At a Country House (Chekhov)
Short summary
Rural Russia, late 19th century. Pavel Ilyitch Rashevitch entertained his guest, Meier, with lengthy monologues about aristocracy and blue blood.
Rashevitch hoped Meier might marry his elder daughter Genya. As he pontificated about the superiority of aristocrats over common people, Rashevitch's daughters Genya and Iraida waited impatiently for their father to stop talking so they could enjoy Meier's company.
When Rashevitch suggested they should tell "low louts" to go back to their kennels, Meier suddenly revealed his humble origins.
"My father was a simple workman," he said, in a rough, jerky voice, "but I see no harm in that." Rashevitch was fearfully confused. Dumbfounded, as though he had been caught in the act of a crime...
Meier left abruptly. Rashevitch, mortified by his tactlessness, realized he had ruined his daughters' chances with their only visitor. That night, he heard his daughters crying. Feeling ashamed and miserable, Rashevitch had nightmares about his behavior. The next morning, he wrote a self-pitying letter to his daughters, who now referred to him as "the toad."
Detailed summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
Introduction of Rashevitch and his guest Meier
Pavel Ilyitch Rashevitch paced around his study while his guest, Meier, a deputy examining magistrate, sat on the sofa listening. It was nearly eleven o'clock, and sounds of dinner preparations could be heard from the next room. Rashevitch was enthusiastically expounding his views to his attentive visitor.
He was fond of talking, and he always fancied that he was saying something new and original. In the presence of Meier he was conscious of an unusual flow of spirits and rush of ideas.
Rashevitchs monologue on aristocracy and blue blood
Rashevitch launched into a lengthy discourse on aristocracy and blue blood. He argued passionately that noble lineage was not merely a prejudice but had historical justification. As a self-proclaimed Darwinian, he insisted that through strict sexual selection over generations, aristocratic families had preserved and enhanced their superior qualities. He claimed that literature, science, art, and concepts of honor and duty were exclusively the contributions of the aristocracy.
Blue blood, my dear fellow, has an historical justification, and to refuse to recognize it is, to my thinking, as strange as to refuse to recognize the antlers on a stag. One must reckon with facts!
Rashevitch continued his monologue, citing Pushkin, Lermontov, Turgenev, and Tolstoy as examples of aristocratic genius. When Meier pointed out that Gontcharov was a merchant, Rashevitch dismissed this as an exception that proved the rule. He then argued that when commoners forced their way into higher society, nature itself fought back through their degeneration, illness, and early deaths.
Dinner with Rashevitchs daughters
When dinner was announced, Meier seemed relieved to leave the study. In the dining room, they joined Rashevitch's daughters, Genya and Iraida. The young women, both pale with black eyes, drank bitter liqueur before eating and conversed in a mixture of French and Russian. They lamented their dreary existence in the country with no opportunity to leave.
Continuation of Rashevitchs offensive theories
Rashevitch, eager to continue his monologue, quickly dominated the dinner conversation. He resumed his theories about the superiority of aristocracy, suggesting that civilized people should unite against the common rabble. He proposed that when a commoner approached, one should rudely dismiss them with phrases like "Paws off! Go back to your kennel, you cur!" delivered straight to their "ugly face."
After dinner, they moved to the drawing room where Genya and Iraida prepared to play music. However, their father continued his relentless talking, preventing Meier from enjoying the young women's company. The daughters looked with misery at their father, aware that Meier visited primarily for their society, not to hear their father's opinions.
They looked with misery and vexation at their egoist-father, to whom the pleasure of chattering and displaying his intelligence was evidently more precious and important than his daughters' happiness.
Meier reveals his working-class background
As Rashevitch continued his tirade against the lower classes, suggesting that aristocrats should form a compact to repel commoners, Meier finally interrupted. When Rashevitch asked why Meier couldn't join in such a compact, Meier revealed that he himself was from the working class. His face flushed as he stated that his father had been a simple workman, and he saw no harm in that.
Rashevitch was stunned into silence, completely dumbfounded by this revelation. Genya and Iraida blushed with embarrassment over their father's tactlessness. After an unbearable moment of silence, Meier proudly declared that he was of the artisan class and proud of it. He then awkwardly made his way to the hall to leave, though his carriage had not yet arrived.
Rashevitchs embarrassment and regret
Rashevitch and Meier stood together on the steps in awkward silence, waiting for the carriage. After Meier departed, Rashevitch paced in the garden, gesticulating in the darkness, ashamed and vexed with himself. He realized how tactless he had been to discuss blue blood without knowing his visitor's background. He feared that Meier would never return to their house.
The reaction of Rashevitchs daughters
From the garden, Rashevitch could see his daughters through the drawing room window. Genya appeared pale and frightened, talking rapidly, while Iraida paced with indignation. Though he couldn't hear them, he guessed they were complaining about how he drove away every decent person from their house with his talking. Today he had alienated their one acquaintance, perhaps even a suitor for Genya.
Rashevitchs night of self-reflection and nightmare
In his bedroom, Rashevitch sat on his bed feeling ashamed, as though he had eaten soap. He reflected on how, despite his good intentions, he always ended up abusing and slandering others in conversation, though he was actually a sensitive man prone to tears. During the night, he heard his daughters' distress - Genya's hysterics and Iraida's sobbing.
Rashevitch had a nightmare in which he stood naked, tall as a giraffe, repeating "In his ugly face!" He woke frightened, remembering the evening's disaster and worrying about his many problems - bank interest, finding husbands for his daughters, and the approaching winter. The next morning, he wrote a self-pitying letter to his daughters, asking them to forget him and requesting a simple burial when he died.
"The toad!" he suddenly heard from the next room; it was the voice of his elder daughter, a voice with a hiss of indignation. "The toad!" the younger one repeated like an echo. "The toad!"