Anton Chekhov (1860–1904) was a Russian playwright and short story writer known for his realistic and character-driven works. His plays, such as “The Cherry Orchard” and “The Seagull,” revolutionized modern drama and continue to be performed worldwide.
Short Stories written by Anton Chekhov
A Bad Business 1877 - WHO goes there?" No answer. The watchman sees nothing, but through the roar of the wind and the trees distinctly… ... Read more
A Blunder 1877 - ILYA SERGEITCH PEPLOV and his wife Kleopatra Petrovna were standing at the door, listening greedily. On the other side in… ... Read more
A Boring Story 1877 - I There is in Russia an emeritus Professor Nikolay Stepanovitch, a chevalier and privy councillor; he has so many Russian… ... Read more
A Chameleon 1877 - THE police superintendent Otchumyelov is walking across the market square wearing a new overcoat and carrying a parcel under his… ... Read more
A Classical Student 1877 - BEFORE setting off for his examination in Greek, Vanya kissed all the holy images. His stomach felt as though it… ... Read more
A Country Cottage 1877 - Two young people who had not long been married were walking up and down the platform of a little country… ... Read more
A Daughter Of Albion 1877 - FINE carriage with rubber tyres, a fat coachman, and velvet on the seats, rolled up to the house of a… ... Read more
A Day In The Country 1877 - BETWEEN eight and nine o'clock in the morning. A dark leaden-coloured mass is creeping over the sky towards the sun.… ... Read more
A Dead Body 1877 - A STILL August night. A mist is rising slowly from the fields and casting an opaque veil over everything within… ... Read more
A Defenseless Creature 1877 - IN spite of a violent attack of gout in the night and the nervous exhaustion left by it, Kistunov went… ... Read more
A Doctor’s Visit 1877 - THE Professor received a telegram from the Lyalikovs' factory; he was asked to come as quickly as possible. The daughter… ... Read more
A Father 1877 - "I ADMIT I have had a drop. . . . You must excuse me. I went into a beer shop… ... Read more
A Gentleman Friend 1877 - THE charming Vanda, or, as she was described in her passport, the "Honourable Citizen Nastasya Kanavkin," found herself, on leaving… ... Read more
A Happy Ending 1877 - LYUBOV GRIGORYEVNA, a substantial, buxom lady of forty who undertook matchmaking and many other matters of which it is usual… ... Read more
A Happy Man 1877 - THE passenger train is just starting from Bologoe, the junction on the Petersburg-Moscow line. In a second-class smoking compartment five… ... Read more
A Joke 1877 - IT was a bright winter midday. . . . There was a sharp snapping frost and the curls on Nadenka's… ... Read more
A Lady’s Story 1877 - NINE years ago Pyotr Sergeyitch, the deputy prosecutor, and I were riding towards evening in hay-making time to fetch the… ... Read more
A Living Chattle 1877 - GROHOLSKY embraced Liza, kept kissing one after another all her little fingers with their bitten pink nails, and laid her… ... Read more
A Malefactor 1877 - AN exceedingly lean little peasant, in a striped hempen shirt and patched drawers, stands facing the investigating magistrate. His face… ... Read more
A Misfortune 1877 - SOFYA PETROVNA, the wife of Lubyantsev the notary, a handsome young woman of five-and-twenty, was walking slowly along a track… ... Read more
A Mystery 1877 - ON the evening of Easter Sunday the actual Civil Councillor, Navagin, on his return from paying calls, picked up the… ... Read more
A Nervous Breakdown 1877 - A MEDICAL student called Mayer, and a pupil of the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture called Rybnikov, went… ... Read more
A Nightmare 1877 - Kunin, a young man of thirty, who was a permanent member of the Rural Board, on returning from Petersburg to… ... Read more
A Peculiar Man 1877 - BETWEEN twelve and one at night a tall gentleman, wearing a top-hat and a coat with a hood, stops before… ... Read more
A Pink Stocking 1877 - DULL, rainy day. The sky is completely covered with heavy clouds, and there is no prospect of the rain ceasing.… ... Read more
A Play 1877 - PAVEL VASSILYEVITCH, there's a lady here, asking for you," Luka announced. "She's been waiting a good hour. . . ."… ... Read more
A Problem 1877 - THE strictest measures were taken that the Uskovs' family secret might not leak out and become generally known. Half of… ... Read more
A Slander 1877 - SERGE KAPITONICH AHINEEV, the writing master, was marrying his daughter to the teacher of history and geography. The wedding festivities… ... Read more
