The Kiss (Chekhov)
Short summary
Russia, late 19th century. During a military brigade's stopover in the village of Myestetchki, the officers were invited to tea at Lieutenant-General von Rabbek's estate. Among them was Ryabovitch, who felt awkward and out of place at the gathering.
While wandering through the house, Ryabovitch got lost and entered a dark room. Suddenly, a woman embraced him and kissed him on the cheek, then immediately recoiled upon realizing he wasn't her intended target. Stunned by this unexpected encounter, Ryabovitch returned to the party with a new sense of joy and excitement.
The kiss transformed Ryabovitch's outlook. He spent weeks daydreaming about the mysterious woman, creating an idealized image of her. His previously mundane military life now seemed filled with possibility and romance. When the brigade returned to Myestetchki three months later, Ryabovitch eagerly anticipated seeing the woman again.
To his disappointment, the von Rabbeks didn't invite the officers this time. Standing alone on the bridge near their estate, Ryabovitch realized he would never discover the woman's identity. Looking at the flowing river, he understood the fleeting nature of his experience.
And the whole world, the whole of life, seemed to Ryabovitch an unintelligible, aimless jest... And his life struck him as extraordinarily meagre, poverty-stricken, and colourless...
Detailed summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
Artillery officers receive an unexpected invitation
On the evening of May 20th, the six batteries of the N— Reserve Artillery Brigade stopped for the night in the village of Myestetchki on their way to camp. While officers were busy with their duties, a civilian on horseback approached them near the church enclosure. The messenger invited the officers to have tea with Lieutenant-General von Rabbek immediately.
The officers grumbled about the invitation, recalling a similar experience from the previous year when a retired army officer had kept them up all night with stories and tours of his house. Despite their reluctance, they changed into their uniforms and set out for von Rabbek's mansion, taking the upper path as directed by locals.
An uncomfortable social gathering at Von Rabbeks mansion
Upon arriving at the mansion, the officers were greeted by von Rabbek himself. He apologized for not being able to offer them lodging for the night, explaining that his sisters, their children, some brothers, and neighbors were visiting. The officers sensed they had been invited merely out of social obligation rather than genuine hospitality.
At the entrance to the drawing room, they were met by von Rabbek's wife, who greeted them with a gracious but clearly insincere smile. In the dining room, about a dozen people were having tea. Behind them stood a group of men, including a lanky young man with red whiskers speaking English with a lisp.
The general announced that formal introductions would be impossible due to the large number of officers and encouraged everyone to get acquainted without ceremony. The officers felt extremely awkward as they sat down to tea. Among them, the most uncomfortable was Ryabovitch, a small officer with spectacles and sloping shoulders.
A mysterious kiss in the dark
As Ryabovitch adjusted to his surroundings, he began observing the gathering. What struck him most was the boldness of his hosts and their guests, particularly a young lady in a lilac dress who argued passionately about artillery having a better time than cavalry and infantry. He watched as the von Rabbek family skillfully maintained the conversation while ensuring everyone had enough refreshments.
After tea, the party moved to the drawing room where music began to play. Lieutenant Lobytko, true to his reputation, quickly found himself conversing with a young lady. Dancing commenced, but Ryabovitch remained by the door with those not dancing, feeling envious yet resigned to his shyness.
He had never once danced in his whole life, and he had never once in his life put his arm round the waist of a respectable woman. He was highly delighted that a man should in the sight of all take a girl he did not know round the waist.
When the quadrille began, young von Rabbek invited some officers to play billiards. Ryabovitch followed them through several rooms to the billiard room. Finding the game uninteresting and feeling out of place, he decided to return to the drawing room. On his way back, he took a wrong turn and found himself in a dark room.
As he stood hesitating in the darkness, he suddenly heard hurried footsteps and the rustling of a dress. To his astonishment, a breathless feminine voice whispered "At last!" and two soft, fragrant arms clasped around his neck. A warm cheek pressed against his, and he felt a kiss. Immediately after, the woman uttered a faint shriek and quickly moved away. Ryabovitch, equally startled, rushed toward the light at the door and back to the drawing room.
Ryabovitchs emotional transformation after the kiss
Upon returning to the drawing room, Ryabovitch's heart was beating rapidly and his hands trembled so noticeably that he hid them behind his back. Initially, he feared everyone knew about the kiss, but seeing that people continued dancing and talking normally, he gave himself over to the new sensation he was experiencing.
His neck, round which soft, fragrant arms had so lately been clasped, seemed to him to be anointed with oil; on his left cheek near his moustache where the unknown had kissed him there was a faint chilly tingling sensation.
A strange transformation came over Ryabovitch. He felt a desire to dance, talk, and laugh. He completely forgot his insecurities about his appearance. When von Rabbek's wife passed by, he gave her a broad, friendly smile and engaged her in conversation about the house. After their exchange, he felt surrounded by splendid people.
He quite forgot that he was round-shouldered and uninteresting, that he had lynx-like whiskers and an "undistinguished appearance"... When Von Rabbek's wife happened to pass by him, he gave her such a broad and friendly smile.
At supper, Ryabovitch ate mechanically while trying to understand what had happened. He reasoned that some young woman had arranged to meet someone in the dark room and, being nervous, had mistaken him for her expected companion. He looked around at the women, wondering which one had kissed him.
He made a combination of these things in his mind and so formed the image of the girl who had kissed him, the image that he wanted her to have, but could not find at the table...
