A Chekhov Circus

A guide to the short stories of Anton Chekhov

Tag: Hunting and Fishing

  • No. 21 – Too Early

    This is a sketch of peasant life; it would sit very comfortably between “Peasants” and “Peasant Wives,” two of Chekhov’s best-known portraits of rural poverty. A quick aside: I don’t love using the word “peasant.”  But it’s almost impossible to talk about Chekhov’s work without it. Characters are often referred to as peasants; there are…

  • No. 17 – Dreams

    This is a sad, beautiful snapshot of a poor man who, though broken, impoverished and in ill health, still clings to dreams of a simple life in nature. The dreams of the story title are those of a nameless tramp who is being escorted to a town center by two “peasant constables.” The tramp, like…

  • No. 47 – A Daughter of Albion

    Now and again, Chekhov mystifies me, and I am left uncertain as to what I have just read. Is it satire? Is it melodrama?  What in the world is going on here? “A Daughter of Albion” is one of those stories. It was published in 1883, during Chekhov’s fertile “entertainments” period, when many of his…

  • No. 135 – The Fish

    An enormous fish foils repeated efforts to trap it.

  • No. 39 – A Trivial Incident

    This is a modest but nevertheless memorable tale of a prince, a once wealthy landowner who has fallen on hard times. The story begins in a forest where the prince, Sergey Ivanich, is out hunting, accompanied by the unnamed narrator. They are approached by the bailiff–the manager of the land–who explains that hunting is forbidden,…

  • No. 120 – The Huntsman

    A hunter bumps into his wife, whom he has abandoned, and treats her cruelly.

  • No. 185 – A Troublesome Visitor

    A hunter bunks down in a woodsman’s hut and soon the two men’s differing natures lead to a clash.

  • No. 3 – (tie) The Man in a Case/Gooseberries/About Love

    These stories are masterpieces, linked by theme and a narrative scaffolding, but essentially independent of each other. The subject of this triptych could be said to be life itself, but that’s an absurdity – still, absurd or not, it feels fair and accurate to say it. These tales really are that rich and deep. But,…