A Story Without A Title 1877 - IN the fifth century, just as now, the sun rose every morning and every evening retired to rest. In the… ... Read more
A Story Without An End 1877 - SOON after two o'clock one night, long ago, the cook, pale and agitated, rushed unexpectedly into my study and informed… ... Read more
A Tragic Actor 1877 - IT was the benefit night of Fenogenov, the tragic actor. They were acting "Prince Serebryany." The tragedian himself was playing… ... Read more
A Transgression 1877 - A COLLEGIATE assessor called Miguev stopped at a telegraph-post in the course of his evening walk and heaved a deep… ... Read more
A Trifle From Life 1877 - A WELL-FED, red-cheeked young man called Nikolay Ilyitch Belyaev, of thirty-two, who was an owner of house property in Petersburg,… ... Read more
A Tripping Tongue 1877 - NATALYA MIHALOVNA, a young married lady who had arrived in the morning from Yalta, was having her dinner, and in… ... Read more
A Trivial Incident 1877 - IT was a sunny August midday as, in company with a Russian prince who had come down in the world,… ... Read more
A Troublesome Visitor 1877 - IN the low-pitched, crooked little hut of Artyom, the forester, two men were sitting under the big dark ikon --… ... Read more
A Woman’s Kingdom 1877 - I Christmas Eve HERE was a thick roll of notes. It came from the bailiff at the forest villa; he… ... Read more
A Work Of Art 1877 - SASHA SMIRNOV, the only son of his mother, holding under his arm, something wrapped up in No. 223 of the… ... Read more
Aborigines 1877 - BETWEEN nine and ten in the morning. Ivan Lyashkevsky, a lieutenant of Polish origin, who has at some time or… ... Read more
About Love 1877 - AT lunch next day there were very nice pies, crayfish, and mutton cutlets; and while we were eating, Nikanor, the… ... Read more
After The Theatre 1877 - NADYA ZELENIN had just come back with her mamma from the theatre where she had seen a performance of "Yevgeny… ... Read more
Agafya 1877 - DURING my stay in the district of S. I often used to go to see the watchman Savva Stukatch, or… ... Read more
An Actor’s End 1877 - SHTCHIPTSOV, the "heavy father" and "good-hearted simpleton," a tall and thick-set old man, not so much distinguished by his talents… ... Read more
An Adventure 1877 - IT was in that wood yonder, behind the creek, that it happened, sir. My father, the kingdom of Heaven be… ... Read more
An Anonymous Story 1877 - THROUGH causes which it is not the time to go into in detail, I had to enter the service of… ... Read more
An Artist’s Story 1877 - IT was six or seven years ago when I was living in one of the districts of the province of… ... Read more
An Avenger 1877 - SHORTLY after finding his wife in flagrante delicto Fyodor Fyodorovitch Sigaev was standing in Schmuck and Co.'s, the gunsmiths, selecting… ... Read more
An Enigmatic Nature 1877 - ON the red velvet seat of a first-class railway carriage a pretty lady sits half reclining. An expensive fluffy fan… ... Read more
An Inadvertence 1877 - PYOTR PETROVITCH STRIZHIN, the nephew of Madame Ivanov, the colonel's widow -- the man whose new goloshes were stolen last… ... Read more
An Incident 1877 - MORNING. Brilliant sunshine is piercing through the frozen lacework on the window-panes into the nursery. Vanya, a boy of six,… ... Read more
An Inquiry 1877 - IT was midday. Voldyrev, a tall, thick-set country gentleman with a cropped head and prominent eyes, took off his overcoat,… ... Read more
An Upheaval 1877 - MASHENKA PAVLETSKY, a young girl who had only just finished her studies at a boarding school, returning from a walk… ... Read more
Anna On The Neck 1877 - IAFTER the wedding they had not even light refreshments; the happy pair simply drank a glass of champagne, changed into… ... Read more
Anyuta 1877 - IN the cheapest room of a big block of furnished apartments Stepan Klotchkov, a medical student in his third year,… ... Read more
Ariadne 1877 - ON the deck of a steamer sailing from Odessa to Sevastopol, a rather good-looking gentleman, with a little round beard,… ... Read more
Art 1877 - A GLOOMY winter morning. On the smooth and glittering surface of the river Bystryanka, sprinkled here and there with snow,… ... Read more
At A Country House 1877 - PAVEL ILYITCH RASHEVITCH walked up and down, stepping softly on the floor covered with little Russian plaids, and casting a… ... Read more
At A Summer Villa 1877 - I LOVE YOU. You are my life, my happiness -- everything to me! Forgive the avowal, but I have not… ... Read more
