The Lottery Ticket (Chekhov)
Short summary
Russia, late 19th century. Ivan Dmitritch, a middle-class man, was reading the newspaper after supper when his wife asked him to check the lottery results. He found their series number, 9,499, in the list of winning tickets and became excited at the possibility of winning 75,000 rubles.
The couple began daydreaming about what they would do with the money. Ivan imagined buying an estate, traveling abroad, and enjoying a life of leisure. His wife also dreamed of an estate and travel. However, as Ivan continued fantasizing, his thoughts turned darker.
He began to resent his wife, thinking she would control the money since the ticket was hers. He imagined her as stingy, annoying on trips, and growing elderly and plain. She, in turn, began to suspect his intentions. Their mutual suspicion grew until Ivan finally checked the full number and discovered they hadn't won after all.
Hatred and hope both disappeared at once, and it began immediately to seem to Ivan Dmitritch and his wife that their rooms were dark and small and low-pitched, that the supper they had been eating was not doing them good...
Their brief fantasy of wealth had revealed the hidden resentments in their marriage, and they returned to their ordinary, dissatisfied lives.
Detailed summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
The discovery of a potential lottery win
One evening after supper, Ivan Dmitritch sat on the sofa reading a newspaper while his wife cleared the table. She asked him to check if the list of lottery drawings was published, mentioning that her ticket was series 9,499, number 26. Though Ivan had no faith in lottery luck, he agreed to look at the list.
As he scanned the column of numbers, Ivan was shocked to find their series number 9,499 listed. He felt an agreeable chill in his stomach, a sensation both terrible and sweet. With a hollow voice, he announced to his wife that their series number was there.
And immediately, as though in mockery of his scepticism, no further than the second line from the top, his eye was caught by the figure 9,499! Unable to believe his eyes, he hurriedly dropped the paper on his knees...
His wife turned pale and dropped the tablecloth on the table when she heard the news. Ivan confirmed that their series was definitely listed, though he had not yet checked the specific ticket number. Both husband and wife were suddenly filled with excitement at the possibility of winning.
Ivan and Masha began to smile at each other in silence, bewildered by the possibility of winning. The prize for their series was seventy-five thousand rubles. Though they had not yet confirmed if their specific ticket number had won, they allowed themselves to dream about what such a fortune might mean for them.
To torment and tantalize oneself with hopes of possible fortune is so sweet, so thrilling! "It is our series," said Ivan Dmitritch, after a long silence. "So there is a probability that we have won. It's only a probability, but there it is!"
The couple could not articulate what they would do with such money. They focused only on the numbers themselves - 9,499 and 75,000 - unable to grasp the reality of the happiness that might await them. Ivan paced the room, recovering from the initial shock before beginning to imagine what their new life might be like.
The possibility of winning bewildered them; they could not have said, could not have dreamed, what they both needed that seventy-five thousand for... They thought only of the figures 9,499 and 75,000 and pictured them in their imagination.
Ivan began to outline how he would spend the money if the ticket were his: twenty-five thousand on real estate, ten thousand on immediate expenses like new furnishings and travel, and the remaining forty thousand in the bank to earn interest. Masha agreed that buying an estate would be nice, her face showing she was enchanted by her own thoughts.
Ivans detailed fantasies about wealth
Ivan's imagination filled with increasingly pleasant scenes of his future wealthy life. He pictured himself well-fed and serene, lying on hot sand near a stream or under a lime tree in the garden. In his daydream, his children played nearby while he dozed, relishing the freedom from having to go to work.
And pictures came crowding on his imagination, each more gracious and poetical than the last. And in all these pictures he saw himself well-fed, serene, healthy, felt warm, even hot! Here, after eating a summer soup, cold as ice, he lay on his back...
He envisioned walks to the hayfield, mushroom hunting, and watching peasants fish. After a leisurely bath, he would enjoy tea with cream and milk rolls. His evenings would be spent walking or playing cards with neighbors. Ivan then imagined autumn with its cold evenings and St. Martin's summer, drinking vodka after getting chilled from walks, and children bringing vegetables from the garden.
His fantasy continued through the gloomy weather that follows St. Martin's summer, with rain falling day and night. During this time, he would remain indoors, pacing the room and looking despondently at the grey window. Ivan then told his wife he would go abroad, perhaps to France, Italy, or India.
Masha replied that she would certainly go abroad too, but Ivan's thoughts had already taken a different turn. He began to consider how unpleasant it would be to travel with his wife, imagining her sighing over expenses, complaining about headaches, and constantly worrying about money during their journey.
For the first time, Ivan began to view his wife critically, noticing that she had grown elderly and plain, and smelled of cooking, while he still felt young and healthy. He thought he might have married again. Though he dismissed these thoughts as nonsense, he continued to question why his wife should go abroad at all, believing she would only be in his way.
And for the first time in his life his mind dwelt on the fact that his wife had grown elderly and plain, and that she was saturated through and through with the smell of cooking, while he was still young, fresh, and healthy...
Ivan imagined his wife would hide the money from him, making him dependent on her. His thoughts turned to her relatives, whom he suddenly viewed as detestable people who would come crawling to them if they won, begging for money and then slandering them if refused. His own relatives now seemed repulsive and hateful to him as well.
As these resentful thoughts filled his mind, Ivan looked at his wife with hatred rather than a smile. She returned his gaze with equal hostility. Masha had her own dreams and plans, and she understood perfectly what her husband was thinking. She knew he would be the first to try to take her winnings.
She had her own daydreams, her own plans, her own reflections; she understood perfectly well what her husband's dreams were. She knew who would be the first to try and grab her winnings. "It's very nice making daydreams at other people's expense!"
The tension between them grew as they glared at each other, each understanding the other's thoughts. The lottery ticket that had initially brought them joy had now revealed the underlying resentment and distrust in their relationship.
The disappointment and return to reality
To spite his wife, Ivan suddenly glanced at the fourth page of the newspaper and read out triumphantly that the winning ticket was series 9,499, number 46 - not their number 26. In an instant, both their hatred and hope vanished.
Their rooms immediately seemed dark, small, and low-pitched. The supper they had eaten felt heavy in their stomachs, and the evening stretched before them, long and wearisome. Ivan became ill-humored, complaining about the untidiness of their rooms and declaring dramatically that he would go hang himself on the first aspen tree.
The brief fantasy of wealth had exposed the fragility of their contentment and the hidden dissatisfactions in their marriage. Now, returned to reality, they were left with nothing but their ordinary lives and the bitter taste of disappointed hopes.