The first lover

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Anton Chekhov

The first lover ( Russian Первый любовник , Perwy ljubownik ) is a short story by the Russian writer Anton Chekhov , which appeared on September 13, 1886 in the weekly Oskolki .

Evgeny Alexejewitsch Podsharow, a slim, elegant gentleman, is still the first lover of the theater in a southern Russian city , despite the bags under his eyes . The mime spits big tones and makes himself the focus of the evening party in the house of the respected manufacturer Sybajew until the boastful finds his master. The latter is the 40-year-old landowner Pawel Ignatjewitsch Klimow, a distant relative of the landlord, a theater lover who used to play theater in his town in the Tula governorate .

The pious to slightly amused listeners learn from Podsharow's mouth about the beautiful Warenka, a mutual good friend of the two dialogue partners. When Podsharow whispers an affair with the beautiful Warenka to those present , the mood changes. The landowner Klimow identifies himself as Uncle Warenkas. The chattering falls silent when Klimow calls for the first lover . Snubbed, Podsharow withdraws from the evening party and in the hotel room thinks: What will the colleagues at the theater say about this story? Podsharow goes back, waits several hours under a lantern in rainy weather for Klimow, watches him, meekly admits the boasting and apologizes.

Used edition

  • Gerhard Dick (ed.), Wolf Düwel (ed.): Anton Chekhov: Collected works in individual volumes : The first lover . P. 566–572 in: Gerhard Dick (Ed.): Anton Chekhov: From the rain to the 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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Entry in WorldCat