Vanka (Chekhov)
Short summary
Moscow, late 19th century. On Christmas Eve, nine-year-old Vanka Zhukov wrote a letter to his grandfather while his master, a shoemaker to whom he was apprenticed, was at church.
In his letter, Vanka described his miserable life in Moscow. His master and mistress beat him regularly, he was forced to rock their baby, received little food, and slept in the hallway. He begged his grandfather to rescue him.
"Dear grandfather, show the Divine Mercy, take me away from here, home to the village. It's more than I can bear. I bow down to your feet, and will pray to God for you forever, take me away from here or I shall die."
Vanka reminisced about his life in the village with his grandfather, a night watchman for the Zhivarev family.
He recalled how they used to cut down Christmas trees together and how his grandfather would joke with the servants. After finishing his letter, Vanka addressed it simply to "Grandfather in the village" and dropped it into a mailbox. He fell asleep dreaming of his grandfather reading the letter by the stove, unaware that his poorly addressed letter would never reach its destination.
Detailed summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
Vanka begins writing to his grandfather
On Christmas Eve, nine-year-old Vanka Zhukov waited until his master and the household had gone to midnight service before taking out ink and paper to write a letter. Looking fearfully around the dark room, he knelt before a bench and began writing to his grandfather in the village.
"Dear grandfather, Konstantin Makaritch, I am writing you a letter. I wish you a happy Christmas, and all blessings from God Almighty. I have neither father nor mother, you are the only one left me."
Memories of life with grandfather
As Vanka wrote, he vividly recalled his grandfather, a night watchman for the Zhivarev family. The old man was thin but nimble, with a laughing face and drunken eyes. During the day, he slept in the servants' kitchen or joked with the cooks, while at night he patrolled the grounds wrapped in a sheepskin coat, tapping with his mallet.
Two dogs always followed the old man on his rounds: Kashtanka and Eel. Kashtanka was old and easily offended, while Eel was dark-colored with a long weasel-like body. Despite his polite and affectionate demeanor, Eel was known for his cunning nature and tendency to steal from peasants or snap at people's legs.
Vanka imagined his grandfather standing at the gate on this Christmas night, squinting at the red church windows, stamping his feet in the cold, and playfully pinching the housemaids. He would offer them snuff, making them sneeze, and even give some to the dogs. The winter night was beautiful, with the village visible under its white roofs, trees silvered with frost, and the sky full of twinkling stars.
"The whole sky spangled with gay twinkling stars, and the Milky Way is as distinct as though it had been washed and rubbed with snow for a holiday... Vanka sighed, dipped his pen, and went on writing."
Vankas suffering at the shoemakers
In his letter, Vanka described the harsh treatment he endured at the shoemaker's house. Just the day before, his master had dragged him into the yard by his hair and beaten him with a boot-stretcher because he had fallen asleep while rocking the baby's cradle. A week earlier, the mistress had thrust a herring's head in his face when he started cleaning it from the wrong end.
The workmen at the shop also mistreated Vanka, sending him to buy vodka and telling him to steal cucumbers for them. He was poorly fed, receiving only bread for breakfast and dinner, with porridge at midday, while his master and mistress kept all the good food for themselves. Vanka slept in the passage and had to rock the cradle whenever their baby cried, getting no rest.
"Vanka's mouth worked, he rubbed his eyes with his black fist, and gave a sob. 'I will powder your snuff for you,' he went on. 'I will pray for you, and if I do anything you can thrash me like Sidor's goat.'"
Christmas memories and completing the letter
Vanka continued his letter by describing Moscow as a big town full of gentlemen's houses and horses. He mentioned seeing fishing hooks and expensive guns in shop windows, and butcher shops selling game birds and hares. He begged his grandfather to take him away from Moscow, promising to pray for him and help in any way possible.
The boy then recalled how his grandfather used to take him to the forest to get Christmas trees for their master's family. He remembered his grandfather smoking his pipe in the frosty forest, taking snuff, and laughing at shivering Vanka. They would watch hares darting across the snowdrifts before cutting down a tree and bringing it to the big house for decoration.
Vanka particularly remembered a young lady named Olga Ignatyevna, who had been kind to him when his mother was alive. She had given him treats and taught him to read, write, count, and even dance. After his mother Pelageya died, Vanka had been transferred to the servants' kitchen to live with his grandfather, and later apprenticed to the shoemaker in Moscow.
Mailing the letter and falling asleep with hope
Vanka finished his letter with a desperate plea for his grandfather to come and take him away. He folded the paper, placed it in an envelope, and after some thought, addressed it simply: "To grandfather in the village" with "Konstantin Makaritch" added as an afterthought.
Without even putting on his coat, Vanka ran out into the street in just his shirt. The previous day, he had asked some shopmen about how letters were delivered, and they had told him about postboxes and mail carriers. Finding the nearest postbox, he dropped his precious letter into the slot.
"An hour later, lulled by sweet hopes, he was sound asleep... He dreamed of the stove. On the stove was sitting his grandfather, swinging his bare legs, and reading the letter to the cooks... By the stove was Eel, wagging his tail."