health.

Tchekoff, with an art peculiar to himself, in scattered scenes, in
haphazard glimpses into the lives of his characters, in seemingly
trivial conversations, has succeeded in so concentrating the atmosphere
of the Russia of his day that we feel it in every line we read,
oppressive as the mists that hang over a lake at dawn, and, like those
mists, made visible to us by the light of an approaching day.

CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL WORKS OF ANTON TCHEKOFF

PLAYS

"The Swan Song" 1889
"The Proposal" 1889
"Ivanoff" 1889
"The Boor" 1890
"The Sea-Gull" 1896
"The Tragedian in Spite of Himself" 1899
"The Three Sisters" 1901
"Uncle Vanya" 1902
"The Cherry Orchard" 1904

NOVELS AND SHORT STORIES

"Humorous Folk" 1887
"Twilight, and Other Stories" 1887
"Morose Folk" 1890
"Variegated Tales" 1894
"Old Wives of Russia" 1894
"The Duel" 1895
"The Chestnut Tree" 1895
"Ward Number Six" 1897

MISCELLANEOUS SKETCHES

"The Island of Saghalien" 1895
"Peasants" 1898
"Life in the Provinces" 1898
"Children" 1899

THE SWAN SONG

CHARACTERS

VASILI SVIETLOVIDOFF, a comedian, 68 years old

NIKITA IVANITCH, a prompter, an old man

The Swan Song

The scene is laid on the stage of a country theatre, at night, after
the play. To the right a row of rough, unpainted doors leading into
the dressing-rooms. To the left and in the background the stage is
encumbered with all sorts of rubbish. In the middle of the stage is an
overturned stool.

SVIETLOVIDOFF. [With a candle in his hand, comes out of a dressing-room
and laughs] Well, well, this is funny! Here's a good joke! I fell asleep
in my dressing-room when the play was over, and there I was calmly
snoring after everybody else had left the theatre. Ah! I'm a foolish
old man, a poor old dodderer! I have been drinking again, and so I fell
asleep in there, sitting up. That was clever! Good for you, old boy!
[Calls] Yegorka! Petrushka! Where the devil are you? Petrushka! The
scoundrels must be asleep, and an earthquake wouldn't wake them now!
Yegorka! [Picks up the stool, sits down, and puts the candle on the
floor] Not a sound! Only echos answer me. I gave Yegorka and Petrushka
each a tip to-day, and now they have disappeared without leaving a trace
behind them. The rascals have gone off and have probably locked up the
theatr