This is a long story, practically a novella, that is more reportage than fiction.
Written in the present tense like a news article, the story concerns the transport of a herd of cattle via rail. The story details the various difficulties of transporting and selling cattle, and in particular the challenges involved in cajoling (and bribing) railway employees in order to progress from place to place. There is copious verbiage dedicated to rail operations, including footnotes like this:
*On many railway lines, in order to avoid accidents, it is against the regulations to carry hay on the trains, and so livestock are without fodder on the journey.
Now you know! And if you want to know more about 19th century cattle transportation, you are certainly welcome to read this story, but I would probably recommend Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove instead.
READ THIS? READ THAT!
Like many authors, Chekhov was interested in occupation–what people do each day, how they make their money, how the jobs affect them and their viewpoints. In some stories, like “The Cattle Dealers,” that curiosity leads to too much shop talk and not enough narrative. Other times, he finds a balance of fact and fiction. “Art” is about a man who has a peculiar gift–he is an expert creator of so-called “Jordans,” altars carved of ice to mark Epiphany. We observe the process of creation, and the fruits of the labor, much as we do in “The Cattle Dealers,” but in “Art” we are somehow uplifted and thrilled.
A Chekhov Circus 