The Darling and Other StoriesChekhov, Anton Pavlovich
General
The Darling and Other Stories
Chekhov, Anton Pavlovich
Chekhov, Anton Pavlovich, 1860-1904 -- Translations into English; Russia -- Social life and customs -- Fiction
If she could have imagined when she got married, that it would be
so oppressive, so dreadful, and so hideous, she would not have
consented to the marriage for all the wealth in the world. But now
there was no setting it right. She must make up her mind to it.
They reached home. Getting into her warm, soft bed, and pulling the
bed-clothes over her, Sofya Lvovna recalled the dark church, the
smell of incense, and the figures by the columns, and she felt
frightened at the thought that these figures would be standing there
all the while she was asleep. The early service would be very, very
long; then there would be "the hours," then the mass, then the
service of the day.
"But of course there is a God--there certainly is a God; and I
shall have to die, so that sooner or later one must think of one's
soul, of eternal life, like Olga. Olga is saved now; she has settled
all questions for herself. . . . But if there is no God? Then her
life is wasted. But how is it wasted? Why is it wasted?"
And a minute later the thought came into her mind again:
"There is a God; death must come; one must think of one's soul. If
Olga were to see death before her this minute she would not be
afraid. She is prepared. And the great thing is that she has already
solved the problem of life for herself. There is a God . . . yes
. . . . But is there no other solution except going into a monastery?
To go into the monastery means to renounce life, to spoil it . . . ."
Sofya Lvovna began to feel rather frightened; she hid her head under
her pillow.
"I mustn't think about it," she whispered. "I mustn't. . . ."
Yagitch was walking about on the carpet in the next room with a
soft jingle of spurs, thinking about something. The thought occurred
to Sofya Lvovna that this man was near and dear to her only for one
reason--that his name, too, was Vladimir. She sat up in bed and
called tenderly:
"Volodya!"
"What is it?" her husband responded.
"Nothing."
She lay down again. She heard a bell, perhaps the same nunnery bell.
Again she thought of the vestibule and the dark figures, and thoughts
of God and of inevitable death strayed through her mind, and she
covered her ears that she might not hear the bell. She thought that
before old age and death there would be a long, long life before
her, and that day by day she would have to put up with being close
to a man she did not love, who had just now come into the bedroom
and was getting into bed, and would have to stifle in her heart her
hopeless love for the other young, fascinating, and, as she thought,
exceptional man. She looked at her husband and tried to say good-night
to him, but suddenly burst out crying instead. She was vexed with
herself.
"Well, now then for the music!" said Yagitch.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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