The Black Monk
‘The Black Monk’ was first published in the struggling journal The Artist, 1894, and then in the collection of that year, Tales and Stories. Chekhov turned down Suvorin’s offer to print it in the newspaper New Times as he did not always want his stories to be printed with the words: ‘to be continued’. The editor of the The Artist, F. A. Kumanin, had pleaded with Chekhov to support his journal. When asked by Chekhov’s friend, the playwright L. L. Leontyev-Shcheglov (1855–1911), if he had given him something for The Artist Kumanin replied: ‘Yes, he gave me a little story, but not very good, I must confess. Even a bit wishy-washy and unnatural’ (22 September 1893). But Kumanin was led more by Chekhov’s reputation and what it would do for his journal than its literary merit. After Kumanin’s death his widow asked Chekhov permission to reprint ‘The Black Monk’ in the journal The Reader, but Chekhov refused.
This story directly reflects life at Melikhovo, where it was written. Chekhov was a keen gardener and his brother Mikhail records: ‘From very early morning he went out into the garden and spent a long time inspecting every fruit tree, every shrub, pruned them or squatted for some time by the trunk, observing something’ (M. P. Chekhov, Around Chekhov, Moscow/Leningrad, 1933). Mikhail also records several concrete events reflected further in the story: for example, when Lika Mizinova sat at the piano and played the then popular Wallachian Legend of Braga (see note 3, p. 325). Chekhov’s brother also records conversations about mirages, refraction of the sun’s rays through the air. Chekhov was in very low spirits when he wrote ‘The Black Monk’, but in answer to Suvorin’s statement that he had portrayed himself in Kovrin, Chekhov replied: ‘I seem to be mentally healthy. True, I don’t have any particular desire to live, but as yet this isn’t an illness in the true sense of the word, but something transient and normal in life. At any rate, if an author portrays someone who is mentally ill that doesn’t mean that he himself is. I wrote “The Black Monk” without any melancholy thoughts, in cold reflection. I simply had the urge to depict megalomania. I dreamt of the monk who floats over the field and when I woke up I wrote about him to Misha’ (Chekhov’s brother Mikhail) (letter of 25 January 1894). According to Mikhail, Chekhov was in a highly-strung state at Melikhovo and had a terrible nightmare about a black monk. At the time of writing this story Chekhov was particularly interested in psychiatry and had conversations with the famous psychiatrist V. I. Yakovenko at Melikhovo.
1. Oporto: A variety of eating-apple, very large and juicy and known for its long-lasting qualities.
2. Onegin, I will not hide it…: Gremin’s aria from Tchaikovsky’s opera, Eugene Onegin (1878, libretto by Tchaikovsky and K. S. Shilovsky).
3. Braga’s famous Serenade: Gaetano Braga (1829–1907), Italian composer. The Serenade is otherwise known as Wallachian Legend. Chekhov’s brother Mikhail records Chekhov saying that he found ‘something mystical, full of beautiful romanticism in this romance’ (M. P. Chekhov, Around Chekhov, Moscow/Leningrad, 1933).
4. Gaucher’s article: Nikolaus Gaucher (1846–1911), celebrated French horticulturalist, widely read in Russia. Chekhov, a keen and accomplished gardener, was familiar with his books; among them were Guide to Grafting of Trees and Shrubs and Guide to Fruit Growing for the Practical Gardener.
5. Pesotsky is monarch of all he surveys: Lit. ‘Kochubey is rich and famous’, a line from Pushkin’s narrative poem Poltava (1829).
6. audiatur altera pars: ‘Let the other side be heard.’
7. sapienti sat: ‘Enough for a wise man.’
8. ‘In my Father’s house…’: John 14:2.
9. mens sana in corpore sano: ‘A sound mind in a sound body’, Juvenal (AD 60–130), Satires, x.
10. The Fast of the Assumption: (or Feast) 15 August.
11. Polycrates: Tyrant of Samos. Built up a large navy. Lured to the Greek mainland by Oroetes, Satrap of Sardis, he was crucified in 522 BC.
12. Socrates: Celebrated Athenian philosopher (c. 470–399 BC) who held that virtue is understanding. Sentenced to death for corrupting the youth of Athens.
13. Diogenes: See ‘Ward No. 6’, note 13, p. 321. Features prominently in the discussion between Ragin and Gromov in this story.
14. Marcus Aurelius: See ‘Ward No. 6’, note 14, p. 322. In his argument with Ragin in ‘Ward No. 6’, Gromov supports his idea that sufficient hardship or torture will break down any man’s fortitude.
