ‘The Bride’: after ‘The Bishop’ had been printed Mirolyubov persistently reminded Chekhov of the promised story. The variants show that the story was very carefully constructed, with particular attention to the style, which became increasingly tightened. Even the names of the main characters were changed; with each version Chekhov tried to put more emphasis on Andrey Andreich’s smugness and self-satisfaction, on Nina Ivanovna’s lachrymose sentimentality and alienation from her daughter, and so on. If the rough drafts are compared with the final version it is evident that Chekhov introduced substantial changes into the characters of both Sasha and Nadya.

He began work on the story in October 1902, writing on the 16th in reply to a telegram from Mirolyubov about the title: ‘I’ll send you the title as soon as it’s possible – that is, when I settle on a theme…’ and ‘If you need a title so much, which can be changed later, here it is: “The Bride”.’

Chekhov began work on the story immediately on his return to Yalta. After telling Olga Knipper several times that he was hard at work, a cooling-off soon set in: ‘At the moment I’m at work on a story that is fairly uninteresting – for me at least. I’m bored with it’ (14 December 1902). However, work went well, with no interruptions from visitors or because of illness. However, the following month he is complaining of ill health and slow progress on the story.

At the end of January 1903 Chekhov wrote to his wife: ‘I’m writing a story for Everybody’s Magazine, in the antiquated style of the seventies. I don’t know how it will turn out.’ And: ‘I’m writing a story, but very slowly, a tablespoonful an hour… possibly because there’s a lot of characters or because I’ve lost the knack. I must recover it’ (letter of 30 January 1903). And in early February he writes to Olga Knipper: ‘Although it’s going slowly, nevertheless I’m writing. Now I’m going to sit down to write, I shall continue the story, but I’ll probably write badly, limply, since there’s still a strong wind and it’s insufferably boring in the house.’ Soon after he tells Olga he is writing only six or seven lines a day. All the same, work progressed and, in reply to repeated urgings from Mirolyubov, told him that he would finish ‘The Bride’ by 20 February or earlier, depending on his health: wary of the censors, he had written to Mirolyubov on 9 February: ‘I’m writing “The Bride”, I aim to finish it by 20 February or earlier, or rather later… However, don’t worry, I’ll send it. But there’s one thing: I’m afraid “The Bride” might catch it from those bachelor-gentlemen who are watching over the chastity of your journal!’ Chekhov made repeated requests for proofs to be sent to him for correction and the story was not published until December.

1. ‘He wasted his substance…’: Luke 15:13–16.

2. St Peter’s Day: 29 June.

3. Shishmachevsky: This name is untraceable. Most probably invented by Chekhov.

4. passport: A passport was needed for internal as well as foreign travel.

5. koumiss: Chekhov himself went on such a diet, for his tuberculosis. This milk was supposed to have generally restorative powers. Tolstoy also took the cure.

6. Saratov: Large city on the Volga; an important trading and industrial centre.