Romantic daydreams during the march
After supper, the officers took their leave. Von Rabbek and his wife apologized again for not being able to offer them lodging and suggested they take the shorter route through the garden. As the officers walked in silence through the dark garden, many of them wondered if they would ever have a home and family like von Rabbek's.
Leaving the garden, they followed a path down to the river and along its bank. They paused to listen to a nightingale singing in a bush, marveling at how it continued despite their presence. On the other side of the river, they noticed a red fire and spent time debating what it might be. To Ryabovitch, it seemed the light winked at him, as if it knew about the kiss.
Back in his quarters, Ryabovitch quickly undressed and got into bed. He shared a hut with Lobytko and Lieutenant Merzlyakov, a quiet, educated officer who was reading a magazine. As Ryabovitch lay in bed, he kept thinking about the kiss, feeling the sensation on his neck and near his mouth.
Images of the women at the party floated through his mind - the shoulders and arms of the young lady in lilac, the brow of the fair girl in black. He tried to focus on these images, but they kept breaking up. When he closed his eyes, he heard footsteps, the rustle of skirts, and the sound of a kiss, filling him with intense joy.
The generals inspection and Ryabovitchs continuing fantasies
The next morning, Ryabovitch woke up still feeling joyful. Outside his window, Commander Lebedetsky was speaking loudly with his sergeant about a horse with an injured hoof and a drunken soldier. The commander then appeared at the window, greeted the officers, and mentioned his plans to visit a woman named Alexandra Yevgrafovna before catching up with the brigade later.
As the brigade moved along the road past the granaries, Ryabovitch looked at von Rabbek's house. The blinds were down in all the windows; the household was still asleep. He imagined the woman who had kissed him sleeping in her bedroom, picturing the open windows, green branches, morning freshness, and her belongings, though her face remained elusive in his mind.
All those days Ryabovitch felt, thought, and behaved as though he were in love. Every morning when his orderly handed him water to wash with, and he sluiced his head with cold water, he thought there was something warm and delightful in his life.
As they marched, Ryabovitch found himself completely absorbed in his new thoughts. He began to imagine himself in von Rabbek's drawing room with various young women. In his mind, he talked with them, caressed them, and even pictured war, separation, and reunion, followed by a life with a wife and children.
A confession met with indifference
At midday, the brigade was inspected by a general who arrived in a carriage with white horses. After making some tedious remarks about equipment, the general teased Lieutenant Lobytko about pining for a stout, middle-aged woman named Madame Lopuhov. The officers smiled respectfully at the general's attempt at humor.
As the general's carriage departed, Ryabovitch reflected that what seemed so extraordinary to him - falling in love and getting married - was actually quite ordinary. He took comfort in the thought that he was like everyone else and would eventually have similar experiences.
And the thought that he was an ordinary person, and that his life was ordinary, delighted him and gave him courage. He pictured her and his happiness as he pleased, and put no rein on his imagination.
That evening in their tent, Ryabovitch, Merzlyakov, and Lobytko were having supper. After a few glasses of beer, Ryabovitch felt compelled to share his experience at von Rabbek's house. He described the kiss in detail but was surprised at how quickly he told the whole story. Lobytko, being a habitual liar, responded skeptically, while Merzlyakov merely commented that the woman must have been "some sort of hysterical neurotic."
Return to Von Rabbeks house and bitter disappointment
Camp life began, with days flowing by similarly. Throughout this time, Ryabovitch continued to feel, think, and behave as though he were in love. In moments of leisure or sleeplessness, he would invariably think of Myestetchki, von Rabbek's house, and the dark room with the crack of light at the door.
On August 31st, Ryabovitch returned from the camp with two batteries instead of the whole brigade. He was excited and dreaming all the way, having an intense longing to see the strange horse, the church, the von Rabbek family, and especially the dark room. Even if he didn't meet the woman who had kissed him, he thought it would be a pleasure just to go through that room and recall the past.
When they reached the church and heard the billeting orders, Ryabovitch expected a horseman to appear at any moment to invite the officers to tea. But no messenger came. The officers hurried to the village, and Ryabovitch couldn't understand why his comrades were setting up samovars rather than waiting for an invitation from von Rabbek.
Unable to contain his uneasiness, Ryabovitch went out and walked toward the church. From there, he followed the familiar path down to the river. The landscape was similar to what he remembered from May, but the nightingale was gone, and there was no scent of poplar and fresh grass. Reaching the garden gate, he peered in but could see little in the darkness.
He continued to the river and stood on the bridge, touching the white bath-sheets hanging there. Looking down at the water, he had a moment of clarity. The incident of the kiss, his hopes, and his disappointment suddenly seemed trivial. He realized it would have been strange if he had actually seen the girl again.
Now that he expected nothing, the incident of the kiss, his impatience, his vague hopes and disappointment, presented themselves in a clear light. It no longer seemed to him strange that he had not seen the General's messenger.
Watching the water flow, Ryabovitch reflected on the meaninglessness of it all. The water was running just as it had in May, flowing to the sea, rising as vapor, turning to rain, and perhaps the very same water was now running before his eyes again. Similarly, his brief encounter with the unknown woman now struck him as an unintelligible, aimless jest, making his life seem extraordinarily meager and colorless.
When Ryabovitch returned to his hut, he discovered all his comrades had gone to General von Rabbek's house, having received an invitation after all. In his anger and disappointment, he got into bed and, as if to spite fate, refused to go to the General's.