15. ‘Rejoice evermore’: St Paul’s First Epistle to the Thessalonians 5:16.
16. the eve of Elijah’s Day: Evening of 20 July.
17. jalap: Mexican climbing plant (Exogonium purga).
Murder
‘Murder’ was first published in Russian Thought, 1895, originally with the subtitle ‘A Story’. To intensify the emotional impact Chekhov significantly shortened this story for the collected edition of his works, cutting out lengthy descriptions and extended reflections on the part of the main characters. ‘Murder’ had been fermenting for some time in Chekhov’s mind, as is shown by copious notes in his Note Books for 1892–5. It was written shortly after the death of N. S. Leskov (1831–95), who had given the most powerful and intimately knowledgeable portraits of sectarianism and fanaticism in Russian literature.
There are very strong echoes of Chekhov’s Sakhalin experiences in the story and the character of Yakov Ivanych is possibly based on an actual convict. There are also many passages reflecting conditions on Sakhalin – the descriptions of the convicts’ labours, the unloading of the ships, the description of the gulf and coast, the appalling weather.
1. ‘Song of Archangels’: Solemn canticle for Festival of the Annunciation. In a letter of 1892 Chekhov describes how he sang it in church with his brothers as a child.
2. St Andrew’s Vigil and the Te Deum: This canon was sung during first week of Lent.
3. already reading the Acts and the Epistles: The reading of these during Mass was entrusted to the particularly devout.
4. Mount Athos: Athos – a Greek peninsula in Chalcidice (Macedonia), with numerous monasteries and churches, the object of pilgrimages since the eleventh century.
5. Molokans: Religious sect formed in the eighteenth century. A clean-living, industrious people, their name derived from their drinking of milk on fast days, contrary to Orthodox practice. In the hope that the Kingdom of Christ would be revealed in the Trans-Caucasian regions, they flocked there from the 1830s onwards.
6. Forgiveness Day: Last Sunday before Lent.
7. ‘voice of one crying in the wilderness’: Matthew 3:3. Chekhov often used this phrase in letters and stories.
8. dormeuses: Carriages adapted for sleeping.
9. Flagellant meetings… went around in a white kerchief: The Flagellants, in existence since the church schism of the seventeenth century, led a particularly austere life. Renowned for their neat dress and purity. As a symbol of this clean living, the women members went around in snow-white kerchiefs.
10. Matthew 5:24.
11. Dué Roads: The convict settlement at Dué is described in Chekhov’s The Island of Sakhalin (serialized 1893–5); trans. B. Reeves (Cambridge: Ian Faulkner, 1993).
12. Voyevoda prison: Chekhov gives a chilling account of this grimmest of prisons in chapter 8 of The Island of Sakhalin. Prisoners were chained to wheelbarrows and the whole place was swarming with bugs. (The prison at Dué is described in the same chapter.)
A Woman’s Kingdom
First published in Russian Thought, 1894, then in the collection Tales and Stories, 1894. Much material for this story possibly came from Chekhov’s experience at a cotton factory in Voskresensk, whose owner was A. S. Tsurikova, an educated woman who loved to be philanthropic and who was a trustee of the school where Chekhov’s brother Ivan was a teacher. In a letter to A. S. Suvorin of 18 December 1893 Chekhov had announced that the story – a ‘description of a certain spinster’ – would be appearing in the January issue of Russian Thought. Originally, the story was planned on a much larger scale.
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p; 1. Old Creed: The supporters of the Old Creed (Old Believers or Nonconformists) broke away from the Russian Orthodox Church in the seventeenth century, refusing to recognize the reforms in ritual and correction of prayer books introduced by Patriarch Nikon.
2. ‘Thy Nativity…’: Troparion (hymn) for Christmas.
3. brown coat over his tunic: Students at schools and universities wore uniform at that time.
4. actual state councillor: An actual state councillor was fourth highest in the Table of Ranks instituted by Peter the Great in 1722.
5. ribbon of St Anne: Decoration for civic and military distinction, worn around the neck.
6. Leconte de Lisle: Charles Marie René, Leconte de Lisle (1818–94), French poet, leader of the Parnassian school.
7. Duse’s: Eleonora Duse (1859–1924), Italian actress who toured Russia in 1891–2. Famous for roles in Ibsen and D’Annunzio.
8. turbot matelote: Turbot cooked in a wine sauce.
