A. P. Chekhov, "Vanka": a summary of the work

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov is a famous Russian writer. His works are currently published in more than 100 languages. His immortal plays are staged in many theaters around the world. To our public, the writer is better known for his short humorous stories. "Horse's surname", "Lady with a dog", "Kashtanka" and many other works familiar to us since childhood were written by A. P. Chekhov. "Vanka" (a brief summary is given in the article) is a story by a famous author, known to us since school. It was written over a hundred years ago and is included in the compulsory curriculum for the study of literature in primary grades in all comprehensive schools.

Vanka yearns for his grandfather

Vanka Zhukov, a nine-year-old boy, was apprenticed to Moscow to the shoemaker Alyakhin. He is an orphan, of his relatives only grandfather Konstantin Makarych. Three long months have passed since Vanka left the village. The boy is very homesick for his grandfather, remembering every moment spent with him. Vanka likes to imagine what grandfather is doing in the village now. Here is Konstantin Makarych,a small, nimble old man with an eternally drunken face and cheerful eyes, chatting with the cooks in the servants' room. He loves tobacco, sniffs it, sneezes. But in the evening he walks around the manor's estate with a mallet - he guards it. He is always accompanied by two dogs: the black Vyun and the old Kashtanka. From the description of Konstantin Makarych, the only native person of the protagonist, Chekhov began his story. "Vanka" (read the summary below) is a story that evokes sympathy for a simple village boy from the first lines.

Vanka's complaints in a letter

Vanka writes a letter to his grandfather, in which he describes all the hardships of his life with strangers. His share is truly unenviable. The apprentices make fun of him, make him steal from the owners and send him to the tavern for vodka. The shoemaker's family, in which he lives, is unkind to him. They give little to eat: in the morning - bread, at lunch - porridge, in the evening - also bread. And for every offense the owner severely punishes the boy. So, recently he dragged Vanka by the hair into the yard and beat him there with a spear. And the hostess, for the fact that the boy began to peel the herring incorrectly, poked a fish in his face. But most of all, Vanka does not like to babysit their child. When a baby cries at night, the boy is forced to rock him. The kid really wants to sleep. And if he happens to fall asleep while rocking the cradle, he is also punished for this. He described all this in his letter to his grandfather. "Vanka" by A. P. Chekhov is a story about the difficult lot of peasant children, defenseless before the will of the masters.

Vanka's memories of happytime in the village

And Vanka also likes to remember the time when he lived in the village with his grandfather. His mother Pelageya served as a maid for the masters, and often the boy was with her. The young lady Olga Ignatyevna was very supportive of the child, treated him to candies and, having nothing to do, taught him to write, read and even dance a quadrille. But most of all Vanka remembered Christmas with the gentlemen. Before the holiday, Konstantin Makarych went to the forest for a Christmas tree and took his grandson with him. It was terribly cold, the frost was crackling. But Vanka didn't care. After all, he was next to his grandfather! This is how he describes the happy life of a boy in the village of Chekhov. "Vanka" (the summary does not convey the emotions that remain after reading the work in the original) is a story that evokes in readers an acute feeling of pity and a desire to help a naive child.

Satisfied Vanka sends a letter

Having finished his letter, the boy signs it: "To the village of grandfather." And on reflection, he adds: "Konstantin Makarych." How to send a message, Vanka knows. After all, the day before, he asked the merchants from the butcher's shop about this. They told him that letters should be put in the mailbox. Then they are taken out and transported around the world on troikas with bells. Having reached the first box, the boy, pleased with himself, throws a letter into it. Having done this, he cheerfully walks home. An hour later, Vanka is already sleeping sweetly. He dreams of his grandfather Konstantin Makarych sitting on a warm stove, legs dangling, and reading a letter from his grandson to the cooks. A. P. Chekhov ends his story with this episode. "Roly"(the main characters of the story are positive people and even somewhat naive) - a work that evokes a sympathetic smile from readers.

The theme of childhood often sounds in the stories of the writer. Chekhov wrote his work about a young, naive and kind peasant boy. “Vanka” (you learned a summary from the article) is a short story, but very interesting. We advise you to read it in its entirety.