WARD NO. 6 AND OTHER STORIES
ANTON PAVLOVICH CHEKHOV, the son of a former serf, was born in 1860 in Taganrog, a port on the Sea of Azov. He received a classical education at the Taganrog Gymnasium, then in 1879 he went to Moscow, where he entered the medical faculty of the university, graduating in 1884. During his university years he supported his family by contributing humorous stories and sketches to magazines. He published his first volume of stories, Motley Tales, in 1886 and a year later his second volume, In the Twilight, for which he was awarded the Pushkin Prize. His most famous stories were written after his return from the convict island of Sakhalin, which he visited in 1890. For five years he lived on his small country estate near Moscow, but when his health began to fail he moved to the Crimea. After 1900, the rest of his life was spent at Yalta, where he met Tolstoy and Gorky. He wrote very few stories during the last years of his life, devoting most of his time to a thorough revision of his stories, of which the first comprehensive edition was published in 1899–1901, and to the writing of his great plays. In 1901 Chekhov married Olga Knipper, an actress of the Moscow Art Theatre. He died of consumption in 1904.
RONALD WILKS studied Russian language and literature at Trinity College, Cambridge, after training as a Naval interpreter, and later Russian literature at London University, where he received his Ph.D. in 1972. Among his translations for Penguin Classics are My Childhood, My Apprenticeship and My Universities by Gorky, Diary of a Madman by Gogol, filmed for Irish Television, The Golovlyov Family by Saltykov-Shchedrin, How Much Land Does a Man Need? by Tolstoy, Tales of Belkin and Other Prose Writings by Pushkin, and five other volumes of stories by Chekhov: The Party and Other Stories, The Kiss and Other Stories, The Fiancée and Other Stories, The Duel and Other Stories and The Steppe and Other Stories. He has also translated The Little Demon by Sologub for Penguin.
J. DOUGLAS CLAYTON studied modern languages at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and then completed a Ph.D. in Russian at the University of Illinois. He is Professor of Russian at the University of Ottawa, where he has been since 1971. Professor Clayton’s publications on Russian literature include a study of Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin, a volume on Russian modernist theatre and collections of essays on Pushkin and Chekhov. His current research focuses on the cultural dialogue between Russia and France.
ANTON CHEKHOV Ward No. 6
and Other Stories,
1892–1895
Translated with Notes by RONALD WILKS
With an Introduction by J. DOUGLAS CLAYTON
PENGUIN BOOKS
PENGUIN BOOKS
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First published 2002
1
Translation, Chronology and Publishing History and Notes © Ronald Wilks, 2002
Introduction and Further Reading © J. Douglas Clayton, 2002
‘The Grasshopper’, ‘Ward No. 6’ and ‘Ariadna’ newly translated 2002.
‘The Black Monk’ first published 1984, pre-existing translation © Ronald Wilks, 1984.
‘Murder’ first published 1984, pre-existing translation © Ronald Wilks, 1984.
‘A Woman’s Kingdom’ first published 1985, pre-existing translation © Ronald Wilks, 1985.
‘The Two Volodyas’ first published 1984, pre-existing translation © Ronald Wilks, 1984.
‘Three Years’ first published 1986, pre-existing translation © Ronald Wilks, 1986.
‘The Student’ first published 1986, pre-existing translation © Ronald Wilks, 1986.
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EISBN: 978–0–141–90687–4
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
FURTHER READING
CHRONOLOGY
NOTE ON TEXT
PATRONYMICS
The Grasshopper
Ward No. 6
Ariadna
The Black Monk
Murder
A Woman’s Kingdom
The Two Volodyas
Three Years
The Student
PUBLISHING HISTORY AND NOTES
INTRODUCTION
The period 1892–5 was one of relative calm and considerable success in Chekhov’s life; the journey to Sakhalin was now receding into the past, although it served as the inspiration for several stories, as well as his account of the journey, published in Russian Thought in 1893–5. It was in 1892 that Chekhov purchased a modest but charming country estate at Melikhovo, outside Moscow. There he settled into the life of a country doctor and writer, with his parents Pavel Yegorovich and Yevgeniya Yakovlevna and his sister Masha. The role of doctor proved to be a demanding one, as the country was ravaged by the scourges of famine and cholera, and Chekhov was called upon to help in the struggle with these social disasters. His personal life was marked by numerous flirtations and affairs, especially fed by his acquaintance with the world of Muscovite actresses, but it was his sister Masha who was to prove the most stable female element in his life. Finally, Chekhov the doctor could not help but be aware of the signs of his intensifying tubercular infection; the disease had already carried away his brother Nikolay in 1889, and its continually more insistent presence lent urgency to all Chekhov’s plans, both literary and personal, however much he was to deny its importance in conversation. In Chekhov’s literary activity the years 1892–5 represent a period of transition. It was during this time that he spread his wings and, in response to readers’ demands, became sought after by different publishers. He ceased to publish in Suvorin’s New Times, although his personal relationship with that right-wing publisher was to continue, especially in the correspondence. In addition to his activity as a short story writer, Chekhov began to look to the world of the theatre for new heights to conquer, and also, perhaps not insignificantly given his new commitments, an additional source of revenue.