Happiness
Two shepherds and an overseer ponder what happiness is.
The old shepherd dreams of hidden treasure.
The young one looks up at the sky and takes it all in.
And the overseer doesn't think happiness is attainable.
Thoughts. Everyone in their head is trying to make sense of life. Some create fantasies of hidden treasures and they never ask what if they find the treasure -- they just need something to fill their head with possibility -- to keep them going -- and some use their experiences to turn away from thoughts about happiness and dreams and just do what they can to survive -- and others are just captivated by the majesty of the universe and human nature and never imagine they will ever have definitive answers to the big questions.
And the drama goes on.
The sheep ponder and so do we.
The Goal: Read. Reflect. Respond. Over two hundred Chekhov stories. Constance Garnett translations.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Sunday, May 29, 2011
THE HUNTSMAN
The Huntsman
So you got a proud hunter who was once so drunk that he got married to a peasant girl and once he sobered up wanted nothing to do with the commitment. Except here is his wife twelve years later still pursuing him -- searching for a lost love.
He cruelly tells her exactly how he feels and she takes it -- hoping somehow to make things right -- but he's moved on -- he's got another woman and the best he can do for her is to hand her a rouble.
Sounds like fodder for a good ole country music song.
So you got a proud hunter who was once so drunk that he got married to a peasant girl and once he sobered up wanted nothing to do with the commitment. Except here is his wife twelve years later still pursuing him -- searching for a lost love.
He cruelly tells her exactly how he feels and she takes it -- hoping somehow to make things right -- but he's moved on -- he's got another woman and the best he can do for her is to hand her a rouble.
Sounds like fodder for a good ole country music song.
IN THE RAVINE
In the Ravine
I was reminded of Thornton Wilder's Our Town -- when I first began to read the story -- here was a small village where nothing much happened -- but under the eye of Chekhov we begin to see that like any other place it's full of stories -- birth -- death -- weddings -- good and evil. But soon one realizes this isn't Grover's Corners in New Hampshire but Ukleevo in Russia.
And while the evil in Ukleevo -- might occur in any village -- Chekhov creates a very deliberate moral universe.
Little by little he places the characters in front of us -- the old man who runs his business without any mercy -- the incompetent deaf son -- the daughter-in-law who appears to be a natural merchant just like the old man -- the cherished detective son who is never home -- the charitable wife -- and the poor beautiful bride.
And just when we get comfortable in our little village -- we start to see things unravel.
The detective son is involved in counterfeiting and is sent off to Siberia -- and that's just the beginning of the fraud.
Let me just say that when the baby is burned to death -- that was shocking -- but even more shocking was that the culprit -- not only goes unpunished but gains power from her actions.
But that really shouldn't be shocking -- when we see the world for what it is -- people who are agressive -- violent -- have no compassion -- no conscience -- have acquired a lot of power and still do.
I guess -- it's the expectations -- when Aksinya -- the sinner -- kills the baby -- one expects that she is going to pay for it -- that she will go to jail -- that she will forever be seen as a baby killer -- not that she will become more powerful -- more respected -- more wealthy.
When Lipa gets blamed for the baby's death -- one feels the injustice of the situation -- it gets one mad -- but then again you realize that's the way things work -- as Leo Durocher once said: " Nice guys finish last."
Or do they?
At the end of the story it is Lipa who is singing and provides food for the old man. Evil may have the material possessions and much of the power in the world but it is only the good that can achieve riches of the spirit.
And isn't that what really counts?
Isn't it?
I was reminded of Thornton Wilder's Our Town -- when I first began to read the story -- here was a small village where nothing much happened -- but under the eye of Chekhov we begin to see that like any other place it's full of stories -- birth -- death -- weddings -- good and evil. But soon one realizes this isn't Grover's Corners in New Hampshire but Ukleevo in Russia.
And while the evil in Ukleevo -- might occur in any village -- Chekhov creates a very deliberate moral universe.
Little by little he places the characters in front of us -- the old man who runs his business without any mercy -- the incompetent deaf son -- the daughter-in-law who appears to be a natural merchant just like the old man -- the cherished detective son who is never home -- the charitable wife -- and the poor beautiful bride.
