When the completed story was submitted to the censors, in galley form, it was severely mutilated: they cut the scene with the Governor and the son’s final humiliation with his father. These were later restored. The publication was sorrowfully greeted by Chekhov and in letters to Lugovoy, Suvorin and T. L. Tolstaya (Tolstoy’s eldest daughter) he voiced his distress, complaining to Tolstaya: ‘Toward the end of summer I had a story ready… “My Life” – I couldn’t think of any other title and I was counting on bringing it with me to Yasnaya Polyana, in page proof form. But it’s now being printed in the Supplement and I feel revulsion for it, since the censors have gone over it and many parts are unrecognizable’ (letter of 9 November 1896). He was particularly shocked at the rough censorial treatment of the last chapter, writing to Suvorin: ‘It’s horrible, just horrible! They’ve turned the last chapter into a desert.’
Chekhov never liked the final title (Lugovoy had persuaded him to retain the present title, with the subtitle ‘A Provincial’s Story’), which struck him as ‘revolting’ – especially the word ‘My’, preferring to call it ‘In the Nineties’, which Lugovoy thought pretentious.
It was the mutilation at the hands of the censors that prompted Chekhov to have the story published as a separate book, together with ‘Peasants’, but in accordance with conditions laid down by A. F. Marks’ publishing house this could not be published until one year later.
The background of the story is most probably Taganrog, Chekhov’s birthplace, and there are several features linked to the author’s childhood. Like Chekhov, the story’s hero, Misail Poloznev, has a loathing for Greek and suffers humiliating beatings from a tyrannical father.
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1. Borodino: Village about eighty miles west of Moscow, scene of the bloody battle in 1812 between Napoleon’s army and the Russians under Kutuzov. In about fifteen hours more than a third of each army had perished, totalling over 100,000 soldiers. After the battle Napoleon marched into Moscow.
2. Dubechnya: Name of actual village where Chekhov lived for a time; it was close to Melikhovo.
3. Kimry: Small town in Tver province on left bank of the Volga and centre of shoe-making industry.
4. Tula: See ‘A Visit to Friends’, note 1, p. 337.
5. pig-faced freaks: Reference to the human ‘monsters’ in Gogol’s Dead Souls. Lit. ‘swinish snouts’.
6. Serfdom has been abolished: Serfdom was officially abolished in 1861.
7. ‘Make to yourselves…’: Luke 16:9.
8. vegetarian: Vegetarianism, widespread among opposition circles (e.g. Tolstoyans), was deeply frowned upon by the official church.
9. Zalegoshch: Village in Tula province, east of Oryol.
10. Khlyst: Member of religious sect practising flagellation.
11. Russia began…: AD 862 is the traditional date of the foundation of Russian statehood, when the Varangian (Viking) Ryurik was established as Prince of Novgorod. See also ‘The House with the Mezzanine’, note 4, p. 331.
12. ‘Holy Virgin, Intercessor’: Hymn in honour of Our Lady of Kazan.
13. ‘Why do I love thee, O radiant night?’: From Night (1850), a poem by Ya. P. Polonsky, set to music by Tchaikovsky.
14. Exhibition in America: The World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893.
15. Ostrovsky: A. N. Ostrovsky (1823–86), major Russian playwright; his chief plays are The Storm (1860) and The Forest (1875).
The Lady with the Little Dog
Chekhov began writing ‘The Lady with the Little Dog’ in Yalta, in August or September 1899. In a letter of 15 September that year he wrote to V. A. Goltsev, editor of Russian Thought: ‘Forgive me for not sending the story, because it’s not ready yet. Parquet floor layers and carpenters are banging away from morning to night and stop me from working. And the weather’s very good, so it’s difficult sitting indoors.’ The story was published in the December issue of Russian Thought and for the Collected Edition of 1903 Chekhov made significant changes, chiefly in elimination of superfluous detail and material in the depiction of Gurov and Anna Sergeyevna. In the later version Chekhov gave much greater emphasis to Gurov’s capacity for abstract thought and analysing his own actions. Similarly, lengthy description of the heroine’s married life and her life in S— was eliminated.
At the time of writing this story Chekhov’s relationship with Olga Knipper was deepening. Together they made many excursions around Yalta, which are reflected in the story.
1. Yalta: Crimean town on the Black Sea, a major health resort from the 1880s. Chekhov built a villa there in 1899 and lived chiefly in Yalta until his death in 1904. ‘The Lady with the Little Dog’ is his only story set in Yalta. In the summer of 1899 Chekhov had a meeting at Vernet’s restaurant with the young writer Yelena Shavrova, who was infatuated with him.
2. Belyov or Zhizdra: Small, insignificant towns to the south and south-west of Moscow respectively.
3. Oreanda: Picturesque viewpoint about three miles west of Yalta, formerly a royal estate. A summer residence was built there by Nicholas I, but burnt down in 1881. A beautiful park leads down to the sea from the ruins.
4. Feodosiya: Fashionable resort on the south-eastern Crimean coast, about seventy miles from Yalta.
5. the waterfall: Uchasu Waterfall, a beauty spot about five miles from Yalta and very popular for excursions.
6. Petrovka: One of the most aristocratic streets in Moscow and a major thoroughfare.
7. The Geisha: An operetta by the English composer Sidney Jones (1861–1946), written in 1896. This very popular work was performed in Paris, London, Berlin, Vienna, etc., and enjoyed great success in Russia, with more than 200 performances in Moscow. Chekhov had possibly seen this operetta in Yalta in 1899, where it was performed by a local opera group. Impressions of the Yalta and Taganrog theatres are no doubt reflected in the theatre in the town of S—. In a letter of 15 December 1898 Chekhov wrote to his sister: ‘I’m writing this in the theatre, in a fur coat, sitting in the gallery. This lousy little orchestra and gallery remind me of my childhood.’
8. Slav Fair Hotel: See ‘Peasants’, note 1, p. 333.
In the Ravine
‘In the Ravine’ was published in the journal Life in 1900. Chekhov had begun work on the story in Yalta, in November–December 1899, widely using random material from his First Notebook (1891–1904). The close ties with ‘Peasants’ are evident from these preliminary notes. ‘In the Ravine’ was written at the persistent request of V. A. Posset, editor of Life, and of Maxim Gorky, who took part in the literary section of the journal. From December 1898 both Posset and Gorky had repeatedly invited Chekhov to contribute to Life.