Anton Chekhov - Anna on the neck. Anna's neck

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Anna's neck

“After the wedding there wasn’t even a light snack.” An 18-year-old girl, Anya, married a 52-year-old official, Modest Alekseich. After the wedding, they go to the monastery for a pilgrimage.

And Anya thinks that even though she married a rich man, “she still didn’t have any money, and when her father and brothers saw her off today, she saw from their faces that they didn’t have a penny.” After the death of her mother, her father (teacher of calligraphy and drawing at the gymnasium) Pyotr Leontyich started drinking, Petya and Andryusha (younger brothers-school students) did not even have boots. “But the ladies I knew began to fuss and began looking for a good man for Anya. Soon this same Modest Alekseich was found, not young and not handsome, but with money.”

The couple began to live in a government apartment. Anya played the piano all day long, or cried from boredom, or read novels and fashion magazines. Modest Alekseich at dinner talked about politics, about appointments and awards, and about how family life is not pleasure, but duty. In society, Modest Alekseich forced Anya to bow obsequiously to people of high rank. He was greedy when Anya asked him to buy her something. When Anya came to visit her father and brothers, she felt that they were embarrassed and did not know how to behave. The weak and kind father Pyotr Leontyich played the old harmonium on holidays and still drank. And the brothers “Petya and Andryusha, thin, pale boys with big eyes, took the decanter from him and said in confusion: “Don’t, daddy... That’s enough, daddy...”

Anya’s money situation got even worse after marriage. Only once did Pyotr Leontyich ask Anya’s husband for 50 rubles. Modest Alekseich gave money, but threatened that it would be the last time, because Pyotr Leontyich drinks, and this is shameful. And the brothers who came to visit Anya also had to listen to the instructions of Anya’s husband: “Every person must have his own responsibilities!” Modest Alekseich did not give money, but he gave Anya jewelry, saying that these things were good to have for a rainy day. And he often checked whether all things were intact.

Long before Christmas, Modest Alekseich began preparing Anya for the traditional winter ball and even gave her 100 rubles for a dress.

It's time for the ball. Anya shone and charmed even the most indifferent men. Even His Excellency himself noticed Anya and invited her to host a charity bazaar. Things from Anya's hands were selling like hot cakes. “Artynov, a rich man, came up. Without taking his eyes off Anya, he drank a glass of champagne and paid a hundred rubles, then drank tea and gave another hundred.” Anya “realized that she was created exclusively for this noisy, brilliant, laughing life with music, dancing, fans.” She began to feel ashamed of her father: “she was already ashamed that she had such a poor, such an ordinary father.”

The next day Artynov came to visit Anya, and then His Excellency. When her husband, Modest Alekseich, arrived, “he also now stood in front of her with the same servile-respectful expression that she was used to seeing from him in the presence of the powerful and noble. And with delight, already sure that nothing would happen to her for this, she said, pronouncing every word clearly: “Go away, you idiot!”

After that, Anya did not have a single free day, as she took part either in a picnic, or in a walk, or in a play. She returned home every day in the morning. She needed a lot of money, but she only sent bills or notes to her husband: “pay 100 rubles immediately.”

At Easter, Modest Alekseich received Anna of the second degree. His Excellency said to this: “So you now have three Annas: one in your buttonhole, two on your neck.” Modest Alekseich replied: “Now all that remains is to wait for the birth of little Vladimir. I dare to ask your Excellency to be my successor.” He hinted at Vladimir IV degree and was already imagining how he would talk about this pun of his everywhere.

And Anya rode troikas, went hunting with Artynov, and visited her father and brothers less and less. Pyotr Leontyich was drinking harder than ever, there was no money, and the harmonium had long been sold for debt. And when, during walks, they met Anya in a troika with Artynov, “Peter Leontyich took off his top hat and was about to shout something, and Petya and Andryusha took him by the arms and said pleadingly: “Don’t, daddy... It will be, daddy...””

“After the wedding there wasn’t even a light snack.” An 18-year-old girl, Anya, married a 52-year-old official, Modest Alekseich. After the wedding, they go to the monastery for a pilgrimage.

