A Nightmare (Chekhov)
Short summary
Rural Russia, late 19th century. Pavel Mihailovitch Kunin, a young landowner, invited Father Yakov Smirnov to discuss opening a parish school in Sinkino. Upon meeting the priest, Kunin was immediately struck by his womanish appearance and undignified demeanor.
During their meeting, Kunin noticed Father Yakov's awkwardness and poverty. The priest seemed uninterested in the school project and even pocketed a biscuit. Kunin was contemptuous of the priest's behavior and appearance, considering him unfit for his position.
Later, Kunin attended Father Yakov's church service and was disappointed by the priest's clumsy performance. When Father Yakov visited again, he shockingly asked Kunin for a job as his secretary to supplement his meager income. The priest then broke down, confessing his desperate financial situation - supporting his brother's education, paying for his position, and helping his predecessor who had been dismissed.
Father Yakov revealed that his young wife was suffering from their poverty, and he had even seen a doctor's wife washing clothes in the river out of shame. Kunin was stunned by these revelations.
"And I did not know!" he moaned, sinking on to the sofa. "After being here over a year as member of the Rural Board, Honorary Justice of the Peace, member of the School Committee! Blind puppet, egregious idiot!"
Overwhelmed with shame for his previous judgment and for a negative letter he had sent to the bishop about Father Yakov, Kunin resolved to help the priest and his community, though he realized his own financial limitations would make this difficult.
Detailed summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
First meeting: Kunin meets the young priest Father Yakov
Pavel Mihailovitch Kunin, a thirty-year-old permanent member of the Rural Board, returned from Petersburg to his district of Borisovo and immediately sent for Father Yakov Smirnov from Sinkino. Five hours later, the priest arrived. Kunin was surprised by how young Father Yakov appeared, learning he was only twenty-eight years old. The priest blushed and faintly pressed Kunin's hand when they greeted each other.
Kunins initial impressions and judgment of the priest
Kunin led Father Yakov to his study and observed him more carefully. He was struck by the priest's womanish appearance - his turned-up nose, bright red cheeks, and large grey-blue eyes with scanty eyebrows. Father Yakov's reddish hair hung down to his shoulders, and his beard was scanty and transparent. His cassock was the color of weak coffee with large patches on both elbows. Kunin found the priest's appearance undignified and pitiful, noting how he sat awkwardly on the edge of the chair with his hands on his knees.
"What a strange wild creature!" he thought. "Dirty, untidy, coarse, stupid, and probably he drinks.... My God, and that's a priest, a spiritual father! That's a teacher of the people!"
Discussion about the parish school project
Kunin explained that he had invited Father Yakov to discuss a church parish school project in Sinkino. The Marshal of Nobility, Yegor Dmitrevitch, had suggested that Kunin supervise the school, and he enthusiastically accepted the proposition. When Kunin asked about the timeline for opening the school, Father Yakov replied they would open it when they had sufficient funds. The priest mentioned that while the peasants had promised to pay thirty kopecks each annually, they needed at least two hundred roubles to start. Kunin admitted he did not have that sum available.
Kunin attends church service in Sinkino
The following Sunday, Kunin drove to Sinkino to discuss the school and visit the church. Despite the poor road conditions, it was a beautiful morning. The wooden church appeared old and grey, with peeling paint on the columns. Inside, Kunin found the church cold and dim. Father Yakov was conducting the service without a deacon, wearing a crumpled, extremely long yellow robe that trailed on the ground. The congregation consisted mostly of elderly people and children.
The service lacked dignity and decorum. Father Yakov vacillated between a high tenor and thin bass, bowed clumsily, and moved abruptly. The old sacristan, who was deaf and ailing, often misunderstood the prayers, creating awkward moments. A very small boy with a shrill falsetto voice accompanied the sacristan, making no effort to sing in tune.
"They complain of the decline of religious feeling among the people..." he sighed. "I should rather think so! They'd better foist a few more priests like this one on them!"
Visit to Father Yakovs humble home
After the service, Kunin visited Father Yakov's home. The priest's house resembled the peasants' huts but had smoother thatch and small white curtains in the windows. Inside, the room had a clay floor and walls covered with cheap paper. The furniture appeared to have been collected piece by piece from different houses - a three-legged table, various mismatched chairs, and a crude red-painted sofa with a lattice seat that smelled strongly of paint.
Father Yakovs request to become Kunins secretary
Father Yakov offered Kunin tea, but the samovar was not yet heated. After some awkward conversation, the priest suddenly asked if he could work as Kunin's secretary. Surprised, Kunin asked if he was giving up the Church. Father Yakov quickly explained that he wanted to do the work between his other duties to increase his income, saying he would accept even ten roubles when Kunin mentioned he only paid twenty roubles monthly.
The priests confession about his poverty and struggles
Father Yakov began to explain his desperate financial situation. He received only 150 roubles annually from his parish and faced many obligations. He paid forty roubles yearly for his brother Pyotr's education at clerical school. He still owed money to the consistory for his position, paying ten roubles monthly. Additionally, he supported Father Avraamy, the former priest of Sinkino who had been removed from his position due to some failing but had nowhere else to go.
"I am worn out with hunger, Pavel Mihailovitch," Father Yakov went on. "Generously forgive me, but I am at the end of my strength.... I know if I were to beg and to bow down, everyone would help, but... I cannot!"
Father Yakov continued his confession, revealing his pride prevented him from begging. He was ashamed of his poverty, his clothes, and even his vestments. He worried most about his young wife, who was not yet twenty and came from a good home where she had played the piano. She was used to comfort but now lived worse than a cook, ashamed to show herself in public. Father Yakov also described seeing the doctor's wife washing her linen in the river early one morning, trying to hide her poverty from others.
"During Mass, when I look out from the altar and see my congregation, Avraamy starving, and my wife, and think of the doctor's wife—how blue her hands were from the cold water—would you believe it, I forget myself..."
Kunins regret and plans to help
After Father Yakov left, Kunin felt deeply affected by what he had heard. He lay on his sofa, reflecting on the priest's visit and his own harsh judgment. He now saw Father Yakov's situation in a new light and felt ashamed of his previous contempt. Kunin began planning how to help the priest and others in need. He decided that when he received his salary of two hundred roubles on the twentieth, he would find a way to assist Father Yakov, the doctor's wife, and Father Avraamy without wounding their pride.
Remembering the letter to the bishop
However, Kunin suddenly remembered the letter he had written to the bishop criticizing Father Yakov. In that letter, he had described the priest as young, insufficiently educated, possibly intemperate, and failing to meet the ideals of what a pastor should be. The memory of this letter filled Kunin with overwhelming shame.
So had begun and had ended a sincere effort to be of public service on the part of a well-intentioned but unreflecting and over-comfortable person.