Weariness of life
Life weariness ( Russian Скука жизни , Skuka schisni) is a short story by the Russian writer Anton Chekhov , which was published on May 31, 1886 in the Novoje wremja .
content
Anna Mikhailovna Lebedeva can hardly get over the death of her 17-year-old only daughter, Shurotschka. The Frau General squandered her house in the city, made a generous donation to the Athos monastery and withdrew to her estate in Shenino. Anna finds no rest in sacrifice, fasting or pilgrimage. But when Anna's cook scalds herself on the stove and the woman gives first aid, she has an epiphany. From then on Anna deals with medicine, reads the magazine “ Arzt” and finally cures with pleasure the sick farmers who are partly staring with dirt. She even tackles the dysentery in neighboring Gurjino with opium .
Anna had betrayed her husband, General of the Artillery Arkady Petrovich Lebedev, when the daughter was a very young child. That was the end of this marriage. Now after the death of her only daughter, Anna receives a long letter from the old-weary, deeply indebted battery commander Arkadi, which initiates a two-year, non-flagging correspondence and at the end of which the veteran military moves to Shenino. As a greeting, Arkadi takes his wife in his arms and kisses her on the forehead. They look at each other and it looks like they are ashamed of their age. Anton Chekhov writes: "Both felt that the memory of their daughter would cause stabbing pain and tears, but from the past they were met with a stifling smell and darkness like from a deep vinegar barrel."
Arkadi is plagued by rheumatism . Anna recommends rubbing iodine and salicylic sodium as antidotes. Arkadi reacts sullenly and doesn't want to know anything about the quackery. The general knows that he is obnoxious, but he cannot change it. At the table he chatted incessantly about socialism, military reform and hygiene. The main thing is not to talk about the daughter. He secretly has a soul mass read for the dead. Although he mourns the deceased, after a few days he no longer goes to church. Attempts to contact the neighbors fail. So the general turns a. D. against his wife's "patients". Over time, the sick farmers stay away. Anna cannot prevail against Arkadi. He has the stronger argument: Only doctors are allowed to practice. When Arkadi continues to rail against his wife's charlatanism, a dispute ensues, at the peak of which the general slips a bitter aside about the lost daughter. Anna and Arkadi let their tears run free, nestle against each other, cry for about two hours, then speak courageously about their daughter and go to bed in the same room. But Anna cannot sleep because Arkady talks through the night.
The general dies. The widow Anna finds no rest in sacrifice, fasting or pilgrimage. There she has an enlightenment again. Anna wants to go to the monastery.
reception
- On June 11, 1886, the writer and humorist Wiktor Bilibin wrote to the author that the text was very impressive, but was not for old people.
German-language editions
- Tired of life in: Anton Chekhov: In the summer vacation. Stories 1880–1887. Translated from the Russian by Vera Bischitzky . With an afterword by Gerhard Bauer . 502 pages. Artemis and Winkler, Düsseldorf 2003. ISBN 978-3-538-06969-5
Used edition
- Lebensüberdruß , pp. 133–149 in Gerhard Dick (ed.) And Wolf Düwel (ed.): Anton Chekhov: The Swedish match . Short stories and early narratives. German by Wolf Düwel. 668 pages. Rütten & Loening, Berlin 1965 (1st edition)
Web links
- The text
- Chekhov Bibliography, Entry Stories No. 398 (Russian)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Russian entry at fantlab.ru
- ↑ Russian Шурочка
- ↑ Russian Женино
- ↑ Russian Врач - weekly medical newspaper founded by Karl Leopoldowitsch Rikkjer in Saint Petersburg in 1880
- ↑ Russian Гурьинo
- ↑ engl. Memorial service (Orthodox)
- ↑ Russian Билибин, Виктор Викторович
- ↑ Russian Примечания - Notes on the text at chehov.niv.ru, 18. Zvu