And just when we get comfortable in our little village -- we start to see things unravel.
The detective son is involved in counterfeiting and is sent off to Siberia -- and that's just the beginning of the fraud.
Let me just say that when the baby is burned to death -- that was shocking -- but even more shocking was that the culprit -- not only goes unpunished but gains power from her actions.
But that really shouldn't be shocking -- when we see the world for what it is -- people who are agressive -- violent -- have no compassion -- no conscience -- have acquired a lot of power and still do.
I guess -- it's the expectations -- when Aksinya -- the sinner -- kills the baby -- one expects that she is going to pay for it -- that she will go to jail -- that she will forever be seen as a baby killer -- not that she will become more powerful -- more respected -- more wealthy.
When Lipa gets blamed for the baby's death -- one feels the injustice of the situation -- it gets one mad -- but then again you realize that's the way things work -- as Leo Durocher once said: " Nice guys finish last."
Or do they?
At the end of the story it is Lipa who is singing and provides food for the old man. Evil may have the material possessions and much of the power in the world but it is only the good that can achieve riches of the spirit.
And isn't that what really counts?
Isn't it?
Friday, May 27, 2011
THE STUDENT
Through the story of Jesus and Paul -- a young man comes to the realization that we are all connected to all that has come before us.
Six Degrees of Separation ramped up to a cosmic level.
GUSEV
Life and death.
Dreams.
What was.
What might have been.
What will never be.
A dying man's last few days on earth.
Hoping to get home as he slowly winds down in a hospital ship.
Maybe a small life wasted away.
But human.
And in the end he joins the sea and the sky and everything is as it should be.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
AT CHRISTMAS TIME
Parents worried.
Daughter has married and left to the big city.
No word from her.
They hire someone to write a letter for them.
Next scene.
Letter arrives.
Daughter is happy to hear from her parents.
However, her husband has cut her off.
She lives in fear.
As her husband lives in fear.
He runs her life.
The general runs her husband's life.
Her parents are helpless.
Their daughter is helpless.
And her husband is helpless.
Power structures.
We are all victims of one another.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
AGAFYA
Agafya is the married woman who can't resist the charms of the bad boy Savka. And she's not the only one in the village.
He's got the looks -- the body -- and most of all -- the attitude: he just doesn't care.
He tells it to you straight -- no pretense -- no false words. You can't own him -- and he doesn't want to own you.
Many wonder why women are attracted to bad boys. Chekhov doesn't answer this question. He only portrays the bad boy Savka -- and his contempt for women.
Agafya seems pathetic -- she is helpless -- a mouse in the paws of a cat -- there is no logic -- no reason -- nothing can be made sense of -- it just is.
And it was in Chekhov's day and it continues to be so.
The formula for sexual attraction -- or passion -- or human emotion -- still eludes us. Thankfully so.
Let robots be robots. Let humans be humans.
Let robots be robots. Let humans be humans.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
THE PIPE
The Pipe
There is a man who is spending his entire savings warning humanity that the world will end on May 21, 2011. Well, if he is in the mood for some bathroom reading in between his prayers then I'd recommend The Pipe to him. He'd feel right at home in this story.
The Pipe is all about death and decay -- both of nature and man. What's causing it? Selfishness, greed, disrespect of nature? Is it just that God is ready to pack it in? The shepherd seems to think so -- and the bailiff -- Meliton -- suffering under the weight of poverty -- wants God to hurry up.
One feels suffocated in this gloomy story in the middle of a copse. The tale outlines the disappearing of the forests, animals, birds, fish -- just like our current world where the bees and frogs are dwindling and the rain forests are being destroyed.
But The Pipe is not Greenpeace literature -- or a cautionary fable about environmental degradation like Dr. Seuss's classic The Lorax -- this is a story about the misery of man.
Man is getting cleverer. Maybe too clever. And as the shepherd points out -- what's the use of being clever when the birds are gone?
In our own times -- we are also becoming cleverer -- as we get wired to a virtual world -- but like the peasants and the nobility of Chekhov's day -- we are becoming weaker -- more spoiled -- more disconnected from our surroundings.
