Nerves (Chekhov)
Short summary
Russia, late 19th century. Architect Dmitri Osipovitch Vaxin returned to his holiday cottage after attending a spiritualistic séance in town. His wife was away at an all-night church service, leaving him alone in the house except for the German governess.
As Vaxin prepared for bed, he couldn't stop thinking about the evening's ghostly tales and séance activities. Despite telling himself that ghosts were merely superstition, he grew increasingly terrified in the darkness, imagining his deceased uncle stepping out of his portrait frame.
Overcome with terror, cold all over, he jumped out of bed, ran headlong out of his bedroom, and making the sign of the cross and cursing himself for his cowardice, he fled barefoot in his nightshirt.
Vaxin knocked at the governess's door, pretending to be ill and asking for drops. She refused to open, accusing him of improper intentions. Unable to return to his room but too frightened to remain in the dark hallway, Vaxin entered her unlocked room and sat on a trunk to wait until dawn.
Eventually, Vaxin fell asleep on the trunk. When his wife returned from church at six in the morning, she discovered her husband asleep in the governess's room while Rosalia Karlovna slept in her bed. The story ends with the narrator leaving the reader to imagine the wife's reaction and Vaxin's embarrassment upon waking.
Detailed summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
After the séance: Vaxins initial fears
Dmitri Osipovitch Vaxin, an architect, returned to his holiday cottage after attending a spiritualistic séance in town. His wife had gone to an all-night church service, leaving him alone. The evening had been filled with terrifying conversations about thought-reading, spirits, ghosts, and people buried alive. During the séance, Vaxin himself had used a saucer to communicate with spirits, including his deceased uncle Klavdy Mironitch, whom he had asked about transferring property ownership to his wife.
As Vaxin got into bed, he reflected on the mysterious and terrible aspects of nature. He found himself more afraid of the unknown than of the dead. The clock struck one, and Vaxin peered from beneath his bedcovers at the blue light of the lamp burning before the holy icon. The flame flickered, casting faint light on the icon-stand and the large portrait of Uncle Klavdy hanging opposite his bed.
"There is a great deal in nature that is mysterious and⊠terribleâŠ" thought Vaxin, as he got into bed. "It's not the dead but the unknown that's so horrible."
Escalating terror: Vaxin rings for help
Despite acknowledging that ghosts were merely superstition, Vaxin pulled the bedcovers over his head and shut his eyes tightly. Gloomy thoughts invaded his mind as he remembered a story about a corpse turning in its coffin. Images of his deceased mother-in-law, a colleague who had hanged himself, and a drowned girl haunted him. The more he tried to dispel these thoughts, the more persistent they became.
Ghosts are, we all know, a superstition, the offspring of undeveloped intelligence, but Vaxin, nevertheless, pulled the bedclothes over his head, and shut his eyes very tight.
The ticking of the clock and the mournful tolling of the church bell nearby intensified his fear. Vaxin imagined someone breathing heavily over his head, as if Uncle Klavdy had stepped out of his portrait frame and was bending over him. His terror grew unbearable. When a cockchafer flew in through the open window and began buzzing over his bed, Vaxin could no longer endure his fear and violently tugged at the bellrope.
Vaxin felt unbearably frightened. He clenched his teeth and held his breath in terror... when a cockchafer flew in at the open window and began buzzing over his bed, he could bear it no longer.
Brief respite: Conversation with the governess
The German governess, Rosalia Karlovna, responded to Vaxin's bell. She informed him that Gavrila, the servant, had been sent to town and Glafira was out for the evening, leaving no one else in the house. When Vaxin invited her into his room, she reluctantly entered and stood at the door, waiting for his request.
Feeling somewhat reassured by her presence, Vaxin struggled to think of a reason for having summoned her. He finally asked her to remind the servant to buy cigarette papers when he went to town. Rosalia Karlovna was skeptical of this excuse, suggesting that Vaxin had improper intentions. She understood that one would not wake someone merely to order cigarette papers. Despite his protests, she left the room, leaving Vaxin alone once again.
Panic: Vaxin seeks refuge in the governesss room
After the governess left, Vaxin felt somewhat calmer but was still afraid. He pulled the covers over his head and closed his eyes, but his fears quickly returned. Even lighting a candle did not help, as his imagination made him believe someone was peeping around the corner and that his uncle's eyes were moving in the portrait.
Vaxin decided to ring for the governess again, planning to claim he was unwell and needed medicine. When there was no response to his ring, and he heard only the church bell tolling the hour, his terror overwhelmed him. Overcome with fear, he jumped out of bed and, making the sign of the cross, fled barefoot in his nightshirt to the governess's room.
At her door, Vaxin knocked and called out that he was unwell and needed drops. Rosalia Karlovna refused to open the door, accusing him of improper intentions and threatening to tell his wife. She reminded him of a similar incident with Baron Anzig, her former employer, whose advances she had reported to the baroness. Vaxin insisted he was genuinely ill, but the governess remained firm in her refusal.
To return to his room where the lamp flickered and his uncle stared at him from his frame was more than he could face, and to stand at the governess's door in nothing but his nightshirt was inconvenient.
Compromising situation: Discovery by Vaxins wife
Trapped in the hallway, Vaxin hesitated. He could not return to his bedroom where the lamp flickered and his uncle's portrait stared at him, but standing in the hallway in only his nightshirt was equally uncomfortable. When he felt something touch his shoulder from behind, his panic surged. He opened the governess's door and peeked inside to find her sleeping peacefully.
Feeling safer in the presence of another person, even a sleeping one, Vaxin entered the room and sat on a wicker trunk near the door. He planned to wait there until dawn and then return to his bedroom. As he reflected on his nervous condition, he gradually calmed down and eventually fell asleep on the trunk.
At six o'clock in the morning, Vaxin's wife returned from the all-night church service. Not finding her husband in their bedroom, she went to the governess's room to ask for change for the cabman. There, she discovered a strange scene: Rosalia Karlovna sleeping in her bed and, a couple of yards away, her husband curled up on the trunk, snoring loudly. The story ends with the narrator leaving to the reader's imagination what Madame Vaxin said to her husband and how he looked when he awoke.
On the bed lay stretched Rosalia Karlovna fast asleep, and a couple of yards from her was her husband curled up on the trunk sleeping the sleep of the just and snoring loudly.