The Kiss

Anton Chekhov

AT eight o'clock on the evening of the twentieth of May all the six batteries of the N----

Reserve Artillery Brigade halted for the night in the village of Myestetchki on their way to

camp. When the general commotion was at its height, while some officers were busily

occupied around the guns, while others, gathered together in the square near the church

enclosure, were listening to the quartermasters, a man in civilian dress, riding a strange

horse, came into sight round the church. The little dun-coloured horse with a good neck and

a short tail came, moving not straight forward, but as it were sideways, with a sort of dance

step, as though it were being lashed about the legs. When he reached the officers the man

"One is sleepy, and here this Von Rabbek with his tea! We know what tea means."

The officers of all the six batteries remembered vividly an incident of the previous year,

when during manoeuvres they, together with the officers of a Cossack regiment, were in the

same way invited to tea by a count who had an estate in the neighbourhood and was a

retired army officer: the hospitable and genial count made much of them, fed them, and

gave them drink, refused to let them go to their quarters in the village and made them stay

the night. All that, of course, was very nice -- nothing better could be desired, but the worst

of it was, the old army officer was so carried away by the pleasure of the young men's

company that till sunrise he was telling the officers anecdotes of his glorious past, taking

them over the house, showing them expensive pictures, old engravings, rare guns, reading

His Excellency's by the lower path -- going down behind the church to the river, going

along the bank to the garden, and there an avenue would taken them to the house; or by the

upper way -- straight from the church by the road which, half a mile from the village, led

right up to His Excellency's granaries. The officers decided to go by the upper way.

"What Von Rabbek is it?" they wondered on the way. "Surely not the one who was in

command of the N---- cavalry division at Plevna?"

"No, that was not Von Rabbek, but simply Rabbe and no 'von.' "

Milhares de livros grátis para download.

"What lovely weather!"

At the first of the granaries the road divided in two: one branch went straight on and

vanished in the evening darkness, the other led to the owner's house on the right. The

officers turned to the right and began to speak more softly. . . . On both sides of the road

stretched stone granaries with red roofs, heavy and sullen-looking, very much like barracks

of a district town. Ahead of them gleamed the windows of the manor-house.

"A good omen, gentlemen," said one of the officers. "Our setter is the foremost of all; no

On the threshold the officers were met by Von Rabbek himself, a comely-looking man of

sixty in civilian dress. Shaking hands with his guests, he said that he was very glad and

happy to see them, but begged them earnestly for God's sake to excuse him for not asking

them to stay the night; two sisters with their children, some brothers, and some neighbours,

had come on a visit to him, so that he had not one spare room left.

The General shook hands with every one, made his apologies, and smiled, but it was

evident by his face that he was by no means so delighted as their last year's count, and that

he had invited the officers simply because, in his opinion, it was a social obligation to do

so. And the officers themselves, as they walked up the softly carpeted stairs, as they listened

to him, felt that they had been invited to this house simply because it would have been

At the entrance to the drawing-room the officers were met by a tall, graceful old lady with

black eyebrows and a long face, very much like the Empress Eugénie. Smiling graciously

and majestically, she said she was glad and happy to see her guests, and apologized that her

husband and she were on this occasion unable to invite messieurs les officiers to stay the

night. From her beautiful majestic smile, which instantly vanished from her face every time

she turned away from her guests, it was evident that she had seen numbers of officers in her

day, that she was in no humour for them now, and if she invited them to her house and

apologized for not doing more, it was only because her breeding and position in society

required it of her.

When the officers went into the big dining-room, there were about a dozen people, men and

stood a lanky young man with red whiskers, talking loudly, with a lisp, in English. Through

"Gentlemen, there are so many of you that it is impossible to introduce you all!" said the

General in a loud voice, trying to sound very cheerful. "Make each other's acquaintance,

gentlemen, without any ceremony!"

all feeling extremely awkward -- somehow made their bows and sat down to tea.

impression that inspired in Ryabovitch alarm and a desire to hide his head. Like a lecturer

making his first appearance before the public, he saw everything that was before his eyes,

but apparently only had a dim understanding of it (among physiologists this condition,

when the subject sees but does not understand, is called psychical blindness). After a little

while, growing accustomed to his surroundings, Ryabovitch saw clearly and began to

observe. As a shy man, unused to society, what struck him first was that in which he had

always been deficient -- namely, the extraordinary boldness of his new acquaintances. Von

Rabbek, his wife, two elderly ladies, a young lady in a lilac dress, and the young man with

the red whiskers, who was, it appeared, a younger son of Von Rabbek, very cleverly, as

though they had rehearsed it beforehand, took seats between the officers, and at once got up

a heated discussion in which the visitors could not help taking part. The lilac young lady

hotly asserted that the artillery had a much better time than the cavalry and the infantry,

kept a sharp lookout over their glasses and mouths, to see whether all of them were

drinking, whether all had enough sugar, why some one was not eating cakes or not drinking

brandy. And the longer Ryabovitch watched and listened, the more he was attracted by this

insincere but splendidly disciplined family.

