The Murder

The Murder by Anton Chekhov (1886)

The Terehov family runs a tavern that had once been a posting inn at Progonnaya railway station, and the family, nicknamed the "Godlies," has a history of shifting, private, over-strict interpretations of religious observance. Yakov Ivanitch, the elder cousin, is a stern, orderly man who conducts his own daily services at home with his sister Aglaia rather than attend the parish church, believing the local clergy's habits (smoking, drinking, gambling associations) disqualify them. His niece Dashutka, an uneducated barefoot girl of eighteen, lives with them. Matvey Terehov, Yakov's cousin, returns home in poor health after years working at a tile factory, where he sang tenor in a choir he still fondly recalls. He confesses to the station waiter Sergey Nikanoritch and the policeman Zhukov that he once fell into extreme religious fanaticism — excessive fasting, self-imposed penances, founding his own prayer room that attracted admiring women — until his landlord Osip Varlamitch rebuked him for prideful excess "above the ordinary," after which Matvey fell ill, recovered, and adopted a more moderate faith. Now living at the tavern, Matvey constantly urges Yakov to "repent," criticizing his cousin's rigid home worship, his moneylending, and his liquor trade, which angers Yakov and Aglaia. Aglaia also resents Matvey for having given 900 roubles to a former lover ("Darling") at the factory rather than to family. Money troubles color the household: Sergey Nikanoritch, a once-prosperous refreshment-room keeper reduced to poverty and humiliated by the stationmaster, presses Matvey for a loan to buy another business. Zhukov suggests Matvey sue Yakov for his share of the family fortune. Meanwhile Yakov grows inwardly troubled, doubting his own faith's rightness, disturbed by Matvey's accusations and by petty guilty memories (a stolen horse he bought, a drunkard who died in his tavern). Tensions peak during Lent when Yakov, enraged that Matvey — despite fasting rules — eats Lenten oil with Aglaia's spiteful complicity, smashes a bowl and orders Matvey out. In the ensuing struggle, Aglaia strikes Matvey's skull with the oil bottle; when he falters, Yakov directs her toward a flatiron, and together they kill him, with Dashutka witnessing in horror. Sergey Nikanoritch, present as a witness, is paid off with hush money by Yakov to keep silent. Yakov and Dashutka drive Matvey's body to the forest near Limarovo to fake a robbery-murder on the road. Investigators soon find inconsistencies (Matvey's cap left at home, no blood on the road) and the household unravels: Sergey Nikanoritch is found with suspicious money, Dashutka reveals family quarrels and Matvey's wealth, and a signalman's testimony implicates Yakov. All four — Yakov, Aglaia, Sergey Nikanoritch, and Dashutka — are arrested and, eleven months later, convicted of murder for mercenary motives, receiving sentences of twenty, thirteen and a half, ten, and six years respectively. The story closes years later on Sahalin, where Yakov, now a convict nicknamed "Brush," has been flogged for an escape attempt and lost contact with his scattered family. Laboring at a coal-loading site in bad weather, he reflects that among the diverse convicts he has lived with, he has finally arrived at what he believes is a true faith — one his family had sought for generations — yet he cannot understand why it cost him so much suffering to attain, and he longs, before he dies, to return home and share it, even to save just one person.

By Anton Chekhov · First published 1886 · Genre: Drama, Tragedy, Psychological Fiction · 7 chapters · 14,378 words

First lines

The evening service was being celebrated at Progonnaya Station. Before the great icon, painted in glaring colours on a background of gold, stood the crowd of railway servants with their wives and children, and also of the timbermen and sawyers who worked close to the railway line. All stood in silence, fascinated by the glare of the lights and the howling of the snowstorm which was aimlessly disporting itself outside, regardless of the fact that it was the Eve of the Annunciation. The old priest from Vedenyapino conducted the service; the sacristan and Matvey Terehov were singing.

What this Textopian page supports

The Murder is listed on Textopian as a short story by Anton Chekhov, dated 1886 CE.

This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.

Good citation fit

Similar titles

Genres

Tags

Murder Mystery · Psychological Thriller · Short Story · Russian Literature · Crime Fiction · Suspenseful · Gothic Atmosphere · Dark Humor · Satire · Social Commentary · Class Struggle · Marriage Problems

Contents

More by Anton Chekhov