A Classical Student (Chekhov)
Division into chapters is editorial.
Vanyas anxious preparation for the Greek exam
Before his Greek examination, Vanya was overcome with anxiety. He kissed all the holy images in his home, feeling his stomach turn upside down and his heart pound with terror at the uncertainty of what awaited him. He repeatedly sought his mother's blessing, asking her six times to bless him. He also requested that his aunt pray for his success.
Before setting off for his examination in Greek, Vanya kissed all the holy images. His stomach felt as though it were upside down; there was a chill at his heart, while the heart itself throbbed and stood still with terror before the unknown.
On his way to school, Vanya gave a beggar two kopecks, hoping this act of charity might somehow compensate for his lack of knowledge and help him avoid failing grades. His fear of receiving low marks with "awful forties and eighties" weighed heavily on his mind as he made his way to the examination.
Vanya returns home with bad news
Vanya returned home from school late in the afternoon, between four and five o'clock. He entered quietly and lay down on his bed without saying a word. His thin face was pale, and dark rings circled his red eyes, betraying his distress.
His mother approached his bedside and asked how the examination had gone and what mark he had received. Vanya blinked, twisted his mouth, and burst into tears. Seeing this, his mother turned pale, her mouth fell open, and she clasped her hands in dismay. The breeches she had been mending dropped from her hands.
"I am plucked. … I got a two." "I knew it would be so! I had a presentiment of it," said his mother. "Merciful God! How is it you have not passed? What is the reason of it? What subject have you failed in?"
Explanation of the failure and mothers reaction
Vanya explained that he had failed in Greek. During the examination, when asked for the future tense of "phero," he had mistakenly said "opsomai" instead of "oisomai." He also incorrectly placed an accent on a syllable where it wasn't needed because the alpha was long. Additionally, when his teacher Artaxerxov asked him to list the enclitic particles, Vanya accidentally included a pronoun and made a mistake.
Vanya lamented that he had been studying diligently, working through the night and getting up at four o'clock all week. Despite his efforts, he had received a failing grade of two. His mother, however, was unsympathetic to his plight. She berated him, calling herself miserable because of him and referring to him as a torment and the bane of her life.
"No, it's not you but I who am miserable, you wretched boy! It's I that am miserable! You've worn me to a threadpaper, you Herod, you torment, you bane of my life! I pay for you, you good-for-nothing rubbish; I've bent my back toiling for you"
She complained that she had worked hard to support him, yet received no comfort or sense from her only child. She expressed a desire to beat him but lamented that she lacked the strength to do so. Vanya, distressed by his mother's reaction, pressed his forehead against the wall in anguish.
The aunt joins the discussion and blames the mother
At this point, Vanya's aunt entered the room. She immediately understood what had happened, turned pale, and clasped her hands. She had been feeling depressed all morning, sensing that trouble was coming.
When the mother continued to berate Vanya, the aunt intervened. She pulled off her coffee-colored kerchief and turned on her sister, insisting that it wasn't Vanya's fault but the mother's. She criticized the decision to send him to high school, suggesting it was motivated by social aspirations.
"Why are you swearing at him?" cried the aunt... "It's not his fault! It's your fault! You are to blame! Why did you send him to that high school? You are a fine lady! You want to be a lady? A-a-ah! I dare say, as though you'll turn into gentry!"
The aunt argued that Vanya should have been sent into business or to an office, like her son Kuzya, who was earning five hundred roubles a year. She pointed out that both the mother and Vanya were suffering because of this educational pursuit. She noted that Vanya was thin, coughing, and looked much younger than his thirteen years.
The lodgers punishment and decision about Vanyas future
The mother, still upset, insisted that Vanya deserved punishment but claimed she was too weak to administer it herself. She went to the room of their lodger, Yevtihy Kuzmitch Kuporossov, who was reading "Dancing Self-taught" at his table.
"My good friend," began the mamma, dissolving into tears. "If you would have the generosity—thrash my boy for me. … Do me the favour! He's failed in his examination, the nuisance of a boy! Would you believe it, he's failed!"
She explained that she couldn't punish him herself due to her ill health and asked the lodger to do it for her. Kuporossov frowned, sighed deeply, and after some consideration, went to Vanya. He delivered a lengthy speech about education, science, light, and darkness, admonishing the boy for his failure.
"You are being taught, so to say," he began, "being educated, being given a chance, you revolting young person! Why have you done it?" He talked for a long time, made a regular speech. He alluded to science, to light, and to darkness.
After finishing his speech, Kuporossov took off his belt and took Vanya by the hand, declaring it was the only way to deal with him. Vanya knelt down submissively and placed his head between the lodger's knees. His prominent pink ears moved up and down against the lodger's new serge trousers with brown stripes. Throughout the punishment, Vanya did not make a sound. Later that evening, at a family council, it was decided that Vanya would be sent into business rather than continuing his education.