A Dreary Story (Chekhov)
Short summary
Russia, late 19th century. Nikolay Stepanovitch, a distinguished professor of medicine, found himself confronting his mortality as he suffered from a terminal illness. Despite his professional success and fame, he struggled with insomnia, physical deterioration, and growing disillusionment with his family life.
His wife and daughter Liza had become strangers to him, obsessed with petty concerns and Liza's suitor Gnekker, whom Nikolay despised. His only solace came from visits to Katya, his deceased colleague's daughter and his former ward. Though their relationship was strained by her failed acting career and emotional instability, they maintained a connection through their mutual disillusionment.
As his condition worsened, Nikolay traveled to Harkov, ostensibly to investigate Gnekker's background. There, Katya unexpectedly appeared, distraught and begging for his guidance. She desperately asked what she should do with her life, but Nikolay had no answers. In his final reflections, he realized the fundamental emptiness of his existence.
In my passion for science, in my desire to live... in all the thoughts, feelings, and ideas I form about everything, there is no common bond to connect it all into one whole... And if there is not that, then there is nothing.
When Katya returned to his hotel room the next day, she again implored him for advice. Despite her tears and desperation, he remained helpless, unable to offer any meaningful guidance. She departed coldly, leaving him alone with his approaching death and the realization that his life, despite its external success, had lacked any unifying purpose or meaning.
Detailed summary by chapters
Chapter titles are editorial.
Chapter 1. The distinguished professor and his inner suffering
Nikolay Stepanovitch, a sixty-two-year-old emeritus professor, began his story by describing his public reputation. In Russia, he was known to every educated person, and abroad he was mentioned in lecture rooms as "honored and distinguished." Despite his impressive reputation, he saw himself as a man with a bald head, false teeth, and an incurable facial tic. His physical appearance contrasted sharply with his brilliant name and reputation.
Nikolay suffered from insomnia, which had become the dominant feature of his existence. When he couldn't sleep, he would get out of bed, pace around his room, look at photographs, read without interest, or listen to sounds in the house. He awaited morning impatiently, when he would have the right to be awake.
His day typically began with his wife entering his room. She would inquire about his night and then start discussing their son, an officer in Warsaw to whom they sent money monthly. She worried constantly about expenses, which Nikolay found tedious. Looking at her, he could hardly recognize the slender, intelligent Varya he had married years ago.
I gaze at my wife and wonder like a child. I ask myself in perplexity, is it possible that this old, very stout, ungainly woman... is no other than the slender Varya whom I fell in love with so passionately for her fine, clear intelligence?
Chapter 2. Daily academic life and difficult family relations
After tea with his wife, Nikolay was visited by his daughter Liza. She was twenty-two, pretty, and resembled her mother in her younger days. She kissed her father tenderly and asked about his health. Their interaction reminded him of when she was a child and he would kiss her little fingers, calling them different ice cream flavors. Now, however, he felt cold and ashamed when she touched him.
Nikolay wondered why Liza, seeing her parents' financial struggles, never offered to help by pawning her watch or jewelry, or giving up her expensive music lessons. He quickly dismissed these thoughts, considering them inappropriate.
At a quarter to ten, Nikolay left for his lecture at the university. On his way, he passed familiar places that held memories from his thirty years of teaching. At the university, he was met by the porter Nikolay, who shared university gossip and knew everything about the four faculties, the office, the rector's room, and the library.
In his study, Nikolay found his demonstrator, Pyotr Ignatyevitch, a modest and industrious but not particularly clever man of thirty-five. He was completely devoted to science, especially German research, but had a narrow outlook limited to his specialty.
When lecturing, Nikolay felt a transformation. Despite his physical weakness, he became passionate and eloquent. He carefully observed his audience of one hundred and fifty students, adapting his delivery to maintain their attention. When he noticed their focus waning, he would make a pun to refresh their interest. He considered lecturing the most enjoyable activity in his life, comparing the satisfaction it gave him to what Hercules must have felt after his exploits.
To lecture well... one must have, besides talent, experience and a special knack; one must possess a clear conception of one's own powers, of the audience... Moreover, one must be a man who knows what he is doing.
Chapter 3. Conversations with Katya and reflections on science
After his lecture, Nikolay returned home to work. He was occasionally interrupted by visitors, including colleagues discussing business matters and students pleading for passing grades. One day, he received a visit from Katya, the daughter of a deceased colleague who had made Nikolay her guardian eighteen years ago. She had once been an actress but had abandoned the profession after a series of disappointments.
