An Inadvertence (Chekhov)
Short summary
Russia, early 20th century. Pyotr Petrovitch Strizhin returned home from a christening party at two in the morning. Having consumed several glasses of vodka at the celebration, he felt an overwhelming craving for more drink.
Strizhin decided to secretly take some vodka from his sister-in-law Dashenka's cupboard. In the darkness, he mistakenly drank paraffin instead of vodka.
Strizhin was flung back from the cupboard to the chest with fearful force like a bomb. There were flashes before his eyes, he felt as though he could not breathe, and all over his body he had a sensation as though he had fallen into a marsh full of leeches.
Believing he was poisoned, Strizhin woke Dashenka to say goodbye. Instead of sympathy, she berated him for touching her cupboard without permission. Desperate, he ran to find doctors but couldn't reach any. At a chemist's shop, the pharmacist was unhelpful and lectured him about disturbing people at night.
Convinced he was dying, Strizhin returned home, wrote a suicide note, and waited for death. By morning, he was still alive with only a burning mouth and sore throat. He boasted to Dashenka about his survival due to his "regular life," while she lamented that it was merely because of the inferior quality of the paraffin.
Detailed summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
Strizhin returns home from a christening party
Pyotr Petrovitch Strizhin returned home from a christening party at two o'clock in the morning. To avoid disturbing his household, he quietly removed his outerwear in the lobby and tiptoed to his room, preparing for bed without lighting a candle. At the christening celebration for Lyubov Spiridonovna's baby, Strizhin had consumed four glasses of vodka and a glass of wine, despite his typically sober lifestyle.
Spirituous liquors are like seawater and glory: the more you imbibe of them the greater your thirst. And now as he undressed, Strizhin was aware of an overwhelming craving for drink.
The accidental consumption of paraffin
Remembering that his sister-in-law Dashenka kept vodka in the right-hand corner of the cupboard, Strizhin decided to have a quick drink without her knowledge. After some hesitation, he cautiously opened the cupboard, found a bottle in the corner, poured himself a glass, and drank it. Immediately, something extraordinary happened. Strizhin was thrown backward with tremendous force, experiencing flashes before his eyes and difficulty breathing.
It seemed to him as though, instead of vodka, he had swallowed dynamite, which blew up his body, the house, and the whole street... His head, his arms, his legs—all seemed to be torn off and to be flying away somewhere to the devil, into space.
After lying motionless for about three minutes, Strizhin regained his senses and became aware of a strong smell of paraffin. With horror, he realized he had accidentally drunk paraffin instead of vodka. The burning taste in his mouth, flashes before his eyes, ringing in his head, and stomach pain convinced him he had poisoned himself. Believing death was imminent, he decided to say goodbye to his sister-in-law.
Confrontation with Dashenka
Strizhin entered Dashenka's bedroom with a tearful voice, calling her name. After she awoke, he informed her about the christening, mentioning that Natalya Andreyevna Velikosvyetsky was the godmother and Pavel Ivanitch Bezsonnitsin the godfather. The baby had been christened Olimpiada. Then he confessed that he had accidentally drunk paraffin and believed he was dying.
Dashenka, upon hearing that Strizhin had opened her cupboard without permission, became fully awake. She quickly lit a candle, jumped out of bed, and in her nightgown with curl-papers in her hair, padded to the cupboard on bare feet. Rather than showing concern for Strizhin's health, she scolded him for touching her paraffin, emphasizing its cost.
"Dear Dashenka," moaned Strizhin, "it's a question of life and death, and you talk about money!" "He's drunk himself tipsy and now he pokes his nose into the cupboard!" cried Dashenka, angrily slamming the cupboard door.
Dashenka continued her tirade, calling Strizhin a viper and a basilisk, declaring herself a martyr, and announcing her intention to leave the next day. She also scolded him for standing before her in his underclothes. Knowing that nothing could calm Dashenka when she was enraged, Strizhin gave up, got dressed, and decided to seek medical help.
The fruitless search for medical help
Finding a doctor proved difficult. After running through three streets and ringing Dr. Tchepharyants's doorbell five times and Dr. Bultyhin's seven times without success, Strizhin rushed to a chemist's shop. There, after a long wait, a small dark-haired chemist with a curly head appeared in his dressing gown, looking drowsy but wearing a serious expression.
Strizhin desperately explained his situation, but the chemist remained calm and methodical. He consulted reference books for extended periods, eventually suggesting that Strizhin should have consulted a doctor rather than a chemist. When Strizhin explained he had already tried to find doctors, the chemist complained about being disturbed at four in the morning and suggested that chemists deserved rest like everyone else. Defeated, Strizhin returned home, convinced he was going to die.
Returning home he made haste to write: "Let no one be blamed for my death," then he said his prayers, lay down and pulled the bedclothes over his head. He lay awake till morning expecting death, and all the time he kept fancying how his grave would be covered with fresh green grass...
Morning revelation and Dashenkas continued complaints
By morning, Strizhin was still alive. Sitting on his bed, he proudly told Dashenka that his survival proved the benefits of his regular and steady lifestyle. Despite having been on the verge of death and in agony during the night, he now felt relatively well, with only a burning sensation in his mouth and a sore throat.
Dashenka, however, was unimpressed by his survival. She sighed and attributed his recovery not to his lifestyle but to the poor quality of the paraffin. She complained about the shopkeeper who had sold her inferior paraffin at three farthings, once again lamenting her status as a martyr and a miserable woman. She continued her complaints, calling Strizhin and others monsters and accursed Herods, wishing them the same suffering in the afterlife.