Old Age (Chekhov)
Short summary
A provincial Russian town, early 20th century. Architect Uzelkov returned to his hometown after eighteen years to restore a church in the cemetery. He barely recognized the place, with many people he knew either dead or forgotten.
Uzelkov visited his former attorney Shapkin, who had handled his divorce. Now an elderly notary, Shapkin reminisced about the divorce case, confessing he had kept five thousand of the fifteen thousand roubles that Uzelkov had paid to his wife to take the blame for their divorce.
Shapkin revealed that Sofya Mihailovna, Uzelkov's ex-wife, had turned to alcohol after the divorce. She had tried to return the money but spent most of it, and later died in poverty. The two men visited her grave in the cemetery.
At the grave, both men reflected on mortality and their past actions.
Uzelkov was overcome with melancholy. He suddenly had a passionate longing to weep, as once he had longed for love, and he felt those tears would have tasted sweet and refreshing.
However, embarrassed to show emotion in front of Shapkin, Uzelkov held back. Later, when he returned alone to the grave hoping to weep, he found that the moment for genuine tears had passed. Despite his efforts, he could not summon the emotion he had felt earlier.
Detailed summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
Uzelkov returns to his hometown and notices changes
Uzelkov, an architect with the rank of civil councillor, arrived in his native town after being invited to restore the church in the cemetery. Though he had been born, educated, and married in this town, he barely recognized it after eighteen years of absence. The station now stood where street-boys once caught marmots, and a four-storey hotel had replaced an old grey fence in the chief street.
Inquiries about his past and discovering Shapkins fate
At his hotel, Uzelkov learned from the waiter that more than half the people he once knew were dead, impoverished, or forgotten. When he asked about himself, mentioning his divorce case that had caused a scandal, the waiter did not remember him. However, the waiter did recall Shapkin, the attorney who had handled Uzelkov's divorce. Shapkin was now a prosperous notary with two houses in Kirpitchny Street and a recently married daughter.
From his enquiries of the hotel waiter Uzelkov learned that more than half of the people he remembered were dead, reduced to poverty, forgotten.
Reunion with Shapkin the former attorney
Out of boredom, Uzelkov decided to visit Shapkin at his office. When he arrived, he barely recognized the man. The once adroit, insolent attorney had transformed into a modest, grey-headed old man. After a moment of confusion, Shapkin recognized his former client and greeted him enthusiastically, offering champagne and oysters in remembrance of the generous fees Uzelkov had paid him in the past.
From the once well-made, adroit attorney with a mobile, insolent, and always drunken face Shapkin had changed into a modest, grey-headed, decrepit old man.
Uzelkov declined the hospitality, explaining that he needed to examine the church immediately. Shapkin offered to accompany him, promising to introduce him to the churchwarden and make all necessary arrangements. After having lunch and drinks, they set off for the cemetery in Shapkin's sledge. During the journey, Shapkin reminisced about how he had changed over the years, claiming that while he was once cunning and feared, he was now humble, elderly, and a family man.
"At one time, it is true, I was a cunning blade, a dog of a fellow... no one dared approach me; but now I am stiller than water and humbler than the grass. I have grown old, I am a family man, I have children."
Journey to the cemetery and revelations about Sofya Mihailovna
As they traveled, Shapkin recalled the divorce case in detail. He confessed that Uzelkov's wife, Sofya Mihailovna, had been difficult to bribe into taking the blame for the divorce despite coming from a merchant family. She only consented after Uzelkov agreed to pay her ten thousand roubles. Shapkin then admitted that he had actually kept five thousand for himself, deceiving both Uzelkov and Sofya.
Shapkin further revealed that after receiving the money, Sofya had turned to alcohol and began associating with officers, indulging in dissipation and debauchery. Later, she had come to Shapkin's home drunk and thrown the money back at him, though she had already spent five hundred roubles. When she returned a second time demanding her money, Shapkin had given her only ten roubles. Uzelkov was shocked by this revelation and asked why Shapkin hadn't written to him about Sofya's situation.
"With her ten thousand? Very badly... she took to drink... As soon as she got her money she was off driving about with officers. It was drunkenness, dissipation, debauchery..."
Shapkin replied that Sofya had written to Uzelkov herself when she was in the hospital, but Uzelkov had been preoccupied with his second marriage. By then, they had arrived at the cemetery. The friends walked through the snow-covered grounds with its hoarfrost-silvered trees and tombstones, breathing in the distinctive cemetery smell of incense and freshly dug earth.
"The bare cherry trees and acacias, the grey crosses and tombstones, were silvered with hoarfrost... There was the smell there always is in cemeteries, the smell of incense and freshly dug earth..."
Shapkin led Uzelkov to Sofya's grave, marked by a small white marble slab placed there by a lieutenant. Both men removed their hats, revealing their bald heads, and stood silently. Shapkin remarked that Sofya now rested in peace, beyond the pain of her past choices. He added philosophically that however hateful the past might have been, it was better than their current state of old age and approaching death.
Uzelkov was overcome with melancholy and felt a strong desire to weep, but was embarrassed to show weakness in front of Shapkin. He abruptly turned away and entered the church. After spending two hours examining the church and speaking with the churchwarden, Uzelkov seized a moment when Shapkin was talking with the priest to return to the grave alone. Despite his efforts to summon tears, they would not come. After standing at the grave for ten minutes, he gave up and went to find Shapkin.
But the moment for tears had been missed; though the old man blinked his eyes, though he worked up his feelings, the tears did not flow nor the lump come in his throat.