NCW Libraries

The Bishop and Other Stories (1919) is a collection of short stories by Russian writer, Anton Chekhov. The title story of the collection, originally published in 1902, finds the author at his most introspective. Written while Chekhov was dealing with the long term effects of tuberculosis, a period in which he began to accept the inevitability of his own death, "The Bishop" is a meditative story that follows a dedicated man who, in the face of oblivion,...

Unique Elements • About the Author • About the Translator • A Literary Classic by ANTON CHEKHOV. The Horse-Stealers and Other Stories by RUSSIAN author ANTON CHEKHOV is a collection of short stories first published in 1890 in RUSSIA. The title story of this collection, "The Horse-Stealers," tells of an unfortunate hospital assistant, Yergunov, whose horse is stolen by a couple of guys he met in a tavern. Sneak Peak 'A...

Ivan Chervyakov, a petty government official, while in the theatre, sneezes right upon the head of a man sitting in front of him, who happens to be a high-ranking government official. He spends the evening and the next day fawning before his sneeze victim trying to extract forgiveness, but what he succeeds instead is only bringing out a fit of rage in him. Shocked, Chervyakov returns home to lie there and die, due to the sheer stress of having endured...

Unique Elements • About the Author • About the Translator • A Literary Classic by ANTON CHEKHOV. The Chorus Girl and Other Stories by RUSSIAN author ANTON CHEKHOV is a collection of short stories first published in 1920 in the UNITED KINGDOM. The title story of this collection, "The Chorus Girl," tells the sad story of a woman spurned by her lover. Sneak Peak 'Kolpakov did not mind being found by the postman or Pasha's...

A despondent young man without connections is trapped at a menial job running a small, remote train station. On New Year's Eve he shares a bottle of champagne with his wife, and when he drops it, she warns him that he has suffered an omen of ill-luck. HarperCollins brings great works of literature to life in digital format, upholding the highest standards in ebook production and celebrating reading in all its forms. Look for more titles in the...

Unique Elements • About the Author • About the Translator • A Literary Classic by ANTON CHEKHOV. The Darling and Other Stories by RUSSIAN author ANTON CHEKHOV is a collection of short stories first published in 1916 in the UNITED KINGDOM. The title story of this collection, "The Darling," tells the sad story of a woman who is generous to all yet trapped in a cycle of co-dependency. Sneak Peak 'Olenka listened to Kukin...

Ryabovitch is the picture of self-consciousness, clearly aware of his own awkward bearing, small stature, and unusual looks. While attending a glamorous party hosted by Lieutenant General von Rabbek, Ryabovitch avoids the other guests by wandering into a darkened room where he suddenly finds himself in the embrace of a woman who favours him with a passionate kiss. However, once the woman realizes that Ryabovitch is not the man she had been waiting...

Polinka, a thin fair little person whose mother is the head of a dressmaking establishment, is standing in the middle of the shop looking about for some one. Nikolay Timofeitch, a graceful dark young man, fashionably dressed, with frizzled hair and a big pin in his cravat, has already cleared a place on the counter and is craning forward, looking at Polinka with a smile.

It was past midnight. Nikolay Yevgrafitch knew his wife would not be home very soon, not till five o'clock at least. He did not trust her, and when she was long away he could not sleep, was worried, and at the same time he despised his wife, and her bed, and her looking-glass, and her boxes of sweets, and the hyacinths, and the lilies of the valley which were sent her every day by someone or other, and which diffused the sickly fragrance of a florist's...

The cabman Iona's son recently died. He desperately and unsuccessfully tries to have a talk with the people he meets and tell them of how shattered he is. He ends up talking to his horse.