Kashtanka (Chekhov)
Short summary
A young dog got lost when her master, a carpenter named Luka Alexandritch, became drunk and lost track of her during a military parade. After wandering the cold streets, she was taken in by a stranger who fed her well and renamed her Auntie.
The stranger turned out to be an animal trainer. At his home, Kashtanka met her new companions: a white cat named Fyodor Timofeyitch and a gander named Ivan Ivanitch. Later, she also met a pig named Havronya Ivanovna. The animals performed tricks together, forming an "Egyptian Pyramid" and other acts. The trainer began teaching Kashtanka various tricks as well, praising her talent.
One night, Ivan Ivanitch the gander fell ill and died despite the trainer's efforts to save him. Kashtanka was trained to replace him in the performances. After a month of training, she made her debut at the circus. During the performance, a familiar voice called out from the audience.
"Auntie!" cried a child's voice, "why it's Kashtanka!" ... She remembered, fell off the chair, struggled on the sand, then jumped up, and with a delighted yap dashed towards those faces.
It was Luka Alexandritch and his son Fedyushka who had recognized her. Kashtanka leaped over barriers to reach them. She left her comfortable new life with the trainer and returned to her old life with the carpenter, following him home as though there had never been a break in her life.
Detailed summary by chapters
Introduction
Kashtanka was a story about a lost dog who found a new home.
Chapter 1. Misbehaviour
The story began with a young reddish mongrel dog running anxiously along a pavement, trying to understand how she had become lost. She recalled the events of her day, which started when her master, a carpenter named Luka Alexandritch, called her to accompany him on his rounds.
A young dog, a reddish mongrel, between a dachshund and a "yard-dog," very like a fox in face, was running up and down the pavement looking uneasily from side to side... trying to make up her mind how it could have happened that she was lost.
During their journey, Kashtanka had behaved poorly, chasing other dogs and running into yards. Her master stopped at various places, including his sister's home, a bookbinder's shop, and several taverns, growing increasingly intoxicated. While walking along the street, they encountered a military band. The music frightened Kashtanka, causing her to run across the road. When she returned to where she had left her master, he was gone.
As darkness fell, Kashtanka became increasingly desperate. She was exhausted, cold, and hungry, having eaten only a small amount of paste at the bookbinder's and a sausage skin found in one of the taverns that day.
When it got quite dark, Kashtanka was overcome by despair and horror. She huddled up in an entrance and began whining piteously. The long day's journeying with Luka Alexandritch had exhausted her, her ears and her paws were freezing.
Chapter 2. A Mysterious Stranger
As Kashtanka huddled in an entrance, covered in snow and exhausted, the door suddenly opened and struck her. A man emerged and noticed the whimpering dog. He bent down to her and spoke kindly, asking where she had come from and apologizing for hurting her. Through the snowflakes on her eyelashes, Kashtanka saw a short, fat man with a plump, shaven face wearing a top hat and fur coat.
Catching in the stranger's voice a warm, cordial note, Kashtanka licked his hand, and whined still more pitifully... "Oh, you nice funny thing!" said the stranger. "A regular fox! Well, there's nothing for it, you must come along with me!"
The stranger invited Kashtanka to follow him, and she did. Within half an hour, she was sitting on the floor in a bright room, watching her new master eat dinner at a table. He generously shared his food with her, giving her bread, cheese rind, meat, pie, and chicken bones. Despite eating a great deal, Kashtanka remained hungry, though she became pleasantly drowsy.
After dinner, the stranger provided Kashtanka with a mattress to sleep on. As she lay down, she thought of Luka Alexandritch and his son Fedyushka, remembering how the boy used to play with her, sometimes roughly. These memories made her whine sadly, but eventually, exhaustion and warmth overcame her melancholy, and she fell asleep.
She remembered on the long winter evenings, when the carpenter was planing or reading the paper aloud, Fedyushka usually played with her... The more lurid were her memories the more loudly and miserably Kashtanka whined.
