Time December 21, 2021

Platform Himalayas

Country Russia

Genre novels

Author Chekhov (1860-1904). Russian writer, born on January 29, 1860 in Taganrog, Rostov Province. In 1879, he entered the Department of Medicine of Moscow Medical University. After graduating in 1884, he practiced medicine in Zvenigorod and other places. He had extensive contact with civilians and understood life, which had a good influence on his literary creation.

His main works include: "The Victor" (1883), "The Chameleon" (1884), "The Steppe" (1888), "The Uninteresting Story" (1889), "Sakhalin" ( 1893-1894), "In Exile" (1892), "Third Ward" (1892). Later, he began to write plays, such as "Marriage" (1890), "Idiot" (1888), "The Proposal" (1888-1889), "An Involuntary Tragic Character" (1889-1890), "Ivanov " (1887-1889), "The Cherry Orchard" (1903-1904), etc.

Story summary "Gooseberry" is one of Chekhov's famous short stories. The work tells the story of a mediocre man who lost all his excellent qualities in pursuit of personal happiness.

Veterinarian Ivan Ivanich and middle school teacher Burkin were tired of walking. It started to rain heavily again, so they had to take shelter at the house of landlord Alexhin. Alexhin seemed very enthusiastic on the surface and invited Ivan and Burkin to take a bath in his bathing shed. Although Alekhin himself did not take a bath for a long time, he was very satisfied with having a bathing shed and could not help showing off in front of Ivan and Burkin. Ivan couldn't stand Alexhin's pretentiousness, so he jumped into the river outside the house for a swim in the rain. Several people changed into clean clothes and rested in the living room, preparing to listen to Ivan telling stories about his brother Nikolai.

Ivan and Nikolai spent their childhood freely in the countryside. They are exactly like farmers' children. They spend all day and night in the fields and woods, guarding horses, peeling bark, fishing, etc. They are very happy and happy. After growing up, the two went to the city, Ivan became a veterinarian, and Nikolai entered the tax bureau at the age of 19.

Nicholas has always been thinking about life in the countryside, longing to return to the country and buy himself a small manor somewhere near a river or lake. In order to realize this dream, Nicholas lived frugally and lived like a beggar. He even married an old and ugly widow whom he didn't like because of money. After marriage, Nicholas was very stingy with his wife, always leaving her with insufficient food and making her haggard, which led to his wife's death within three years. Nicholas himself did not care about his wife's death and was focused on finding the land of his dreams. After five years, Nicholas finally bought a manor that was somewhat different from his previous dream, became the manor owner (landlord), purchased 20 gooseberry saplings, planted them, and lived a life like a landowner. .

Ivan went to the manor to visit Nikolai. In Ivan's eyes, the people and animals in Nikolai's manor all live like pigs. Nicholas himself is no longer as timid as before, but is full of style and shows off. He claims to be a noble, and while he bullies the people, he also hopes that the people will love him. After spending a few hours at his brother's manor, Ivan felt something. Through the hard and sour currants that Nikolay found delicious, Ivan gradually understood what personal happiness really is. He is dissatisfied with this kind of insensitivity and vulgarity. The strong are arrogant and the weak are ignorant. They do not resist and act like animals, whitewashing a peaceful and happy life. He called for the freedom not to wait, and appealed to his companions in a pleading tone: "Don't be calm, don't let yourself fall asleep! Do good deeds while you are young, strong, and vigorous and never tire of it! There is no happiness, nor should it be. Yes. If life has a meaningful goal, then the meaning and goal is definitely not our happiness, but something more reasonable and greater than that."

Ivan's brother. The story did not satisfy Burkin and Alekhin, who found the story boring. Alekhin only cares about things related to himself and does not care whether Ivan's story is reasonable or correct. Burkin was also a little uncomfortable with Ivan's ideas and views.

Wonderful sentences

1. From early in the morning, the entire sky was covered with rain clouds.

There was no wind that day and it wasn't hot, but it was depressing. It's the kind of weather you'd encounter on a gray cloudy day, when dark clouds hang over the fields and linger for a long time. It looks like it's going to rain, but it doesn't.

2. They both knew that it was the river bank, where there were pastures, green willow trees, and manors. If they stood on the top of a high hill and looked out, they could see the same vast fields and telegraph lines. , I saw a train in the distance, like a caterpillar crawling, and on a clear day I could even see the city there.

3. After about five minutes, it rained heavily and continuously. No one could tell when it would stop. Ivan Ivanitch and Burkin stopped and considered. The dog, already wet, stood there with its tail between its hind legs and looked at them with a tender expression.

