Grisha (Chekhov)
Short summary
A small Russian town, early 20th century. Grisha, a toddler, went for a walk with his nurse on a sunny April day.
Until then, Grisha had known only his nursery, where he lived with his nurse, mother, and cat. The outside world overwhelmed him with its brightness, noise, and strange sights. He watched soldiers march by, saw cats running, and observed a woman selling oranges. When he tried to take an orange, his nurse scolded him.
The nurse met a man with bright buttons, and they went together to visit a cook in her apartment. There, the adults drank alcohol, sang, and gave Grisha a piece of pie and a sip of their drink, which made him cough while the cook laughed at him.
When they returned home, Grisha tried to tell his mother about his adventures, using gestures to describe what he had seen. That night, he couldn't sleep, overwhelmed by the day's experiences.
He tosses from side to side, babbles, and, at last, unable to endure his excitement, begins crying. "You are feverish," says mamma... "Stove!" wails Grisha. "Go away, stove!"
His mother, thinking he had eaten too much, gave him castor oil as he struggled with the overwhelming impressions of his first real venture into the world.
Detailed summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
Grishas limited world: The nursery and home
Grisha, a chubby little boy of two years and eight months, lived in a small, rectangular world that consisted primarily of his nursery. In this limited space, his bed stood in one corner, his nurse's trunk in another, a chair in the third, and a little lamp burning in the fourth corner. Under his bed lay a doll with a broken arm and a drum, while behind nurse's trunk were various items including cotton reels, lidless boxes, and a broken Jack-a-dandy.
Hitherto Grisha has known only a rectangular world, where in one corner stands his bed, in the other nurse's trunk, in the third a chair, while in the fourth there is a little lamp burning.
In Grisha's nursery world, he regularly encountered his nurse, his mother, and the cat. He understood his mother to be like a doll, while the cat resembled his father's fur coat, only with eyes and a tail. Beyond the nursery was the dining room, where Grisha's high chair stood and a clock hung on the wall, chiming and swinging its pendulum. Further rooms included one with red armchairs and a forbidden room where his father, an enigmatical person to Grisha, was occasionally glimpsed. Another mysterious figure in his life was his auntie, who had given him a drum and whose comings and goings puzzled the boy.
First venture into the outside world: Discoveries and bewilderment
One day, Grisha ventured outside his familiar rectangular world when his nurse took him for a walk on the boulevard. He was bundled up in a long, wadded pelisse, a scarf, a big cap with a fluffy pom-pom, and warm overboots. The April sunshine beat directly on his face, making his eyelids tingle and causing him to feel hot and stifled. His entire small figure, stepping timidly and uncertainly, expressed utter bewilderment at this new environment.
In this new world, where the sun hurts one's eyes, there are so many papas and mammas and aunties, that there is no knowing to whom to run. But what is stranger and more absurd than anything is the horses.
In this unfamiliar world, Grisha was particularly perplexed by the horses with their moving legs, which he could make no sense of. He looked to his nurse for explanation, but she remained silent. Suddenly, he heard a fearful tramping and saw a group of soldiers with red faces and bath brooms under their arms marching along the boulevard. Though initially terrified, Grisha noticed his nurse showed no fear, so he began to move his feet in step with the soldiers.
Next, Grisha spotted two big cats running across the boulevard with their tongues out and tails in the air. Inspired, he decided to run after them, but his nurse quickly seized him by the shoulder and scolded him for being naughty. Passing by a woman selling oranges, Grisha took one without asking. His nurse immediately slapped his hand and snatched the orange away, calling him silly. He then noticed a piece of glass on the ground gleaming like a lamp but was afraid to pick it up for fear of being slapped again.
A tall man with bright buttons greeted Grisha's nurse, stopping to talk with her. Delighted by the brightness of the sun, the noise of carriages, the horses, and the man's shiny buttons, Grisha felt a sense of enjoyment and began to laugh. He tugged at the man's coattails, repeatedly saying "Come along!" though he couldn't express his desire to bring his papa, mamma, and the cat along too.
The secret visit: New experiences at the cooks apartment
Shortly after, the nurse led Grisha away from the boulevard into a large courtyard where patches of snow still remained. The man with bright buttons accompanied them. They carefully avoided puddles and snow lumps before climbing a dark, dirty staircase that led to a room. Inside, the air was thick with smoke and the smell of roast meat. A woman stood by the stove frying cutlets.
The cook and nurse greeted each other with kisses and sat down on a bench with the man, speaking in low voices. Still bundled in his outdoor clothes, Grisha felt uncomfortably hot and stifled. He looked around at the dark ceiling, the oven fork with two horns, and the stove that resembled a great black hole. When he called for his mother, the nurse told him to wait.
He sees the dark ceiling, the oven fork with two horns, the stove which looks like a great black hole... "Mam-ma," he drawls. "Come, come, come!" cries the nurse. "Wait a bit!"
The cook placed a bottle, two wineglasses, and a pie on the table. The three adults clinked glasses, drank repeatedly, and the man put his arm around first the cook and then the nurse. They began singing quietly together. Grisha reached for the pie and was given a piece. As he ate, he watched his nurse drinking and asked for some too. The cook gave him a sip from her glass, causing him to roll his eyes, blink, cough, and wave his hands while she laughed at his reaction.
Return home: Processing the overwhelming day
Upon returning home, Grisha attempted to tell his mother, the walls, and his bed about his adventures. He communicated not just with words but with his face and hands, showing how the sun shone, how the horses ran, what the frightening stove looked like, and how the cook drank.
When he gets home Grisha begins to tell mamma, the walls, and the bed where he has been, and what he has seen. He talks not so much with his tongue, as with his face and his hands.
That evening, Grisha couldn't fall asleep. The soldiers with their brooms, the big cats, the horses, the piece of glass, the tray of oranges, and the bright buttons all weighed on his mind. He tossed and turned, babbled, and eventually began crying from the excitement of all he had experienced. His mother, feeling his forehead, concluded he had a fever and wondered what might have caused it. When Grisha wailed about the stove, she decided he must have eaten too much and gave him a spoonful of castor oil.
And Grisha, shattered by the impressions of the new life he has just experienced, receives a spoonful of castor-oil from mamma.