The Shepherd's Flute (Chekhov)

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Anton Chekhov

The Shepherd's Flute ( Russian Свирель , Swirel ) is a short story by the Russian writer Anton Chekhov , which appeared on August 29, 1887 in the St. Petersburg daily Novoje wremja .

The author complains: After the abolition of serfdom, things are not going up in Russia , but rather downwards.

overview

The area around Kurgassowo on the bank of the Pestschanka: First of all, that complaint is initiated by gloomy flute tones, which Meliton Schischkin, the overseer of the Dementjewschen estate, heard when he was fighting through the thicket with his gun and dog. The musician is the old shepherd Luka, who creates anxiety in Shishkin by not adding the notes to the melody. Second, the decimation or even extinction of some animals and plants at the scene of the action is warned and regretted during the conversation between the two men. Thirdly, Schischkin draws a résumé that makes one sit up and take notice: "Poor harvests, poverty ... epidemics, diseases ... The misery does not give you a sigh of relief." The reader does not expect such social criticism from the mouth of a vicarious agent of the landlord Dementiev.

The three listed construction elements of the text prepare the punch line: Not even the supervisor, a married family man, can live without worries on his monthly salary. What hardship must Shishkin's subordinates suffer!

German-language editions

Output used:

  • Die Hirtenflöte , S. 87-95 in Anton Chekhov: The luck and other stories. Translated from the Russian by Alexander Eliasberg . 187 pages. Wilhelm Goldmann Verlag, Munich 1962, Goldmann's yellow paperbacks, vol. 868

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Since the old shepherd Luka looks back: "I am also under serfdom ..." (Edition used, p. 92, 1. Zvo), the short story is about 1861 or later.
  2. ↑ In Russia there are at least ten rivers called Pestschanka (Russian Песчанка ). Peschanka is also ambiguous and also represents gerbil , beach runners , chickweed and small sand eel .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Russian Кургасово