The Cook's Wedding (Chekhov)
Short summary
Russia, late 19th century. Seven-year-old Grisha observed a red-haired cabman visiting their kitchen and having tea with the nurse Aksinya, while the cook Pelageya acted nervously.
Grisha overheard that the cabman was a potential husband for Pelageya. Despite her protests and declarations that she wouldn't marry him, the nurse and Grisha's mother continued with the matchmaking. Pelageya was visibly distressed, turning red and dropping dishes during dinner.
One Sunday morning, Grisha discovered the kitchen full of people for the wedding ceremony.
Pelageya was standing in the middle of the kitchen in a new cotton dress, with a flower on her head... The happy pair were red in the face and perspiring and blinking with embarrassment... Pelageya's face worked all over and she began blubbering...
After the ceremony, Pelageya returned to work in the kitchen the next day. The cabman visited briefly, thanked Grisha's mother, and asked for an advance on Pelageya's wages to buy a horse-collar. Feeling sorry for Pelageya, Grisha secretly gave her his biggest apple as comfort.
Detailed summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
Grisha observes a strange visitor in the kitchen
Seven-year-old Grisha stood by the kitchen door, peeping through the keyhole at an extraordinary scene. A large, thickset, red-haired peasant with a beard was sitting at the kitchen table drinking tea from a saucer and crunching sugar loudly. The old nurse, Aksinya Stepanovna, sat across from him on a stool, also drinking tea. Meanwhile, Pelageya, the cook, was busy at the stove, appearing nervous and flustered. Her face kept changing colors, and she moved about with trembling hands, making a clatter but accomplishing little.
Nurse urged the visitor, whom she called Danilo Semyonitch, to have some vodka, but he declined, explaining that as a cabman, he could not drink while working. He needed to stay alert to avoid losing his horse or falling off his box. When nurse asked about his earnings, Danilo replied that it varied day to day, but he made enough to provide for himself and potentially for another person, glancing at Pelageya as he said this.
Grisha did not hear what was said further. His mamma came to the door and sent him to the nursery to learn his lessons. "Go and learn your lesson. It's not your business to listen here!"
Back in the nursery with his book, Grisha could not concentrate on his lessons. What he had witnessed raised many questions in his mind.
"The cook's going to be married," he thought. "Strange―I don't understand what people get married for. Mamma was married to papa... but to marry that dreadful cabman with a red nose and felt boots... Fi!"
The matchmaking begins
After the cabman left, Pelageya entered the room where her mistress was sitting. She was clearly agitated and wanted to share her feelings. She mentioned that the visitor had gone, and the mistress commented that he seemed like a good, steady man. Suddenly, Pelageya declared that she would not marry him. The mistress told her not to be silly, as marriage was a serious step that required careful consideration, and asked if she liked him.
From the next room, nurse interjected that Pelageya should stop being difficult. She argued that the cabman was not yet forty, and Pelageya should be grateful for such a match rather than setting her sights on postmen and tutors. The mistress asked if Pelageya had seen Danilo before, and she replied that she had only met him that day, blaming Aksinya for bringing him to her "undoing."
At dinner, everyone teased Pelageya about the cabman. She turned red and giggled nervously, dropping plates and knives. The food was too salty, and the chicken was undercooked, but no one complained, understanding her emotional state. Only the master expressed irritation, asking his wife why she was getting involved in the servants' marriages.
When Grisha woke in the night he heard his nurse and the cook whispering together in the nursery. Nurse was talking persuasively, while the cook alternately sobbed and giggled. When he fell asleep after this, Grisha dreamed of Pelageya being carried off...
Pelageyas reluctance to marry
The next day, life in the kitchen resumed its normal routine, as if the cabman did not exist. Occasionally, nurse would put on her new shawl, assume a solemn air, and go out for an hour or two, evidently to conduct negotiations. Pelageya did not see the cabman, and whenever his name was mentioned, she would flush and exclaim that she wasn't thinking of him at all.
In the evening, the mistress went to the kitchen while nurse and Pelageya were mincing something. She informed Pelageya that while she could marry the cabman if she wished, he would not be allowed to live in the house or sit in the kitchen, and Pelageya would not be permitted to sleep elsewhere. Pelageya responded with exasperation, asking why everyone kept bringing him up and calling him a curse.
"I declare I won't marry him, mistress!" Pelageya cried suddenly, flushing crimson. "I declare I won't!" "Don't be silly; you are not a child. It's a serious step; you must think it over thoroughly..."
The wedding day
One Sunday morning, Grisha looked into the kitchen and was amazed by what he saw. The kitchen was filled with people: cooks from the entire courtyard, the porter, two policemen, a noncommissioned officer with good-conduct stripes, and a boy named Filka who usually played with dogs by the laundry but was now cleaned up and holding an icon in a tinfoil setting. In the middle of the kitchen stood Pelageya in a new cotton dress with a flower on her head, and beside her was the cabman. The couple appeared red-faced, perspiring, and embarrassed.
After a prolonged silence, the noncommissioned officer announced it was time to begin. Pelageya's face contorted, and she began to cry. The soldier took a large loaf of bread from the table and stood beside nurse to bless the couple. The cabman knelt before the soldier and kissed his hand, then did the same with nurse. Pelageya followed his example mechanically. Finally, the outer door opened, and the entire party moved noisily out of the kitchen into the yard.
"Poor thing, poor thing," thought Grisha, hearing the sobs of the cook. "Where have they taken her? Why don't papa and mamma protect her?" After the wedding there was singing and concertina-playing in the laundry till late evening.
After the wedding
That evening, the mistress was cross because nurse smelled of vodka, and there was no one to heat the samovar due to the wedding. Pelageya had not returned by the time Grisha went to bed. He thought about her crying somewhere in the dark while the cabman told her to be quiet.
The next morning, Pelageya was back in the kitchen. The cabman came in briefly to thank the mistress and gave Pelageya a stern look. He asked the mistress to look after his new wife like a parent and requested Aksinya not to forsake her. Then he asked for an advance of five roubles from Pelageya's wages to buy a new horse-collar.
This presented a puzzle for Grisha. Pelageya had been living freely, doing as she pleased without answering to anyone, and suddenly a stranger appeared who had somehow acquired rights over her conduct and property. Grisha was distressed by what he perceived as an injustice. Wanting to comfort Pelageya, he stole the biggest apple from the storeroom, slipped it into her hand, and ran away.
Grisha was distressed. He longed passionately, almost to tears, to comfort this victim, as he supposed, of man's injustice. Picking out the very biggest apple in the storeroom he stole into the kitchen, slipped it into Pelageya's hand...