s, and does not nail them
to the pillory in an outburst of indignation. In his writing, the
fundamental idea is fused with the form; his talent is calm,
thoughtful, observing; but it seems, at times, that this calmness,
this seeming indifference, is only a mask. A critic, speaking of
Tchekoff, has said: "He is a tender crayon." It would be hard to
find a more suitable expression. The delicacy of tone, the softness
of touch in the outlines, the polish of some of the details, the
capricious incompleteness of others are, in fact, the mark of his
talent.

Tchekoff was such a voluminous author that it would require a
veritable effort to remember the throng of characters which exists
in his books; and it is more than difficult not to confuse their
individual doings and achievements. This abundance is connected with
a peculiarity in the author's talent. He does not exhaust his
subject; the psychology of his characters is emphasized by two or
three expressive traits only, and this epitome is enough to make the
theme of a story, the simplicity and naturalness of which demand,
nevertheless, a high degree of art. The author is not interested in
outlining the details, but the picture that he has sparingly
conjured up stands out lifelike; he is always in a hurry to observe
and to tell. Therefore the brevity and quantity of his stories. His
stories seldom exceed ten pages in length, while some do not exceed
four. They constitute a series of sketches, of miniatures of rare
value, among which can be found some real gems. One cannot say as
much for his longer works, where certain parts are exaggerated, as
in "The Valet de Chambre," "Ward No. 6," "The Steppe," and "The
Duel."

The characters of the latter novel are especially weak and bad.
There is but one exception, the zoologist von Koren, a man of
determination, who believes that the suppression of useless people
and degenerates would be a meritorious piece of work. This idea is
suggested to him by the sight of a functionary called Layevsky, an
insignificant and lazy person, who has taken the wife of one of his
friends and fled with her to the Caucasus.

"The Valet de Chambre" is an equally unsatisfactory story. The
principal character is a young man who is supposed to be a
revolutionist. He enters the service of a Petersburg dandy in hopes
of meeting there a minister whom he wants to kill. The employer of
the pseudo-lackey, who is not aware of any of his projects, is a
masterfu