On the train, Modest Alekseich, smiling, recalls one incident: “When Kosorotov received the Order of St. Anna of the second degree and came to thank, His Excellency put it this way: “So, you now have three Annas: one in your buttonhole, two on your neck.” At that time, his wife had just returned to Kosorotov, a grumpy and frivolous person named Anna. I hope that when I receive Anna of the second degree, His Excellency will not have a reason to tell me the same thing.” And Anya thinks that even though she married a rich man, “she still didn’t have any money, and when her father and brothers saw her off today, she saw from their faces that they didn’t have a penny.” After the death of her mother, her father (teacher of calligraphy and drawing at the gymnasium) Pyotr Leontyich started drinking, Petya and Andryusha (younger brothers-school students) did not even have boots. “But the ladies I knew began to fuss and began looking for a good man for Anya. Soon this same Modest Alekseich was found, not young and not handsome, but with money.”

Modest Alekseich did not give negation, but he gave Anya jewelry, saying that these things are good to have for a rainy day. And he often checked whether all things were intact.

Long before Christmas, Modest Alekseich began preparing Anya for the traditional winter ball and even gave her 100 rubles for a dress.

An 18-year-old girl, Anya, married an official, Modest Alekseich, who was already 52 years old. She did it only for money, but not for self-interest, but unwillingly. Anna's father, Pyotr Leontyich, a penmanship and drawing teacher at the gymnasium, began drinking after his wife's death. The family was in need, a bailiff came and described the furniture. Anya had to look after her drunken father, darn her brothers' stockings, and wear the cheapest, patched clothes. They threatened to fire Pyotr Leontyich from the gymnasium. The ladies they knew found Anna an elderly husband, a man with money and in good standing with his superiors, who could save the bride’s father from being fired...

There was no wedding celebration. Immediately after the wedding, Anna and her husband, at his request, went to the monastery on a pilgrimage. Modest Alekseich made it clear to his young wife that in marriage he gives first place to religion and morality.

"Anna on the neck." Film based on the story by A.P. Chekhov. 1954

Family life turned out to be very difficult for Anya. The husband talked almost only about appointments, transfers and awards, instilling in her that a penny saves a ruble. Once he told how “his Excellency,” while awarding the Order of Anna of the second degree to the official Kosorotov, whose grumpy wife was also called Anna, put it this way: “So you now have three Annas: one in your buttonhole, two on your neck.” Modest Alekseich wished that when he himself received the same order, His Excellency would not have a reason to say the same thing to him.

Anna married only for money, and yet she now had less money than when she was a girl. Previously, the father gave at least two kopecks, but the stingy, boring husband did not allocate a penny. Modest Alekseich saved on everything. Visiting the theater with Anna, he was greedy to buy her even a pear, but he demanded that she bow to strangers, old ladies - the wives of his high-ranking colleagues. The father and brothers now treated Anya aloof: her new adult, ladylike appearance embarrassed them, and the reason for the marriage was well known to them. Modest Alekseich did not spoil his wife's relatives. Seeing his wife’s brothers at home, he read instructions to them, and Pyotr Leontyich, who once asked his son-in-law for a loan of 50 rubles, had to listen to a long lesson that the passion for wine had ruined many capable people...

Chekhov “Anna on the Neck”, chapter 2 – summary

Before the New Year, a winter ball was to be held in the noble assembly with the participation of “His Excellency.” Excited Modest Alekseich gave Anna 100 rubles to sew a good dress. The reason for such generosity was simple: Modest Alekseich wanted his boss’s wife to like him, and thanks to this he would get the position of senior speaker.

From her late mother, Anna inherited the art of dressing tastefully, taking beautiful poses, being delighted when necessary, and looking sad and mysterious. She chose the style of the dress herself. Seeing his wife in him, Modest Alekseich was shocked and fascinated.

At the ball, the entire male audience looked with delight at the young beauty, who was so different from other bureaucratic wives. The gentlemen vied with each other to invite Anna. She danced with such grace that she attracted even more attention. In the middle of the ball, “His Excellency” suddenly approached her and, smiling sweetly, uttered several flat compliments. A charity bazaar was held at the ball. The boss's wife asked Anna to collect donations from him. The symbolic product she “sold” was cups of tea. The men flocked after them, paying large sums. The rich man Artynov, a famous womanizer, paid one hundred rubles for a cup twice. Anna felt dizzy. Joyful, drunk with new impressions, she realized that she was created for this noisy, brilliant life with music, dancing, fans...

The next day, His Excellency and Artynov personally came to her home to thank her for participating in the charity bazaar. Anna's husband now stood before her with the same ingratiating, servile-respectful expression that he always had in the presence of the powerful and noble. Anna told him: “Go away, you idiot!” - and from then on she spent Modest Alekseich’s money as if it were her own, only sending him notes indicating the amounts to be paid. She didn’t have a single free day: they were all busy with picnics, walks, performances, troika rides, and hunting trips with Artynov.

