Anton Chekhov - Stories from 1886

This post gives a summary of the stories of Anton Chekhov from 1886. If you know of things which should be added, please let me know. A summary of all his stories his here.

Stories

• "An Actor's End"
  
  Summary:
  A story of an actor who becomes ill and thinks he is
  dying. He wants to go home, interupting the play is is
  performing in. The other actors in the play try to cheer
  him up and talk him out of it, not believing he is about to die.
  One at a time, day after day, they visit him in his hotel room, trying to
  comfort him with one "remedy" (e.g., castor oil) or another.
  All the sick actor wants to talk about is going to his
  home town. After a few days lying in his hotel-room bed,
  he dies.
  
  Audio:
  Read by Kenneth Branagh (on youtube).
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13409
  
  
  
• "Agafya"
  
  Summary:
  http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/chekhov/section9.rhtml
  
  
  Text: here.
  
• "Anyuta"
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13416
  
  
  
• "Art"
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13417
  
  
  
• "At the Mill"
  
  Note:
  Seems to be missing from Wikipedia.(In "The Portable Chekhov" by Anton Chekhov.)
  
  Summary:
  This is a story of a mill owner who is well-off thanks to his mill and the well-stocked river. His selfish character is made clear when it is revealed that the woman he is speaking impersonally to for most of the story is his impoverished mother.
  
  
  
• "At a Summer Villa"
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13414
  
  
  
• "A Blunder"
  
  Also called "Foiled."
  
  Summary:
  Parents of an eligible daughter try to trap a boyfriend into marriage using a religious icon. Instead of grabbing a religious icon, the mother mistakenly grabs an ordinary piece of art, allowing the boyfriend to escape.
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13414
  
  
  
• "The Chemist's Wife"
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13505
  
  
  
• "Children"
  
  Note:
  Also "Kids" (however, Wikipedia lists "Kids" and "Children" as separate
  stories in 1886)
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13417
  
  
  
• "The Chorus Girl"
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13418
  
  
• "A Day in the Country"
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13417
  
  
• "The Dependents"
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13417
  
  
• "Difficult People"
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1883
  
  
• "Dreams"
  
  Also "Daydreams".
  
  Summary:
  Two police officers escort an escaped prisoner who
  tells them a story of hope.
  
  
  Text: here.
  
  
• "Excellent People" ("Difficult People")
  
  Summary:
  http://litmed.med.nyu.edu/Annotation?action=view&annid=963
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13505
  
  
• "The First-Class Passenger"
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1732
  
  
• "A Gentleman Friend"
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13418
  
  
• "Grisha"
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13417
  
  
• "A Happy Man"
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13409
  
  
  
• 
  "The Husband"
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13415
  
  
  
• "Hush"
  
  Summary:
  Story of a journalist who is a writer at night after work. He complains of the life of a writer, agonizing his wife and family in the process.
  
  Audio:
  Read by Kenneth Branagh (on youtube).
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13412
  
  
• "Hydrophobia"
  
  Note:
  Missing from Wikipedia. Appeared in [Y].
  Slightly revised in 1901 as "The Wolf".
  
  Summary:
  A tale of a hunter's fight with a wolf. He worries about catching hydrophobia as a result of being in contact with a possibly rabid wolf.
  
  
  
• "An Incident"
  
  Note:
  Not to be confused with "A Trivial Incident", from the same year.
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13417
  See also An incident.
  
  
• "In the Court"
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13412
  
  
• "In the Dark"
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13412
  
  
• "Ivan Matveyitch"
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13418
  
  
• "A Jeune Premiere"
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13409
  
  
• "A Joke"
  
  Note:
  Also, "The Little Joke"
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13414
  
  
• "Kids"
  
  Text:
  In "Early Stories" (transl. by P. Miles and H. Pitcher), Oxford Univ. Press, 1982.
  
  
• "Ladies"
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13412
  
  
• "The Lodger"
  
  Note:
  Missing from Wikipedia. Appeared in [Y].
  
  Summary:
  A husband of a wife who owns an apartment complex realizes he is just as much of a lodger as the other tenants.
  