4. They turned diagonally down and passed through the harvested fields, sometimes going straight, sometimes going right, and finally reaching the main road. Soon poplars and gardens appeared, and later the red roof of the barn. There was a river with sparkling water, and my vision suddenly opened up. In front of me was a large piece of water, with a mill and a white bathing shed.

5. The mill is working, the sound drowns out the sound of rain, and the dam is trembling. Several wet horses stood beside the cart with their heads hanging down. People were walking around in sacks. It was wet, muddy, and uncomfortable, and the water seemed cold and malicious.

6. There was a roaring sound of a grain sifting machine in a barn. The door was open and billows of dust came out. Alexhin himself was standing at the door. He was a man in his forties, tall and fat, with long hair. He looked more like a professor or a painter than a landlord. He wore a white shirt that had not been washed for a long time, with a rope tied around his waist, which served as a belt. He wore only a pair of underpants instead of trousers, and his boots were stained with mud and wheat straw. His eyes and nose were dusty and dark.

7. The house is tall and has two floors. Alexhin lived in two rooms downstairs, with vaults and small windows, where the housekeepers had originally lived. The equipment in the room is simple, and it smells of black bread, cheap liquor, and horse gear.

8. Ivan Ivanitch went outside, jumped into the water with a splash, and swam in the rain, spreading his arms and paddling. He stirred up the water so that the white lilies swayed on the waves. He swam all the way to the depths of the river, dug in, and emerged in another place a minute later. Then he swam farther out, always digging in, trying to reach the bottom of the river.

9. His nostalgia gradually turned into a clear desire and a dream. He just wanted to find a place near a river or a lake and buy himself a small manor.

10. A person only needs three feet of land. But you must know that three feet of land is needed by dead bodies, not by living people.

11. What man needs is not three feet of land, nor a manor, but the whole earth, the whole nature. In that vast world, man can fully develop all the qualities and qualities of his free spirit. Features.

12. "'Country life has its comfortable places,' he often said. 'Sit on the balcony, drink tea, and have your little duck swimming in the pond. Everything is peaceful. It's fragrant, and... and the currants are ripe. '"

13. He lives a frugal life, saves money on food and drink, and God only knows what kind of clothes he wears. He looks like a beggar, but he keeps saving money. Deposit in the bank. He became extremely greedy for money. I feel sad when I see him. I often give him some money, and I always send him some money during festivals, but he keeps even this little money.

14. Once upon a time there was a dying businessman in our city. Before he died, he asked someone to bring him a plate of honey, and ate all his money and lottery tickets into his stomach with the honey, so that no one could get it.

15. Once I was inspecting livestock at a train station when a horse dealer fell under the locomotive and broke one of his legs. We carried him to the waiting room. He was bleeding profusely and looked terrible. But he kept begging everyone to find his leg, and he was always worried: it turned out that the boot that the broken leg was wearing had two pieces of metal in it. Ten rubles, he was afraid of losing that little money.

16. I met a fat red-haired dog, which looked like a pig. It wanted to call out, but was too lazy to call out.

17. He sat on the bed with a quilt on his knees.

He is old, fat, and his skin and flesh are loose. His cheeks, nose, and lips are all pushed forward, and he is about to grunt like a pig and crawl into the quilt.

18. The strong are arrogant and lazy, while the weak are ignorant and live like animals. There is unbelievable poverty, overcrowding, degradation, alcoholism, hypocrisy, and lying everywhere... but all of them Whether in the house or on the street, he was always calm and quiet.

19. But I, a living and thoughtful person, stood in front of a trench. I might have been able to jump over it or build a bridge on it and walk over it, but I had to wait for it to seal automatically. Or wait until it fills up with silt. Can such a thing be said to be regular and legal?

20. Don’t be calm and don’t allow yourself to fall asleep! While you are still young and strong, and full of vitality, never tire of doing good things! There is no happiness, nor should there be. If life has meaning and purpose, then the meaning and purpose are never our own happiness, but something greater and more reasonable than that. Get things done!

My insights

1. Chekhov’s description of scenery and characters is a master and is worth learning from.

2. The novel begins with a dull sky and ends with raindrops beating on the window glass all night long. In addition to echoing the previous and later, it also expresses the author's cynical feelings in a deeper level, and "sorrows his misfortune and is angry at him." "Same approach but similar purpose.

3. For ordinary people, I think Nicholas is an inspirational role model. He has dreamed of owning his own manor since he was nineteen years old. In order to realize this dream, he "remained true to his original intention" for decades, frugal and stingy, and used all means to suppress his desire for life, and finally realized his dream. dream. I would like to ask, how many people today can do this? Many people are determined to own their own house and car through their own efforts, but who can suppress their temporary desire for consumption like Nicholas, but instead get drunk now, pay for the west, and swipe credit cards? As you live your life, you may not be able to realize your ideals when you grow old. (20211221)