In the Coach-House (Chekhov)
Short summary
Russia, late 19th century. In a coach-house on an estate, a group of servants were playing cards: Stepan the coachman, Mihailo the porter, Nikandr the fish-hawker, and Alyoshka, the coachman's grandson.
The porter informed them that a lodger in the estate had shot himself that day. The fish-hawker then told a story about a General's son who had also committed suicide and was buried in consecrated ground through bribery, but his ghost howled at night until he was reburied outside the cemetery. After the fish-hawker left, Alyoshka and his grandfather went to the coach-house to sleep.
Alyoshka, terrified by the stories and the sounds of the grieving family, couldn't sleep.
"Grandfather, I am frightened!" he said. "I tell you I am frightened!" ... "He's howling!" ... "I want to go home... Grandfather, let us go back to the village, to mammy; come, grandfather dear..."
The grandfather tried to comfort him by lighting a lantern, but Alyoshka continued crying until the porter returned. The porter's presence reassured the boy somewhat, and he eventually fell asleep while his grandfather and the porter resumed their card game.
Detailed summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
Evening card game in the coach-house
Between nine and ten in the evening, four people gathered in the large coach-house to play cards by lantern light. The group included Stepan the coachman, Mihailo the house-porter, Alyoshka, and Nikandr, an elderly man who sold salt herrings in the yard each evening. Through the wide-open door, they could see the yard, the master's house, gates, cellars, and porter's lodge. Only one of the lodges was brightly lit, while everything else was shrouded in darkness.
The porter won the card game and became king, assuming what he considered a regal posture. Alyoshka, who had nearly become king himself, looked at the porter with envy and anger. The boy was about to make his move when a ring was heard from the yard. The porter left to open the gate, and when he returned, the positions in the game had changed - Alyoshka was now a prince, the fish-hawker a soldier, and the coachman a peasant.
News of a suicide in the lodge
When the porter returned to the card game, he brought disturbing news. He had just let the doctors out of one of the lodges, where a man had shot himself in the head with a revolver. The doctors had been unable to extract the bullet, and the man was lying unconscious, certain to die. The porter explained that the lodger's parents had just arrived, and there was much crying and wailing. They said he was their only son.
"It's a nasty business," said the porter, sitting down to the cards again. "I have just let the doctors out. They have not extracted it... He is lying unconscious. He is bound to die."
The porter recounted how the lodger had called for him that morning, given him a letter to post, and had red eyes from crying. His wife and children were out for a walk. When the porter returned after posting the letter, the cook was wailing - the lodger had shot himself with a revolver. The porter mentioned that he had orders to go to the police station the next day for an inquiry.
Discussions about suicide and religious consequences
The fish-hawker called suicide a great sin. The porter attributed it to too much learning, saying the lodger would often stay up all night writing papers. The coachman suggested that a woman might have been involved - perhaps the lodger was fond of another man's wife and disliked his own. While they were talking, the yard bell rang again, and the porter left once more.
"From too much learning," said the porter, taking a trick; "his wits outstripped his wisdom. Sometimes he would sit writing papers all night... But he was a nice gentleman."
When the porter returned, he announced that the lodger had died. They had sent to the almshouse for old women to lay out the body. The coachman crossed himself and whispered a prayer for the dead man's soul. Seeing this, Alyoshka also crossed himself. The fish-hawker, however, stated that one cannot pray for suicides, as it is a sin. He explained that such people have no funeral or requiem service and are buried like carrion, with no respect.
"You can't pray for such as him," said the fish-hawker. "It's a sin... such as he have no funeral, no requiem, but are buried like carrion with no respect."
The old mans story about another suicide
The fish-hawker then told a story from his past, when he was a serf on a General's estate. The younger son of their mistress, the General's lady, had shot himself through the mouth with a pistol, also from too much learning. According to religious law, such people were to be buried outside the cemetery without priests or a requiem service. However, to avoid disgrace, the General's lady bribed the police and doctors to provide a document stating her son had killed himself while delirious, not knowing what he was doing.
With her money and influence, the General's lady arranged a proper funeral with priests and had her son buried in the church that her husband had built. But after three months, the church watchmen came to her, begging to be dismissed from service. They claimed they could not continue because the son howled under the church all night. At first, the lady dismissed their claims as superstition, but when the sacristan also reported hearing the howling, she realized the gravity of the situation.
The General's lady secretly paid the watchmen to dig up her son's body and bury it outside the cemetery. The tombstone with the inscription remained in the church, but the son himself was buried elsewhere. The fish-hawker explained that there was only one day in the year when one could pray for such people - the Saturday before Trinity. One should not give alms to beggars for their sake, but could feed birds for the rest of their souls.
Alyoshkas growing fear
After the fish-hawker and porter left, the coachman and Alyoshka went to look at the windows of the lodge where the suicide had occurred. Through the windows, they saw a very pale lady with large tear-stained eyes and a fine-looking gray-headed man moving card tables to the middle of the room, presumably to lay the dead man upon them. The cook who had been wailing earlier was now standing on a chair, trying to cover the mirror with a towel.
The coachman and Alyoshka returned to the coach-house, said their prayers, and prepared for bed. Stepan lay down in a corner on the floor, while Alyoshka settled in a sledge. Even after the doors were shut and the lantern extinguished, Alyoshka could still see light coming from the lodge's windows through a crack in the door.
Night terrors and failed reassurances
Suddenly, Alyoshka jumped out of the sledge and ran to his grandfather, weeping loudly. He claimed to hear howling and was terrified. The coachman tried to reassure him that it was just the sound of the lodger's family crying, but Alyoshka begged to be taken back to the village, to his mother. He was so frightened that he offered to let his grandfather whip him if only they could leave.
The porter came in, having heard the commotion, and explained that he would be opening and closing the gates all night. When told about Alyoshka's fears, he confirmed that the sounds were from the grieving mother who couldn't believe what had happened. The porter and coachman decided to play cards to pass the time, which somewhat reassured Alyoshka. As he finally fell asleep, he could hear them repeating "I beat and cover" in their game.
When Alyoshka dreamed of the gentleman and, frightened by his eyes, jumped up and burst out crying, it was morning, his grandfather was snoring, and the coach-house no longer seemed terrible.