The Pipe is a check up on the landscape of the earth as well as the landscape of the soul -- and they are both in poor health.
A very current story indeed.
There is a man who is spending his entire savings warning humanity that the world will end on May 21, 2011. Well, if he is in the mood for some bathroom reading in between his prayers then I'd recommend The Pipe to him. He'd feel right at home in this story.
The Pipe is all about death and decay -- both of nature and man. What's causing it? Selfishness, greed, disrespect of nature? Is it just that God is ready to pack it in? The shepherd seems to think so -- and the bailiff -- Meliton -- suffering under the weight of poverty -- wants God to hurry up.
One feels suffocated in this gloomy story in the middle of a copse. The tale outlines the disappearing of the forests, animals, birds, fish -- just like our current world where the bees and frogs are dwindling and the rain forests are being destroyed.
But The Pipe is not Greenpeace literature -- or a cautionary fable about environmental degradation like Dr. Seuss's classic The Lorax -- this is a story about the misery of man.
Man is getting cleverer. Maybe too clever. And as the shepherd points out -- what's the use of being clever when the birds are gone?
In our own times -- we are also becoming cleverer -- as we get wired to a virtual world -- but like the peasants and the nobility of Chekhov's day -- we are becoming weaker -- more spoiled -- more disconnected from our surroundings.
The Pipe is a check up on the landscape of the earth as well as the landscape of the soul -- and they are both in poor health.
A very current story indeed.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
DREAMS
Dreams
A tramp who has nothing left in life but his dreams for a better life is crushed by the reality of his two escorting constables.
The constables want to believe in the tramp's dreams -- but they know better -- and so they trudge through life without the warmth of what they wished the world would be.
Who is the real prisoner?
What happens to a dream deferred?Langston Hughes poem could easily apply to this Chekhov story.
A tramp who has nothing left in life but his dreams for a better life is crushed by the reality of his two escorting constables.
The constables want to believe in the tramp's dreams -- but they know better -- and so they trudge through life without the warmth of what they wished the world would be.
Who is the real prisoner?
Monday, May 9, 2011
THE NEW VILLA
The New Villa
The peasants have their lives -- and in this story -- it's the first one that I've read where the peasant lives are shown in a mostly harsh light -- or so it appears.
The wealthy engineer -- and his wife -- refined people from Moscow move into the village and want to do the right thing -- but the peasants in the village don't welcome them. They don't treat them fairly -- not the way decent people should deal with each other. Especially when the cultured engineer and his wife want to do the right thing and help the poor little peasants.
The peasants can't understand the wealthy do-gooders and they have their own concerns -- which is survival. They have tons of children to take care of and are in no mood to appease the earnest visitors from Moscow.
And you can't really blame the engineer and his wife -- they truly want to help. They've built a new villa and want to have a quiet life in the country -- and get along with the peasants and with time help them build a school and better their lives. But it's not meant to be.
The rich have their own concerns and their own lifestyle and no matter what their intentions -- they will clash with the peasants -- they are not going to live peacefully -- it's not an even playing field -- and one or the other is going to have to give in.
The peasants are sick and tired of giving in -- they want to hang on to what they have and feel that the wealthy will only pretend to help them -- lots of false promises.
The issue is trust.
And trust has to build up slowly and over time -- and the commitment is not there from the wealthy engineer. They want things to happen quickly -- good intentions have to be reciprocated right away. But the peasants won't bend that easily -- the trust would have to be won little by little --and over and over again -- but the wealthy engineer and his wife don't understand this -- or just don 't want to put in the time.
Meanwhile, the peasants lose a good opportunity because they didn't take a good offer at face value.
Nobody is really wrong. Or nobody is really right.
"Why can't we all just get along?"Just saw the movie Once Upon A Time in Rio -- that shows the different lives of the rich and poor in Rio and The New Villa deals with some similar issues.
The peasants have their lives -- and in this story -- it's the first one that I've read where the peasant lives are shown in a mostly harsh light -- or so it appears.
The wealthy engineer -- and his wife -- refined people from Moscow move into the village and want to do the right thing -- but the peasants in the village don't welcome them. They don't treat them fairly -- not the way decent people should deal with each other. Especially when the cultured engineer and his wife want to do the right thing and help the poor little peasants.