At Easter, her husband received the Order of Anna of the second degree, so desired by him. His Excellency, accepting gratitude, noted to Modest Alekseich that “now he has three Annas: one in his buttonhole, two on his neck.” Modest Alekseich chuckled roguishly.

Anna visited her father less and less with her brothers, who were in dire poverty. Pyotr Leontyich drank harder than before. They saw Anna only in a luxurious harness with Artynov. The father usually tried to shout something to her, but the sons begged: daddy, don’t!

On our website you can read the full text of the story “Anna on the Neck”. For summaries of other works by A.P. Chekhov, see below in the block “More on the topic...”

After the wedding there was not even a light snack; The young couple drank a glass, changed clothes and went to the station. Instead of a cheerful wedding ball and dinner, instead of music and dancing - a pilgrimage trip two hundred miles away. Many approved of this, saying that Modest Alekseich was already in rank and not young, and a noisy wedding might perhaps seem not entirely decent; and it’s boring to listen to music when an official of 52 years old marries a girl who is barely 18. They also said that Modest Alekseich, as a man with rules, started this trip to the monastery, in fact, in order to make it clear to his young wife that and in marriage he gives first place to religion and morality. The young people were seen off. A crowd of colleagues and relatives stood with glasses and waited for the train to leave to shout hurray, and Pyotr Leontyich, the father, in a top hat, in a teacher's tailcoat, already drunk and already very pale, kept reaching for the window with his glass and said pleadingly: - Anyuta! Anya! Anya, one word! Anya leaned towards him from the window, and he whispered something to her, dousing her with the smell of wine fumes, blew into her ear - nothing could be understood - and made the sign of the cross on her face, chest, hands; At the same time, his breath trembled and tears glistened in his eyes. And Anya’s brothers, Petya and Andryusha, high school students, tugged at his tailcoat from behind and whispered in embarrassment: - Daddy, it will... Daddy, don’t... When the train started moving, Anya saw her father run a little behind the carriage, staggering and spilling his wine, and what a pitiful, kind, guilty face he had. - Hurray! - he shouted. The young people were left alone. Modest Alekseich looked around in the compartment, put things on the shelves and sat down opposite his young wife, smiling. He was an official of average height, rather plump, plump, very well-fed, with long sideburns and no mustache, and his shaved, round, sharply defined chin resembled a heel. The most characteristic thing about his face was the absence of a mustache, a freshly shaved, bare area that gradually gave way to fat, quivering, jelly-like cheeks. He behaved respectably, his movements were not fast, his manners were gentle. “I can’t help but remember one circumstance now,” he said, smiling. “Five years ago, when Kosorotov received the Order of St. Anna of the second degree and came to thank him, his Excellency put it this way: “So you now have three Annas: one in your buttonhole, two on your neck.” And it must be said that at that time his wife had just returned to Kosorotov, a grumpy and frivolous person named Anna. I hope that when I receive Anna of the second degree, His Excellency will not have a reason to tell me the same thing. He smiled with his little eyes. And she smiled too, excited by the thought that this man could kiss her every minute with his full, moist lips and that she no longer had the right to refuse him this. The soft movements of his plump body frightened her, she was both scared and disgusted. He stood up, slowly took the order from his neck, took off his tailcoat and vest, and put on his robe. “That’s it,” he said, sitting down next to Anya. She recalled how painful the wedding was, when it seemed to her that the priest, the guests, and everyone in the church looked at her sadly: why, why did she, so sweet and good, marry this elderly, uninteresting gentleman? Even this morning she was delighted that everything had worked out so well, but during the wedding and now in the carriage she felt guilty, deceived and ridiculous. So she married a rich man, but she still didn’t have any money, the wedding dress was sewn on credit, and when her father and brothers saw her off today, she saw from their faces that they didn’t have a penny. Will they have dinner today? And tomorrow? And for some reason it seemed to her that her father and boys were now sitting hungry without her and experiencing exactly the same melancholy as they had on the first evening after their mother’s funeral. “Oh, how unhappy I am! - she thought. “Why am I so unhappy?” With the awkwardness of a respectable man, not accustomed to treating women, Modest Alekseich touched her waist and patted her shoulder, and she thought about money, about her