A Living Chattel (Chekhov)
Short summary
Groholsky, deeply in love with Liza, convinced her to leave her husband Ivan Petrovitch Bugrov. When Ivan discovered their affair, Groholsky offered him money for Liza.
"Will you have fifty thousand? Ivan Petrovitch, I entreat you.... It's not a bribe, not a bargain.... I only want by a sacrifice on my part to atone a little for your inevitable loss. Would you like a hundred thousand?"
Ivan accepted 150,000 rubles and allowed Liza to leave with Groholsky, though he kept their son Mishutka. The couple moved to Crimea where they lived in a villa.
A year later, Ivan and Mishutka appeared at a neighboring villa. Liza was delighted to see her son again. Ivan visited them regularly, bringing gifts and staying late. Groholsky grew jealous when Liza began spending time with Ivan and their son.
To get rid of Ivan, Groholsky gave him his estate in Tchernigov province. However, Liza ran away to be with Ivan and Mishutka. Heartbroken, Groholsky drank away his fortune abroad before returning to Russia. Years later, a visitor found Groholsky living with the Bugrovs as a dependent, playing guitar for them and being treated poorly. Ivan had grown stout and prosperous while Groholsky was reduced to a servant-like position in their household.
Detailed summary by chapters
Chapter titles and their division into sections are editorial.
Chapter 1. The affair and its discovery
Groholsky and Lizas illicit relationship
In a drawing room bathed in golden sunset light, Groholsky embraced Liza, kissing her fingers and laying her on a couch covered with cheap velvet. They were deep in conversation about their relationship and its future. Groholsky insisted they needed to resolve the question of what to do about their situation.
Groholsky declared his love for Liza and expressed his frustration at having to share her with her husband. He believed that perfect freedom was essential for love, and their current arrangement was dishonest. He urged Liza to inform her husband of their relationship and leave him immediately.
"I love her, and a man in love is not fond of sharing. He is more than an egoist. It is too much for me to go shares with your husband. I mentally tear him to pieces, when I remember that he loves you too."
Liza, however, was reluctant to tell her husband, fearing his reaction. She suggested they continue as they were and let him discover the truth on his own if he wished. Groholsky insisted that Liza belonged to him and proposed they run away together that very night, taking a train at half past one. After some hesitation, Liza agreed, though she burst into tears out of pity for her husband.
Bugrov discovers the affair
As Liza hung on Groholsky's neck, sobbing, they were startled by a noise. They turned to find that they were no longer alone. A tall, broad-shouldered man in a government clerk's uniform had entered the drawing room unnoticed. It was Liza's husband, who had witnessed Groholsky's arm around his wife's waist and Liza hanging on Groholsky's neck.
A painful, soul-revolting silence lasted for three minutes. The husband, initially rosy-faced, turned white. He was the first to break the silence, stepping up to Groholsky with a forced smile and offering his hand. Groholsky shook the soft, perspiring hand and shuddered. They exchanged awkward pleasantries about seeing each other at the Assembly Hall the previous day.
Unable to bear the tension, Groholsky quickly excused himself and left. As soon as he was gone, Bugrov approached his wife. His face pale and distorted, he stepped on her dress and knocked her knees, calling her a worthless creature. He seized her by the elbow, shook her, and flung her toward the window.
"If, you wretched creature, you let him come here once again, I'll... Don't let him dare to set his foot... I'll kill you. Do you understand? A-a-ah... worthless creature, you shudder! Fil-thy woman!"
Bugrov continued his tirade, reminding Liza of her promise before the altar and her duties as a wife and mother. He mentioned that this was not the first time she had strayed, recalling an incident with someone named Petka Totchkov the previous year. Slightly drunk from dining out, Bugrov eventually calmed down and, in a surprising turn, forgave Liza, wiping her tearful face with his hand and treating her like a child.