9. Old Believer’s blood: Cf. note 1 above.
10. Jules Verne: French writer (1828–1905) of adventure stories. Chekhov had parodied him in his early Flying Islands (1883).
11. Maupassant: Guy de Maupassant (1850–93), French writer, greatly admired by Chekhov and a strong influence.
12. His last work exhausted, intoxicated me!: Possibly a reference to Maupassant’s Bel-Ami (1885).
13. simoom: A dry, suffocating, dust-laden wind blowing in African and Asiatic (Arabian) deserts in spring and summer.
The Two Volodyas
This story was first published in Russian Gazette, 1893, then in the collection Tales and Stories, 1894. At the time of printing Chekhov was furious with the editors of the magazine for cutting out apparently risqué passages, writing in December 1893 to V. A. Goltsev, co-editor of Russian Thought: ‘Oh, my story in Russian Gazette has been shorn so severely that they’ve cut off the head with the hair. Such puerile chastity and amazing cowardice! If they’d only thrown out a few lines that wouldn’t have been so bad, but they’ve brushed aside the middle, gnawed off the end and so drained my story of colour that it makes me sick.’
In preparing the story for the collected edition of his works, Chekhov made a number of stylistic corrections and changes. In particular, a passage containing severe criticism by the heroine of her husband and father who were to blame for her failure, was cut out.
1. as Derzhavin had blessed Pushkin: The aged poet Gavrila Romanovich Derzhavin (1743–1816) had blessed Pushkin as a schoolboy when he recited his celebratory poem before him at Tsarskoye Selo.
2. Ta-ra-ra-boomdeay: Lit. Tararabumbiya, a Russian version of refrain to famous French song of Parisian demi-monde at end of nineteenth century, Tha ma ra boum die (cf. A. Langux, Amours, 1900; 1961). This expression is also used by Chebutykin at the close of Three Sisters.
3. Why this sudden passion… horseradish?: Chekhov here almost literally quotes a passage from ‘Cultured People’ (1876), an article by the satirical novelist and publicist M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin (1826–89). He quotes the same passage in a letter to Suvorin (2 May 1897), when he writes: ‘I really don’t know what to do with myself and what’s beneficial for my health: a constitution or sturgeon with horseradish.’ In his article Saltykov-Shchedrin had ridiculed liberals, whose dreams of a constitution easily changed into dreams of sturgeon with horseradish.
4. Schopenhauers: Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860), German pessimistic philosopher. There are echoes of Schopenhauer in many of Chekhov’s stories, e.g., ‘A Dreary Story’.
Three Years
The most ‘novelistic’ in scope and length of Chekhov’s stories, ‘Three Years’ was first published in Russian Thought, 1895. For the collected edition the story underwent heavy revision, especially in the characterization of Laptev and his friends, and his relationship with Julia.
In a letter of September 1894 Chekhov wrote to his sister that he was writing ‘a novel based on Moscow life’, describing the work as most laborious. In December of that year he wrote to a female friend, E. M. Shavrova: ‘The intention was one thing, but something rather different resulted – rather limp, not silk as I wanted, but cambric… I’m bored with the same thing over and over again. I want to write about devils, about terrifying, volcanic women, about sorcerers – but alas! People demand well-intentioned stories and tales from the lives of so many Ivan Gavriloviches and their wives.’
Chekhov had first considered offering the story to the magazine Niva (The Cornfield ), but he could not promise to complete this long work in time for the editor’s deadline. Original titles suggested by Chekhov were ‘Scenes from Family Life’, ‘From Family Life’, and simply ‘A Story’. In January 1895 he wrote furiously to Suvorin, complaining that the censors had ‘thrown out the lines referring to religion’ – adding that as a result, when writing, he always felt he had ‘a bone stuck in my throat’.
1. Sokolniki: District in north-east Moscow, with a large pleasure park, highly popular for summer outings. Named after the royal falconers (sokolniki) who lived there in the seventeenth century.
2. Pyatnitsky Street: Long thoroughfare in the merchant quarter, south of the Moscow River.
3. Khimki: River port to north-west of Moscow.
4. wretched existence of yokels…: Lit. ‘from the point of view of landscape and Anton Goremyka’. Anton Goremyka (Anton the Wretched), eponymous hero of sentimental, humanitarian novel (1847) of that name by D. V. Grigorovich (1822–99), where peasants were depicted against a background of idyllic nature.
5. as the servant says in Tolstoy, ‘everything will sort itself out…’: Anna Karenina, part I, chapter 2.
