The Thief (Chekhov)
The Thief ( Russian Вор , Wor ) is a short story by the Russian writer Anton Chekhov , which appeared on April 16, 1883 in the weekly Oskolki . In this early text, for the first time, the author depicts the world around the protagonist from his perspective only.
In a Russian city outside Europe: Guri Ivanytsch, the otherwise sensible elderly doctor, does not want the exiled Fyodor Stepanytsch to attend his private Easter celebration out of consideration for the family. Fyodor rebels. His compatriot Barabaev, also convicted, is not excluded from the celebration. It will be like this: Fyodor stole too little at home in European Russia. He mourns his homeland. At home it's green at Easter. Here you wade through the mud in the cold wet. Olga alone is to blame for everything. This capricious woman had always needed money. And Fyodor had stolen and been banished.
Fyodor angrily retreats to his modest accommodation - the dwelling he shares with a sectarian. The rumbling of the bird in the farmer disturbs him when he falls asleep. Fyodor throws the farmer against the wall with the bird trapped in it. Because he killed the bird with the litter, Fyodor is expedited from the apartment by the landlord, who had kindly taken in the exile. Outside in the damp cold, Fjodor's compatriot Barabaev drives past in a comfortable cab and is the envy of the recently homeless Fyodor.
The stagecoach stops in front of the church. Olga gets down with suitcases and asks the astonished Fyodor about Barabaev. The latter had sent her two thousand travel money and wanted to pay her three hundred a month. Olga asks Fyodor about the city theater.
Used edition
- Gerhard Dick (Hrsg.), Wolf Düwel (Hrsg.): Anton Chekhov: Collected works in single volumes : Der Dieb. P. 104-109 in: Gerhard Dick (Ed.): Anton Chekhov: From rain to eaves. Short stories. Translated from Russian by Ada Knipper and Gerhard Dick. With a foreword by Wolf Düwel. 630 pages. Rütten & Loening, Berlin 1964 (1st edition)
Web links
- The text
- Wikisource: Вор (Чехов) (Russian)
- online at Lib.ru (Russian)
- online in FEB (Russian)
- Chekhov Bibliography, Entry Stories No. 102 (Russian)
- Reference to first appearance in the Laboratory of Fantastics (Russian)