The peasants can't understand the wealthy do-gooders and they have their own concerns -- which is survival. They have tons of children to take care of and are in no mood to appease the earnest visitors from Moscow.
And you can't really blame the engineer and his wife -- they truly want to help. They've built a new villa and want to have a quiet life in the country -- and get along with the peasants and with time help them build a school and better their lives. But it's not meant to be.
The rich have their own concerns and their own lifestyle and no matter what their intentions -- they will clash with the peasants -- they are not going to live peacefully -- it's not an even playing field -- and one or the other is going to have to give in.
The peasants are sick and tired of giving in -- they want to hang on to what they have and feel that the wealthy will only pretend to help them -- lots of false promises.
The issue is trust.
And trust has to build up slowly and over time -- and the commitment is not there from the wealthy engineer. They want things to happen quickly -- good intentions have to be reciprocated right away. But the peasants won't bend that easily -- the trust would have to be won little by little --and over and over again -- but the wealthy engineer and his wife don't understand this -- or just don 't want to put in the time.
Meanwhile, the peasants lose a good opportunity because they didn't take a good offer at face value.
Nobody is really wrong. Or nobody is really right.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
THE POST
The Post
Van Gogh's postman seems efficient and also looks like he'd gladly to talk with you.
Chekhov's postman on the other hand is bitter. Maybe he's been through too many mail runs during the winter months -- like a soldier who has witnessed so much horror -- the postman is taciturn -- doesn't want to reflect on what he's doing -- because if he did -- he might not be able to keep doing it.
The job as described by Chekhov seems quite a difficult one and dangerous -- and so the postman can only hang on to what he feels comfortable with -- which are the rules -- and the rules are being challenged by the student.
The student is young and is up for some adventure -- the postman has had his share of adventures and just wants to get through the day.
The student passes by homes and wonders who lives inside -- fantasizes about the pretty young woman dreaming soundly. The postman has stopped wondering -- stopped caring -- stopped living.
How many people do we all know who have been doing the same job for years? After a while it takes a toll -- on their health -- their outlook -- their life.
If we could all stay students -- stay young -- and stay open to adventures -- life would be a more pleasant experience -- but we can't. And I have the feeling the postman would rather I just shut up.
So I will.
Van Gogh's postman seems efficient and also looks like he'd gladly to talk with you.
Chekhov's postman on the other hand is bitter. Maybe he's been through too many mail runs during the winter months -- like a soldier who has witnessed so much horror -- the postman is taciturn -- doesn't want to reflect on what he's doing -- because if he did -- he might not be able to keep doing it.
The job as described by Chekhov seems quite a difficult one and dangerous -- and so the postman can only hang on to what he feels comfortable with -- which are the rules -- and the rules are being challenged by the student.
The student is young and is up for some adventure -- the postman has had his share of adventures and just wants to get through the day.
The student passes by homes and wonders who lives inside -- fantasizes about the pretty young woman dreaming soundly. The postman has stopped wondering -- stopped caring -- stopped living.
How many people do we all know who have been doing the same job for years? After a while it takes a toll -- on their health -- their outlook -- their life.
If we could all stay students -- stay young -- and stay open to adventures -- life would be a more pleasant experience -- but we can't. And I have the feeling the postman would rather I just shut up.
So I will.
PEASANT WIVES
Peasant Wives
There's a lot of cruelty in this story.
There's actually two stories intertwined.
The first one deals with Dyudya, a merchant and his family. His son, Fyodor, an engineer living in the factory, has thrown his wife out. And his other son is a spaced out hunchback who they've married to a good looking woman from a poor family.
And then there is Matvey Savitch, a traveler, who relates how how he wound up taking care of the ten year old orphan, Kuzka.
So where's the cruelty?
Let's start with the boys. This Matvey Savitch, is pretty harsh with Kuzka. The boy appears malnourished and when he misplaces his little hat -- Matvey Savitch wants to pull his ear off. There doesn't seem to be much affection and Matvey Savitch is taking care of him out of duty -- but not out of love.