Chapter 3. New and Very Agreeable Acquaintances
When Kashtanka awoke the next morning, she explored her new surroundings. Finding no one in the room, she scratched at a door, opened it, and discovered her new master sleeping on a bed. She sniffed his clothes and boots, which smelled of horses. Noticing another door, she scratched it open and was met with a strange smell.
Inside the room, Kashtanka encountered a grey gander that hissed at her with its neck bowed and wings outspread. Nearby on a mattress lay a white tomcat who, upon seeing Kashtanka, arched his back and also hissed. Frightened but unwilling to show it, Kashtanka barked and lunged at the cat. The cat struck her on the head, and the gander pecked her back.
Their master entered the room and scolded them, calling the cat Fyodor Timofeyitch and the gander Ivan Ivanitch. He then informed Kashtanka that she would be called Auntie. After the introductions, Kashtanka explored the room and found some food, which she shared with the gander, who seemed to accept her presence.
Chapter 4. Marvels on a Hurdle
Later, the stranger brought in a wooden frame resembling the figure II, with a bell and pistol attached to it. He placed it in the middle of the room and called for Ivan Ivanitch. The gander approached, and the stranger began teaching him tricks. First, Ivan Ivanitch bowed and made a curtsey, then played dead. Next, the gander demonstrated how to respond to a fire by ringing the bell with his beak.
The stranger also taught Ivan Ivanitch to pretend to be a jeweler discovering thieves in his shop, which involved pulling a string to fire the pistol. Kashtanka was delighted by these performances, especially the loud report of the pistol. For an hour, the stranger continued training the gander, making him jump over barriers, through hoops, and perform other tricks.
After exhausting both himself and the gander, the stranger called for Havronya Ivanovna. An old woman led in a black sow, who greeted everyone amicably, even tapping the cat gently with her hoof. Kashtanka realized there was no need to be aggressive toward this newcomer.
The master then called for Fyodor Timofeyitch and began teaching them to form what he called the "Egyptian Pyramid." After much instruction, Ivan Ivanitch stood on the sow's back, and Fyodor Timofeyitch reluctantly climbed onto the gander. The lesson ended when the cat lost his balance and both animals fell. The master then taught other tricks before concluding for the day.
Chapter 5. Talent! Talent!
A month passed, and Kashtanka, now called Auntie, had grown accustomed to her new life. She enjoyed good meals and had adapted to her new companions. Each day followed a similar pattern. Ivan Ivanitch was usually the first to wake, approaching either Auntie or the cat with his unintelligible but enthusiastic chatter. Kashtanka initially thought he was very clever, but eventually came to view him as a tiresome chatterbox.
Fyodor Timofeyitch, in contrast, was quiet and apathetic, showing disdain for everything, even his delicious meals. After the animals awoke, their master would rise, drink his tea, and begin teaching them tricks. The lessons, which involved the frame, whip, and hoop, lasted three or four hours and left everyone exhausted.
While the days were interesting, the evenings were tedious for Auntie. Her master would often go out, taking the cat and gander with him, leaving her alone to grow melancholy. Eventually, her master decided it was time for Auntie to learn tricks as well. She proved to be an eager student, quickly learning to stand and walk on her hind legs, jump to catch sugar, dance, run on a cord, howl to music, ring the bell, and fire the pistol.
"It's talent! It's talent!" he said. "Unquestionable talent! You will certainly be successful!" And Auntie grew so used to the word talent, that every time her master pronounced it, she jumped up as if it had been her name.
Chapter 6. An Uneasy Night
One night, Auntie woke from a frightening dream about a porter chasing her with a broom. The room was dark and stuffy, and fleas were biting her. Though she had never feared darkness before, she now felt scared. She heard her master sigh in the next room and the sow grunt in her sty, then all was quiet again.
To distract herself, Auntie thought about a chicken leg she had stolen from Fyodor Timofeyitch earlier that day and hidden between a cupboard and the wall. She wondered if it was still there but knew she couldn't leave the room until morning. As she tried to fall asleep, she heard a strange scream from Ivan Ivanitch, unlike his usual babbling. Unable to see in the darkness and not understanding what was wrong, Auntie grew more frightened.
