The Darling (Chekhov)
Short summary
A small Russian town, late 19th century. Olenka, the daughter of a retired collegiate assessor, fell in love with Kukin, the manager of an open-air theater. She sympathized with his complaints about the rain ruining his business and the public's poor taste. They married, and Olenka became deeply involved in the theater business, adopting all of Kukin's opinions as her own.
When Kukin died suddenly, Olenka was devastated. Months later, she met Pustovalov, a timber merchant, and soon married him. She immersed herself in the timber business, adopting his opinions and lifestyle. After six happy years, Pustovalov died, leaving Olenka alone again. She then formed an attachment to Smirnin, a veterinary surgeon who rented her lodge, and began speaking knowledgeably about animal diseases and municipal slaughterhouses.
And what was worst of all, she had no opinions of any sort. She saw the objects about her and understood what she saw, but could not form any opinion about them, and did not know what to talk about.
Detailed summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
Olenkas nature and character
Olenka, the daughter of a retired collegiate assessor named Plemyanniakov, lived in a house at the edge of town. She was a gentle, softhearted woman who could not exist without loving someone. Throughout her life, she had loved her father, who sat in a darkened room breathing with difficulty, and her aunt who visited from Bryansk every other year.
She was always fond of someone, and could not exist without loving. In earlier days she had loved her papa, who now sat in a darkened room, breathing with difficulty; she had loved her aunt who used to come every other year from Bryansk.
Olenka had full rosy cheeks, a soft white neck with a little dark mole, and mild tender eyes. Her appearance and kind, naive smile made people think well of her. Women would often seize her hand mid-conversation and exclaim, "You darling!" This gentle nature would define her relationships throughout her life.
Marriage to Kukin: life in the theater
Olenka's house was near the Tivoli, an open-air theater managed by Kukin, who lived in the lodge. Kukin constantly complained about the rain ruining his business and the public's poor taste. He would despair about his losses and the public's preference for vulgarity over his refined offerings. Olenka listened to his complaints with silent gravity, sometimes with tears in her eyes, until his misfortunes touched her heart and she grew to love him.
Kukin was a small, thin man with a yellow face and curls combed forward on his forehead. He spoke in a thin tenor, and his face always bore an expression of despair. Despite this, he aroused genuine affection in Olenka. When he proposed, she accepted, and they were married, though it rained on their wedding day, leaving Kukin's face with its habitual expression of despair.
After marriage, Olenka became deeply involved in the theater business. She worked in the office, looked after the Tivoli, kept accounts, and paid wages. Her rosy cheeks and sweet smile could be seen at the office window, in the refreshment bar, or behind the scenes. She quickly adopted Kukin's opinions about the theater and the public's poor taste, repeating his words to her acquaintances.
The actors grew fond of her and called her "Vanitchka and I" or "the darling." She helped them with small loans and, if deceived, would shed tears privately without complaining to her husband. During winter, they rented out the theater for short terms to various performers. Olenka grew stouter while Kukin grew thinner and yellower, though they did well financially.
When Kukin went to Moscow to collect a new troupe, Olenka couldn't sleep without him. On the Sunday before Easter, she received a telegram announcing his sudden death. Devastated, she sobbed loudly, "My darling! Why did I ever meet you!" After the funeral in Moscow, she returned home in deep mourning.
Marriage to Pustovalov: the timber business
Three months after Kukin's funeral, Olenka was walking home from church when Vassily Andreitch Pustovalov, the manager at Babakayev's timber merchant's, accompanied her. He spoke to her about the will of God and the need for fortitude in grief. Olenka was immediately drawn to his sedately dignified manner.
Pustovalov wore a straw hat, a white waistcoat, and a gold watch-chain, looking more like a country gentleman than a tradesman. After a brief visit from him, Olenka fell deeply in love. With the help of an elderly lady acquaintance, the match was quickly arranged, and they were married.
In this marriage, Olenka again immersed herself completely in her husband's business. She sat in the office while Pustovalov was out, making accounts and booking orders. She quickly learned the timber trade terminology and would tell customers about rising prices and freight costs. At night, she dreamed of timber yards and planks.
