In the Dark (Chekhov)
Short summary
Russia, late 19th century. One night, Marya Mihalovna woke up after her husband sneezed loudly. Unable to fall back asleep, she went to the window and saw a dark figure climbing into the kitchen window.
Terrified that a burglar had entered their home, she woke her husband and insisted he investigate. Irritated at being awakened, he reluctantly agreed to check the kitchen.
Gagin told his wife it was likely just the cook's fireman lover. In the kitchen, he confronted the cook, Pelagea, who denied having any visitor. After retrieving his dressing gown, Gagin returned to the bedroom and assured his frightened wife that there was no intruder. When he lit a candle, his wife let out a piercing shriek.
The deputy procurator looked down at himself, and gasped.
Flung over his shoulders was not his dressing-gown, but the fireman's overcoat. How had it come on his shoulders? While he was settling that question, his wife's imagination was drawing another picture.
Detailed summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
The fly incident and the mysterious figure
One night, a fly of medium size made its way into the nose of Gagin, an assistant procurator, causing him to sneeze loudly. The bed shook from the force of his sneeze, waking his wife, Marya Mihalovna. Unable to fall back asleep after tossing and turning, she got up and went to the window.
Outside, the night was dark and still. As Marya gazed into the yard, she suddenly spotted a dark figure creeping from the flower garden toward the house.
The stillness was broken by Marya Mihalovna herself. Standing at the window and gazing into the yard, she suddenly uttered a cry. She fancied that from the flower garden... a dark figure was creeping towards the house.
She watched as the figure approached the kitchen window, hesitated momentarily, then put one foot on the window ledge and disappeared inside. Marya immediately concluded it was a burglar.
Maryas burglar fears and waking her husband
Terror seized Marya as her imagination conjured up frightening scenarios of a burglar moving through their home. She envisioned the intruder creeping from the kitchen to the dining room, stealing their silver, then entering their bedroom with an axe.
And in one instant her imagination had drawn the picture so dreaded by lady visitors in country places—a burglar creeps into the kitchen... the silver in the cupboard... next into the bedroom... an axe... the face of a brigand... jewelry.
Shaking with fear, Marya desperately tried to wake her husband. She reminded him of a break-in at Mavra Yegorovna's house the previous year. Gagin reluctantly awoke, grumbling about being disturbed for such nonsense.
When Marya insisted she had seen someone entering through the kitchen window, Gagin casually suggested it was probably Pelagea's sweetheart, the fireman, coming to visit her. This explanation horrified Marya even more than the burglar theory.
"That's pretty sure to be Pelagea's sweetheart, the fireman."
"What! what did you say?"
"I say it's Pelagea's fireman come to see her."
"Worse than ever!" shrieked Marya Mihalovna. "That's worse than a burglar!"
Marya was outraged at the idea of such immoral behavior occurring in her house. She demanded that her husband go to the kitchen immediately and send the man away. Despite his protests about the naturalness of such relationships, Gagin eventually yielded to his wife's insistence when she threatened to faint.
Gagins reluctant investigation in the kitchen
Cursing under his breath, Gagin put on his slippers and set off for the kitchen in complete darkness. On his way, he stopped in the nursery to ask the nurse about his dressing gown, which he had given her to brush the previous night. The nurse informed him she had passed it to Pelagea.
Annoyed at this carelessness, Gagin continued to the kitchen where he found Pelagea sleeping on a box in the corner. He shook her awake and demanded to know who had climbed through her window. Pelagea, startled and confused, denied that anyone had entered.
When Gagin insisted she tell her "scamp" to leave, Pelagea became upset. She burst into tears, lamenting her difficult life of toil and how easily she could be insulted with no one to defend her. She reminded him that she worked hard for merely four roubles a month, providing her own tea and sugar, and deserved better treatment.
"You ought to be ashamed, sir," said Pelagea, and he could hear the tears in her voice. "Gentlefolks... educated, and yet not a notion that with our hard lot... in our life of toil" —she burst into tears. "It's easy to insult us."
Realizing he was in the wrong and not particularly caring about his wife's moral concerns, Gagin gave up. Before leaving, he asked Pelagea about his dressing gown. She apologetically told him she had forgotten to return it and that it was hanging on a peg near the stove. Gagin found the garment, put it on, and quietly returned to his bedroom.
The return and unexpected revelation
While her husband was gone, Marya grew increasingly anxious. As minutes passed, she began to fear that the burglar might have attacked Gagin. Her imagination painted a grim picture of her husband lying in a pool of blood after being struck with an axe.
And again her imagination drew a picture of her husband going into the dark kitchen... a blow with an axe... dying without uttering a single sound... a pool of blood!... Five minutes passed... five and a half... at last six.... A cold sweat came out on her forehead.
When Gagin finally returned, he assured his anxious wife that there was nobody in the kitchen and that her virtuous cook was as innocent as her mistress. He teased Marya about her cowardice and hallucinations, suggesting she should see a doctor about her nervousness.
Now fully awake, Gagin decided to light a candle to show his wife a photograph of the procurator of the Palace of Justice who had recently said goodbye to them. As he struck a match and lit the candle, Marya let out a piercing shriek. Looking at her husband, her eyes were filled with amazement, horror, and wrath.
She pointed out that he had taken off his dressing gown in the kitchen. Confused, Gagin looked down at himself and gasped in shock. Instead of his own dressing gown, he was wearing the fireman's overcoat. The mystery was solved - there had indeed been an intruder in their kitchen that night, just as Marya had feared.