Kashtanka, a young foxey-looking mongrel, belonging to a carpenter drunkard named Luka Alexandrovich gets lost through her own 'improper behaviour', frightened by a military band on the street. If she had been a human being she would have certainly thought: 'No, it is impossible to live like this! I must shoot myself! A stranger comes out, feels sorry for the lost dog and, delighted with her funny looks, takes her to his place where he treats her...

I need no great effort of memory to recall, in every detail, the rainy autumn evening when I stood with my father in one of the more frequented streets of Moscow, and felt that I was gradually being overcome by a strange illness. I had no pain at all, but my legs were giving way under me, the words stuck in my throat, my head slipped weakly on one side... It seemed as though, in a moment, I must fall down and lose consciousness.

The story's protagonist, Grigori Tsybukin, runs the local grocery store but supplements his income by selling homebrewed vodka on the sly. Grigori's family-consisting of his wife Varvara, his sons Anisim and Stephan, and his "handsome" daughter-in-law Aksinia-aid him in his entrepreneurial endeavors. In particular, Aksinia is designated as Tsybukin's second-in-command, which encourages the young woman to think that she might become the heir to his...

The retired general Buldeyev, suffering from a toothache, has tried all possible means of treating it, to no avail. He is not willing, though, to remove the tooth, so some cure is to be found. The steward, Ivan Evseyevich, remembers he knew once an extremely gifted 'tooth conjurer', who used to just 'turn toward the window and spit, and the pain would go in a minute'. Now living in Saratov, the wonder doctor makes his living by spit-related way of...

Young upper class artist believes in not helping the poor while spending his days doing nothing of consequence, essentially living a futile existence. Lida is his polar opposite and argues with him as she organizes subscription campaigns for the poor, makes charity drives, and tries to change the local government. Lida's younger sister Genya is vacant and undeveloped, both physically and emotionally. She can be easily swayed by either Lida or the...

Travelling from Odessa and Sevastopol, the narrator on board the steamboat meets a man called Ivan Shamokhin, who tells him a story of his love for a woman named Ariadna Kotlovich. Initially he is just dazzled by her beauty, gracefulness, originality, wit and intelligence; to him she is an epitome of perfection. Gradually he comes to realize that there is vanity and coldness behind her shiny charisma. She loves seeing Shamokhin around, but only because...

Young widow Popova receives a visitor who asks to repay debts of her former husband. Smirnov has an urgent need for money in order to repay his own bank loans the next morning and is refusing to leave. After heated emotional exchange Smirnov suggests a duel notwithstanding that Popova being a woman does not even know how to handle guns. But she does not give up and accepts the challenge. One thing leads to another and shortly after we find them both...

The wife of a former collegiate assessor walks into a bank and demands the missing pay of her dismissed husband. 'I am a weak, defenseless woman', she reasons. She repeats this endlessly, exhausts the already exhausted and gout afflicted bank manager and the rest of his staff. In the end she gets the requested money from the bank manager's own wallet, but like a recovering addict getting a taste of some smack, she wants more…

In the Grasshopper we find a love triangle. Olga, her rather boring husband preoccupied with his work, and a young artist. Olga craves the excitement of the artistic life and finds a new lease on romance with the colourful landscape designer, who takes her on a cruise. But not all is going to plan in this quintessentially Chekhovian love tale. Other stories in this volume include: A woman's Kingdom, Difficult People, A Dreary Story, The Privy Councillor....

There was a sharp snapping frost and the curls on Nadenka's temples and the down on her upper lip were covered with silvery frost. She was holding my arm and we were standing on a high hill. From where we stood to the ground below there stretched a smooth sloping descent in which the sun was reflected as in a looking-glass. Beside us was a little sledge lined with bright red cloth.