Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
Slut
The other day I invited my children’s governess, Yulia Vasilievna, to my office. There was a reckoning to be made.
- Sit down, Yulia Vasilievna! – I told her. - Let's count. You probably need money, but you are so ceremonious that you won’t ask yourself... Well, sir... We agreed on thirty rubles a month...
- Forty...
- No, thirty... I have it written down... I always paid governesses thirty. Well, you've lived for two months...
- Two months and five days...
– Exactly two months... That’s what I have written down. That means you owe sixty rubles... Subtract nine Sundays... you didn’t study with Kolya on Sundays, you only went for walks... and three holidays...
Yulia Vasilievna flushed and fiddled with her frill, but... not a word!..
- Three holidays... Down with, therefore, twelve rubles... For four days Kolya was sick and there were no classes... You studied with Varya alone... For three days your teeth hurt, and my wife allowed you not to study after lunch... Twelve and seven are nineteen. Subtract... what remains is... um... forty-one rubles... Right?
Yulia Vasilievna’s left eye turned red and filled with moisture. Her chin trembled. She coughed nervously and blew her nose, but not a word!..
– On New Year’s Eve you broke a tea cup and saucer. Down with two rubles... The cup is more expensive, it’s a family one, but... God bless you! Where ours did not disappear! Then, sir, due to your oversight, Kolya climbed a tree and tore his frock coat... Down with ten... The maid, also due to your oversight, stole Varya’s shoes. You have to watch everything. You receive a salary. So, that means, down with another five... On the tenth of January you took ten rubles from me...
“I didn’t take it,” Yulia Vasilievna whispered.
- But I have it written down!
- Well, let it be... okay.
- Subtract twenty-seven from forty-one - fourteen remains...
Both eyes filled with tears... Sweat appeared on his long pretty nose. Poor girl!
“I only took it once,” she said in a trembling voice. - I took three rubles from your wife... I didn’t take any more...
- Yes? Look, I don’t even have it written down! Down with three out of fourteen, eleven left... Here's your money, my dear! Three... three, three... one and one... Get it, sir!
And I handed her eleven rubles... She took it and, with trembling fingers, put it in her pocket.
“Merci,” she whispered.
I jumped up and walked around the room. I was overcome with anger.
- What is merci for? – I asked.
- For money...
- But I robbed you, damn it, robbed you! After all, I stole from you! What is merci for?
– In other places they didn’t give me any...
- They didn’t? And no wonder! I joked with you, I gave you a cruel lesson... I will give you all your eighty! There they are in an envelope prepared for you! But is it possible to be so sour? Why don't you protest? Why are you silent? Is it possible in this world not to have teeth? Is it possible to be such a slob?
She smiled sourly, and I read on her face: “You can!”
I asked her forgiveness for the cruel lesson and gave her, to her great surprise, all eighty. She timidly froze and left... I looked after her and thought: it’s easy to be strong in this world!
“The Slut” was created by the writer in 1888. This was the period when the author began to gradually move into the “area of seriousness” from “minor” work in the humoresque genre. The story “The Slut” was first published in the humorous magazine “Oskolki” on February 19, 1883 (No. 8).
The story “The Slut” is a clear confirmation of this. The fact is that in it, an insignificant, at first glance, episode from the life of the owner and governess of his children turns into a tangle of very serious social and moral issues for Chekhov.
The plot of the work is quite simple and is based on a joke, one might say a psychological experiment, which the hero of the work (who is also the narrator) decides to conduct on the governess who works for him. He calls the meek and sweet Yulia Vladimirovna in order to “get even.” It is important that this concept in the context of the story “The Slut” takes on several meanings at once.
The narrator wants to give the governess her salary. But first, you need to calculate how much she is owed for the 2 months she worked. From the very beginning, the owner mocks the timid girl, reducing her salary by 10 rubles (30 instead of 40). The employer then begins to list reasons why her salary should be reduced further. He remembers how many days she did not work, what pranks she allowed his children to play, etc. As a result, in two months, according to his calculations, he owes her not 80, but only 11 rubles.
Yulia Vladimirovna tries to squeeze out a protest, but she fails. It thanks its owner for these 11 rubles. At this moment, the narrator jumps up and tells the governess that he is robbing her, accusing the girl of weak character and lack of will. As a result, he gives Yulia Vladimirovna all eighty rubles she earned and asks the governess for forgiveness for his joke. He also asks her to be more “toothed” in future and defend her position.
The expression on the girl's face makes the narrator think deeply. He realizes that it is not so much the governess herself who is to blame, but rather the unjust social structure and cruel rules that reign in society. It is society that is responsible, allowing a “wealthy gentleman” to completely own and control the life of a scoundrel.
