The Lady with the Dog and Other StoriesChekhov, Anton Pavlovich
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The Lady with the Dog and Other Stories
Chekhov, Anton Pavlovich
Chekhov, Anton Pavlovich, 1860-1904 -- Translations into English; Russia -- Social life and customs -- Fiction
And he said what he meant in a roundabout way:
"You in the position of a factory owner and a wealthy heiress are
dissatisfied; you don't believe in your right to it; and here now you
can't sleep. That, of course, is better than if you were satisfied,
slept soundly, and thought everything was satisfactory. Your
sleeplessness does you credit; in any case, it is a good sign. In
reality, such a conversation as this between us now would have been
unthinkable for our parents. At night they did not talk, but slept
sound; we, our generation, sleep badly, are restless, but talk a great
deal, and are always trying to settle whether we are right or not. For
our children or grandchildren that question--whether they are right or
not--will have been settled. Things will be clearer for them than for
us. Life will be good in fifty years' time; it's only a pity we shall
not last out till then. It would be interesting to have a peep at it."
"What will our children and grandchildren do?" asked Liza.
"I don't know.... I suppose they will throw it all up and go away."
"Go where?"
"Where?... Why, where they like," said Korolyov; and he laughed. "There
are lots of places a good, intelligent person can go to."
He glanced at his watch.
"The sun has risen, though," he said. "It is time you were asleep.
Undress and sleep soundly. Very glad to have made your acquaintance," he
went on, pressing her hand. "You are a good, interesting woman.
Good-night!"
He went to his room and went to bed.
In the morning when the carriage was brought round they all came out on
to the steps to see him off. Liza, pale and exhausted, was in a white
dress as though for a holiday, with a flower in her hair; she looked at
him, as yesterday, sorrowfully and intelligently, smiled and talked, and
all with an expression as though she wanted to tell him something
special, important--him alone. They could hear the larks trilling and
the church bells pealing. The windows in the factory buildings were
sparkling gaily, and, driving across the yard and afterwards along the
road to the station, Korolyov thought neither of the workpeople nor of
lake dwellings, nor of the devil, but thought of the time, perhaps close
at hand, when life would be as bright and joyous as that still Sunday
morning; and he thought how pleasant it was on such a morning in the
spring to drive with three horses in a good carriage, and to bask in the
sunshine.
AN UPHEAVAL
MASHENKA PAVLETSKY, a young girl who had only just finished her studies
at a boarding school, returning from a walk to the house of the
Kushkins, with whom she was living as a governess, found the household
in a terrible turmoil. Mihailo, the porter who opened the door to her,
was excited and red as a crab.
Loud voices were heard from upstairs.
"Madame Kushkin is in a fit, most likely, or else she has quarrelled
with her husband," thought Mashenka.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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