The Schoolmaster (Chekhov)
Short summary
A Russian factory town, early 1900s. Fyodor Lukitch Sysoev, the schoolmaster at Kulikin factory school, was preparing for the annual dinner following school examinations. Despite being visibly ill, he insisted on attending the event.
At the dinner, Sysoev delivered a speech praising the school's achievements and criticizing his enemies. When Bruni, the factory manager, responded by thanking Sysoev and mentioning that a sum had been set aside for Sysoev's family, the schoolmaster suddenly realized everyone knew he was dying.
With a pale, distorted face he suddenly jumped up and clutched at his head. For a quarter of a minute he stood like that, stared with horror at a fixed point before him as though he saw the swiftly coming death of which Bruni was speaking...
Sysoev burst into tears, ruining the festive mood. The dinner ended early. At home, he examined himself in the mirror, trying to convince himself he merely suffered from anemia and stomach catarrh. He then sat down with his students' exercise books while in the next room, the district doctor whispered to his wife that Sysoev probably had only a week to live.
Detailed summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
Sysoevs preparation for the annual school dinner
Fyodor Lukitch Sysoev, the master of the factory school maintained by the Kulikin firm, was preparing for the annual dinner that followed the school examinations. This would be his fourteenth such dinner in his years as schoolmaster. Despite being official events, these dinners were always lively affairs where distinctions of rank were forgotten, and guests celebrated their educational work together.
Sysoev spent considerable time making himself presentable, brushing his new black suit for an hour and struggling with his fashionable shirt studs. His difficulties with dressing prompted complaints and reproaches toward his wife, who bustled around him trying to help. The effort exhausted him so much that when his polished boots arrived from the kitchen, he had to lie down and drink water before he could put them on.
Arrival at the dinner and initial disputes
Sysoev was in a foul mood as he headed to the dinner. Despite the examinations having gone splendidly, with all senior boys receiving certificates and both factory managers and government officials pleased with the results, he remained displeased. He was vexed that Babkin had made three mistakes in dictation, Sergeyev had forgotten a multiplication problem, and Lyapunov had not pronounced words clearly during dictation.
He was in a very bad temper, for he had been much displeased with the recent examinations. The examinations had gone off splendidly; all the boys... were pleased with the results; but that was not enough for the schoolmaster.
Just before reaching the manager's house, Sysoev suffered a violent coughing fit that caused his cap to fall off and his stick to drop. The school inspector and teachers rushed out upon hearing his cough and found him sitting on the bottom step, bathed in perspiration. The inspector expressed surprise at his attendance given his poor health, but Sysoev insisted on joining the dinner.
The dinner speeches and Sysoevs bitter toast
Inside, the dining room was prepared for the banquet with two tables set up - one for dinner and a smaller one for hors d'oeuvres. The factory manager, Adolf Andreyitch Bruni, was bustling around the tables, trying to please everyone with his friendly, dog-like demeanor. When he saw Sysoev, he expressed delight that the schoolmaster had come despite his illness.
Sysoev noticed that his colleagues had already begun eating and drinking without waiting for him. He immediately confronted Lyapunov about his dictation methods, accusing him of deliberately trying to make Sysoev's pupils fail so that Lyapunov's school would appear better. Despite the inspector's attempts to calm the situation, Sysoev persisted in his complaints.
When the dinner began, toasts were proposed according to tradition. The inspector thanked the absent school wardens, and Bruni toasted the inspector's health. The third toast traditionally fell to Sysoev. He stood and delivered a long, bitter speech, claiming that during his fourteen years as schoolmaster, he had faced many intrigues and secret reports against him. He boasted that despite these challenges, the Kulikin school held the foremost place in the province both morally and materially.
Sysoev spoke at length, with pauses to get his breath and with pretensions to rhetoric, and his speech was boring and unpleasant. He several times referred to certain enemies of his, tried to drop hints, repeated himself...
Brunis revelation and Sysoevs breakdown
When Sysoev finally finished his tedious speech, everyone felt relieved, as though cold water had cleared the air. Only Bruni seemed unaffected by the unpleasantness. The German shook Sysoev's hand warmly and thanked him for understanding. He insisted that the school's excellence was due entirely to Sysoev's efforts, not his own, and explained that the high salary of five hundred roubles was paid because Sysoev was valued.
The inspector joined in praising Sysoev, expressing admiration for his teaching abilities despite his poor health. Soon all the dinner guests were enthusiastically discussing Sysoev's extraordinary talent. The atmosphere transformed completely, with everyone forgetting his unpleasant speech and difficult temperament. It became clear that within his own circle, Sysoev was highly respected.
Bruni, rather than Sysoev, seemed to absorb all the praise. Eventually, unable to contain himself, the German stood and announced that the factory management would not forget what they owed to Sysoev. He revealed that Sysoev's family would be provided for, as money had been placed in the bank a month earlier for that purpose.
And at once on all the faces, in all the motionless eyes bent upon him, he read not the sympathy, not the commiseration which he could not endure, but something else, something soft, tender, but at the same time intensely sinister...
Sysoevs denial and final moments at home
Sysoev looked around in confusion, not understanding why his family would need to be provided for rather than himself. In the faces of everyone present, he suddenly recognized something terrible - not the sympathy he despised, but something intensely sinister. He realized the truth about his condition, turned pale, clutched his head, and burst into tears. The dinner ended in gloomy silence, much earlier than usual.
Upon returning home, Sysoev first examined himself in the mirror. He reassured himself that his face looked better than the previous day, convincing himself that he was merely suffering from anemia and a stomach cough. After carefully removing and folding his new black suit, he sat down to examine his pupils' exercise books, particularly admiring Babkin's beautiful handwriting.
And meantime, while he was examining the exercise-books, the district doctor was sitting in the next room and telling his wife in a whisper that a man ought not to have been allowed to go out to dinner who had not in all probability more than a week to live.