The Schoolmistress and Other Stories The Tales of Chekhov Vol. IX by A P Chekhov Paperback Book 9781458330239

The Schoolmistress and Other Stories The Tales of Chekhov Vol IXGrisha a fat solemn little person of seven was standing by the kitchen door listening and peeping through the keyhole In the kitchen something extraordinary and in his opinion never seen before was taking place A big thickset redhaired peasant with a beard and a drop of perspiration on his nose wearing a cabmans full coat was sitting at the kitchen table on which they chopped the meat and sliced the onions He was balancing a saucer on the five fingers of his right hand and drinking tea out of it and crunching sugar so loudly that it sent a shiver down Grishas back Aksinya Stepanovna the old nurse was sitting on the dirty stool facing him and she too was drinking tea Her face was grave though at the same time it beamed with a kind of triumph Pelageya the cook was busy at the stove and was apparently trying to hide her face And on her face Grisha saw a regular illumination it was burning and shifting through every shade of colour beginning with a crimson purple and ending with a deathly white She was continually catching hold of knives forks bits of wood and rags with trembling hands moving grumbling to herself...