Other
Titles:
“Spravka”
“Справка”
Characters:
Voldyrev
– a country gentleman, landowner
A
clerk
A
porter
Voldyrev
is a country gentleman who is in the city to inquire about the resolution of a
case to which he is an involved party. The inquiry should not cost anything,
but Voldyrev soon discovers that the clerk whose job is to provide such documentation
would not bother himself with even acknowledging the presence of a client
without first receiving his bribe – three roubles for the service. Dealing with
government clerks proves to be a big hassle, and Chekhov sets the scene for
this event with a perfect symbol – typhus: “Voldyrev coughed and went
towards the window; there, at a green table spotted like typhus, was sitting a
young man with… a long pimply nose, and a long faded uniform.”
Typhus
is a sickness characterized by a purple rash, headaches, fever, and delirium –
symptoms that can be attached to this situation by making a simple inquiry.
There is something so unreal to the events that follow, once Voldyrev pays the
three roubles, which resembles almost the state of delirium. The clerk becomes
so polite and obliging, performing the service with such efforts, that Voldyrev
is put in a great state of discomfort from the attention he now receives. This
unexpected change in behavior confuses and overwhelms him so that he
instinctively hands out another rouble as a way to conclude the transaction and
to make the clerk go away.
“And
the latter kept bowing and smiling, and took the rouble like a conjuror, so
that it seemed to flash through the air.”
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