Strong Impressions (Chekhov)
Short summary
Moscow, late 19th century. Several jurymen, spending the night in court, began sharing stories of their strongest impressions. The fourth juryman, a foppishly dressed fat little man, told about an incident from his youth.
At twenty-two, he had fallen deeply in love with Natasha and proposed to her. While visiting a lawyer friend, they argued about whether talent could overcome firm convictions. The friend bet he could make the juryman break his engagement within twenty minutes.
Through skillful manipulation, the lawyer gradually turned his praise of Natasha into subtle criticism, making the juryman see only her flaws. Convinced his marriage would be a mistake, the juryman wrote a letter breaking off the engagement. After mailing it, he immediately regretted his decision and confronted his friend in despair.
'What are you doing to me, you horrible man?' I said, gasping. 'You have ruined me! Why did you make me write that cursed letter? I love her, I love her!' And I protested my love. I was horrified at my conduct which now seemed to me wild and senseless.
The lawyer then revealed he had deliberately addressed the letter incorrectly so it would never reach Natasha. As the juryman finished his story, the clock struck midnight, and the jurymen wondered what emotions the murderer they were trying was experiencing that sleepless night.
Detailed summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
Jurymen sharing strong impressions before sleep
In the Moscow circuit court, several jurymen were left overnight before delivering their verdict. Unable to sleep immediately, they began discussing powerful moments that had left strong impressions on them. The conversation started after recalling a witness who had begun to stammer and had gone grey due to a terrifying experience.
The jurymen decided that before going to sleep, each one of them should ransack among his memories and tell something that had happened to him. Man's life is brief, but yet there is no man who cannot boast that there have been terrible moments in his past.
Brief tales of near-drowning, poisoning, and suicide attempts
The first juryman shared a story about nearly drowning. The second described accidentally poisoning his own son by giving him zinc vitriol instead of soda in a place with no doctors or chemists. Though the child survived, the father was nearly driven mad by the incident.
The third juryman, a man not old but in poor health, recounted his two suicide attempts - once by shooting himself and once by throwing himself before a train.
A manipulative lawyer and a broken engagement
The fourth juryman, a foppishly dressed, fat little man, then began his tale. When he was twenty-two or twenty-three, he had fallen deeply in love with Natasha, his current wife, and proposed to her. Though now he regretted his early marriage, at the time he was overwhelmingly happy and constantly talked about his passion to everyone around him.
Happy people are the most sickening bores. I was a fearful bore; I feel ashamed of it even now... Among my friends there was in those days a young man who was beginning his career as a lawyer. Now he is a lawyer known all over Russia.
During this time, the fourth juryman often visited a friend who was beginning his career as a lawyer. One day, while lounging on his friend's sofa, he argued that the legal profession was ungrateful and that after witness examination, both prosecution and defense counsels were unnecessary. He claimed that no orator could change a juryman's conviction once it was formed.
The lawyer disagreed, arguing that talent was an elemental force capable of changing convictions. To prove his point, he claimed he could make the fourth juryman write a letter breaking off his engagement to Natasha within twenty minutes. Though initially reluctant, the lawyer eventually accepted the challenge after persistent requests.
'Take you, for example,' said the lawyer. 'You are convinced at this moment that your fiancée is an angel... But I tell you: ten or twenty minutes would be enough for me to make you sit down to this table and write to your fiancée, breaking off your engagement.'
The lawyer began by praising Natasha, calling her charming and a rare girl. Then he subtly shifted to discussing her defects, speaking of women's weak points in general but making it seem as if he was talking specifically about Natasha. He praised her turn-up nose, shrill laugh, and airs and graces - precisely the things the fourth juryman disliked about her.
The lawyer's tone gradually changed from enthusiastic to fatherly, then to light and derisive. The fourth juryman realized that the same words could have thousands of meanings depending on tone and form. As he listened, he felt resentment, indignation, and contempt toward his fiancée. When the lawyer tearfully declared that marriage would hinder his great future, the fourth juryman sat down and wrote a letter breaking off his engagement.
Believe me or not, as you choose, but the long and the short of it was that I sat down to the table and wrote to my fiancée, breaking off the engagement. As I wrote I felt relieved that it was not yet too late to rectify my mistake.
After mailing the letter, the lawyer congratulated him but then began extolling the virtues of marriage and family life. By the time they reached the lawyer's door, the fourth juryman was in despair, realizing he still loved Natasha. When he expressed his horror at what he had done, the lawyer laughed and revealed that he had deliberately written an illegible address on the envelope, ensuring the letter would never reach Natasha. It was merely a lesson not to argue about things he didn't understand.
'The letter won't reach your fiancée. It was not you who wrote the address but I, and I muddled it so they won't be able to make it out at the post-office. It will be a lesson to you not to argue about what you don't understand.'
The fourth juryman concluded his story and invited the fifth juryman to speak next.
Midnight reflections on the prisoners emotional state
Just as the fifth juryman was about to begin, they heard the clock strike twelve on Spassky Tower. One of the jurymen then asked what emotions the murderer they were trying must be experiencing at that moment, spending the sleepless night in a convict cell listening to the chimes.
'And into which class, gentlemen, would you put the emotions that are being experienced now by the man we are trying? He, that murderer, is spending the night in a convict cell here in the court... and throughout the whole sleepless night listening to that chime.'
This question made the jurymen forget about their own strong impressions. The fourth juryman's story about his letter to Natasha suddenly seemed unimportant and not even amusing. Without further conversation, they quietly lay down to sleep.