Difficult People (Chekhov)
Short summary
Rural Russia, late 19th century. During dinner at the Shiryaev household, Pyotr, a student, asked his father for money to return to university in Moscow. Yevgraf Ivanovitch reluctantly gave him some funds, but when Pyotr's mother suggested he needed more for boots and clothes, Yevgraf exploded in rage, throwing his pocketbook on the table and accusing the family of plundering him.
The family froze in terror as Yevgraf ranted. Unable to endure his father's behavior any longer, Pyotr confronted him.
"These reproaches are loathsome! sickening to me! I want nothing from you! Nothing! I would rather die of hunger than eat another mouthful at your expense! Take your nasty money back! take it!"
Pyotr stormed out and wandered the countryside, contemplating walking to Moscow penniless. When he returned home that night, he found his father still awake, pacing by the window. The next morning, as Pyotr prepared to leave, his father, without turning around, told him the money was on the table.
Detailed summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
The Shiryaev familys tense dinner gathering
The Shiryaev family gathered at the dinner table, waiting for the head of the household to finish washing his hands before they could begin their meal. Outside, rain fell steadily, and the sound of carpenters working on a new barn could be heard.
Shiryaev complained about the weather as he deliberately took his time, testing his family's patience. His wife, son Pyotr, eldest daughter Varvara, and three small boys had been waiting a long time. When Shiryaev finally sat down, the family began their cabbage soup in silence.
Pyotrs request for money and his fathers reluctant agreement
As the family ate their dinner, Pyotr, a university student, exchanged glances with his mother. After clearing his throat several times, he finally spoke up, stating that he needed to return to Moscow for the start of university lectures on the first of September.
His father agreed that he should go, and when Fedosya Semyonovna quietly mentioned that Pyotr would need money for the journey, Shiryaev reluctantly took out his pocketbook. He sighed dramatically as he counted out twelve roubles for the train fare, and after further discussion, grudgingly provided an additional ten roubles for lodging and food.
Pyotr thanked his father but hesitated to ask for more money for other necessities like clothes and books, sensing his father's growing irritation.
A family argument erupts over additional expenses
Unable to restrain herself, Fedosya Semyonovna suggested that Pyotr needed another six roubles for new boots, as his current ones were in terrible condition. She added that he also required new trousers, as his appearance was disgraceful. At this, warning signs of Shiryaev's temper became apparent.
Shiryaev's short, fat neck turned suddenly red as a beetroot. The colour mounted slowly to his ears, from his ears to his temples, and by degrees suffused his whole face. Yevgraf Ivanovitch shifted in his chair...
Struggling to control himself, Shiryaev unbuttoned his shirt collar to avoid choking. A deathlike silence fell over the table as the children held their breath. Fedosya continued, oblivious to the danger, saying that Pyotr was no longer a little boy and was ashamed to go about without proper clothes.
Suddenly, Shiryaev erupted in rage, flinging his pocketbook onto the table with such force that a piece of bread flew off a plate. His face contorted with anger, resentment, and avarice as he shouted at his family.
"Take everything!" he shouted in an unnatural voice; "plunder me! Take it all! Strangle me!" He jumped up from the table, clutched at his head, and ran staggering about the room. "Strip me to the last thread!"
The student flushed with embarrassment and could not continue eating. Fedosya shrank into herself, muttering defensively. Varvara, with her pale, ugly face, looked terrified. The small boys sat mute as their father grew increasingly ferocious, shaking money out of his pocketbook and telling them to take it all.
Pyotrs angry outburst and departure from the house
Unable to endure his father's behavior any longer, Pyotr stood up, pale and trembling. He asked his father to stop, saying he could no longer tolerate such scenes. Shiryaev shouted at his son to be silent, but Pyotr refused to back down.
Varvara, overcome with emotion, shrieked and began sobbing behind her screen. Shiryaev stormed out of the house while Pyotr, consumed by anger, left to walk along the muddy road toward the open country. The landscape around him was dismal - yellow fields, puddles gleaming in the road, and a penetrating autumn dampness in the air.
As he walked, Pyotr considered the dramatic idea of walking all the way to Moscow without money or proper clothing. He imagined collapsing from exhaustion and hunger somewhere near Kursk or Serpuhovo, with newspapers later reporting that a student had died of starvation.
"Not a dinner or tea passes without your making an uproar. Your bread sticks in our throat... nothing is more bitter, more humiliating, than bread that sticks in one's throat... You have worn my mother out and made a slave of her..."
Reflections and fantasies during a solitary walk
As Pyotr continued his walk, his thoughts drifted to various fantasies. He imagined adventures on the road - picturesque places, terrible nights, and chance encounters. He pictured himself as a pilgrim begging for shelter at a forest hut, only to discover it was occupied by robbers. Or being taken into a grand manor house where the beautiful daughter would fall in love with him.
In the distance, Pyotr saw an inn and beyond it, a small hill marking the railway station. This reminded him of the connection between his current location and Moscow, with its streetlamps and carriages. The contrast between the solemn countryside and the city filled him with impatience and despair.
A landowner of his acquaintance drove past in an elegant landau, and Pyotr instinctively smiled and bowed politely. He immediately caught himself in this social pretense, reflecting on how nature had given humans the capacity to hide their true feelings.
A silent, uncomfortable reconciliation
When it began to drizzle, Pyotr turned homeward, determined to have a serious conversation with his father. Upon arriving, he found the house eerily quiet. Varvara was lying behind a screen with a headache, moaning softly. His mother sat beside her with a look of amazement and guilt, mending Arhipka's trousers.
Yevgraf Ivanovitch was pacing from window to window, clearly feeling guilty. When he asked if Pyotr had changed his mind about leaving, the student confronted him about his behavior. He declared that while he respected his father, he could no longer tolerate the way he treated the family, especially his mother.
The confrontation escalated quickly. Shiryaev's neck turned crimson again as he shouted at his son to be silent. Fedosya appeared in the doorway, pale and frightened, unable to speak. Pyotr, crying with anger, shouted that he didn't want to live in the house anymore, while Varvara broke into loud sobs behind her screen. Shiryaev stormed out of the house again.
Pyotr went to his room and lay down, feeling neither anger nor shame, but a vague ache in his soul. He realized that everyone in the house was suffering, and it was impossible to determine who was most to blame or who suffered most.
At midnight, he arranged for the laborer to prepare a horse for his departure at five in the morning. Throughout the night, no one in the house slept. Pyotr heard his father pacing by the windows, sighing until dawn. Twice his mother came to him, making the sign of the cross over him with trembling hands.
In the morning, Pyotr said goodbye to everyone affectionately, with tears in his eyes. When he passed his father's room, Yevgraf Ivanovitch was standing by the window, still fully dressed. Without turning around, he told his son that money was on the table. As the laborer drove Pyotr to the station, a cold, hateful rain was falling, and the landscape seemed darker than ever.