The other boy in question is Sofya's son -- Sofya is the discarded wife of Fyodor, Dyudya's son. Fyodor has kept their son, Grishutka with him in the factory and we are told that Grishutka is being poorly treated.
Then of course -- there are the wives.
Matvey Savitch tells us the story of how years ago he fell in love with a woman named Mashenka. Mashenka was alone because her husband had been sent out to war.
Matvey Savitch seduces Mashenka and they begin to shack up -- but after a couple of years he tires of her and is looking to get married with an "honest" woman. Thankfully for him -- Mashenka's husband, Vasya, comes back from the war.
Matvey Savitch concocts a plan to save his skin. He wants to apologize to Vasya and have Mashenka return to her husband. But the problem is Mashenka is truly in love with Matvey Savitch and she refuses to go along with his scheme. She doesn't want to go back to her husband -- she wants to continue to live in sin with her lover.
Matvey Savitch is not a lover. He has had his fun and wants to get rid of this pest. He manipulates religion to try to justify his actions -- but in truth -- he only believes in himself. (Just wondering: Savitch = Savage). When Mashenka finally sees the light -- it is too late -- her life is destroyed.
And then there is Varvara -- the pretty young wife of the hunchback, Alyoshka. She is forced to marry a feeble minded drunkard -- who spends his time playing the concertina and carousing with his buddies. Her only form of companionship are the travelers and her affairs. She is shacking up with the priest's son -- and receiving a bit of monetary and spiritual compensation.
Varvara doesn't worry about sin. She knows the notion of sin is just a way of controlling her and making her follow the rules which only enslave her. She is free from the constrains of a corrupted society and therefore she is also free to dream up ways to make herself happier. And that might include murder.
As the Bob Dylan songs goes -- "When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose"
And then there is love. Or the lack of it.
Mashenka loved with all her heart and soul and what did it get her? Her own demise.
Love in this society has become a poison that needs to be avoided.
And that's the real cruelty of this story.
There's a lot of cruelty in this story.
There's actually two stories intertwined.
The first one deals with Dyudya, a merchant and his family. His son, Fyodor, an engineer living in the factory, has thrown his wife out. And his other son is a spaced out hunchback who they've married to a good looking woman from a poor family.
And then there is Matvey Savitch, a traveler, who relates how how he wound up taking care of the ten year old orphan, Kuzka.
So where's the cruelty?
Let's start with the boys. This Matvey Savitch, is pretty harsh with Kuzka. The boy appears malnourished and when he misplaces his little hat -- Matvey Savitch wants to pull his ear off. There doesn't seem to be much affection and Matvey Savitch is taking care of him out of duty -- but not out of love.
The other boy in question is Sofya's son -- Sofya is the discarded wife of Fyodor, Dyudya's son. Fyodor has kept their son, Grishutka with him in the factory and we are told that Grishutka is being poorly treated.
Then of course -- there are the wives.
Matvey Savitch tells us the story of how years ago he fell in love with a woman named Mashenka. Mashenka was alone because her husband had been sent out to war.
Matvey Savitch seduces Mashenka and they begin to shack up -- but after a couple of years he tires of her and is looking to get married with an "honest" woman. Thankfully for him -- Mashenka's husband, Vasya, comes back from the war.
Matvey Savitch concocts a plan to save his skin. He wants to apologize to Vasya and have Mashenka return to her husband. But the problem is Mashenka is truly in love with Matvey Savitch and she refuses to go along with his scheme. She doesn't want to go back to her husband -- she wants to continue to live in sin with her lover.
Matvey Savitch is not a lover. He has had his fun and wants to get rid of this pest. He manipulates religion to try to justify his actions -- but in truth -- he only believes in himself. (Just wondering: Savitch = Savage). When Mashenka finally sees the light -- it is too late -- her life is destroyed.
And then there is Varvara -- the pretty young wife of the hunchback, Alyoshka. She is forced to marry a feeble minded drunkard -- who spends his time playing the concertina and carousing with his buddies. Her only form of companionship are the travelers and her affairs. She is shacking up with the priest's son -- and receiving a bit of monetary and spiritual compensation.