Katya visited Nikolay almost daily, taking him for drives in her chaise. During these outings, they discussed her life and future. Nikolay found it difficult to advise her, as she seemed to be a "negative phenomenon" with no clear direction. When he suggested she return to acting, she dismissed the idea, claiming she had no talent and too much vanity.
In the evenings, Nikolay often visited Katya at her home. There, they were frequently joined by Mihail Fyodorovitch, a philologist and colleague of Nikolay's. The three engaged in conversations that often turned to criticism of students, the arts, and science. Mihail Fyodorovitch spoke with irony about everything, while Katya listened and agreed with his harsh judgments.
I have been lecturing for thirty years, but I notice neither degeneration nor lack of ideals... If I were asked what I don't like in my pupils of today, I should answer the question, not straight off and not at length, but with sufficient definiteness.
Chapter 4. Deteriorating health and increasing isolation
As summer arrived, Nikolay's health continued to deteriorate. He moved to a summer villa, where he spent most of his time in bed, reading French novels. His family life became increasingly strained. Dinners were particularly difficult, as they now included his daughter's suitor, Alexandr Adolfovitch Gnekker, whom Nikolay disliked intensely.
Gnekker was a young man under thirty with red whiskers and waxed mustaches. He had some connection to music and the Conservatoire, but Nikolay knew little about his background, education, or means of livelihood. Nikolay's wife seemed pleased with Gnekker's attention to their daughter and often brought out special wines when he visited.
After dinner, Nikolay's wife would often approach him about investigating Gnekker's background in Harkov, where his family supposedly lived. Nikolay reluctantly agreed but had no intention of going. His nights were filled with insomnia and anxiety, and he often left the house late at night to visit Katya, seeking relief from his domestic troubles.
I know that I cannot live more than another six months; it might be supposed that I ought now to be chiefly concerned with the question of the shadowy life beyond the grave... But for some reason my soul refuses to recognize these questions.
Chapter 5. A night of existential crisis and Katyas midnight visit
One night, Nikolay experienced what he called a "sparrow night" - a terrible night of inner turmoil. He woke after midnight with a feeling that he was about to die. Terrified, he checked his pulse, found his body cold and clammy with sweat, and felt as though his face and head were covered with spiders' webs.
There are terrible nights with thunder, lightning, rain, and wind, such as are called among the people "sparrow nights." There has been one such night in my personal life. I woke up after midnight and leaped suddenly out of bed.
During this crisis, his wife called him to check on Liza, who was also distressed. After comforting his daughter, Nikolay returned to his room, only to be surprised by Katya appearing beneath his window in the middle of the night. She confessed to feeling unbearably miserable and offered him money to seek treatment for his health, which he refused.
Chapter 6. The journey to Harkov and Katyas final plea
Eventually, Nikolay traveled to Harkov, though he felt it was pointless. He stayed in a hotel and reflected on the meaninglessness of his fame and position. Despite his renown, he suffered alone in a strange town, on a strange bed, with no one to comfort him.
I am famous, my name is pronounced with reverence... And what of all that? Here I am sitting utterly alone in a strange town, on a strange bed, rubbing my aching cheek with my hand... In what way, does my exceptional position find expression?
To his surprise, Katya appeared at his hotel room. She was in a state of extreme distress and begged him to tell her what to do with her life. Nikolay felt helpless, unable to provide the guidance she desperately sought.
"Nikolay Stepanovitch," she says, turning pale and pressing her hands on her bosom, "I cannot go on living like this! I cannot! For God's sake tell me quickly, this minute, what I am to do! Tell me, what am I to do?"
Nikolay had no answers for her. He examined his own desires and found them trivial - he wanted to be loved for himself rather than his fame, to have helpers and successors, to glimpse the future of science, to live another ten years. But he recognized there was nothing vital in these desires, no common bond to connect them into a whole.
I am vanquished. If it is so, it is useless to think, it is useless to talk. I will sit and wait in silence for what is to come... I am indifferent and take no heed of the dawn.
The story ended with Katya leaving Nikolay's hotel room, her hand cold and strange. He watched her walk down the corridor without looking back, realizing he had seen her black dress for the last time. With this final separation, Nikolay resigned himself to await his approaching death alone.