6. The Bells of Corneville: Comic operetta (1877) by French composer Robert Planquette (1848–1903).
7. Tambov: Large town about 300 miles south-east of Moscow, founded in 1636 as a stronghold in the Muscovite southern defence line against the Crimean Tatars.
8. Kashira: Town about seventy miles south of Moscow.
9. Fley’s: Well-known patisserie in central Moscow.
10. Vologda: Ancient town about 300 miles north of Moscow. Once an important trading point.
11. Nikolsky Street: A main thoroughfare leading from Red Square.
12. what sanctimonious nonsense!: Lit: ‘just like Saltykov’s Iudushka’. Reference to M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin’s novel The Golovlyov Family, in which Iudushka is the archetypal canting hypocrite.
13. The Prophet Samuel…: 1 Samuel 16:4–5.
14. Anton Rubinstein: Anton Grigoryevich Rubinstein (1830–94), pianist and prolific composer.
15. Conservatoire: Founded in 1864 by Anton Rubinstein’s brother Nikolay.
16. Guerrier’s courses: V. I. Guerrier (1837–1919) was Professor of History at Moscow University.
17. Ostozhenka Street: In south-west Moscow. Savelovsky Street leads off it.
18. Great Nikitsky Street: In western Moscow.
19. Reinheit: ‘Purity’ (Germ.). Apparently this was one of the virtues Chekhov demanded in his female friends.
20. Presnya: District in western Moscow.
21. basta: ‘Enough’ (Ital.).
22. Razgulyay Square: In north-west Moscow.
23. Little Dmitrovka Street: In north-west Moscow. Chekhov liked this street so much that he lived in three different houses there. During the Soviet period it was named after him.
24. Old St Pimen’s Church: About 400 metres west of Little Dmitrovka Street.
25. Strastnoy Boulevard: In northern Moscow. The Tver Road was the point of departure for the St Petersburg stagecoach and Moscow’s main thoroughfare.
26. Iverian Chapel: Site of miracle-working Iverian Madonna icon, near Red Square. Built in 1669 it was one of the most highly revered places of worship in Russia. See also ‘Ward No. 6’, note 17, p. 322.
27. Filippov’s: Before the Revolution Moscow’s most fashionable coffeehouse. Ornately decorated, it was founded by the court baker.
28. Volokolamsk: Small town about sixty miles north-west of Moscow.<
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29. Maid of Orleans: Opera (1881) by Tchaikovsky, after the play by Schiller.
30. Marya Yermolov: Famous actress (1853–1928) of the time who spent five decades at the Maly Theatre.
31. Dresden Hotel: Near the Tver Road, in central Moscow.
32.…he told Pyotr, ‘You are not a sturgeon.’: The Russian for sturgeon is osyotr, thereby rhyming with Pyotr. In fact, a very weak joke, but funny as it is so very bad.
33. ‘In the sweat of thy face…’: Genesis 3:19.
34. Merchants’ Club: In Little Dmitrovka Street.
35. Yar’s: Highly popular out-of-town restaurant in Petrovsky Park, to north-west of Moscow.
36. Strelna: Like Yar’s, situated in Petrovsky Park. Baedeker describes both these restaurants as: ‘much frequented in the evening (not cheap)’.
37. School of Art: In north-west Moscow.
38. Shishkin: I. I. Shishkin (1832–98), landscape painter. In a letter of November 1892 to Suvorin, Chekhov wrote disparagingly of two leading Russian painters: ‘Do the paintings of Repin and Shishkin turn your head?… They’re charming, talented, you admire them. But at the same time you’re dying for a smoke.’
39. Exaltation of the Cross: Celebrated on 14 September.
40. Yaroslavl: Large town about 200 miles north-east of Moscow.
41. ‘My dear, tender love’: Words from Pushkin’s poem Night (1827), set to music by Anton Rubinstein.
42. Krasny Prud: ‘Red Pond’ – in north-west Moscow, about three miles from Red Square.
43. Lyapunovs and Godunovs… Yaroslav or Monomakh… Pimen’s soliloquy: P. P. Lyapunov (d. 1611), national hero against invading Poles in early seventeenth century; Boris Godunov (1552–1605) was first Regent and then Tsar of Russia from 1598 until his death; Yaroslav I, ‘The Wise’, Prince of Kiev from 1019 to 1054; Vladimir Monomakh, Prince of Kiev from 1113 to 1125; a famous speech from Pushkin’s historical drama Boris Godunov (1831).
Ward No. 6 and Other Stories Page 40
