Note-Book of Anton Chekhov Part 20

When the locust was a plague, I wrote against the locust and enchanted every one, I was rich and famous; but now, when the locust has long ago disappeared and is forgotten, I am merged in the crowd, forgotten, and not wanted.

Merrily, joyfully: "I have the honor to introduce you to Iv. Iv.

Izgoyev, my wife's lover."

Everywhere on the estate are notices: "Trespa.s.sers will be prosecuted," "Keep off the flowers," etc.

In the great house is a fine library which is talked about but is never used; they give you watery coffee which you cannot drink; the garden is tasteless with no flowers in it--and they pretend that all this is something Tolstoian.

He learnt Swedish in order to study Ibsen, spent a lot of time and trouble, and suddenly realized that Ibsen is not important; he could not conceive what use he could now make of the Swedish language.[1]

[Footnote 1: Ibsen wrote in Norwegian of course. Responding to a request for his interpretation of this curious paragraph. Mr.

Koteliansky writes:

"Chekhov had a very high opinion of Ibsen; the paragraph, I am sure, is by no means aimed at Ibsen. Most probably the paragraph, as well as many others in the Notes, is something which C. either personally or indirectly heard someone say. You will see that Kuprin ["Reminiscences of Chekhov," by Gorky, Kuprin and Bunin, New York: Huebsch.] told C.

the anecdote about the actor whose wife asked him to whistle a melody on the stage during a rehearsal. In C.'s Notes you have that anecdote, somewhat shortened and the names changed, without mentioning the source."

"The reader, on the whole, may puzzle his head over many paragraphs in the Notes, but he will hardly find explanations each time. What the reader has to remember is that the Notes are material used by C. in his creative activity and as such it throws a great deal of light on C.'s mentality and process of working."]

N. makes a living by exterminating bugs; and for the purposes of his trade he reads the works of ----. If in "The Cossacks," bugs are not mentioned, it means that "The Cossacks" is a bad book.

Man is what he believes.

A clever girl: "I cannot pretend ... I never tell a lie ... I have principles"--and all the time "I ... I ... I ..."

N. is angry with his wife who is an actress, and without her knowledge gets abusive criticisms published about her in the newspapers.

A n.o.bleman boasts "This house of mine was built in the time of Dmitry Donskoy."

"Your Worship, he called my dog a bad name: 'son of a b.i.t.c.h.'"

The snow fell and did not lie on the ground reddened with blood.

He left everything to charity, so that nothing should go to his relations and children, whom he hated.

A very amorous man; he is no sooner introduced to a girl than he becomes a he-goat.

A n.o.bleman Drekoliev.

I dread the idea that a chamberlain will be present at the opening of my pet.i.tion.

He was a rationalist, but he had to confess that he liked the ringing of church bells.

The father a famous general, nice pictures, expensive furniture; he died; the daughters received a good education, but are slovenly, read little, ride, and are dull.

They are honest and truthful so long as it is unnecessary.

A rich merchant would like to have a shower bath in his W.C.

In the early morning they ate _okroshka_.[1]

[Footnote 1: A cold dish composed of cider and hash.]

"If you lose this talisman," said grandmother, "you will die." And suddenly I lost it, tortured myself, was afraid that I would die. And now, imagine, a miracle happened: I found it and continued to live.

Everybody goes to the theatre to see my play, to learn something instantly from it, to make some sort of profit, and I tell you: I have not the time to bother about that canaille.