At Christmas Time 1900 - I"WHAT shall I write?" said Yegor, and he dipped his pen in the ink.Vasilisa had not seen her daughter for… ... Read more
At Home 1877 - ITHE Don railway. A quiet, cheerless station, white and solitary in the steppe, with its walls baking in the sun,… ... Read more
At The Barber’s 1877 - MORNING. It is not yet seven o'clock, but Makar Kuzmitch Blyostken's shop is already open. The barber himself, an unwashed,… ... Read more
Bad Weather 1877 - BIG raindrops were pattering on the dark windows. It was one of those disgusting summer holiday rains which, when they… ... Read more
Betrothed 1877 - IIT was ten o'clock in the evening and the full moon was shining over the garden. In the Shumins' house… ... Read more
Boots 1877 - A PIANO-TUNER called Murkin, a close-shaven man with a yellow face, with a nose stained with snuff, and cotton-wool in… ... Read more
Boys 1877 - "VOLODYA'S come!" someone shouted in the yard. "Master Volodya's here!" bawled Natalya the cook, running into the dining-room. "Oh, my… ... Read more
Champagne 1877 - IN the year in which my story begins I had a job at a little station on one of our… ... Read more
Children 1877 - PAPA and mamma and Aunt Nadya are not at home. They have gone to a christening party at the house… ... Read more
Choristers 1877 - THE Justice of the Peace, who had received a letter from Petersburg, had set the news going that the owner… ... Read more
Darkness 1877 - A YOUNG peasant, with white eyebrows and eyelashes and broad cheekbones, in a torn sheepskin and big black felt overboots,… ... Read more
Difficult People 1877 - YEVGRAF IVANOVITCH SHIRYAEV, a small farmer, whose father, a parish priest, now deceased, had received a gift of three hundred… ... Read more
Dreams 1877 - Two peasant constables -- one a stubby, black-bearded individual with such exceptionally short legs that if you looked at him… ... Read more
Drunk 1877 - A MANUFACTURER called Frolov, a handsome dark man with a round beard, and a soft, velvety expression in his eyes,… ... Read more
Easter Eve 1877 - I was standing on the bank of the River Goltva, waiting for the ferry-boat from the other side. At ordinary… ... Read more
Enemies 1877 - BETWEEN nine and ten on a dark September evening the only son of the district doctor, Kirilov, a child of… ... Read more
Excellent People 1877 - ONCE upon a time there lived in Moscow a man called Vladimir Semyonitch Liadovsky. He took his degree at the… ... Read more
Expensive Lessons 1877 - FOR a cultivated man to be ignorant of foreign languages is a great inconvenience. Vorotov became acutely conscious of it… ... Read more
Fat And Thin 1877 - Two friends -- one a fat man and the other a thin man -- met at the Nikolaevsky station. The… ... Read more
From The Diary Of A Violent-Tempered Man 1877 - I AM a serious person and my mind is of a philosophic bent. My vocation is the study of finance.… ... Read more
Frost 1877 - A "POPULAR" fte with a philanthropic object had been arranged on the Feast of Epiphany in the provincial town of… ... Read more
Gone Astray 1877 - A COUNTRY village wrapped in the darkness of night. One o'clock strikes from the belfry. Two lawyers, called Kozyavkin and… ... Read more
Gooseberries 1877 - THE whole sky had been overcast with rain-clouds from early morning; it was a still day, not hot, but heavy,… ... Read more
Grisha 1877 - GRISHA, a chubby little boy, born two years and eight months ago, is walking on the boulevard with his nurse.… ... Read more
Gusev 1877 - I IT was getting dark; it would soon be night. Gusev, a discharged soldier, sat up in his hammock and… ... Read more
Happiness 1877 - FLOCK of sheep was spending the night on the broad steppe road that is called the great highway. Two shepherds… ... Read more
Home 1877 - "SOMEONE came from the Grigoryevs' to fetch a book, but I said you were not at home. The postman brought… ... Read more
Hush! 1877 - IVAN YEGORITCH KRASNYHIN, a fourth-rate journalist, returns home late at night, grave and careworn, with a peculiar air of concentration.… ... Read more
In A Hotel 1877 - "LET me tell you, my good man," began Madame Nashatyrin, the colonel's lady at No. 47, crimson and spluttering, as… ... Read more
In A Strange Land 1877 - SUNDAY, midday. A landowner, called Kamyshev, is sitting in his dining-room, deliberately eating his lunch at a luxuriously furnished table.… ... Read more
In Exile 1877 - I. Nicky Dyer and the schoolmistress sat upon the slope of a hill, one of a low range overlooking an… ... Read more
