A Tripping Tongue (Chekhov)
Short summary
Russia, late 19th century. Natalya Mihalovna, recently returned from Yalta, enthusiastically described her Crimean vacation to her husband Vassitchka over dinner. She initially claimed the trip was reasonably priced and that she only saw Tatar guides from a distance.
As the conversation continued, Natalya's story changed. She began mentioning her personal Tatar guide Suleiman and another guide named Mametkul who accompanied her friend Yulia Petrovna. Vassitchka noticed these contradictions and questioned her. Natalya grew defensive, insisting she kept Suleiman "in order" and never let him "overstep the limits."
Natalya then described how Yulia became jealous when Mametkul visited while she was out and Natalya entertained him in her room.
"She flew at me and at Mametkul—made such a scene... fi! I can't understand that sort of thing, Vassitchka." Vassitchka cleared his throat, frowned, and walked up and down the room. "You had a gay time there, I must say."
Offended by her husband's insinuation, Natalya pouted and refused to continue her story. Her contradictory account revealed she had been flirting with the Tatar guides while in Yalta, despite her attempts to maintain the appearance of propriety.
Detailed summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
Introduction: Natalya describes her trip to Crimea
Natalya Mihalovna, who had recently returned from Yalta, enthusiastically described her Crimean vacation to her husband over dinner. She spoke in a continuous flow of excited chatter while her husband listened attentively, occasionally asking questions about her trip. When he inquired about the rumored high cost of living there, Natalya dismissed these claims as exaggerated, explaining that she and her companion Yulia Petrovna had secured comfortable rooms for twenty roubles a day.
"Imagine high, high mountains, a thousand times higher than the church... At the top—mist, mist, mist... At the bottom—enormous stones, stones, stones... And pines... Ah, I can't bear to think of it!"
The story of Yulia Petrovna and the Tatar guides
When her husband asked about the Tatar guides he had read about in a magazine, Natalya initially dismissed them as ordinary Tatars, claiming she had only seen them from a distance. Her husband mentioned they were reputed to be womanizers, which prompted Natalya to suddenly jump up from her chair with a look of alarm. She exclaimed about the immoral women she had encountered in Crimea, particularly among aristocratic ladies who prided themselves on their refinement.
"Vassitchka, I say, the im-mo-ral women there are in the world! Ah, how immoral! And it's not as though they were working-class or middle-class people, but aristocratic ladies, priding themselves on their bon-ton!"
Natalya then offered to tell her husband about her companion Yulia Petrovna, a married woman with two children who posed as a saint. After making her husband promise not to tell anyone, she revealed that during a mountain ride, Yulia had suddenly felt faint and asked Natalya and her guide Suleiman to return to town to fetch her medicine.
Natalyas slip about her own Tatar guide
At this point, Vassitchka interrupted his wife, pointing out a contradiction in her story. He reminded her that she had claimed to have only seen the Tatars from a distance, yet now she was talking about riding with a guide named Suleiman. Natalya became indignant at his suspicion, accusing him of being jealous of Suleiman. She insisted that it was impossible to venture into the mountains without a guide, regardless of what her husband might think.
"There, you are finding fault again. I can't endure suspiciousness! I can't endure it! It's stupid, stupid!" "I am not finding fault, but... why say what is not true? If you rode about with Tatars, so be it..."
Natalyas justifications about Suleiman
Natalya quickly shifted to defending herself, claiming that unlike Yulia, she never forgot herself with her guide. She boasted about how she kept Suleiman in line, making him depart from her room at eleven o'clock sharp. When he complained about money, she would intimidate him with her tone. She described him as having coal-black eyes and an amusing, silly Tatar face that she found entertaining.
Her husband mumbled skeptically, but Natalya continued her justifications. She insisted that even during their expeditions, she maintained proper boundaries. She would always make Suleiman ride behind her, and even in what she called "the most dramatic moments," she reminded him that he was merely a Tatar while she was the wife of a civil councillor. Natalya laughed as she recounted these stories, seemingly pleased with how she had managed the situation.
"Even when we... even at the most dramatic moments I would say to him, 'Still, you must not forget that you are only a Tatar and I am the wife of a civil councillor!' Ha-ha..."
The incident with Yulias jealousy and Mametkul
Looking around cautiously, Natalya then shared another story about Yulia. She acknowledged that while there was nothing wrong with having a little fun and rest from conventional life, Yulia had taken things too seriously. One day, Mametkul, whom Natalya described as Yulia's "grande passion," came to visit Yulia but found she wasn't home. Natalya invited him into her room instead, and they spent the evening in conversation.
The husbands reaction to Natalyas revelations
Suddenly, Yulia had burst in and created a scene, jealously confronting both Natalya and Mametkul. Natalya claimed she couldn't understand such behavior. Her husband, who had been listening with growing displeasure, cleared his throat, frowned, and remarked sarcastically that she must have had a gay time in Crimea. Offended by his implication, Natalya pouted and refused to tell him anything more.