mother, about her death. When his mother died, his father, Pyotr Leontyich, a teacher of calligraphy and drawing at the gymnasium, began to drink, and need arose; The boys didn’t have boots or galoshes, their father was dragged to the magistrate, a bailiff came and described the furniture... What a shame! Anya had to look after her drunken father, darn her brothers' stockings, go to the market, and when they praised her beauty, youth and elegant manners, it seemed to her that the whole world could see her cheap hat and holes in her shoes, covered with ink. And at night there are tears and a persistent, restless thought that soon, soon, my father will be fired from the gymnasium for weakness and that he will not survive this and will also die, like his mother. But the ladies I knew began to fuss and began looking for a good man for Anya. Soon this same Modest Alekseich was found, not young and not handsome, but with money. He has a hundred thousand in the bank and has a family estate, which he rents out. This is a man of rules and in good standing with his Lordship; It doesn’t cost him anything, as they told Anya, to take a note from His Excellency to the director of the gymnasium and even to the trustee so that Pyotr Leontych is not fired... While she was recalling these details, she suddenly heard music bursting through the window along with the noise of voices. This train stopped at a stop. Behind the platform, the crowd was briskly playing a harmonica and a cheap, shrill violin, and from behind the tall birches and poplars, from behind the dachas bathed in moonlight, could be heard the sounds of a military orchestra: there must have been a dance party at the dachas. Summer residents and townspeople walked on the platform, coming here in good weather to breathe clean air. There was also Artynov, the owner of this entire dacha place, a rich man, tall, plump, dark-haired, with a face similar to an Armenian, with bulging eyes and in a strange suit. He was wearing a shirt, unbuttoned at the chest, and high boots with spurs, and a black cloak hung from his shoulders, trailing along the ground like a train. Two greyhounds walked behind him, their sharp muzzles lowered. Anya still had tears in her eyes, but she no longer remembered her mother, money, or her wedding, but shook hands with schoolchildren and officers she knew, laughed cheerfully and said quickly: - Hello! How are you doing? She went out onto the platform, under the moonlight, and stood so that everyone could see her in a new magnificent dress and hat. - Why are we standing here? she asked. “There’s a crossing here,” they answered her, “they’re waiting for the mail train.” Noticing that Artynov was looking at her, she narrowed her eyes coquettishly and spoke loudly in French, both because her own voice sounded so beautiful and that she could hear music and the moon reflected in the pond, and because he was looking at her greedily and curiously Artynov, this famous Don Juan and spoiler, and because everyone was having fun, she suddenly felt joy, and when the train started and the familiar officers showed her their visor at parting, she was already humming a polka, the sounds of which were sent after her by a military orchestra , thundering somewhere behind the trees; and she returned to her compartment with a feeling as if at the stop they had convinced her that she would certainly be happy, no matter what. The young couple stayed in the monastery for two days, then returned to the city. They lived in a government apartment. When Modest Alekseich went to work, Anya played the piano, or cried from boredom, or lay down on the couch and read novels, and looked at a fashion magazine. At dinner, Modest Alekseich ate a lot and talked about politics, about appointments, transfers and awards, about the fact that one must work, that family life is not pleasure, but duty, that a penny saves the ruble and that above all else in the world he puts religion and moral. And, holding the knife in his fist like a sword, he said: - Each person must have his own responsibilities! But Anya listened to him, was afraid and could not eat, and usually got up from the table hungry. After dinner, the husband rested and snored loudly, and she went to her family. Her father and the boys looked at her in a special way, as if just before she arrived they were condemning her for marrying for money, for being an unloved, tedious, boring person; her rustling dress, bracelets and generally ladylike appearance embarrassed and offended them; in her presence they were a little embarrassed and did not know what to talk to her about; but still they loved her as before and were not yet accustomed to dining without her. She sat down and ate with them cabbage soup, porridge and potatoes fried in lamb fat, which smelled like a candle. With a trembling hand, Pyotr Leontyich poured from the decanter and drank quickly, greedily, with disgust, then drank another glass, then a third... Petya and Andryusha, thin, pale boys