  
  
• "Love"
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13414
  
  
  
• "Martyrs"
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13414
  
  
  
• "Mire"
  
  Summary:
  http://litmed.med.nyu.edu/Annotation?action=view&annid=12112
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13505
  
  
  
• "Misery"
  
  Note:
  Also "Heartache"
  
  Summary:
  This is a story of a father who has lost his son. He drives a carriage and his customers do not listen as he tells them his son has died.
  
  http://litmed.med.nyu.edu/Annotation?action=view&annid=140
  
  Audio:
  Read by Kenneth Branagh (on youtube).
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1732
  
  
  
• "Not Wanted"
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13413
  
  
• "The Objet d'Art"
  
  See "A Work of Art"
  
  
• "On the Road"
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13418
  
  
• "The Orator"
  
  Summary:
  A story of a gifted orator who is asked to speak at a funeral. The orator knew the deceased as a rascal" and on his way to the funeral stopped by several bars for a drink. The orator called the deceased by the wrong name, said he was a bachelor (while is weeping wife sat in front of him), and described his features incorrectly. During the speech, he discovers the error himself and gets into an argument with the fellow who escorted him to the gravesite. In fact, the person the orator spoke of was also at the funeral and was insulted by the descriptions of him. Good dry, black-ish humor.
  
  Audio:
  Read by Kenneth Branagh (on youtube).
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13412
  
  
  
• "Other People's Misfortune"
  
  Note:
  Missing from Wikipedia. Appeared in [Y].
  
  Summary:
  A wealthy couple, young and newly married, are on a trip to buy another house - a "romantic nook" in the country. They arrive at an estate (with its own fishing pond, guest house, and separate building housing the kitchen) still occupied by its elderly owners. They cannot afford the property taxes and so must sell. The young husband mocks them behind their back, while the young wife pities them.
  
  
• "Panic Fears"
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1732
  
  
  
• "A Peculiar Man"
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13412
  
  
  
• "A Pink Stocking"
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13414
  
  
  
• "The Princess"
  
  Summary:
  http://litmed.med.nyu.edu/Annotation?action=view&annid=966
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13505
  
  
  
• "The Privy Councillor"
  
  Summary:
  Humorous story of a brother visiting his sister, and getting her to pay for his trip abroad so that she can have some peace and quiet.
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1883
  
  
  
• "The Requiem"
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1732
  
  
  
• "Revenge"
  
  Text:
  In "Early Stories" (transl. by P. Miles and H. Pitcher), Oxford Univ. Press, 1982.
  
  
• "Romance with Double-Bass"
  
  Note: In "Early Stories" by Anton Chekhov.
  
  
  
• "The Schoolmaster"
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13412
  
  
  
• "A Story Without an End"
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13414
  
  
  
• "Strong Impressions"
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13412
  
  
  
• "Talent"
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13416
  
  
  
• "A Trifle From Life"
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13413
  
  
  
• "A Tripping Tongue"
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13412
  
  
  
• "A Trivial Incident"
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13418
  
  
  
• "A Troublesome Visitor"
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13409
  
  
  
• "An Upheaval"
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13415
  
  
• "Van'ka"
  
  Also "Vanka"
  
  Summary:
  A nine year old boy writes his grandfather asking him to rescue him from the home he is forced to live in. He is a servant and poorly treated.
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13417
  
  
  
• "Who Was to Blame?"
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13417
  
  
  
• "Women Make Trouble"
  
  Note:
  Missing from Wikipedia. Appeared in [Y].
  
  Summary:
  A witness is summoned for questioning by a judge. A man is accused of beating his wife. According to the witness, he beats everyone, wife included. His abuse is tolerated because her has more money than the others.
  
  
  
• "A Work of Art"
  
  Note:
  Also "The Objet d'Art".
  
  Summary:
  http://litmed.med.nyu.edu/Annotation?action=view&annid=1734
  
  Text:
  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13414
  In "Early Stories" (transl. by P. Miles and H. Pitcher), Oxford Univ. Press, 1982.
  
  

Plays

• On the Harmful Effects of Tobacco ( 1886, 1902)
  
  Note:
  Revised in 1902. Both versions appeared in [Y].
  
  Summary:
  http://litmed.med.nyu.edu/Annotation?action=view&annid=1110
  
  Text:
  http://method.vtheatre.net/doc/tobacco.html,
  
  
  

References

[C] A. Chekhov
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Chekhov
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Chekhov_bibliography
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_short_stories_by_Anton_Chekhov
Stories of Anton Chekhov:
http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/c#a708

[Y] Avrahm Yarmolinsky (translator and editor), The Unknown Chekhov, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1999.