The monetary arrangement
Just as Bugrov was about to kiss Liza, the doors slammed and Groholsky burst back into the drawing room. Pale and trembling, he declared that they must end this farce. He confessed his love for Liza to Bugrov, stating that he could not live without her and that she felt the same. He begged Bugrov to look at the matter from a humane point of view.
When Bugrov asked about Liza's feelings, Groholsky insisted that she loved him and that living with a man she did not love was misery for her. Bugrov turned red and glanced at Liza, whose weeping eyes confirmed Groholsky's claims. Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Bugrov muttered incoherently.
Groholsky, sensing Bugrov's distress, offered to compensate him for his loss. He suggested that his father was influential and that he had money. Initially proposing fifty thousand, he quickly raised the offer to one hundred thousand when Bugrov did not immediately respond.
The temptation of such wealth overwhelmed Bugrov. Visions of a luxurious country life filled his mind – a river with fish, a garden with fountains, a villa with terraces. After a moment of internal struggle, he muttered in a hollow voice, "A hundred and fifty thousand!" Ashamed of his words, he bowed his head.
Groholsky agreed without hesitation and rushed out to arrange the payment. When he returned, he presented Bugrov with forty thousand in cash, various financial instruments for the remainder, and promised that his steward would bring the final thirty thousand in a few days. Bugrov, not looking at Groholsky, filled his pockets and pocketbook with the money and securities, then dashed out to find a cab.
Later that night, Bugrov, now dressed in an expensive new outfit, visited Groholsky and Liza at their hotel. He informed them that he would not give up his son, Mishutka. Liza, thinking of her son's warm little cot, readily agreed that she would still be able to see the boy.
Chapter 2. New arrangements and complexities
Life in the Crimean villa
By August, Groholsky and Liza were living in a pretty villa in the Crimea, not far from Feodosia. The villa was delicate and fragile, with pale blue walls and many curtains and draperies, resembling a charming Chinese lady. Groholsky paid a high rent of one thousand roubles a year for it.
One evening, Groholsky sat on the verandah reading a newspaper and drinking milk from a green mug. He believed he was suffering from catarrh of the lungs and, on the advice of Dr. Dmitriev, consumed large quantities of grapes, milk, and Seltzer water. Liza sat in an easy chair some distance away, gazing at the villa opposite and the sea beyond it.
Groholsky frequently looked up from his reading to gaze at Liza with the same passionate, fervent love still shining in his eyes. He was infinitely happy despite his imaginary illness. Liza, however, was more interested in the wagons delivering furniture to the villa opposite than in the beautiful sea view or Groholsky's adoring glances.
She watched as elegant furniture, including a grand piano, was carried into the neighboring villa. Later, a luxurious carriage and two white horses arrived. Liza compared these magnificent steeds to her own pony, which Groholsky had bought her for a mere hundred roubles, and found her mount wanting.
Bugrov and Mishutkas arrival
As evening fell, Liza noticed a chaise arriving at the villa opposite. In it sat a gentleman in a top hat with a small boy of about three on his knees. The child was waving his hands and shouting with delight. Liza suddenly uttered a shriek and rose from her seat – she had recognized her husband and son.
The gentleman in the top hat, who was indeed Ivan Petrovitch Bugrov, jumped out of the chaise, lifted the boy down, and ran gaily into the villa. Soon the villa was lit up, and the sounds of dinner being served could be heard. After supper, discordant piano notes floated across to Groholsky's villa as Bugrov apparently allowed Mishutka to play.
That night, Groholsky expressed his happiness to Liza but admitted he was troubled by thoughts of her husband. He wondered what had become of Bugrov and whether the money had compensated for losing Liza. He suggested they should write to comfort him, unaware that the man was now their neighbor.
The next morning, Liza woke early and rushed to the verandah to observe the villa opposite. She saw Ivan Petrovitch sitting at a table on his verandah, drinking tea from a silver samovar. Mishutka was sitting on his knee, trying to clutch his father's shining lip. After every few sips, Bugrov bent down to kiss his son's head. A grey cat rubbed against the table leg, meowing for food.