with big eyes, took the decanter and said in confusion: - No need, daddy... That's enough, daddy... And Anya was also worried and begged him not to drink anymore, but he suddenly flared up and banged his fist on the table. “I won’t let anyone watch me!” - he shouted. - Boys! Girl! I'll kick you all out! But in his voice one could hear weakness, kindness, and no one was afraid of him. After dinner he usually dressed up; pale, with a chin cut from shaving, stretching out his skinny neck, he stood in front of the mirror for half an hour and preened himself, now combing his hair, now twirling his black mustache, sprayed himself with perfume, tied his tie in a bow, then put on gloves and a top hat and went off to private lessons. And if there was a holiday, then he stayed at home and painted with paints or played the harmonium, which hissed and growled; he tried to squeeze out harmonious, harmonious sounds from her and sang along, or got angry at the boys: - Scoundrels! Scoundrels! They ruined the instrument! In the evenings, Anya’s husband played cards with his colleagues who lived with him under the same roof in a government house. The wives of officials, ugly, tastelessly dressed, rude as cooks, came together during cards, and gossip began in the apartment, as ugly and tasteless as the officials themselves. It happened that Modest Alekseich went to the theater with Anya. During intermissions, he did not let her leave him even one step, but walked with her arm through the corridors and the foyer. Having bowed to someone, he immediately whispered to Anya: “State Councilor... received by his Excellency...” or: “With means... has his own house...” When they passed by the buffet, Anya really wanted something something sweet; she loved chocolate and apple cake, but she had no money, and she was embarrassed to ask her husband. He took the pear, crushed it with his fingers and asked hesitantly: - What is the price? - Twenty-five kopecks. - However! - he said and put the pear in place; but since it was awkward to leave the buffet without buying anything, he demanded seltzer water and drank the whole bottle alone, and tears came to his eyes, and Anya hated him at that time. Or he, suddenly blushing all over, would say to her quickly: - Bow down to this old lady! “But I don’t know her.” - Doesn't matter. This is the wife of the manager of the treasury chamber! Bow down, I tell you! - he grumbled insistently. “Your head won’t fall off.” Anya bowed, and her head didn’t actually fall off, but it was painful. She did everything her husband wanted, and was angry with herself for deceiving her like a complete fool. She married him only for the money, and yet she now had less money than before her marriage. Before, at least my father gave two kopecks, but now - not a penny. She could not take it secretly or ask, she was afraid of her husband, she trembled at him. It seemed to her that she had been carrying fear of this man in her soul for a long time. Once upon a time in her childhood, she always imagined the director of the gymnasium to be the most impressive and terrible force, approaching like a cloud or a locomotive ready to crush her; another such force, which the family always talked about and which for some reason they feared, was His Excellency; and there was another dozen smaller forces, and among them were school teachers with shaved mustaches, strict, unforgiving, and now, finally, Modest Alekseich, a man with rules, who even looked like the director in face. And in Anya’s imagination, all these forces merged into one and, in the form of one terrible huge polar bear, approached the weak and guilty, such as her father, and she was afraid to say anything against, and smiled strainedly, and expressed feigned pleasure when she roughly caressed and desecrated with embraces that terrified her. Only once did Pyotr Leontyich dare to ask him for a loan of fifty rubles to pay off some very unpleasant debt, but what suffering it was! “Okay, I’ll give it to you,” said Modest Alekseich, after thinking, “but I warn you that I won’t help you anymore until you stop drinking.” For a person in public service, such weakness is shameful. I cannot help but remind you of the well-known fact that many capable people were destroyed by this passion, while with abstinence they, perhaps, could eventually become high-ranking people. And long periods dragged on: “in proportion to that” ... “based on that situation” ... “in view of what was just said,” and poor Pyotr Leontyich suffered from humiliation and felt a strong desire to drink. And the boys who came to visit Anya, usually in torn boots and worn trousers, also had to listen to instructions. - Each person must have his own responsibilities! - Modest Alekseich told them. But he didn’t give me any money. But he gave Anya rings, bracelets and brooches, saying that these things were good to have for a rainy day. And often he unlocked her chest of drawers and made an inspection to see if all her things were intact.

