The Bishop and Other StoriesChekhov, Anton Pavlovich
General
The Bishop and Other Stories
Chekhov, Anton Pavlovich
Chekhov, Anton Pavlovich, 1860-1904 -- Translations into English; Russia -- Social life and customs -- Fiction
Konstantin awkwardly released his feet, on which he was sitting,
stretched himself on the earth, and propped his head in his fists,
then got up and sat down again. Everyone by now thoroughly understood
that he was in love and happy, poignantly happy; his smile, his
eyes, and every movement, expressed fervent happiness. He could not
find a place for himself, and did not know what attitude to take
to keep himself from being overwhelmed by the multitude of his
delightful thoughts. Having poured out his soul before these
strangers, he settled down quietly at last, and, looking at the
fire, sank into thought.
At the sight of this happy man everyone felt depressed and longed
to be happy, too. Everyone was dreamy. Dymov got up, walked about
softly by the fire, and from his walk, from the movement of his
shoulder-blades, it could be seen that he was weighed down by
depression and yearning. He stood still for a moment, looked at
Konstantin and sat down.
The camp fire had died down by now; there was no flicker, and the
patch of red had grown small and dim. . . . And as the fire went
out the moonlight grew clearer and clearer. Now they could see the
full width of the road, the bales of wool, the shafts of the waggons,
the munching horses; on the further side of the road there was the
dim outline of the second cross. . . .
Dymov leaned his cheek on his hand and softly hummed some plaintive
song. Konstantin smiled drowsily and chimed in with a thin voice.
They sang for half a minute, then sank into silence. Emelyan started,
jerked his elbows and wriggled his fingers.
"Lads," he said in an imploring voice, "let's sing something sacred!"
Tears came into his eyes. "Lads," he repeated, pressing his hands
on his heart, "let's sing something sacred!"
"I don't know anything," said Konstantin.
Everyone refused, then Emelyan sang alone. He waved both arms,
nodded his head, opened his mouth, but nothing came from his throat
but a discordant gasp. He sang with his arms, with his head, with
his eyes, even with the swelling on his face; he sang passionately
with anguish, and the more he strained his chest to extract at least
one note from it, the more discordant were his gasps.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account