Liza hid behind her verandah curtain, her face radiant with joy as she watched her former family. She was amazed to see how much Bugrov loved Mishutka and how the boy loved his father. She wondered how they had come to be there and whether all the wealth she had observed belonged to Ivan Petrovitch.
Later, she saw Bugrov emerge from the house dressed in fashionable clothes – a broad-brimmed straw hat, brilliant boots, and a piqué waistcoat. Thousands of suns glittered on his watch-chain. With great style, he ordered the footmen to bring the horse and Mishutka, then drove off with the boy beside him.
When Groholsky awoke, Liza excitedly told him that their "people" – Vanya and Misha – had arrived and were staying in the villa opposite. Groholsky turned pale at this news. He decided to stay in bed that day, claiming to have aches all over and asking for quinine. He was insufferable when he imagined he had caught a chill, and Liza had to constantly attend to him, even applying mustard plasters at dinnertime.
The French women and renewed jealousy
For several months, Liza and Groholsky did not see Bugrov, who had disappeared somewhere and was only at home at night. On the fourth day, he visited them at dinnertime. He explained that he had been living in the Oryol province where he had rented an estate, but the doctor had advised him to go to the Crimea because of a health issue.
Bugrov mentioned that he had made the acquaintance of Prince Ter-Haimazov the previous day and was going to his croquet party. He promised to send Mishutka over with his servant Nikifor and then departed quickly.
After Bugrov left, Groholsky sighed deeply and called him an "unhappy man" for seeing Liza without having the right to call her his. Before evening, Liza was hugging and kissing Mishutka, who initially howled but became friendly when offered jam.
Three days later, Bugrov visited again with a letter from his father, a parish priest. The letter mentioned that Father Pyotr would be visiting his son in Feodosia and expressed approval of Ivan Petrovitch's financial windfall, though disapproval of his leaving government service. Bugrov asked Liza to keep out of his father's sight during the visit, as he had written that she was ill and had gone to the Caucasus for treatment.
Father Pyotr arrived and spent two weeks walking around the villas, examining the "strange lands" through his grandfatherly spectacles. Ivan Petrovitch, wearing his Stanislav decoration, accompanied him. Liza was confined indoors during this time, bored to death while Groholsky had to take his walks alone.
After Father Pyotr's departure, Bugrov began visiting Groholsky and Liza every day. He would come at dinnertime, requiring them to buy vodka, which Groholsky detested. After drinking five glasses, Bugrov would talk throughout dinner. Worse still, he would stay until two in the morning and, when drunk, would take Mishutka in his arms and weep, calling himself a scoundrel for having sold the boy's mother.
"My darling! what are we to do? It seems it was God's will.... I am a scoundrel.... I sold you. I was seduced by that Herod's money, plague take him, and what good have I had from the money? Nothing but anxiety and display!"
These emotional displays tormented Groholsky. By day, Bugrov was equally insufferable, always at Liza's side – fishing with her, telling her stories, walking with her, and once even taking her away in his carriage for the entire day. Groholsky, who loved to constantly kiss Liza, found it awkward to do so in front of Ivan Petrovitch and felt forlorn.
Relief came when Ivan Petrovitch suddenly went away for a week with some visitors, taking Mishutka with him. When he returned, Groholsky was delighted to see that Bugrov had women with him – two dark-haired French ladies. From their verandah, Groholsky and Liza watched as Bugrov repeatedly lifted the ladies and Mishutka onto his verandah in a playful game.
Chapter 3. The long-term consequences
Lizas departure and Groholskys decline
That evening, Bugrov visited and explained that the French women were ladies he had acquired from the prince for almost nothing. He added that he had turned them out without ceremony, as it was awkward with the boy growing up. Ivan Petrovitch now left Liza and Groholsky in peace, devoting himself to his French ladies.
