“Chekhov Shorts”: The Huntsman
March 2, 2009 by Rob
Filed under Checkin Off the Chekhov Shorts
Title: The Huntsman
Date Read: 01 March 2009
Word Count: 1736
Briefly: While walking along the roadside in all of his hunting regalia, Yegor Vlassitch is stopped by a woman rushing out of a crop field. It’s not just any woman though, it’s Pelagea, a woman who has a closer relationship to the huntsman than he’d care to admit.
Afterthoughts: A bit of a strange plot by all accounts but one no doubt created by Chekhov as an excuse to have a satirical poke at class divide. Humorous to a point but not one of Chekhov’s best short stories.
Notable Quote: “In your eyes I am a wild man, and in mine you are a simple peasant woman with no understanding. Are we well matched? I am a free, pampered, profligate man, while you are a working woman, going in bark shoes and never straightening your back. The way I think of myself is that I am the foremost man in every kind of sport, and you look at me with pity.”
Rating: 
*Story read as part of my Checkin’ Off The Chekhov Shorts reading challenge.
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Rob, a self-confessed bibliophile, is without any hope of rehabilitation. He gets unnaturally excited over anything book-shaped, and if book sniffing were a crime then he would have been locked up years ago (which wouldn't bother him in the slightest provided his cell were lined with books)
