Minds in Ferment (Chekhov)
Short summary
A small Russian town, presumably late 19th century. On an extremely hot day, treasury clerk Potcheshihin and newspaper correspondent Optimov were walking through the marketplace when they spotted starlings flying overhead. They stopped to watch the birds settle in a local priest's garden, drawing the attention of passing pilgrim women who also paused to look upward.
Soon the priest himself emerged and looked up, followed by factory workers, a peasant, shopkeepers, and other townspeople. Everyone stood staring skyward though none knew what they were looking at. The growing crowd attracted the attention of the local constable, who attempted to disperse them, leading to arguments and confusion.
The crowd grew larger and larger. There is no telling what proportions it might have reached if the new organ just arrived from Moscow had not fortunately begun playing in the tavern close by. Hearing their favourite tune, the crowd gasped and rushed off.
The town returned to its quiet state, with only the fireman remaining at his post on the watchtower. That evening, the local official Akim Danilitch wrote an exaggerated report to his superior, praising himself and others for preventing potential bloodshed. He noted that the guilty parties remained in custody but would be released in a week, attributing the incident to their ignorance.
Detailed summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
Introduction to the setting and main characters
The earth was like an oven. The afternoon sun blazed with such energy that even the thermometer hanging in the excise officer's room lost its head: it ran up to 112.5 and stopped there, irresolute.
In a small town during an unbearably hot day, two men walked along the marketplace in front of closely shuttered houses. The heat was so intense that people were streaming with perspiration and too lazy to wipe their faces. The two men walking were Potcheshihin, the local treasury clerk, and Optimov, an agent who had been a correspondent for the Son of the Fatherland newspaper for many years.
The starlings and the gathering crowd
As they walked in silence, Potcheshihin suddenly stopped in the middle of the marketplace and began gazing into the sky. When Optimov asked what he was looking at, Potcheshihin pointed out a flock of starlings that had risen into the air. They debated where the birds had settled, with Potcheshihin thinking they were in the Father Prebendary's garden while Optimov initially disagreed, suggesting they were in the Father Deacon's garden instead.
Three pilgrim women passing by noticed the men staring at something and stopped to look in the same direction. Soon after, the Father Prebendary himself emerged from his garden gate with the sexton. Seeing people staring at his house, he too began looking upward, trying to determine what had caught everyone's attention.
Some workmen from Purov's factory... seeing the latter absorbed in contemplation of the heavens and the pilgrim women, too, standing motionless with their eyes turned upwards, they stood still and stared in the same direction.
The crowd continued to grow as more people joined in looking upward. A small boy leading a blind beggar and a peasant carrying a tub of fish also stopped to stare. Shopkeepers appeared at their doors, and plasterers working nearby left their ladders to join the gathering. Even the fireman on the watchtower came down to see what was happening, leaving his post deserted.
The confusion escalates and authorities intervene
As the crowd grew larger, confusion spread. People began speculating about what was happening, with many assuming there must be a fire somewhere. The head constable arrived and tried to maintain order, pushing through the crowd and demanding that people disperse.
"There must be a fire somewhere. Don't shove me! You damned swine!" "Where do you see the fire? What fire? Pass on, gentlemen! I ask you civilly!" "It must be a fire indoors!" "Asks us civilly and keeps poking with his elbows."
Tensions rose as people complained about being pushed. The head constable ordered Sidorov to fetch Akim Danilitch while Smirnov was instructed to take down names of troublemakers, though the constable specifically exempted workers from Purov's factory because it was Purov's birthday the next day.
Meanwhile, the starlings that had initially caught Potcheshihin's attention rose in a black cloud from the Father Prebendary's garden, but neither Potcheshihin nor Optimov noticed them. They were too busy staring at the crowd, wondering what everyone was looking at.
Akim Danilitch finally arrived, still munching food and wiping his lips. He bellowed at the crowd to disperse and specifically criticized Optimov for writing about decent people in the papers instead of behaving properly. Optimov responded indignantly, defending literature while still expressing respect for Akim Danilitch as a "father and benefactor."
"Kindly refrain from reflections upon literature!" cried Optimov hotly. "I am a literary man, and I will allow no one to make reflections upon literature! though, as is the duty of a citizen, I respect you as a father and benefactor!"
The dispersal of the crowd and aftermath
Akim Danilitch ordered the firemen to turn their hose on the crowd, but they had no water. The major had taken the fire-brigade horses to drive his aunt to the station. Just as the situation seemed to be escalating further, a new organ that had recently arrived from Moscow began playing in a nearby tavern. Hearing their favorite tune, the crowd immediately dispersed and rushed to the tavern.
So nobody ever knew why the crowd had assembled, and Potcheshihin and Optimov had by now forgotten the existence of the starlings who were innocently responsible for the proceedings. An hour later the town was still and silent again.
After the incident, only the fireman remained, pacing around the watchtower. That same evening, Akim Danilitch sat in the grocer's shop drinking limonade gaseuse and brandy while writing a report to his superior. In his report, he praised the efficiency of Krushensky and the fire brigade major, and portrayed himself as having done everything possible to maintain order. He noted that the guilty parties remained in custody due to lack of evidence but proposed to release them in a week or so, attributing their behavior to ignorance.