This is a semi-amusing trifle about an academic working on a comically minute topic – a history of the dog license.
His important thoughts are interrupted by the daughter of the neighbor, an unattractive woman so forgettable that he cannot even recall her name: Nadenka? Varenka? Mashenka? He bats her away, complains bitterly of her to his hovering mother, and can never seem to quite persuade anyone that he has important work to do and must be left alone.
And of course, dear reader, he marries the girl. Her name, it seems, is actually Varenka.
One thing of note is that this story, narrated in the first person, is extremely “voicey.” The narrator, unnamed, rails at us, rather than narrates, in wild tones, like this: “Next morning. Typical holiday weather. Temperature below freezing, a cutting wind, rain, mud, and a smell of naphthaline, because my maman has taken all her wraps out of her trunks. A devilish morning!”
It’s a modern voice – more like mid-20th century. I suppose you could also hear echoes of Dostoevsky’s “Underground Man,” but Chekhov’s unnamed narrator is mainly humorous and ridiculous.
READ THIS? READ THAT!
Most comic writing ages poorly–even that of Chekhov. This story is an exception. For a slightly less successful attempt at a chuckle, you could try “In the Dark” (the very next story in Volume 11 if you’re reading the whole Constance Garnett translations).
A Chekhov Circus 