In Passion Week 1877 - Go along, they are ringing already; and mind, don't be naughty in church or God will punish you." My mother… ... Read more
In The Coach-house 1877 - IT was between nine and ten o'clock in the evening. Stepan the coachman, Mihailo the house-porter, Alyoshka the coachman's grandson,… ... Read more
In The Court 1877 - AT the district town of N. in the cinnamon-coloured government house in which the Zemstvo, the sessional meetings of the… ... Read more
In The Dark 1877 - A FLY of medium size made its way into the nose of the assistant procurator, Gagin. It may have been… ... Read more
In The Graveyard 1877 - THE wind has got up, friends, and it is beginning to get dark. Hadn't we better take ourselves off before… ... Read more
In The Ravine 1877 - ITHE village of Ukleevo lay in a ravine so that only the belfry and the chimneys of the printed cottons… ... Read more
In Trouble 1877 - PYOTR SEMYONITCH, the bank manager, together with the book-keeper, his assistant, and two members of the board, were taken in… ... Read more
Ionitch 1877 - I WHEN visitors to the provincial town S---- complained of the dreariness and monotony of life, the inhabitants of the… ... Read more
Ivan Matveyich 1877 - BETWEEN five and six in the evening. A fairly well-known man of learning -- we will call him simply the… ... Read more
Joy 1877 - IT was twelve o'clock at night. Mitya Kuldarov, with excited face and ruffled hair, flew into his parents' flat, and… ... Read more
Kashtanka 1877 - I MisbehaviourA YOUNG dog, a reddish mongrel, between a dachshund and a "yard-dog," very like a fox in face, was… ... Read more
Ladies 1877 - FYODOR PETROVITCH the Director of Elementary Schools in the N. District, who considered himself a just and generous man, was… ... Read more
Lights 1877 - THE dog was barking excitedly outside. And Ananyev the engineer, his assistant called Von Schtenberg, and I went out of… ... Read more
Love 1877 - THREE o'clock in the morning. The soft April night is looking in at my windows and caressingly winking at me… ... Read more
Malingerers 1877 - MARFA PETROVNA PETCHONKIN, the General's widow, who has been practising for ten years as a homeopathic doctor, is seeing patients… ... Read more
Mari D’elle 1877 - IT was a free night. Natalya Andreyevna Bronin (her married name was Nikitin), the opera singer, is lying in her… ... Read more
Martyrs 1877 - LIZOTCHKA KUDRINSKY, a young married lady who had many admirers, was suddenly taken ill, and so seriously that her husband… ... Read more
Minds In Ferment 1877 - THE earth was like an oven. The afternoon sun blazed with such energy that even the thermometer hanging in the… ... Read more
Mire 1877 - IGRACEFULLY swaying in the saddle, a young man wearing the snow-white tunic of an officer rode into the great yard… ... Read more
Misery 1877 - THE twilight of evening. Big flakes of wet snow are whirling lazily about the street lamps, which have just been… ... Read more
My Life 1877 - ITHE Superintendent said to me: "I only keep you out of regard for your worthy father; but for that you… ... Read more
Neighbors 1877 - PYOTR MIHALITCH IVASHIN was very much out of humour: his sister, a young girl, had gone away to live with… ... Read more
Nerves 1877 - DMITRI OSIPOVITCH VAXIN, the architect, returned from town to his holiday cottage greatly impressed by the spiritualistic sance at which… ... Read more
Not Wanted 1877 - BETWEEN six and seven o'clock on a July evening, a crowd of summer visitors -- mostly fathers of families --… ... Read more
Oh! The Public! 1877 - "HERE goes, I've done with drinking! Nothing. . . n-o-thing shall tempt me to it. It's time to take myself… ... Read more
Old Age 1877 - UZELKOV, an architect with the rank of civil councillor, arrived in his native town, to which he had been invited… ... Read more
On Official Duty 1877 - THE deputy examining magistrate and the district doctor were going to an inquest in the village of Syrnya. On the… ... Read more
On The Road 1877 - "Upon the breast of a gigantic crag, A golden cloudlet rested for one night." LERMONTOV. IN the room which the… ... Read more
Overdoing It 1877 - GLYEB GAVRILOVITCH SMIRNOV, a land surveyor, arrived at the station of Gnilushki. He had another twenty or thirty miles to… ... Read more
Oysters 1877 - I NEED no great effort of memory to recall, in every detail, the rainy autumn evening when I stood with… ... Read more
Panic Fears 1877 - DURING all the years I have been living in this world I have only three times been terrified. The first… ... Read more
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