Happiness (Chekhov)
Short summary
The Russian steppe, late 19th century. Two shepherds guarded a flock of sheep on a broad road at night. An overseer stopped to ask for a light for his pipe.
The old shepherd recognized Panteley and began telling stories about a wicked man named Yefim Zhmenya who had died recently. According to the old man, Yefim possessed magical powers, could make melons whistle, and knew where treasures were hidden in the steppe.
The conversation turned to hidden treasures in the steppe. Panteley mentioned Cossacks who buried French plunder in 1812 and gold from a caravan meant for Peter the Great. As dawn approached, Panteley prepared to leave.
Yes, so one dies without knowing what happiness is like... A younger man may live to see it, but it is time for us to lay aside all thought of it.
After Panteley departed, the young shepherd asked about the treasures. The old man revealed he would try his luck searching for treasure at a specific location.
As the sun rose, both shepherds stood motionless, lost in thought. The old man dreamed of finding fortune, while Sanka pondered the fantastical nature of happiness rather than the treasure itself.
Detailed summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
Shepherds and an overseer on the steppe at night
On a broad steppe road, a flock of sheep spent the night while two shepherds guarded them. One was an elderly toothless man lying on his stomach at the edge of the road, while the other was a young fellow lying on his back gazing at the stars. A few yards from them stood a horse, and beside it, a man in high boots and a short jacket who resembled an overseer from a large estate.
Their thoughts, tedious and oppressive, called forth by images of nothing but the broad steppe and the sky, the days and the nights, probably weighed upon them themselves, crushing them into apathy.
Stories of the mysterious Yefim Zhmenya
The overseer asked the shepherds for a light for his pipe. After smoking in silence, he stood with his elbow on the saddle, deep in thought. The old shepherd recognized him as Panteley from Makarov's estate and struck up a conversation. They discussed land management before the old man brought up the recent death of Yefim Zhmenya, saying it was a sin to mention such a wicked man in the dark.
The old shepherd explained that he had known Yefim for sixty years and had always sensed evil in him. While other men socialized, Yefim preferred solitude or whispering with old women. In his youth, Yefim tended bees and market gardens. The old man recounted supernatural occurrences associated with Yefim - melons that whistled and a pike that laughed when caught. Panteley acknowledged such things could happen.
The young shepherd, intrigued, asked if the old man had heard the whistling melons himself. The old man replied that he had been spared that experience but shared another disturbing encounter with Yefim. Once, during a storm, he had met Yefim on a path, but Yefim appeared to have transformed into a white bullock. Then a hare crossed their path and spoke like a human, saying "Good evening, peasants."
The old man continued, explaining that five years after the Freedom, Yefim was flogged by the commune and, in revenge, sent a throat illness upon the village using viper's fat. Many villagers died, and though some wanted to kill Yefim, the elders prevented it because only Yefim knew where treasures were hidden.
Hidden treasures and the need for talismans
The old shepherd described how Yefim would sometimes see little flames under bushes and rocks - signs of hidden treasures. Despite knowing their locations, Yefim died without revealing or digging up the treasures himself. Panteley agreed there were many treasures in the region, evident from various signs.
There is fortune, but what is the good of it if it is buried in the earth? It is just riches wasted with no profit to anyone, like chaff or sheep's dung, and yet there are riches there, lad, fortune enough for all the country round.
The old man lamented that these treasures remained inaccessible, fearing they would eventually be discovered by the gentry or seized by the government. He explained that peasants who found treasures were legally required to surrender them to authorities, which he considered deeply unfair.
He shared his own unsuccessful treasure-hunting experiences, as well as those of his father and brother. His brother Ilya once received information from a monk about a treasure under three stones in the fortress of Taganrog. Ilya purchased a talisman from an Armenian, took two companions, and went to the location, only to find a soldier standing guard at the exact spot.
Panteley then shared stories of two specific treasures: gold from a caravan headed to Emperor Peter that was stolen by robbers, and plunder that Don Cossacks had taken from the French in 1812 and buried rather than surrender it to the government. However, the locations of both treasures remained unknown.
The overseers departure and philosophical reflections
As dawn approached, Panteley prepared to leave. Before mounting his horse, he gazed thoughtfully into the distance and remarked philosophically on the futility of seeking fortune without the wisdom to find it. He observed that he was too old to hope for happiness, though younger men might still have a chance.
Your elbow is near, but you can't bite it. There is fortune, but there is not the wit to find it... Yes, so one dies without knowing what happiness is like...
Looking across the steppe, Panteley contemplated the ancient barrows (burial mounds) that dotted the landscape. These silent witnesses to human history seemed utterly indifferent to human concerns, having stood for millennia and likely to remain for thousands more years without revealing their secrets.
The ancient barrows... had a sullen and deathlike look; there was a feeling of endless time and utter indifference to man in their immobility and silence; another thousand years would pass... and no soul would ever know why.
After these reflections, Panteley rode away at a trot, leaving the shepherds alone. The old man identified him to Sanka as an educated man who earned a good salary.
The old shepherds treasure-hunting ambitions
As the sun began to rise, the old shepherd revealed to Sanka that he hadn't told Panteley about a document shown to a soldier at Ivanovka that precisely marked a treasure location. The spot was at Bogata Bylotchka, where a ravine split into three smaller ravines - the treasure was in the middle one. When Sanka asked if he would dig for it, the old man said he would try his luck.
Sanka then asked what the old man would do with the treasure if he found it. The old man laughed but couldn't provide a clear answer. This question had apparently never occurred to him before, and he didn't seem to consider it important.
And the old man could not answer what he would do with the treasure if he found it... That question had presented itself to him that morning probably for the first time in his life, and... it did not seem to him important.
While the old man was preoccupied with thoughts of fortune, Sanka was more interested in the fantastical elements of the stories he had heard during the night. Unlike his elder companion, the treasure itself held little appeal for him.
What interested him was not the fortune itself, which he did not want and could not imagine, but the fantastic, fairytale character of human happiness.
As the sun rose higher, the two shepherds took their positions on opposite sides of the flock, each absorbed in his own thoughts, standing motionless like fakirs at prayer, while the sheep pondered their own tedious existence.
The old shepherd and Sanka stood with their crooks on opposite sides of the flock, stood without stirring, like fakirs at their prayers, absorbed in thought. They did not heed each other; each of them was living in his own life.