II

Meanwhile, winter has arrived. Long before Christmas, it was announced in the local newspaper that on December 29 the usual winter ball would be held at the noble assembly. Every evening after the cards, Modest Alekseich, excited, whispered with the officials, looking worriedly at Anya, and then walked from corner to corner for a long time, thinking about something. Finally, late one evening, he stopped in front of Anya and said: — You should sew yourself a ballgown. Understand? Just please consult with Marya Grigorievna and Natalya Kuzminishna. And he gave her a hundred rubles. She took; but when ordering a ball gown, she did not consult anyone, but only talked with her father and tried to imagine how her mother would dress for the ball. Her late mother herself always dressed in the latest fashion and always fussed with Anya and dressed her gracefully, like a doll, and taught her to speak French and dance the mazurka excellently (before her marriage she served as a governess for five years). Anya, like her mother, could make a new one out of an old dress, wash gloves in gasoline, rent bijoux, and just like her mother, she knew how to squint her eyes, burr, take beautiful poses, become delighted when necessary, look sad and mysterious. And from her father she inherited dark hair and eyes, nervousness and this manner of always preening. When, half an hour before leaving for the ball, Modest Alekseich came to her without a frock coat in order to put an order on his neck in front of her dressing table, then, enchanted by her beauty and the shine of her fresh, airy outfit, he smugly combed his sideburns and said: - That's how you are... that's how you are! Anyuta! - he continued, suddenly falling into a solemn tone. “I made you happy, and today you can make me happy.” Please introduce yourself to His Excellency's wife! For God's sake! I can get a senior speaker through her! Let's go to the ball. Here is a meeting of the nobility, and an entrance with a doorman. An antechamber with hangers, fur coats, scurrying footmen and low-necked ladies covering themselves with fans from the draft wind; smells of lamp gas and soldiers. When Anya, walking up the stairs arm in arm with her husband, heard music and saw herself in a huge mirror, illuminated by many lights, then joy and the same premonition of happiness that she experienced on a moonlit evening at the stop awoke in her soul. She walked proud, self-confident, for the first time feeling like not a girl, but a lady, and involuntarily imitating her late mother in her gait and manners. And for the first time in her life she felt rich and free. Even the presence of her husband did not embarrass her, since, having crossed the threshold of the meeting, she had already guessed by instinct that the proximity of her old husband did not humiliate her at all, but, on the contrary, put on her the stamp of piquant mystery that men like so much. The orchestra was already thundering in the large hall and the dancing had begun. After leaving the government apartment, overwhelmed by the impressions of light, diversity, music, noise, Anya looked around the hall and thought: “Oh, how good!” and immediately distinguished in the crowd all her acquaintances, everyone whom she had previously met at evenings or at festivities, all these officers, teachers, lawyers, officials, landowners, His Excellency, Artynov and the ladies of high society, dressed up, heavily low-cut, beautiful and ugly , who were already taking up positions in the huts and pavilions of the charity bazaar to begin trading for the benefit of the poor. A huge officer in epaulets - she met him on Staro-Kievskaya Street when she was a high school student, and now she didn’t remember his last name - seemed to have risen out of the ground and invited him to a waltz, and she flew away from her husband, and it seemed to her as if he sailed on a sailboat in a strong storm, and her husband remained far on the shore... She danced passionately, with enthusiasm, the waltz, the polka, and the quadrille, changing from hand to hand, infuriated by the music and noise, mixing Russian with French , burr, laughing and not thinking about her husband, about anyone or anything. She was a success with men, it was clear, but it couldn’t be otherwise; she was choking with excitement, frantically clutching her fan in her hands and thirsty. Her father, Pyotr Leontyich, in a rumpled tailcoat that smelled of gasoline, approached her, holding out a saucer of red ice cream. “You are charming today,” he said, looking at her with delight, “and I have never regretted so much that you rushed to get married... Why?” I know you did this for us, but...” With trembling hands, he pulled out a wad of money and said: “I got it from class today and can repay the debt to your husband.” She thrust the saucer into his hands and, picked up by someone, she ran away and briefly, over her gentleman’s shoulder, saw how her father, gliding along the parquet floor, hugged the lady and rushed with her across the hall. “He’s so cute when he’s sober!” - she thought. She danced the Mazurka with the same huge officer; he walked importantly and heavily, like a carcass in a uniform, moving his shoulders and chest, barely stamping his feet - he really didn’t want to dance, and she fluttered around, teasing him with her beauty, her open neck; her eyes burned with enthusiasm, her movements were passionate, and he became more and more indifferent and extended his hands to her graciously, like a king. “Bravo, bravo!..” they said in the audience. But little by little the huge officer broke through; he perked up, became agitated and, already succumbing to the charm, became excited and moved easily, youthfully, and she just moved her shoulders and looked slyly, as if she had already been beaten by the queen, and he was a slave, and at that time it seemed to her that everyone was looking at them hall that all these people are thrilled and envious of them. The huge officer barely had time to thank her when the audience suddenly parted and the men stood up in a strange way, with their hands down... It was His Excellency walking towards her, in a tailcoat with two stars. Yes, His Excellency was going precisely to her, because he looked straight at her and smiled sweetly, and at the same time chewed with his lips, which he always did when he saw pretty women. “Very glad, very glad...” he began. “And