Her husband's ideas were hers. If he thought the room was too hot, or that business was slack, she thought the same. Her husband did not care for entertainments, and on holidays he stayed at home. She did likewise.
The couple lived a quiet, orderly life. They attended church services together, drank tea with fancy bread and jams at home, and maintained a hospitable household where the samovar was always boiling for customers. Once a week they visited the baths together. When Pustovalov traveled to buy wood in the Mogilev district, Olenka missed him terribly.
Relationship with Smirnin: veterinary matters
During Pustovalov's absences, Olenka found company in Vladimir Platonitch Smirnin, a veterinary surgeon in the army who rented their lodge. He would visit in the evenings, talk with her, and play cards. Olenka was particularly interested in his personal life - he was separated from his unfaithful wife but sent money for their son's maintenance.
Olenka would advise him to reconcile with his wife for his son's sake. When Pustovalov returned, she would tell him about the veterinary surgeon's unhappy home life, and they would pray together for children of their own. After six years of peaceful marriage, Pustovalov fell ill and died after four months, leaving Olenka a widow once more.
Six months after Pustovalov's death, Olenka was seen drinking tea with the veterinary surgeon, who read the newspaper to her. Soon she began speaking knowledgeably about veterinary matters, repeating Smirnin's opinions about cattle plagues and municipal slaughterhouses. Their relationship deepened, though Smirnin was embarrassed when she joined veterinary discussions with his colleagues.
'But, Voloditchka, what am I to talk about?' And with tears in her eyes she would embrace him, begging him not to be angry, and they were both happy.
Their happiness was short-lived. The veterinary surgeon's regiment was transferred to a distant place, possibly Siberia, and he departed, leaving Olenka alone once more.
Years of loneliness and emptiness
After Smirnin's departure, Olenka found herself truly alone. Her father had long been dead, and she had no one left to love. She grew thinner and plainer, and people no longer looked at her as they once had. In the evenings, she would sit on her porch, hearing the band playing in the Tivoli, but feeling nothing.
Most distressing of all, Olenka had no opinions of her own. She could see objects around her but couldn't form thoughts about them or know what to talk about. Her brain and heart felt as empty as her yard. The town grew around her while her house became dingy and her yard overgrown with weeds.
She wanted a love that would absorb her whole being, her whole soul and reason—that would give her ideas and an object in life, and would warm her old blood. And she would shake the kitten off her skirt and say with vexation: 'Get along; I don't want you!'
Finding purpose with Sasha, the veterinary surgeons son
One hot July day, someone knocked at Olenka's gate. To her astonishment, it was Smirnin, now grey-headed and dressed as a civilian. He had resigned his post to settle down and start his own practice. He had also reconciled with his wife, who was staying at a hotel with their son Sasha while they looked for lodgings.
Overjoyed, Olenka offered them her house while she moved to the lodge. Smirnin's wife, a thin, plain lady with short hair and a peevish expression, arrived with ten-year-old Sasha, a blue-eyed, chubby boy with dimples in his cheeks. The boy immediately ran after the cat, laughing joyously.
Olenka's heart warmed to the boy. When his mother left for Harkov and his father was away inspecting cattle, she felt Sasha was abandoned and moved him into her lodge. She would wake him for school, worry about his lessons, and follow him partway to school each morning, slipping dates or caramels into his hand.
Of her former attachments not one had been so deep; never had her soul surrendered to any feeling so spontaneously, so disinterestedly, and so joyously as now that her maternal instincts were aroused. For this little boy... she would have given her whole life.
Olenka's face grew younger as she cared for Sasha. She talked about school lessons and teachers, repeating what Sasha said. In the evenings, they studied together, and when she put him to bed, she would make the sign of the cross over him and pray. At night, she would dream of his future as a doctor or engineer with a family of his own.
'An island is a piece of land which is entirely surrounded by water,' he read aloud. 'An island is a piece of land,' she repeated, and this was the first opinion to which she gave utterance with positive conviction after so many years of silence.
Sometimes at night, Olenka would be startled by a knock at the gate, fearing it was a telegram from Sasha's mother calling him back to Harkov. But it would only be the veterinary surgeon returning from the club, and her fears would subside as she returned to bed, thinking of Sasha sleeping peacefully in the next room.