Happiness (story)

The story of A.P. Chekhov "Happiness" was written in 1887, first published in 1887 in the newspaper " New Time " No. 4046 dated June 6, signed by An. Chekhov, in 1888 with a dedication to J.P. Polonsky, was published in the collection "Stories", and was included in the publication of A.F. Marx. The story was written on the basis of Chekhov’s trip to the south, according to the author’s recollections of the stories of the nanny Agafya Alexandrovna Kumskaya. In the Taganrog district is located, mentioned in the story, covered in legends of Saur-Mogila.

During the life of Chekhov, the story was printed in German, Serbo-Croatian, Slovak and Czech.

The story provoked enthusiastic responses from contemporaries. Brother of the writer Al. P. Chekhov wrote to the author: “Well, friend, you made a noise with your last“ steppe ”subbotnik. The thing is lovely. They only talk about her. Praise is the most fierce. Doctors carry sick No. as a sedative to patients. ”

The story was appreciated by the critic I. I. Levitan, who wrote to Chekhov: “... you impressed me as a landscape painter. For example: in the story “Happiness” the pictures of the steppe, barrows, sheep are amazing ” ^[1] .

However, the critic K. Arseniev attributed the story to those works that are “too poor in content and individual beauties, sometimes making up the main force of Chekhov’s essays” ^[2] .

V. Goltsev noted that in the story “Happiness”, the pantheistic worldview takes from the writer a “sad shade” ^[3] .

An extended review was given by I.V. Johnson. He noted that Chekhov’s period of “superficial, self-sufficient humor” was replaced by a new phase of “impassive artistic contemplation of life”, reminiscent of the method of a scientist ^[4] .

One night in the steppe near the road they guarded a flock of about three thousand sheep, two shepherds, an old man of eighty and a young guy Sanka. Not far from them was a man with a horse - the buster Panteley from Makarovskaya economy. The old man talked with Pantelei about evil spirits, about treasures, which are buried in this area a lot, about enchanted treasures. Treasures were allegedly taken from the French during their retreat from Russia in 1812. The interlocutors were interested in the idea of ​​finding treasures. They associate treasures with the happiness that is buried in the earth. The buster says: "The elbow is close, but you won’t bite ... There is happiness, but there is no mind to look for it." And the old man does not even know, "what will he do with the treasure if he finds it."

Having talked by morning, the interlocutors dispersed. Each one continued to think about happiness. In his youth, Sanka was not interested in happiness itself, “which he did not need and did not understand, but in the fantastic and fabulous nature of human happiness.” Sheep also thought about something.

• Chekhov A.P. Happiness // Chekhov A.P. Complete Works and Letters: In 30 vols. Works: In 18 vol. / Academy of Sciences of the USSR. Institute of World Lite. them. A. M. Gorky. - M .: Nauka, 1974-1982.
• Voir Dictionnaire Tchekhov, page 36, Françoise Darnal-Lesné, Édition L'Harmattan, 2010, ISBN 978 2 296 11343 5 .
• La Fortune traduit par Édouard Parayre, éditions Gallimard, Bibliothèque de la Pléiade, 1970, ISBN 2-07-010550-4 .
• Anton Tschechow: Der Mensch im Futteral. Erzählungen. Übersetzt von Kay Borowsky. Nachwort von Ludolf Müller. 334 Seiten, Reclam, Stuttgart 1978, ISBN 978-3-15-009901-8 .

• Chekhov A.P. Happiness . Original Russian text