THE COSSACK

The Cossack

And everything was going so well.

But if you're a compassionate, caring person -- you can't accept selfishness. It's a duty -- a calling -- to look out for others. To be a true Christian -- you have to be charitable -- otherwise, it's all empty ritual.

Okay, so the farmer might have failed the test when he meets the sick Cossack on the road and wants to share some cake but lets his wife convince him to give him nothing. The farmer, however, realizes he messed up and sends someone to help the Cossack. Most importantly, he begins to understand that his wife might not be the person he imagines her to be.

Here is where the farmer, Tortchakov, plays the wrong hand. Fix the problem. You're not happy with your wife-- then talk to her or end the marriage. And if you're not happy with your own state of mind -- work it out. Start behaving more charitably. Spend your time helping your neighbors. Good deeds.

Naturally, this advice is hard to swallow when you're depressed. The incident shocked Tortchakov, who is a decent man, and could very well have gotten him so down that he lets his life unravel.

Beware of the sick Cossack that could appear anywhere or any other person which tests you and illuminates the true nature of your life.

Or you could simply stop caring.

TOO EARLY

Too Early

A slice of peasant life.

The sun is setting -- the snipe may be flying over -- there is one major propblem for these hunters.

They have no gun.

Pawned for vodka.

They beg for the gun from the restaurant owner, Semyon, and he refuses to budge. One rouble and they can get it back. They are broke.

Off to the forest they go and see if the snipe has arrived or not. The forest is dark and scary but they are patient and they wait. Nothing.

Home go Slyunka and Ryabov silently.

They have time yet to get their guns back -- however that doesn't seem likely. But miracles do happen -- Easter is approaching and one of them may find a way to reclaim his gun.

If you are a snipe -- you hope not.

What stands out is the poverty of the people and the amplitude of nature.

THE DOCTOR

The Doctor

So let me get this straight -- the child has a brain tumor and is dying -- the mother is understandably heartbroken -- but the good doctor is only worried about whether he's the father of the sick child.

No wonder he has trouble talking to weeping women and children.

In answer to your last question, doctor:

Listen Dr. Tsvyetkov, Olga is going through a very hard time. She doesn't need you bothering her right now about whether or not you're the father of the child. Or whether she is a liar. There are more important things going on. Is that very hard to understand? What exactly do you want from her?  You call yourself a doctor. Who gave you that license? Seriously, man, you just might be a sociopath as you show no sympathy for the suffering of others. But hey, there's always hope. So why don't you go and give her a little bit of consoling and start acting like a human being.  Maybe, just maybe, one day you may get your wish. And she will see who you are. (Not so sure that's a good thing.) Now take two aspirins and call me in the morning.

At least I tried.

A LIVING CHATTEL

A Living Chattel

What goes around comes around.

Twists and turns of fate.

The story is too manipulated for my taste. The point is the moral: we can't escape our fate.

The characters were not very interesting -- and too one-dimensional -- I realize that's the point -- especially when it comes to Groholsky. He is a slave to love. Or just a slave.

I found the story interesting at the very beginning when Groholsky and Bugrov are squaring off. But once the money deal was transacted -- the rest just kept repeating itself.

What I best enjoy in Chekhov's stories is when the characters surprise me -- inspire me -- when they are so real I feel I know them and understand them -- or I want to meet them and spend a few minutes chewing the fat with them.

In this morality tale -- I never felt the characters were interesting -- more like puppets driving home the point: if you do harm -- don't think you are scott free -- somehow it comes back to bite you.

I'll be good.

 

MARI D'ELLE

Mari d'Elle

Hanger on.

A sad tale of a man who never made it on his own. He lives off his wife who is a famous singer. He dreams big and pretends to maintain some pride -- but it's apparent his dreams are illusions, as well as his pride.

His whole life is now dependent on his wife who despises him.

Sounds like the making of a good opera.  

A STORY WITHOUT AN END

A Story Without An End

The human soul is a mystery.

If you think you can understand why people try to commit suicide, think again.

Tony Scott, the director of Top Gun recently jumped to his death from a bridge -- everyone is trying to find a motive -- but as this story points out:

"Man will never understand the psychological subleties of suicide!"

And not just suicide -- but all of our actions can't be entirely explained. Like Vassilyev -- we are all posers --- revealing a bit here and there -- but ultimately what goes on inside like the vastness all around us -- remains a mystery even to ourselves. 

Just like time and our thoughts -- all is transitory -- why we do something this minute will be different from the way we react two minutes from now -- maybe you are drinking coffee and reading this and it's making sense or maybe your coffee is a little bitter and nothing you are reading here makes any sense -- is it the coffee? -- the writing? -- or the mosquito buzzing around you? -- or the heat? or the cold? or the noise coming from the radio blasting from upstairs?

Ultimately everything is an adventure -- we don't know what tomorrow holds in the world out there or inside our minds. Our life is a story without an end -- until it ends.

LIGHTS

Lights

What's it all about, Alfie?

