Let us now look at those numerous stories of Tchekoff which treat of
peasant life: "The Peasants," "The Murder," "In the Ravine," and
others.

"The Peasants" is one of the most important of the stories which
treat of the country, and was recently conspicuous for bringing up
the question, violently discussed by the Marxists and the Populists,
of the life of the people in the city and in the country.

Nicholas Chigueldyev, a waiter in a Moscow hotel, falls sick and has
to leave his work. All his savings go into the hands of the doctor
and the druggist. As he does not seem to improve, he decides to
return to his native village, where his family is still living. If
the air of the country does not cure him, he will at least die at
home. He had left the village at an early age, and had never gone
back to visit. He goes home with his wife and his little daughter.
There he finds his mother, his father, and his two brothers and
their wives in the most abject misery. The whole family is entombed
in a dark and filthy "isba" full of flies. Nicholas and his wife
immediately see that it would have been better for them to have
remained in Moscow. But it is too late. They haven't enough money to
return; they must remain. A horrible life begins for the sick man
and his family. There are endless quarrels, blows, abuses. They
reproach one another for eating and even for living. They are angry
at Nicholas and his wife for having come. The latter is soon tired
of this existence. In the city Nicholas had broken himself of
country manners. He wants to go back to Moscow. But where find the
money for the trip?... His sickness becomes more acute. An old
tailor, a former nurse, who has been called in, promises to cure
him; he bleeds him several times and Nicholas dies. The widow and
her little daughter spend the winter in the village. The young
woman, who had watched during those long days of suffering, is now
broken down. When spring comes, the mother and daughter go to the
church, and, after praying at the grave of their dead, they go
begging on the highway.

In "The Murder" Tchekoff studies certain manifestations in the
spiritual life of the peasants. Matvey Terekof belongs to a peasant
family the members of which are all known for their piety; in the
village they are called "the singing boys." Very orthodox, they hold
themselves aloof and give themselves over to mysticism.

Instead of playing with his little comrades, Matvey is constan