Varvara doesn't worry about sin. She knows the notion of sin is just a way of controlling her and making her follow the rules which only enslave her. She is free from the constrains of a corrupted society and therefore she is also free to dream up ways to make herself happier. And that might include murder.
As the Bob Dylan songs goes -- "When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose"
And then there is love. Or the lack of it.
Mashenka loved with all her heart and soul and what did it get her? Her own demise.
Love in this society has become a poison that needs to be avoided.
And that's the real cruelty of this story.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
THE WITCH
The Witch
So is she a witch?
Why? Because she lives in the middle of nowhere with a filthy fool.
A witch. A woman who can't be dominated -- who can tap into powers beyond the realm of ordinary men.
Many women in the middle ages were called witches and burned alive because they were perceived to have extraordinary powers. Women possess the magic to give life -- and the intuition rooted to the earth giving them insight men can only dream about. And let's not forget that women have desires and needs which might make men sweat -- especially when they can't fulfill them. Male fears of women's sexuality led to countless and perverse ways to contain it.
Women had to be kept down because the male dominated society of the time knew that if women's gifts were unleashed they would rule the world.
Nothing much has changed since the middle ages. The Witch takes place in 19th century Russia -- but it could be taking place in plenty of countries in the twenty-first century.
This is a story of a weak and silly man who has lost his grip on his woman and will use any means necessary to keep her under his control. And if has to resort to labeling her a witch -- why not? If she can't be tied down and domesticated -- then she's wild. And this woman, Raissa Nilovna, is beyond wild -- she's in perpetual heat -- because all around her is cold and frozen.
Raissa Nilovna needs some serious loving and her dud husband is not going to provide it. So she is hoping to find it any way she can. The more desperate she becomes for sexual and spiritual gratification -- the more scary she is to Savely Gykin, her husband, with the ironic title of sexton.
Instead of fearing his wife, Savely Gykin should look in the mirror and realize if anything is evil -- it is his own stench.
The atmosphere and tone of this story is effectively evoked by Chekhov. We really feel they are living in a remote and bizarre environment. And we can easily believe that witches and devils reside there -- and that reality blends with the supernatural.
But when you really think about it -- loneliness is the world we are dealing with here. And anyone as lonely as Raissa Nilovna feels like they are living isolated from the warmth of companionship -- whether it's in the winter wilderness of this tale or in the center of Manhattan.
So is she a witch?
Why? Because she lives in the middle of nowhere with a filthy fool.
A witch. A woman who can't be dominated -- who can tap into powers beyond the realm of ordinary men.
Many women in the middle ages were called witches and burned alive because they were perceived to have extraordinary powers. Women possess the magic to give life -- and the intuition rooted to the earth giving them insight men can only dream about. And let's not forget that women have desires and needs which might make men sweat -- especially when they can't fulfill them. Male fears of women's sexuality led to countless and perverse ways to contain it.
Women had to be kept down because the male dominated society of the time knew that if women's gifts were unleashed they would rule the world.
Nothing much has changed since the middle ages. The Witch takes place in 19th century Russia -- but it could be taking place in plenty of countries in the twenty-first century.
This is a story of a weak and silly man who has lost his grip on his woman and will use any means necessary to keep her under his control. And if has to resort to labeling her a witch -- why not? If she can't be tied down and domesticated -- then she's wild. And this woman, Raissa Nilovna, is beyond wild -- she's in perpetual heat -- because all around her is cold and frozen.
Raissa Nilovna needs some serious loving and her dud husband is not going to provide it. So she is hoping to find it any way she can. The more desperate she becomes for sexual and spiritual gratification -- the more scary she is to Savely Gykin, her husband, with the ironic title of sexton.
Instead of fearing his wife, Savely Gykin should look in the mirror and realize if anything is evil -- it is his own stench.
The atmosphere and tone of this story is effectively evoked by Chekhov. We really feel they are living in a remote and bizarre environment. And we can easily believe that witches and devils reside there -- and that reality blends with the supernatural.
But when you really think about it -- loneliness is the world we are dealing with here. And anyone as lonely as Raissa Nilovna feels like they are living isolated from the warmth of companionship -- whether it's in the winter wilderness of this tale or in the center of Manhattan.
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