The Undiscovered Chekhov
Many of these are short works Chekhov published early in life for magazines and newspapers, and some I can’t seem to shake days after reading them. “An Unsuccessful Visit” is a two-page story that offers a fitting conclusion to a dandy paying a visit to a potential suitor’s home.
“On the Train” is a microcosm of Russia, with its carriages filled with representatives of all classes and occupations and, inside the train, the “tobacco and soot in the air—the smell of Mother Russia”; paying a bribe to conductors is cheaper than buying a ticket, and ticket holders are abused. Of course, the locomotive’s engine breaks down, unable to continue its plodding journey. Someone yells out so loudly for the authorities at one point because his shoes were scuffed by someone:
“Poli-i-i-ce! Poli-i-i-ce!” someone outside on the platform is shouting, as in primordial times before the Deluge hungry mastodons, ichthyosaurs, and plesiosaurs would have bellowed.
“On the Train” concludes as the narrator watches someone depart the train with his own suitcase.
“The Trial” is about a son stealing money from his father, a village trial, an admission, a beating, and a surprise ending; (the part about a sadistic police officer is not the surprise ending).
“The Cat” is about cat noises beneath a young couple’s window; the wife asks her husband to go out and shut them up, so he attempts to shush and scatter them. The cats return the next night. After more attempts, a window opens above them and an older, clearly of a higher class, gentleman (the husband refers to him as ‘your excellency’) tells the husband to shush and berates him:
“This is terrible! You are going against nature, young man! You could say, you are… hm, yes… actually sabotaging the laws of nature! This is terrible! How could you! These are… hm, yes… organisms. How do you say, yes, organisms! One must understand! Contemptible!”
Alyosha stepped back from the window, tiptoed to bed, and lay down meekly. Barbara curled up next to him and held her breath.
“That was our…” Alyosha whispered. “In person… he’s not asleep. He loves cats. Damn! There’s nothing worse than living with one’s boss!”
The hierarchy here is telling. The ruling ‘boss’ class looks on a group of cats with higher regard than his own workers.
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