Groholsky was in bliss, finally at peace again after his prolonged agony. However, his happiness was short-lived. One morning, he saw Liza standing with the French women under Bugrov's verandah. Ivan Petrovitch was lifting each woman in turn onto the verandah, and when he lifted Liza, Groholsky thought he pressed her to himself.
When Liza returned home, Groholsky confronted her, shrieking that her behavior was revolting and immoral. He could not believe she would put herself on the same level as those "depraved creatures." Liza turned pale and burst into tears. Groholsky continued his tirade, declaring that either Bugrov must go away, or he would.
"And from that evening, right up to July, two shadows could be seen in the park... The shadows wandered about from morning till evening... I call them shadows because they had both lost their natural appearance."
Despite his threats, Groholsky did not confront Bugrov immediately. Three days later, he visited Ivan Petrovitch and was amazed at the luxury with which Bugrov had surrounded himself. Amid the velvet hangings and expensive furniture, Bugrov was pacing about in disheveled state, agitated about the disorder in his household. He had dismissed the French women, finding them incomprehensible.
The narrators visit to Groholyovka years later
Groholsky asked Bugrov to leave, offering him his estate in the Tchernigov province as compensation. Bugrov, delighted by this unexpected windfall, agreed. Groholsky immediately wrote to his steward authorizing the transfer of the property. That evening, when Liza was sitting on the garden seat waiting for Bugrov, Groholsky informed her that her husband had gone away to the Tchernigov province.
Liza turned pale, caught at Groholsky's shoulder to keep from falling, and had a fit of hysterics, wailing for Vanya. From that evening until July, the two of them wandered about the park like shadows, having lost their natural appearance. They had grown thin, pale, and shrunken. At the beginning of July, Liza ran away from Groholsky, leaving a note saying she was going to "her son" for a time.
After reading her letter, Groholsky spent a week wandering around the villa, neither eating nor sleeping. In August, he had an attack of recurrent fever, and in September, he went abroad and took to drink. He squandered his entire fortune but could not drive the image of Liza from his mind. Though his hair turned grey, he did not die and eventually returned to Russia to have "just a peep" at Liza.
Years later, the narrator happened to pass through Groholyovka, Bugrov's estate. There he found the master and mistress of the house having supper. Ivan Petrovitch had grown stout with a puffy face, though it was still rosy and well-nourished. Liza had also grown fatter, her face losing its kittenish look and becoming more seal-like, with her cheeks spreading outward in all directions.
The Bugrovs were living in first-rate style with plenty of servants and food. When the narrator asked Liza to play something on the piano, Bugrov explained that she was not musical and called for Groholsky instead. Groholsky entered the room looking sleepy, unkempt, and unshaven. At Bugrov's command, he took a guitar and sang a melancholy song.
"I listened to the singing, looked at Bugrov's well-fed countenance, and thought: 'Nasty brute!' I felt like crying.... When he had finished singing, Groholsky bowed to us, and went out."
After Groholsky left, Bugrov complained about the trouble he had with him – how Groholsky brooded all day and moaned in his sleep at night. He worried that Groholsky might go out of his mind but explained that he wouldn't give him money because he would spend it on drink or waste it.
The next morning, the narrator overheard Bugrov berating Groholsky for painting oars green. When Groholsky accompanied the narrator to the station, he whispered that Bugrov was a despot and a tyrant. He claimed he stayed only because of Liza, adding that she was with child – his child, not Bugrov's – and that she had given herself to him again because she could not endure her husband.
"You are a rag," I could not refrain from saying to Groholsky. "Yes, I am a man of weak character.... That is quite true. I was born so. Do you know how I came into the world?"
Groholsky explained that his father had cruelly oppressed a clerk, and his mother, who came from the working class, had taken pity on this clerk. Groholsky was the result of this union – the son of the ill-treated clerk. He asked how he could have a strong will given such origins. As the train was about to depart, he bid the narrator goodbye, asking him not to tell Ivan Petrovitch what he had said about him.