Thus, in this story, Anton Pavlovich Chekhov touches on the traditional theme of the “little man” in Russian literature. In “The Screwtape” he means not only governesses, Russian women, but in general he talks about the problem and the fate of people who are forced to endure lawlessness, turned by the rest of society into a victim and a pitiful “scatterbrain”. This idea is best confirmed by the final lines of the work: “I looked after her and thought: it’s easy to be strong in this world!”
- Analysis of the story by A.P. Chekhov's "Ionych"
- “Tosca”, analysis of Chekhov’s work, essay
- “The Death of an Official,” analysis of Chekhov’s story, essay
The main characters of the story “The Weasel” are Yulia Vasilievna, who works as a governess in one family and the head of this family, on whose behalf the story is told. Yulia Vasilievna is raising his two children. The owner of the house called the governess to his place in order to pay her for her work. Noticing the timid character of the teacher, the narrator decided to teach her a certain lesson.
He deliberately told Yulia Vasilievna the amount of her salary, which was obviously less than what was agreed upon when the governess entered work in this house. The timid woman tried to object, but this did not last long. She agreed with the specified amount. Then the owner stated that he would not pay for weekends and holidays, since there were no classes for children on these days. And here Yulia Vasilievna was also forced to agree.
Then the illness of Kolya’s son and his torn jacket were mentioned, which also served as a reason for a deduction from the governess’s salary. Yulia Vasilievna's eyes filled with tears, but she continued to endure unfair calculations. As a result, the owner of the house gave her an amount several times less than the governess was entitled to for the two months she worked. In upset feelings, Yulia Vasilyevna accepted this pitiful amount and timidly thanked the owner.
In response, he scolded the governess for her timidity and shyness in dealing with money issues and even called her a “weasel.” He told Yulia Vasilyevna that he deliberately staged this performance with deductions from the salary in order to somehow force the timid woman to be indignant at the unfair calculation. To this, Yulia Vasilyevna quietly replied that in other houses she was not paid a salary at all.
The head of the family, seeing the futility of his attempts to instill at least some determination in the governess, apologized to her for the performance and gave her a full salary for two months of work. This is the summary of the story.
The main idea of the story “The Weasel” is that very often people, due to their timidity and natural modesty, do not know how to demand what they are entitled to by right. The story teaches you not to be a weakling, but to be decisive, try to defend your interests, and defend yourself in unfair situations.
I liked the head of the family in the story. His lesson to the governess was very cruel, but necessary. The owner of the house turned out to be a decent person and did not profit from Yulia Vasilievna’s timidity. He paid her salary in full, but at the same time tried, as best he could, to convey to the shy woman the idea that she had every right to defend herself if she was treated unfairly.
What proverbs fit the story “The Slut”?
Those who are timid are beaten.
Courage helps you achieve a lot in life.
The world is held together by the brave.
Year of publication of the story: 1883
Chekhov's story "The Slut" is a very short work. It owes its popularity primarily to its presence in the school curriculum. Nevertheless, it is largely thanks to such small ones that the writer occupies one of the top places in our ranking.
The plot of the story "The Weasel" briefly
In the story “The Slut” by Chekhov, you can read about the story told in the first person. Our narrator once invited his children’s governess, Yulia Vasilyevna, to pay his respects. He began the conversation by promising to pay her thirty rubles a month. Yulia Vasilyevna tried to argue that it was forty, but the narrator said that he always paid only thirty. He then calculated that she had worked for exactly two months. To the governess’s timid addition that two months and five days had passed, the narrator replied that he had everything written down. From the sixty rubles he received, he deducted nine Sundays and three holidays, then took away half for those four days while the governess was studying only with Varya, because Kolya was sick. Then he took half of it for those three days when Yulia Vasilievna worked only half a day because her teeth hurt. Then he took two rubles for the cup and saucer that she broke on New Year’s Eve. For Kolya’s frock coat, which was torn due to oversight, another minus ten, for Varya’s shoes stolen by the maid, another minus five.
But the main character and narrator in one person of Chekhov’s story “The Slut” did not stop there. He stated that on January 10, Yulia Vasilievna took ten rubles from him. She didn’t respond to her timidity; he again stated that he had everything written down. As a result, fourteen rubles remain. The governess's eyes filled with tears. She again stated that she only took three rubles from his wife. To this the narrator stated that he did not know anything about this. That means another minus three rubles. And here is your 11 rubles. With a trembling hand, she took the money and whispered: “Mercy.” It was then that it struck our narrator: “Why is Mercy, after all, I robbed you? How can you be such a slob?” But the sour smile on her face said it was possible. Our main character in Chekhov's story "The Weasel" apologized for the cruel lesson and gave all eighty rubles. And when she left, I thought how easy it is to be strong in this world.
The story “The Weasel” on the Top Books website
You can read Chekhov’s story “The Slut” in its entirety on the Top Books website.