The Old House (Chekhov)
Short summary
St. Petersburg, early 20th century. While showing an architect through an old house scheduled for demolition, the narrator shared stories about former tenants. He particularly recalled the tragic fate of the Putohin family who once lived in a three-room flat there.
Putohin was initially a respectable clerk who lived with his wife, mother, four children, and a lodger named Yegoritch. After his wife died, Putohin lost his job to a young woman and began drinking heavily. He sold his son Vassya's coat for alcohol, leaving the boy unable to attend school properly.
When Vassya discovered his coat missing, he and his grandmother were overwhelmed with despair.
And at that moment I believe there is a definite certainty in the minds of the boy and the old woman that their life is ruined, that there is no hope...
Though Putohin briefly promised to reform, he soon sold his mother's shawl for drink and disappeared. The grandmother was hospitalized, the younger children taken by relatives, and Vassya began working in the washhouse, eventually becoming known as "a dangerous customer." The narrator concluded by mentioning that a street musician who later lived in the same room had twenty thousand roubles hidden in his feather bed when he died.
Detailed summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
The narrator tours the old house
An old house was scheduled for demolition to make way for a new building. The narrator, who owned the property, led an architect through the empty rooms, sharing various stories about the house's past inhabitants as they discussed business matters.
The old house had to be pulled down that a new one might be built in its place. I led the architect through the empty rooms, and between our business talk told him various stories.
The tattered wallpapers and dingy windows bore traces of recent habitation. The narrator pointed out specific locations where memorable events had occurred: a staircase where drunken men once dropped a coffin while carrying a corpse, three doors where young ladies who received visitors had lived, and a three-room flat that was seemingly cursed and saturated with bacteria.
The Putohin family and their living arrangements
The narrator particularly remembered the fate of one family who had lived in the cursed flat. The head of the household was Putohin, a copying clerk at a notary's office who earned thirty-five roubles a month. He was initially a sober, religious, and serious man who always apologized for being poorly dressed or late with the rent.
Putohin lived with his wife, mother, and four children in modest conditions. In the middle room, his mother stayed with the children, while Putohin had his own room where he worked on private copying jobs. The third room was rented to Yegoritch, a locksmith who specialized in musical instruments and paid two and a half roubles for his accommodation.
It was poor and stuffy, but the working-class faces, the children's little drawers hung up along by the stove, Yegoritch's bits of iron had yet an air of peace, friendliness, content...
The beginning of misfortunes
The first misfortune to strike the family was the death of Putohin's wife. During her funeral service, the narrator observed Putohin's grave face and stern eyes, and sensed that the family was marked by an unseen presence that lived in their flat. Being superstitious, the narrator believed that once misfortune begins, it continues relentlessly.
Misfortunes are like stones. One stone has only to drop from a high cliff for others to be set rolling after it. In short, as I came away from the requiem service at Putohin's, I believed that he and his family were in a bad way.
A week after the funeral, Putohin was unexpectedly dismissed from his job at the notary's office and replaced by a young lady. This replacement by a woman rather than a man particularly upset him. Upon returning home, he beat his children, swore at his mother, and got drunk. Yegoritch joined him in drinking.
The family's financial situation quickly deteriorated. When Putohin brought the rent, he no longer apologized for the delay. The following month, his mother brought only half the amount, promising to pay the remainder later. By the third month, no rent was paid at all, and the porter complained about the tenants' behavior.
The familys rapid decline
The narrator described a grim scene in the Putohin household. On a somber Petersburg morning, the grandmother was serving tea to the children. Only the eldest, Vassya, drank from a glass while the others used saucers. Yegoritch crouched by the stove, suffering from the previous day's drinking bout. Putohin sat disheveled on his stripped bed, staring blankly at the floor.
The grandmother remained the only family member who hadn't lost hope. She continued working hard, scrubbing floors for Jewish shopkeepers on Fridays, washing for merchants on Saturdays, and seeking help from ladies on Sundays. Despite occasionally drinking herself, she never neglected her duties.
One morning, Vassya discovered his greatcoat was missing. The family searched everywhere, but it was gone. Putohin's silence confirmed everyone's suspicion that he had sold it for drink. The coat had been made from his dead mother's dress and contained Vassya's pencils and notebook. The boy wanted to cry but feared his father's violent reaction when drunk.
Because he mustn't cry, or give vent to his indignation aloud, Vassya moans, wrings his hands... His eyes are frantic, and his face is distorted with despair. Looking at him, his granny all at once takes the shawl off her head...
When Vassya left for school wrapped in his grandmother's shawl, Putohin followed him, overcome with remorse. He longed to comfort his son and beg forgiveness but could only sob. Later that day, Putohin desperately sought help from the narrator to find work, promising to reform and provide a better future for his son. The narrator gave him hope but privately thought it was too late.
The aftermath and conclusion
That evening, Putohin's struggle with depression led him back to drinking with Yegoritch. The next morning, Vassya found his grandmother's shawl missing as well. After selling it for alcohol, Putohin never returned home.
Following Putohin's disappearance, the grandmother first got drunk, then fell ill and was taken to a hospital. Relatives took in the younger children, while Vassya began working in the washhouse, handing out irons during the day and fetching beer at night. Eventually, he entered the service of one of the young ladies and gained a reputation as "a dangerous customer."
The narrator concluded his tour of the old house by mentioning that a street musician had once lived in one of the rooms for ten years. When the musician died, twenty thousand roubles were discovered hidden in his feather bed.
And in this room here a street musician lived for ten years. When he died they found twenty thousand roubles in his feather bed.