I will order that your husband be put in the guardhouse because he has still hidden such a treasure from us.” “I come to you with an order from my wife,” he continued, giving her his hand, “You must help us... Hmm, yes... We need to give you a prize for beauty... like in America... Hmmm... Americans... My wife is looking forward to seeing you. He led her to a hut, to an elderly lady whose lower part of her face was disproportionately large, so that it seemed as if she was holding a large stone in her mouth. “Help us,” she said through her nose, in a sing-song voice. “All the pretty women work at the charity bazaar, and for some reason you’re the only one walking around.” Why don't you want to help us? She left, and Anya took her place near the silver samovar with cups. A brisk trade immediately began. Anya charged no less than a ruble for a cup of tea, and forced the huge officer to drink three cups. Artynov, a rich man with bulging eyes and suffering from shortness of breath, approached, but not in the strange suit that Anya had seen him in in the summer, but in a tailcoat, like everyone else. Without taking his eyes off Anya, he drank a glass of champagne and paid a hundred rubles, then drank tea and gave another hundred - and all this in silence, suffering from asthma... Anya called customers and took money from them, already deeply convinced that her smiles and looks give these people nothing but great pleasure. She already realized that she was created exclusively for this noisy, brilliant, laughing life with music, dancing, fans, and her long-standing fear of the force that was approaching and threatening to crush seemed funny to her; She was no longer afraid of anyone and only regretted that she did not have a mother who would now rejoice with her in her successes. Pyotr Leontyich, already pale, but still firmly on his feet, approached the hut and asked for a glass of cognac. Anya blushed, expecting him to say something inappropriate (she was already ashamed that she had such a poor, such an ordinary father), but he drank, threw ten rubles out of his pack and walked away importantly without saying a word. A little later she saw him walking as a couple into the grand rond, and this time he was already staggering and shouting something, to the great embarrassment of his lady, and Anya remembered how three years ago at the ball he was staggering and shouting in the same way - and it ended with the police officer taking him home to sleep, and the next day the director threatened to fire him from service. How inopportune this memory was! When the samovars went out in the huts and the tired philanthropists handed over the proceeds to an elderly lady with a stone in her mouth, Artynov led Anya by the arm into the hall where dinner was served for all those participating in the charity bazaar. There were about twenty people having dinner, no more, but it was very noisy. His Excellency proposed a toast: “In this luxurious dining room it would be appropriate to drink to the prosperity of the cheap dining rooms that served as the subject of today’s bazaar.” The brigadier general offered to drink “to a force before which even artillery yields,” and everyone rushed to clink glasses with the ladies. It was very, very fun! When Anya was escorted home, it was already dawn and the cooks were going to the market. Joyful, drunk, full of new impressions, tortured, she undressed, fell into bed and immediately fell asleep... At two o'clock in the afternoon the maid woke her up and reported that Mr. Artynov had arrived for a visit. She quickly got dressed and went to the living room. Soon after Artynov, His Excellency came to thank him for his participation in the charity bazaar. He, looking at her sweetly and chewing, kissed her hand and asked permission to visit again and left, and she stood in the middle of the living room, amazed, enchanted, not believing that a change in her life, an amazing change, had happened so quickly; and at that very time her husband, Modest Alekseich, entered... And he also now stood in front of her with the same ingratiating, sweet, servile-respectful expression that she was accustomed to seeing from him in the presence of the powerful and noble; and with delight, with indignation, with contempt, already confident that nothing would happen to her for this, she said, pronouncing every word clearly: - Go away, you idiot! After that, Anya did not have a single free day, as she took part either in a picnic, or in a walk, or in a play. She returned home every day in the morning and lay down on the floor in the living room, and then told everyone touchingly how she slept under the flowers. She needed a lot of money, but she was no longer afraid of Modest Alekseich and spent his money as if it were her own; and she did not ask, did not demand, but only sent him bills or notes: “to give the bearer of this 200 rubles.” or: “immediately pay 100 rubles.” At Easter, Modest Alekseich received Anna of the second degree. When he came to thank him, His Excellency put the newspaper aside and sat deeper in his chair. “So you now have three Annas,” he said, examining his white hands with pink nails, “one in the buttonhole, two on the neck.” Modest Alekseich put two fingers to his lips out of caution so as not to laugh loudly, and said: “Now all that remains is to wait for the birth of little Vladimir.” I dare to ask your Excellency to be my successor. He hinted at Vladimir IV degree and was already imagining how he would talk everywhere about this pun of his, successful in resourcefulness and courage, and wanted to say something else equally successful, but His Excellency again went deeper into the newspaper and nodded his head... And Anya kept riding in troikas, went hunting with Artynov, played in one-act plays, had dinner, and visited her family less and less. They were already having lunch alone. Pyotr Leontyich was drinking harder than ever, there was no money, and the harmonium had long been sold for debt. The boys now did not let him go out alone and kept watching him so that he did not fall; and when, while riding on Staro-Kievskaya, they met Anya in a pair with a harness on the takeoff and with Artynov on the box instead of a coachman, Pyotr Leontyich took off his top hat and was about to shout something, and Petya and Andryusha took him by the arms and said pleadingly: - Don’t, daddy... It will, daddy...

