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The schoolmistress, and other stories

by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)

  • Free to read
  • 4 hours to read
  • 9 chapters
  • Reading level: 6th grade

"The Schoolmistress and Other Stories" by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov is a collection of short stories written in the late 19th century. The stories delve into the complexities of human emotions and social situations, often exploring themes of loneliness, love, and societal constraints. In the opening tale, "The Schoolmistress," the narrative follows Marya Vassilyevna, a weary schoolteacher, as she reflects on her mundane life and internal struggles on a journey back to her village. At the start of "The Schoolmistress," readers are introduced to Marya Vassilyevna, who is returning home after collecting her salary. As she travels along a familiar road, Chekhov captures her sense of monotony and discontentment, overshadowed by the memories of her past life that she struggles to recall. The story paints a vivid picture of her surroundings while also hinting at her longing for connections and the beauty that life offers, yet remains just out of reach. As she encounters Hanov, a local landowner with an alluring charm, Marya contemplates the absurdity of her own life in comparison to his, intensifying her inner conflict. This opening sets the stage for a poignant exploration of her unfulfilled desires and the harsh realities of her existence.

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  • Short stories
  • Russia · Social life and customs
  • Chekhov, Anton Pavlovich, 1860-1904 · Translations into English

Read the opening

Chapter III

Having drunk two glasses of porter, the artist became suddenly tipsy and grew unnaturally lively.

“Let’s go to another!” he said peremptorily, waving his hands. “I will take you to the best one.”

When he had brought his friends to the house which in his opinion was the best, he declared his firm intention of dancing a quadrille. The medical student grumbled something about their having to pay the musicians a rouble, but agreed to be his vis-a-vis. They began dancing.

It was just as nasty in the best house as in the worst. Here there were just the same looking-glasses and pictures, the same styles of coiffure and dress. Looking round at the furnishing of the rooms and the costumes, Vassilyev realized that this was not lack of taste, but something that might be called the taste, and even the style, of S. Street, which could not be found elsewhere—something intentional in its ugliness, not accidental, but elaborated in the course of years. After he had been in eight houses he was no longer surprised at the color of the dresses, at the long trains, the gaudy ribbons, the sailor dresses, and the thick purplish rouge on the cheeks; he saw that it all had to be like this, that if a single one of the women had been dressed like a human being, or if there had been one decent engraving on the wall, the general tone of the whole street would have suffered.

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Contents

  1. Front Matter
  2. Chapter III
  3. Chapter IV
  4. Chapter V
  5. Chapter VI
  6. Chapter VII
  7. Chapter II: The old banker remembered all this, and thought
  8. Chapter I
  9. Chapter II

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About this edition

This free edition of The schoolmistress, and other stories by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov comes from Project Gutenberg eBook #1732, released 2006-02-22. It is in the public domain in the United States, so you can read it here in full at no cost, on any phone, tablet or computer. Genre: Short Stories, Russian Literature.

Summary provided by Project Gutenberg (automatically generated).

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