The Looking-Glass (Chekhov)
Short summary
On New Year's Eve, a young woman named Nellie sat gazing into her looking-glass. As she stared, the mirror's reflection transformed into a gray sea where visions appeared.
In her vision, Nellie saw her future life with a husband. One night, she desperately sought medical help for him, rushing to Stepan Lukitch, the district doctor. Despite his own illness and exhaustion, she convinced him to come with her through the freezing darkness. Upon arriving home, she discovered the doctor had become delirious with fever, forcing her to seek another doctor.
Her vision continued, showing struggles with mortgage payments and constant fears for her children's health. Eventually, her vision turned to the inevitable tragedy that would befall one spouse or the other.
And Nellie saw her husband dying. This terrible event presented itself to her in every detail. She saw the coffin, the candles, the deacon, and even the footmarks in the hall made by the undertaker.
Questioning the purpose of her married life that led only to this tragic end, Nellie was suddenly startled by something falling. She opened her eyes to find her looking-glass on the floor. She had fallen asleep while gazing into it, and all she had experienced was just a dream.
Detailed summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
Nellie gazes into the looking-glass on New Years Eve
On New Year's Eve, Nellie sat in her room gazing into a looking-glass with exhausted, half-closed eyes. She was pale and motionless, appearing as still as the mirror itself. As she stared, the reflection of her face, hands, and the mirror frame became clouded in mist, merging into what seemed like a boundless gray sea.
Vision of a destined husband and married life
Against the shifting gray background, Nellie began to see the smile and charming expression of someone's eyes. Gradually, the outlines of a head, face, eyebrows, and beard appeared. This was her destined one, the object of her long dreams and hopes.
The destined one was for Nellie everything, the significance of life, personal happiness, career, fate. Outside him, as on the grey background of the looking-glass, all was dark, empty, meaningless.
Nellie heard his voice and envisioned their life together under the same roof. Months and years flew by in her vision as she saw her future distinctly in all its details, with one scene following another against the gray background of the mirror.
Seeking help from the reluctant doctor
In her vision, Nellie saw herself on a winter night desperately knocking at the door of Stepan Lukitch, the district doctor. The old dog barked behind the gate, and the house was dark and silent. When the doctor's cook answered, she whispered that her master was asleep after returning from treating fever patients and had given orders not to be disturbed.
Ignoring the cook, Nellie rushed into the house and found the doctor lying on his bed. She sat down and began to cry bitterly, explaining that her husband was ill with typhus and begging the doctor to come immediately. Stepan Lukitch was reluctant, explaining that he was exhausted and ill himself with a fever of nearly forty degrees.
Nellie pleaded desperately, walking nervously around the bedroom. The doctor suggested she go to the Zemstvo doctor instead, but Nellie explained that he lived more than twenty miles away and the journey would be too long. She begged Stepan Lukitch to perform a heroic deed and threatened to summon him before the Court when he refused.
The difficult journey home through the night
After much entreating, the doctor finally agreed to come. There was an agonizing delay as he struggled to put on his coat, find his goloshes, and locate his missing cap. At last, Nellie and the doctor were in the carriage, facing a thirty-mile journey through the darkness.
The earth was wrapped in darkness, making it impossible to see anything. A cold winter wind blew as they traveled over frozen lumps of earth. The coachman frequently stopped, uncertain which road to take. Nellie and the doctor sat in silence throughout the journey, feeling neither the cold nor the jolts of the carriage.
Arrival home to find both men delirious
At five in the morning, the exhausted horses finally drove into Nellie's yard. She recognized the familiar gates, the well with the crane, and the row of stables and barns. Asking the doctor to wait in the dining room, Nellie went to check on her husband.
When she returned, she found Stepan Lukitch lying on the sofa and muttering incoherently. To her horror, Nellie realized that the doctor was as delirious as her husband. She decided she must now go for the Zemstvo doctor, facing once again the darkness, cutting cold wind, and frozen earth.
Visions of future hardships and death
Against the gray background, Nellie's vision continued. She saw how every spring her husband struggled to find money to pay the mortgage interest to the bank. Neither of them could sleep as they racked their brains to avoid being visited by the clerk of the Court.
She saw their children and the constant worry about illnesses, school performance, and the inevitable separation. Out of their five or six children, she knew one was certain to die.
She saw her children: the everlasting apprehension of colds, scarlet fever, diphtheria, bad marks at school, separation. Out of a brood of five or six one was sure to die. The grey background was not untouched by death.
Finally, Nellie saw her husband dying. She observed every detail of this terrible event - the coffin, the candles, the deacon, and even the footmarks in the hall made by the undertaker. Looking blankly at her husband's face, she questioned the purpose of their life together, which now seemed like a meaningless prelude to this moment.
Awakening from the dream
Something fell from Nellie's hand and knocked on the floor. She started, jumped up, and opened her eyes wide. One looking-glass lay at her feet while the other remained standing on the table. Looking into the mirror, she saw her pale, tear-stained face. The gray background had disappeared.
Something fell from Nellie's hand and knocked on the floor. She started, jumped up, and opened her eyes wide. One looking-glass she saw lying at her feet. The other was standing as before on the table.
With a sigh of relief, Nellie realized she must have fallen asleep while gazing into the mirror, and all the visions of her married life had been nothing but a dream.