Engineers at work on railroads and the meaning of life. We drift from the far away lights to a beach town romance to waking up to the concerns of daily life. The big questions of life are discussed, analyzed, and finally we end up where we started. Personally, I love this type of Chekhov story. It raises questions and discusses ideas you think you are the only one thinking about -- but then you realize they have been thought about for a long time and artists have tried to depict in their works for ages.

Kept thinking at the end that Ananyev had gone back and saved his Kisotchka. But Romanticim was displaced by Existentialism or Nihilism or Whatever some time ago and in the end we still deal with the fundamental questions of life the best way we can.


ALAN
Then it’s a mystery. Mystery is good. The problem with our world is we want answers for everything. But some things are mysterious and they should be left at that. That’s what makes great art. Like the Mona Lisa smile. If we knew why she’s smiling then it wouldn’t be such a great painting. 

KEITH
What’s the Mona Lisa got to do with anything? Somebody put the jacket in here. 

ALAN
All I’m saying is there are things that can’t be explained. Like take the sun for instance. Try to explain it to people: Yeah, there’s this giant burning thing a hundred times bigger than the Earth and if you stare at it for too long you’ll go blind -- 

KEITH
Don’t have to explain it. Sun’s there. All you got to do is look up. 

ALAN
But what I’m saying is what if someone didn’t know the sun existed and you had to explain its existence --

KEITH

But it does exist so I don’t have to explain shit.

ALAN

It’s not just the sun. It’s the whole universe. Like it doesn’t have a beginning. I mean you can’t go somewhere and buy a ticket to enter the universe, can you? And where does it end? Is there a billboard announcing two million miles more till the end better buy gas now? No! It doesn’t have an end, either. It just goes on forever and ever. 

KEITH 

Sort of like you --

ALAN

And why does anything actually exist at all? Why? You know if there was nothing -- that I could understand. It’s just nothing. Plain and simple. But from that nothing an urge to be something was born. Where did that come from? Nothing wasn’t happy being nothing so it decided to be something? How did nothing know something was possible? How did it go about creating something? Nothing had nothing to help it create something yet it not only created something -- it created the whole universe. And if nothing created something then was it ever really nothing? But what’s the alternative? That something has always existed -- that doesn’t make much more sense either -- how does something always exist? We’re surrounded by a totally unexplainable mystery so why should anything that happens anywhere anytime not also be a totally unexplainable mystery? 

KEITH

You see this knife.

              (KEITH grabs knife.)

It’s sharp. Press it against your skin. Cuts your skin. You bleed. Don’t stop bleeding. You die. 

ALAN

What’s that knife made of? I mean really made of. Millions . . . billions of atoms. What exactly is an atom? And what makes them come together to make that knife?

KEITH

Know what a knife does know what it don’t do. This knife starts flying around -- singing and dancing then we got something to talk about.

ALAN

But the atoms that make up your knife are going around doing their own version of singing and dancing. And if they stopped your knife would disappear and so would everything else.

KEITH

Even you? 

ALAN

Even me. 

KEITH

Then I’d call that a fair trade.

Shakespeare Macbeth

She should have died hereafter;

There would have been a time for such a word.

To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day

To the last syllable of recorded time,

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!

Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage

And then is heard no more: it is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.

Matthew Arnold Dover Beach

Ah, love, let us be true
To one another! for the world, which seems
To lie before us like a land of dreams,
So various, so beautiful, so new,
Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,
Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;
And we are here as on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night.

Anton Chekhov Lights

"Yes, there's no understanding anything in this world!"
The sun began to rise. . . .

Samuel Beckett Waiting For Godot

ESTRAGON:

    Well? Shall we go?

VLADIMIR:

    Pull on your trousers.

 

ESTRAGON:

    What?

VLADIMIR:

    Pull on your trousers.

 

ESTRAGON:

    You want me to pull off my trousers?

 

VLADIMIR:

    Pull ON your trousers.

ESTRAGON:

    (realising his trousers are down). True.

He pulls up his trousers.

 

VLADIMIR:

   Well? Shall we go ?

ESTRAGON:

    Yes, let's go.

They do not move.

Popeye: [singing] 

I yam what I yam and I yam what I yam that I yam / And I got a lotta muscle and I only gots one eye / And I'll never hurt nobodys and I'll never tell a lie / Top to me bottom and me bottom to me top / That's the way it is 'til the day that I drop, what am I? / I yam what I yam."

---

LOVE

Love

He loves her.

He loves her not.

If you stare at something long enough you will notice all the imperfections.

Some things are better off not being analyzed.

Holistic.

Once you start  to deconstruct -- you may wind up with little pieces that just like Humpty Dumpty can't be put together again.

Prediction: Next stop for this fellow -- divorce court.

THE SWEDISH MATCH

The Swedish Match

Joe Friday on the old television show, Dragnet, used to say: "Just the facts ma'am."

Some good advice.

A vivid imagination in a police investigation can land innocent people in jail.

Tchubikov, the examining magistrate and his assistant Dyukovsky both jump to conclusions not warranted by any facts. Their idea of an investigation is putting a credible story (in their mind) together and going from there.

A little consultation with John Adams would have helped: "Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence. "

The Swedish match is where some solid investigation is done and it helps lead to the solution -- although not the one fitting the concocted story of Tchubikov and Dyukovsky.