This work has entered the public domain. The work was written by an author who died more than seventy years ago, and was published during his lifetime or posthumously, but more than seventy years have also passed since publication. It may be freely used by anyone without anyone's consent or permission and without payment of royalties.

« After the wedding there wasn’t even a light snack.” An 18-year-old girl, Anya, married a 52-year-old official, Modest Alekseich. After the wedding, they go to the monastery for a pilgrimage.

IN on the train, Modest Alekseich, smiling, recalls one incident: “When Kosoroto received the Order of St. Anna of the second degree and came to thank, His Excellency put it this way: “So, you now have three Annas: one in your buttonhole, two on your neck.” At that time, his wife had just returned to Kosorotovo, a grumpy and frivolous person named Anna. I hope that when I receive Anna of the second degree, His Excellency will not have the opportunity to tell me the same thing.” And Anya thinks that even though she married a rich man, “she still didn’t have any money, and when her father and brothers saw her off today, she saw from their faces that they didn’t have a penny.” After the death of her mother, her father (teacher of calligraphy and drawing at the gymnasium) Pyotr Leontyich started drinking, Petya and Andryusha (younger brothers in the gymnasium) did not even have boots. “But the ladies I knew began to fuss and began looking for a good person for Anya. Soon this same Modest Alekseich was found, not young and not handsome, but with money.”

The couple began to live in a government apartment. Anya played the piano all day long, or cried from boredom, or read novels and fashion magazines. Modest Alekseich at dinner talked about politics, about appointments and awards, about how family life is not pleasure, but duty. In society, Modest Alekseich forced Anya to bow obsequiously to people of high rank. He was greedy when Anya asked him to buy her something. When Anya came to see her father and brothers, she felt that they were embarrassed and did not know how to behave. The weak and kind father Pyotr Leontyich played the old harmonium on holidays and still drank. And the brothers “Petya and Andryusha, thin, pale boys with big eyes, took the decanter from him and said in confusion: “No need, daddy... That’s enough, daddy...””

Anya’s money situation got even worse after marriage. Only once did Pyotr Leontyich ask Anya’s husband for 50 rubles. Modest Alekseich gave money, but threatened that it would be the last time, because Pyotr Leontyich drinks, and this is shameful. And the brothers who came to visit Anya also had to listen to the instructions of Anya’s husband: “Every person must have his own responsibilities!” Modest Alekseich did not give money, but he gave Anya jewelry, saying that these things are good to have for a rainy day. And he often checked whether all things were intact.

Long before Christmas, Modest Alekseich began preparing Anya for the traditional winter ball and even gave her 100 rubles for a dress.

The next day Artynov came to visit Anya, and then His Excellency. When her husband, Modest Alekseich, arrived, “he also now stood in front of her with the same servile-respectful expression that she was used to seeing from him in the presence of the powerful and noble. And with delight, already sure that nothing would happen to her for this, she said, clearly pronouncing every word: “Go away, you idiot!”

And Anya rode troikas, went hunting with Artynov, and visited her father and brothers less and less. Pyotr Leontyich was drinking harder than ever, there was no money, and the harmonium had long been sold for debt. And when, during walks, they met Anya in a troika with Artynov, “Pyotr Leontyich took off his top hat and was about to shout something, and Petya and Andryusha took him by the arms and said pleadingly: “Don’t, daddy... It will, daddy...” .“”

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