Letters of Anton Chekhov (Tchekhov) - Penn State University

Anton ChekhovThe chief occupation is scientific farming, introduced by the youthfulCossack, who bought five roubles’ worth of works on agriculture.The most important part of this farming consists of wholesaleslaughter, which does not cease for a single moment in the day.They kill sparrows, swallows, bumblebees, ants, magpies, crows—to prevent them eating bees; to prevent the bees from spoiling theblossom on the fruit-trees they kill bees, and to prevent the fruittreesfrom exhausting the ground they cut down the fruit-trees. Onegets thus a regular circle which, though somewhat original, is basedon the latest data of science.We retire at nine in the evening. Sleep is disturbed, for Belonozhkasand Muhtars howl in the yard and Tseter furiously barks in answerto them from under my sofa. I am awakened by shooting: my hostsshoot with rifles from the windows at some animal which does damageto their crops. To leave the house at night one has to call theCossack, for otherwise the dogs would tear one to bits.The weather is fine. The grass is tall and in blossom. I watch beesand men among whom I feel myself something like a Mikluha-Maklay. Last night there was a beautiful thunderstorm.… The coal mines are not far off. To-morrow morning early I amgoing on a one-horse droshky to Ivanovka (twenty-three versts) tofetch my letters from the post.… We eat turkeys’ eggs. Turkeys lay eggs in the wood on last year’sleaves. They kill hens, geese, pigs, etc., by shooting here. The shootingis incessant.61