If you have a vivid imagination -- try writing novels.

If you're going to do police work -- stick to the facts.

That said, Malcolm Gladwell's book, Blink, gives us an interesting take on Tchubikov and Dyukovsky.

Gladwell writes: "You could also say that it's a book about intuition, except that I don't like that word. In fact it never appears in "Blink." Intuition strikes me as a concept we use to describe emotional reactions, gut feelings--thoughts and impressions that don't seem entirely rational. But I think that what goes on in that first two seconds is perfectly rational."

As Maxwell Smart used to say:

"Would you believe . . ." 

ART

Art

Seryozhka is abusive, lazy, and drunk.

But he has a gift.

Once a year he become a medium for God -- he becomes a creator.

His creations are a wonder to everyone.

There have been many talented artists with serious character flaws, and despite this, the world kneels in front of them.

Pays them homage.

Art transforms the ordinary -- it brings us closer to the universal -- to the divine -- and those who have been infused with the gift elevates everyone -- and they in kind get to live above the norm.

Seems like a fair bargain.

THE FISH

The Fish

To catch a fish

The great equalizer

Social classes means nothing to an eel-pout

I will survive

True freedom

Silly humans

Noble fish

AN ADVENTURE

An Adventure

Take the Money and Run.

Karma is a Bitch.

Father is a good man but he likes to imbibe.

Then he brags.

And the adventure begins.

Definitely keeps you involved.

Nice twists and turns.

However, I was struck by the line: "And Anyutka lay there, poor child, hearing every word and shaking like a Jew in a frying pan."

Where does that come from? Why is the Jew being vilified here? If these idioms were part of the vernacular, then does it indicate how much the prejudice against them was ingrained in the society?  Why does Chekhov include this loathsome line in a story where Jews play no part? Was it to add flavor to the narrator -- to add authenticity? I don't know. But after what Jews endured in the 20th century -- one gets a sense of the almost casual venom directed against them most likely for centuries and one also finds the language particularly disturbing.

THE BIRD MARKET

The Bird Market

A day in the life of a Moscow bird market with all its vibrancy and despair.

Some go there to amuse themselves -- others to make a living -- all comes at a price -- a very heavy price if you are a hare or a frog or any other creature being put up for sale.

Chekhov points out how every one plays a role -- how some are respected and honored at the market and others are ignored -- and like similar markets in the world -- there are winners and losers. Aggressors and victims.

Chekhov's artistry and his ability to make us empathize with the victims -- is best on display when he decribes the blackbird:

"A faded old blackbird, with most of its feathers plucked out of its tail, sits on a dirty perch. He is dignified, grave, and motionless as a retired general. He has waved his claw in resignation to his captivity long ago, and looks at the blue sky with indifference, he is considered a sagacious bird."

One cannot help but feel sad for the bird and all other dignified beings who have had their freedom taken away from them, in one way, or another.

At some point in our lives we will be more like that blackbird than we ever wish to imagine.

WHO WAS TO BLAME?

Who Was to Blame?

Beware of the uncle.

We always talk about how a good teacher can inspire their students, but as this story very well points out, bad teaching can also have a lasting impact.

How many amazing  contributions were never realized due to severely misguided pedagogy?

Teach the children well.

THE DEPENDENTS

The Dependents

If it wasn't for programs like Social Security and Medicare -- the life of Zotov would be the lot for many of our elderly.

As for the old dog and the old horse -- is there anything sadder than when Zotov is walking towards the farm and turns around and discovers the animals trailing behind him? Loyalty rarely pays.

There was recently an interesting article about how dogs are treated in India. Many are left out in the streets to fend for themselves and are rabid but there is a law against putting them to sleep.

The bottom line is we are all dependent on each other.

No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thine own
Or of thine friend's were.
Each man's death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.

John Donne

A CHAMELEON

A Chameleon

Great story poking fun at the way people kiss up to those in power.

Very true and very funny.

Sometimes when one observes the world and the way it works -- one thinks -- I can't believe people get away with what they get away with. But the fact is -- the established order of the world probably hasn't changed much for thousands of years. In other words, you can go back to ancient Rome and you'd see the power structures and the way people react to the power structure similar to a modern day corporation.

In the elevator -- the upper echelon manager ignores the person delivering the office mail -- but becomes very chatty when the vice-president enters -- or the Roman Senator dismisses the person cleaning the floors but beams when the Emperor visits.

Or the executives at a corporate meeting all laugh heartily at the lame joke by the CEO and the funny career file clerk doesn't get much recognition from anyone except maybe his mama.

No wonder everyone wants to become a celebrity.

KASHTANKA

Kashtanka

Dog has a rough life.

So it seems.

Gets lost.

Finds a new owner who loves her.

Still the dog misses her old home.

Why?

Smells.

Varnish, glue.

Places.

Under a bench.

The little boy.

Family and home

Good or bad one gets used to them.

And even when the new place seems better one still misses the old ways.

Dog is found.

Going home again.

Everything else was just a bad dream.

Unappreciative?

Maybe.

That's life.