Children among themselves
Children among themselves , also children , Die Kinder , und Spielende Kinder ( Russian Детвора , Detwora ), is a satire by the Russian writer Anton Chekhov , written in 1886 and published on January 20 of the same year in the Peterburgskaja Gazeta . Anton Chekhov had drawn with the pseudonym A. Chechonte (Russian А. Чехонте).
In 1891, a translation into German with the title Children was published in No. 26 of the magazine for foreign literature . Wladimir Czumikow's translation Die Kinder was published by Albert Langen in Munich in 1898 . Other translations: 1891 into Serbo-Croatian ( Деца ), 1892 into Danish ( Alene hjemme - Alone at home ), 1894 into Hungarian ( Gyermekek ), 1898 into Bulgarian (Деца), 1901 into Romanian ( Copiii ), 1902 into Czech ( Děti ) and Polish ( Dzieciarnia ).
action
It's actually already bedtime. But the parents and the aunt went out. In the kitchen, the nanny Agafja Ivanovna is doing the tailoring with the cook. In expectation of the parents, nine-year-old Grigori, his eight-year-old sister Anja, the six-year-old other sister Sonja and the fat, round little boy Alexej play the lottery in the dining room at the dining table. Andrej, the cook's sickly son, is part of the party. It is played for money. The stake is one kopeck . Andrej are running out of copecks. “It doesn't work without money,” explains Grigori.
Sonja helps out with a kopeck. When Grigori thinks Andrej is cheating, the game of chance turns into a wild brawl . When there was a hail of slaps in the face, Sonja, who wasn't hit in the face, cries with us. The two women in the kitchen do not react to the many voices howling in the dining room. It is the right decision. A little later, all arguments are forgotten. The players laugh again and soon chat peacefully again. Finally the children go to mommy's bed. Anton Chekhov concludes: “There are kopeks on the floor around the bed, which have lost all meaning by a later new game. Good night!"
German-language editions
- Anton Čechov: Kashtanka and other children's stories. Selected and translated by Peter Urban (ed.). With drawings by Tatjana Hauptmann . 156 pages. Diogenes, Zurich 2004. ISBN 978-3-257-01107-4 (also contains: Children. Strange case. Der Bläss . Grischa. The refugee . Sorrow . Boys. Something about horses. Oysters. The bad boy. The cook is getting married. Wanjka . The fat and the thin )
Used edition
- Children among themselves . P. 50–58 in Anton P. Chekhov: A woman free of prejudice. Stories. Translated from the Russian by Dr. H. Röhl. Revisited 1947. 80 pages (still contains: affable. How I married. Only once a year. The worthless rascal. A lucky man. A wooden head. The rendezvous. The theater director under the sofa. A magnetic session. Ssst! The guest ) . Reclam, Leipzig 1945 ( RUB 6250, 3rd edition 1947), without ISBN
Web links
- The text
- The children , translator Vladimir Czumikov
- Детвора (Чехов) (Russian)
- online at author-chehov.ru (Russian)
- online in FEB (Russian)
- online at litmir.co (Russian)
- online in the Komarow library (Russian)
- Chekhov Bibliography, Entry Stories No. 357 (Russian)