Grischa (Chekhov)
Grischa ( Russian Гриша ) is a short story by the Russian writer Anton Chekhov , which appeared on April 5, 1886 in the weekly Oskolki .
Grischa - a round, wrapped-up boy who will be three years old this summer - gets confused when the nurse drives him out into the warm April sun. Because the world in its four walls with mom and nanny in it is clear and rectangular. Although - there is quite a confusing rectangular geometry at home too. What is meant is the father's study. Grisha is not allowed to enter that. The father is also a questionable figure. Papa is mostly absent. What is he there for, if he's already there? Grischa's aunt appears even more mysterious from the arsenal of people in her parents' apartment. Where is most of it? The boy has already checked under the sofa. There was nothing to be seen.
However, the parental home is generally much more manageable than the hustle and bustle on the street. Just one example: Grischa wonders why his nanny doesn't scream at the behavior of the marching soldiers. The little one marches behind. The nurse holds him back roughly. A man greets the nanny with a handshake. Grischa pulls the stranger by the coat and gives him the order to march: “Go!” Finally the cook's house is entered. The stove in it - "a big black cave" - really looks terrifying. You take a seat at the table and linger. Schnapps is drunk. Grischa wants to taste. When the nurse lets him sip from her glass, the little boy gets a big cough. The adults laugh.
In the evening - back home - it seems to mom that her darling is feverish. She gives Grisha castor oil .
Used edition
- Gerhard Dick (ed.), Wolf Düwel (ed.): Anton Chekhov: Collected works in individual volumes : Grischa. P. 505–509 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
- online in the Gutenberg project (Leipzig 1901, translator Wladimir Czumikow )
- Wikisource: Гриша (Чехов) (Russian)
- online at Lib.ru (Russian)
- online in FEB (Russian)
- online in the Komarow library (Russian)
- Chekhov Bibliography, Entry Stories No. 383 (Russian)
- Notice of first publication in the Labor der Fantastik (Russian)
- Tatyana Yershova: recitation (5 min) on YouTube (Russian)