Quick Navigation:
| | |
The Beggar
By Anton Chekhov
The Encounter
- The Beggar’s Plea: A ragged man named Lushkoff approaches Sergei, an advocate, begging for money. He claims to have been a village schoolteacher for eight years who lost his position due to intrigues and lies.
- Sergei’s Suspicion: Sergei notices the beggar’s fawn-coloured overcoat and his mismatched overshoes. He recalls meeting the same man in Sadovya Street a few days prior, where the man had identified himself as an expelled student, not a schoolteacher.
- Confronting the Lie: When Sergei confronts him about the discrepancy, Lushkoff initially denies it but eventually admits he was lying. He confesses that he was formerly a singer in a Russian choir but was fired for drunkenness. He claims he lies because no one will help him if he tells the truth.
The Offer of Work
- A Challenge to Work: Sergei tells Lushkoff that he should work instead of begging. He offers him a job chopping wood.
- Reluctant Acceptance: Lushkoff agrees to the work, not out of a desire to labor, but due to pride and shame because he had been trapped by his own words. He is physically weak from alcohol abuse and has no inclination for hard labor.
- Olga’s Intervention: Sergei orders his cook, Olga, to take Lushkoff to the wood-shed. From his window, Sergei watches Olga glare at the beggar and shove him aside, displaying clear anger and disgust at his presence.
Progression and Reform
- Completing the Task: An hour later, Olga reports that the wood has been chopped. Sergei pays Lushkoff half a rouble and tells him he can return on the first of every month for work.
- Regular Employment: Lushkoff returns regularly to do various odd jobs, such as shoveling snow, beating rugs, and organizing the wood-shed. He earns small amounts of money and is occasionally given old clothes.
- Moving Day: When Sergei moves to a new house, he hires Lushkoff to help pack and haul furniture. Lushkoff is sober but gloomy, barely helping and shivering in the cold, which invites mockery from the carters.
- A Better Opportunity: Seeing Lushkoff sober, Sergei offers him a chance at cleaner employment. He gives Lushkoff a letter to a friend who will provide copying work. Sergei is pleased, believing his strict words and guidance have reformed the man.
The Revelation
- Two Years Later: Sergei encounters Lushkoff at a theater ticket window. Lushkoff is now well-dressed and buys a ticket for the gallery.
- Success: Lushkoff reveals he is now a notary earning thirty-five roubles a month. Sergei is delighted, taking credit for setting his "godson" on the right path with his earlier scolding.
- The Real Savior: Lushkoff thanks Sergei but reveals that it was actually the cook, Olga, who saved him.
- Olga’s Sacrifice: Lushkoff explains that when he went to chop wood, he was too weak and drunk to do it. Olga would scold him, call him a miserable creature, and weep for his unhappy fate—but then she would chop the wood for him.
- Change of Heart: Watching Olga’s misery and experiencing her noble deeds caused a change in Lushkoff’s soul. Her empathy forced him to stop drinking and turn his life around. He remains eternally grateful to her.
Quick Navigation:
| | |
1 / 1
Quick Navigation:
| | |
