CHEKHOV
A good way to learn about the culture of a different country is to read the works of their greatest authors. Most of us can only read such works thanks to literary translation, which is hard work! On this page you can read an extract from an English translation of Anton Chekhov’s story, A Malefactor.
Spotlight on Russia presents Chekhov
A very thin, small peasant, dressed in a rough striped shirt and patched trousers, stands before the investigating magistrate. His face is covered with hair and scarred from smallpox, and his eyes can just be seen under his thick, heavy eyebrows. The hair on his head is long and tangled. He wears no shoes and he looks miserable and depressed.
“Dennis Grigoryev!” the magistrate begins.
“Come nearer, and answer my questions. On the seventh of July the railway watchman, Ivan Semyonovitch Akinfov, found you unscrewing one of the nuts that fix the rails. Was this so?
“Wha−at?”
“Is this true?”
“To be sure, it is true.”
“Very good; well, what were you unscrewing the nut for?”
“Wha−at?”
“Stop saying ‘wha−at’ and answer the question; what were you unscrewing the nut for?”
“The nut? We make weights out of those nuts for our fishing lines.”
“Who is ‘we’?”
“We, people … . The Klimovo peasants, that is.”
“Listen, my man; don’t play the idiot with me, but speak sensibly. It’s no use telling lies here!”
“You must understand that the nut holds the rails to the sleepers!”
“We understand that … . We don’t unscrew them all … we leave some … . We don’t do it thoughtlessly … we understand …”
“Last year the train went off the rails here,” says the magistrate. “Now I see why!”
“What do you say, your honour?”
“I am telling you that now I see why the train went off the rails last year … I understand!”
DISCUSS
• What do you think about reading Chekhov in English?
• Would you like to read other Russian authors’ works in English?
ACTIVITY
• Have you ever tried to translate an English story or poem into Russian? Tell the class.