After some time passed without another scream, Auntie began to doze off. She dreamed of two black dogs eating from a basin, refusing to share with her. In her dream, a peasant drove the dogs away, allowing her to eat, but as soon as he left, the dogs returned, and she heard Ivan Ivanitch's scream again.
Auntie woke up barking. Her master entered the room with a candle and found Ivan Ivanitch sitting on the floor with his wings spread and beak open, looking exhausted and thirsty. Fyodor Timofeyitch was also awake. The master asked what was wrong with the gander but received no answer. After he left, taking the light with him, Auntie felt even more frightened, sensing an unseen presence in the room.
The new place, the fan-shaped light, the smell, the transformation that had taken place in her master—all this aroused in her a vague dread and a foreboding that she would certainly meet with some horror such as the big face with the tail instead of a nose.
Fyodor Timofeyitch, also uneasy, approached Auntie for the first time since they had met. She licked his paw and howled softly. Ivan Ivanitch cried out again, and when their master returned, he found the gander in the same position, unresponsive. The master realized that Ivan Ivanitch was dying, likely because a horse had stepped on him earlier that day.
The master tried to give the gander water, but Ivan Ivanitch did not drink. Tears rolled down the master's cheeks as he mourned his "good comrade." Auntie and Fyodor Timofeyitch huddled close to their master, watching the gander with horror. The next morning, the porter took away Ivan Ivanitch's body, and the old woman removed his trough. Auntie, feeling sad and dreary, didn't even sniff at the chicken bone she had hidden but went under the sofa and whined softly.
Chapter 7. An Unsuccessful Debut
One evening, the master entered the room looking agitated. He announced that Auntie would replace Ivan Ivanitch in the "Egyptian Pyramid" performance that day, though he worried they weren't adequately prepared. He put on his fur coat and top hat, placed Fyodor Timofeyitch inside his coat, and took Auntie with him. They traveled by sledge to a large, strange-looking building with glass doors and brilliant lamps.
Inside the building, Auntie briefly glimpsed a huge room with monsters and strange faces before being tucked back into her master's coat. They entered a small room with gray plank walls, a table with a mirror, a stool, and some rags. Instead of a lamp, there was a bright fan-shaped light attached to a pipe in the wall. Fyodor Timofeyitch settled under the stool while their master began an unusual transformation.
The master put on a wig with two horn-like tufts, smeared his face with white makeup, painted his eyebrows and added red to his cheeks. He then dressed in an extraordinary costume of chintz trousers (one brown, one yellow), a short jacket with a gold star, mismatched stockings, and green slippers. This transformation confused and frightened Auntie, though Fyodor Timofeyitch remained calm.
A man in a dress coat informed them that they would perform after Miss Arabella. Their master placed the cat in a box, then added Auntie. The box swayed as they were carried, eventually stopping with a thud followed by a loud roar from the audience. The master opened the box, announcing that he had just arrived from the station where his grandmother had died, leaving him a fortune in the heavy box.
Auntie jumped out of the box, barking shrilly as she ran around her master. He embraced her and Fyodor Timofeyitch, calling them his "dear relations." Auntie was momentarily stunned by the immensity of the room and the countless faces staring at her. Her master commanded her to sit on a chair, which she did, while he and Fyodor Timofeyitch prepared to dance the Kamarinsky.
The cat danced listlessly, clearly contemptuous of the whole affair. Next, the master began playing a pipe for Auntie to sing along with. As she howled to a high note, someone in the audience exclaimed, "Kashtanka!" A boy and a man called out to her, and Auntie recognized them. She jumped off the chair and dashed toward the familiar faces, leaping over barriers and across shoulders until she reached the gallery.
Half an hour later, Kashtanka was in the street following Luka Alexandritch and Fedyushka, who smelled of glue and varnish. The carpenter staggered, philosophizing about sin, while Fedyushka walked beside him wearing his father's cap. Kashtanka looked at their backs, feeling as though she had been following them forever, glad that there had been no interruption in her life.
Kashtanka looked at their backs, and it seemed to her that she had been following them for ages, and was glad that there had not been a break for a minute in her life.