The cook is getting married
The cook marries ( Russian Кухарка женится , Kucharka schenitsja ) is a short story by the Russian writer Anton Chekhov , which appeared on September 16, 1885 in the daily newspaper Peterburgskaja Gazeta .
At the behest of the landlady, the old nanny, Axinja Stepanovna, led Danilo Semyonych, a single cab driver who was not yet quite 40, into the kitchen. The penetration of the tea-drinking groom sitting in front of her into her realm confuses the bride, that is the cook Pelageja. She turns her crimson face away from the tall, stocky coachman and rumbles about the house. The appointed matchmaker Axinja asks the driver about his daily earnings. The answer is that it differs from day to day. Although the coachman has to compete with the horse-drawn tram and the countless coachman colleagues, it is enough and he can even make another happy. At these words the driver glanced over at the cook, who had no real sense of purpose.
When the coachman is gone, Pelageja yells at the lady of the house that she is definitely not marrying this older man whom she just saw for the first time. Madam disagrees - the cook could take such a calm, sedate man as her husband without looking.
When the cook served the lunch completely too salty, the landlord let down the anger on his wife. He condemns their pimp. Each servant should marry according to her taste.
The wedding ceremony will take place on the following Sunday morning, followed by harmonica music and a schnapps feast. The bride Pelageja starts howling.
The next morning, Pelageja works in the kitchen as usual. The driver appears, thanks the madam and speaks with a stern look at the cook: “Madam, take care of her ... And then, madam, please give me five rubles on account of your salary. I have to buy a new kumt . "
Used edition
- Gerhard Dick (Hrsg.), Wolf Düwel (Hrsg.): Anton Chekhov: Collected works in individual volumes : The cook is getting married. P. 379–385 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
- Chekhov Bibliography, Entry Stories No. 308 (Russian)
- Reference to first appearance in the Laboratory of Fantastics (Russian)