The Undiscovered Chekhov

ELEMENTS

MOST OFTEN

FOUND IN

NOVELS,

SHORT

SHORT

STORIES,ETC.

ACOUNT, A COUNTESS still showing traces of a once great beauty, a neighboring baron, a liberal man of letters, an impoverished nobleman, a foreign musician, slow-witted manservants, nurs-es, governesses, a German bailiff, a squire, and an heir from America. Plain faces, but kind and winning. The hero—whisking the heroine off a bolting horse—courageous and capable in any given situation of demonstrating the power of his fists.

Heavenly summits, immense, impenetrable distances... in a word, incomprehensible nature!

Fair-haired friends and red-haired foes.

A rich uncle, open-minded or conservative, depending on circumstances. His death would be better for our hero than his constant demands.

An aunt in the town ofTambov.

A doctor with an anxious face, giving hope in a crisis; often he will have a bald pate and a walking stick with a knob. And where there’s a doctor, there is always rheumatism that arises from the difficulties of righteousness; migraine; inflammation of the brain; nursing of wounds after duels; and the inevitable prescribing of water cures.

A butler, in service for generations, ready to follow his master into the fire. A superb wit.

A dog so clever he can practically speak, a parrot, and a thrush.

A dacha outside Moscow and an impounded estate in the south.

Frequent purposeless references to electricity.

A wallet made of Russian leather; Chinese porcelain; an English saddle. A revolver that doesn’t misfire, a medal on a lapel, pineapples, champagne, truffles, and oysters.

Inadvertendy overheard words that suddenly make everything clear.

An immeasurable number of interjections and attempts at weaving in the latest technical terms.

Gende hints at portentous circumstances.

More often than not, no ending.

Seven deadly sins at the beginning and a wedding at the end.

The end.