This is a minor tale, but it’s well done. In fact, it’s among the best twist endings Chekhov ever delivered.
The story is extremely short and the whole point is the twist at the end, so if you don’t want a spoiler, just skip the next two paragraphs.
“A Transgression” is the story of a crudball, Miguev, who after getting a servant girl pregnant, declines her demand for money. Then he finds a baby deposited on his front steps and can do nothing but confess his transgression to his wife.
But the child is not who he thinks it is… so he has exposed his secret to his wife when he didn’t have to.
It’s a nicely delivered surprise in the key of O. Henry.
READ THIS? READ THAT!
This kind of story is out of fashion now, but it is essentially timeless, like a classic fable. Another Chekhov story with that quality is “A Slander,” an entertaining sliver of a tale with a clear moral.
A Chekhov Circus 