Selected plays

in which BOBIK is sitting.]

CHEBUTYKIN [humming softly]. 'Tarara-boom-dee-ay!' [Reads his paper.] It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter.

OLGA. If we only knew, if we only knew!

CURTAIN. Notes List of Characters

The action takes place in a provincial town: In a letter Chekhov suggested that the town was like Perm, located in central Russia Act I

Act I: Noon, spring of 1897 is the time Bristow suggested in program notes to the play

a large room is visible: In a large 19th-century house, this room could be used both as a dining-room and a ballroom

the fifth of May: Russians did not switch to the Gregorian calendar until after the 1917 revolution; the Russian calendar was about 12 days behind

your name-day, Irina: Russians celebrated the feast-day of their patron saint with festivities resembling a birthday party

already in a white dress: As opposed to black, the traditional colour of mourning

at my lessons till the evening: Olga means she gives private lessons

The only difficulty is poor Masha: Masha can't go because her husband can't leave his job

half a hundredweight: 54 pounds

two or even two and a half: 180 pounds, 200 pounds

or an engine-driver: On the railroad

wakes at twelve o'clock: Noon

will kick the bucket: Lit., die of a stroke

such a person as Dobrolyubov: Probably Chekhov means N. A. Dobrolyubov (1836-1861), a literary critic read by progressive thinkers; that the doctor doesn't know who Dobrolyubov is indicates his shallowness; however, the reference may be to the poet A. M. Dobrolyubov (1876-?), who first appeared in print in 1895

By the sea-strand: Masha recites the first two lines (she repeats the second line) of A. S. Pushkin's (1799-1837) long poem Ruslan and Lyudmila (1820)

Nanny dear: The actual Russian word Olga uses is Nyanechka, a diminutive for 'nanny.'

A samovar! How awful!: Olga is upset because a samovar would be an appropriate gift for a wedding shower or wedding anniversary, not a name-day party.

Irinushka, you must be nice: Lit., Arinushka, a deliberate mispronunciation of 'Irinuska,' a diminutive for Irina

Nyemetsky Street: Lit., German Street

fifteen miles away: Lit., twenty versts

Novo-Dyevitchy: A famous Moscow cemetery; Chekhov himself is buried there

Chook, chook, chook: Solyony is imitating sounds made by domestic fowl

Look how small I am: In later editions, Chekhov added: You make me feel better when you say my life is great.

it gets light so early: Because of their high latitudes, most Russian cities have very short nights in the summer

mass of darkness: I.e., the ignorant and uneducated masses