Overdoing It (Chekhov)
Short summary
Rural Russia, late 19th century. Land surveyor Glyeb Gavrilovitch Smirnov arrived at Gnilushki station, still 20-30 miles from the estate he needed to survey. Unable to find post-horses, he hired a peasant named Klim with a rickety cart and scrawny mare.
As they traveled through the dark wilderness, Smirnov grew increasingly fearful of being robbed. To appear intimidating, he lied about having three revolvers and boasted of his strength and connections with authorities. His fear mounted when they entered a forest and Klim began driving faster.
Smirnov's tales of fighting robbers and mentions of revolvers terrified Klim. When Smirnov offered to show his weapons,
Klim suddenly rolled off the cart and ran as fast as he could go into the forest. "Help!" he roared. "Help! Take the horse and the cart, you devil, only don't take my life. Help!"
Left alone, Smirnov shouted for hours until Klim cautiously returned. Smirnov admitted he had been joking about the revolvers. Realizing a real robber would have stolen the horse and cart, Klim reluctantly resumed the journey. By then, Smirnov no longer found Klim or the road dangerous.
Detailed summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
The surveyors arrival at Gnilushki station
Glyeb Gavrilovitch Smirnov, a land surveyor, arrived at Gnilushki station. He still had twenty to thirty miles to travel before reaching General Hohotov's estate in Dyevkino, where he was summoned to conduct a survey. The actual distance would depend on the driver's sobriety and the quality of the horses.
The surveyor asked a station gendarme where he could find post-horses. The officer yawned and informed him that decent transportation couldn't be found for seventy miles around, but suggested he might find peasants in the yard who sometimes took passengers.
After prolonged inquiries, the surveyor found a sturdy, sullen-looking pockmarked peasant wearing a tattered grey smock and bark-shoes.
The journey begins with Klim
The surveyor frowned at the peculiar cart, unable to distinguish its front from its back. The peasant, who introduced himself as Klim, explained that the horse's tail indicated the front, while the passenger's seat marked the back.
Klim's thin mare moved reluctantly, responding to his whip with minimal effort. After the third lash, the cart lurched, and after the fourth, it finally moved forward. The surveyor was jolted violently as they traveled, marveling at the Russian drivers' ability to combine a tortoise-like pace with bone-rattling movement.
By dusk, they were traveling through a dark, frozen plain that stretched endlessly on the surveyor's right. To his left were mounds that might have been stacks or a village. The air was still but cold and frosty.
"What a wilderness it is here," thought the surveyor, trying to cover his ears with the collar of his overcoat. "Neither post nor paddock. If, by ill-luck, one were attacked and robbed no one would hear you..."
Growing fear and empty boasts
The surveyor grew increasingly anxious about his driver. He found Klim's large back intimidating and his face suspicious and brutal-looking. To mask his fear, he asked Klim if the area was dangerous and whether there were robbers on the road.
When Klim assured him that the Lord had spared them from robbers, the surveyor boasted untruthfully that he carried three revolvers and could handle a dozen robbers. The cart suddenly turned sharply left, increasing the surveyor's paranoia that Klim might be taking him to a den of thieves.
"I say," he said, addressing the driver, "so you tell me it's not dangerous here? That's a pity... I like a fight with robbers... I am thin and sickly-looking, but I have the strength of a bull..."
The surveyor continued his exaggerations, claiming he once fought off three robbers, sending one to his grave and the other two to Siberia. He further boasted about his connections with judges and police captains, insisting that authorities kept watch over him as he traveled.
When they entered a forest, the surveyor's fear intensified. Noticing Klim looking back at him frequently, he ordered the driver to slow down, falsely claiming that four armed comrades would be catching up with them soon.
Klims flight and the surveyors predicament
The surveyor offered to show Klim his supposed revolvers. At this moment, something unexpected happened - Klim suddenly rolled off the cart and ran into the forest, shouting for help and begging the "devil" to take the horse and cart but spare his life.
After the sound of Klim's footsteps faded, the surveyor found himself alone. He stopped the horse and considered his predicament - he couldn't continue alone since he didn't know the way, and he feared being accused of stealing the horse if he tried.
At the thought that he would have to sit through the whole night in the cold and dark forest and hear nothing but the wolves, the echo, and the snorting of the scraggy mare, the surveyor began to have twinges down his spine...
For two hours, the surveyor shouted for Klim. Only after his voice grew hoarse and he had resigned himself to spending the night in the forest did a faint breeze carry the sound of a moan to him. The surveyor called out again, insisting he had only been joking and begging Klim to return as he was freezing.
Resolution and return
Klim, likely realizing that a real robber would have long since disappeared with the horse and cart, cautiously emerged from the forest. He approached his passenger hesitantly as the surveyor continued to insist he had only been joking.
"God be with you, sir," Klim muttered as he clambered into the cart, "if I had known I wouldn't have taken you for a hundred roubles. I almost died of fright...."
Klim lashed at the little mare, and after several strokes of the whip, the cart began moving again. The surveyor hid his ears in his collar and sank into thought. Neither the road nor Klim seemed dangerous to him anymore.