The Party and Other StoriesChekhov, Anton Pavlovich
General
The Party and Other Stories
Chekhov, Anton Pavlovich
Chekhov, Anton Pavlovich, 1860-1904 -- Translations into English; Russia -- Social life and customs -- Fiction
When Klimov came to himself there was not a soul in his bedroom.
The morning sun was streaming in at the window through the lower
blind, and a quivering sunbeam, bright and keen as the sword's edge,
was flashing on the glass bottle. He heard the rattle of wheels--
so there was no snow now in the street. The lieutenant looked at
the ray, at the familiar furniture, at the door, and the first thing
he did was to laugh. His chest and stomach heaved with delicious,
happy, tickling laughter. His whole body from head to foot was
overcome by a sensation of infinite happiness and joy in life, such
as the first man must have felt when he was created and first saw
the world. Klimov felt a passionate desire for movement, people,
talk. His body lay a motionless block; only his hands stirred, but
that he hardly noticed, and his whole attention was concentrated
on trifles. He rejoiced in his breathing, in his laughter, rejoiced
in the existence of the water-bottle, the ceiling, the sunshine,
the tape on the curtains. God's world, even in the narrow space of
his bedroom, seemed beautiful, varied, grand. When the doctor made
his appearance, the lieutenant was thinking what a delicious thing
medicine was, how charming and pleasant the doctor was, and how
nice and interesting people were in general.
"So-o, so, so. . . Excellent, excellent! . . . Now we are well
again. . . . Goo-od, goo-od!" the doctor pattered.
The lieutenant listened and laughed joyously; he remembered the
Finn, the lady with the white teeth, the train, and he longed to
smoke, to eat.
"Doctor," he said, "tell them to give me a crust of rye bread and
salt, and . . . and sardines."
The doctor refused; Pavel did not obey the order, and did not go
for the bread. The lieutenant could not bear this and began crying
like a naughty child.
"Baby!" laughed the doctor. "Mammy, bye-bye!"
Klimov laughed, too, and when the doctor went away he fell into a
sound sleep. He woke up with the same joyfulness and sensation of
happiness. His aunt was sitting near the bed.
"Well, aunt," he said joyfully. "What has been the matter?"
"Spotted typhus."
"Really. But now I am well, quite well! Where is Katya?"
"She is not at home. I suppose she has gone somewhere from her
examination."
The old lady said this and looked at her stocking; her lips began
quivering, she turned away, and suddenly broke into sobs. Forgetting
the doctor's prohibition in her despair, she said:
"Ah, Katya, Katya! Our angel is gone! Is gone!"
She dropped her stocking and bent down to it, and as she did so her
cap fell off her head. Looking at her grey head and understanding
nothing, Klimov was frightened for Katya, and asked:
"Where is she, aunt?"
The old woman, who had forgotten Klimov and was thinking only of
her sorrow, said:
"She caught typhus from you, and is dead. She was buried the day
before yesterday."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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