In this article you will find a summary of Chekhov's “Student”. This is a very short, but at the same time perfectly honed work - a story. It has a deep meaning, to understand which, of course, will help to read it. So.
Summary of the "Student" Chekhov. Start
The narration is on the eve of the great Easter. The story begins with a description of weather conditions and a dull landscape. The weather was calm and calm at first, but a piercing cold wind blew closer to the night, puddles covered with a thin crust of ice. It began to smell in the winter. Since we transmit only a brief summary of Chekhov's “Student”, we will not linger on descriptions of nature.
Main character
A student at a theological academy named Ivan Velikopolsky returned home. His fingers froze from the cold, and his face simply burned. He thought that such a sudden cold upsets nature. Around it was quiet and deserted. He saw the lights only in the widow gardens, which were named so because they were contained by two widows - a mother and a daughter. Ivan remembered how he left home. That day before his departure, his mother cleaned a samovar in the hallway, and his father lay on the stove and coughed. It was Good Friday, so they didn’t cook anything in the house. It was cold and really hungry. The student thought that such a cold was always there: under Rurik, and under Peter, and under Ivan the Terrible. Exactly the same poverty, ignorance and longing were then. He did not want to go home.
Chekhov. "Student". Summary. Way home
So he got to the gardens, and saw a bonfire. A widow named Vasilisa stood looking thoughtfully at the fire. Lukery, her daughter, soap, spoons and a cauldron. It was clear that they had just had dinner. The student approached them and said hello. He began to bask at the fire, and said that once upon a time a very long time ago the apostle Peter was basking in the same way at the fire. Ivan told the women the biblical story of Jesus and Jude. During a secret meeting, Peter told Jesus that he would be with him always and everywhere, but Jesus answered him that he would deny him even before the rooster crowed the third time the next morning. But Peter did not believe this.
And when Jesus, bound, was led to the high priest and beaten, Peter followed him. They began to interrogate Jesus; Peter stopped nearby to warm himself by the fire. When asked if he knew Jesus, he answered no. Another person suggested that Peter is a disciple of Jesus, but he denied this. And then they asked him a third time, and he again said no. A rooster crowed right after that. Peter remembered Jesus' prediction and cried.
Despite the fact that we give only a brief summary, Chekhov's “Student” is really a very small story, and its volume is not much more than this article. But the language in which it is written, the power of the impact, are worth reading in the original. However, let us return to our presentation.
Meditations
Vasilisa burst into tears, listening to the parable to the end. The student is thoughtful. Lukerya stiffened, and her expression became heavy. Easter was coming. Ivan continued on his way. He began to think about why the behavior of the two widows so changed after they listened to the parable.
Perhaps the story has something to do with them that Peter is close to them, he thought, which means that the past is inextricably linked with the future. And those truth and beauty that reigned in the biblical garden, through an unbroken chain of events, were transferred to the present life and made its main purpose. And suddenly joy swept over him. When he went across the river on a ferry, he looked at his village. A sense of happiness seized him and swirled in his whirlpool. He was 22 years old, and the expectation of mysterious happiness possessed him, and his life seemed wonderful and delightful to him.
Such is the summary of Chekhov's “Student”, but for a better understanding of this work, of course, it is advisable to read it in its entirety.