After tea the officers went into the drawing-room. Lieutenant Lobytko's instinct had not

deceived him. There were a great number of girls and young married ladies. The "setter"

lieutenant was soon standing by a very young, fair girl in a black dress, and, bending down

to her jauntily, as though leaning on an unseen sword, smiled and shrugged his shoulders

coquettishly. He probably talked very interesting nonsense, for the fair girl looked at his

well-fed face condescendingly and asked indifferently, "Really?" And from that

uninterested "Really?" the setter, had he been intelligent, might have concluded that she

The piano struck up; the melancholy strains of a valse floated out of the wide open

Every one was conscious of the fragrance of roses, of lilac, and of the young leaves of the

poplar. Ryabovitch, in whom the brandy he had drunk made itself felt, under the influence

of the music stole a glance towards the window, smiled, and began watching the

movements of the women, and it seemed to him that the smell of roses, of poplars, and lilac

came not from the garden, but from the ladies' faces and dresses.

Von Rabbek's son invited a scraggy-looking young lady to dance, and waltzed round the

round-shouldered and uninteresting, that he had a long waist and lynx-like whiskers, had

deeply mortified him, but with years he had grown used to this feeling, and now, looking at

his comrades dancing or loudly talking, he no longer envied them, but only felt touched and

mournful.

When the quadrille began, young Von Rabbek came up to those who were not dancing and

invited two officers to have a game at billiards. The officers accepted and went with him

out of the drawing-room. Ryabovitch, having nothing to do and wishing to take part in the

general movement, slouched after them. From the big drawing-room they went into the

little drawing-room, then into a narrow corridor with a glass roof, and thence into a room in

which on their entrance three sleepy-looking footmen jumped up quickly from the sofa. At

last, after passing through a long succession of rooms, young Von Rabbek and the officers

The players took no notice of him, and only now and then one of them, shoving him with

his elbow or accidentally touching him with the end of his cue, would turn round and say

"Pardon!" Before the first game was over he was weary of it, and began to feel he was not

wanted and in the way. . . . He felt disposed to return to the drawing-room, and he went out.

On his way back he met with a little adventure. When he had gone half-way he noticed he

had taken a wrong turning. He distinctly remembered that he ought to meet three sleepy

footmen on his way, but he had passed five or six rooms, and those sleepy figures seemed

to have vanished into the earth. Noticing his mistake, he walked back a little way and

turned to the right; he found himself in a little dark room which he had not seen on his way

to the billiard-room. After standing there a little while, he resolutely opened the first door

side of the door came the muffled sound of a melancholy mazurka. Here, too, as in the

roses. . . .

Ryabovitch stood still in hesitation. . . . At that moment, to his surprise, he heard hurried

footsteps and the rustling of a dress, a breathless feminine voice whispered "At last!" And

two soft, fragrant, unmistakably feminine arms were clasped about his neck; a warm cheek

bestower of the kiss uttered a faint shriek and skipped back from him, as it seemed to

himself up entirely to the new sensation which he had never experienced before in his life.

Something strange was happening to him. . . . His neck, round which soft, fragrant arms had

so lately been clasped, seemed to him to be anointed with oil; on his left cheek near his

moustache where the unknown had kissed him there was a faint chilly tingling sensation as

from peppermint drops, and the more he rubbed the place the more distinct was the chilly

sensation; all over, from head to foot, he was full of a strange new feeling which grew

stronger and stronger. . . . He wanted to dance, to talk, to run into the garden, to laugh

aloud. . . . He quite forgot that he was round-shouldered and uninteresting, that he had lynx-

like whiskers and an "undistinguished appearance" (that was how his appearance had been

described by some ladies whose conversation he had accidentally overheard). When Von

Rabbek's wife happened to pass by him, he gave her such a broad and friendly smile that

she stood still and looked at him inquiringly.

conversation with her his smiles were more friendly than ever, and he thought he was

surrounded by splendid people. . . .

At supper Ryabovitch ate mechanically everything offered him, drank, and without listening

to anything, tried to understand what had just happened to him. . . . The adventure was of a

mysterious and romantic character, but it was not difficult to explain it. No doubt some girl

or young married lady had arranged a tryst with some one in the dark room; had waited a

long time, and being nervous and excited had taken Ryabovitch for her hero; this was the

more probable as Ryabovitch had stood still hesitating in the dark room, so that he, too, had

seemed like a person expecting something. . . . This was how Ryabovitch explained to

himself the kiss he had received.

her dress, her perfume, her voice. . . ."

His eyes rested on the lilac young lady, and he thought her very attractive; she had beautiful

shoulders and arms, a clever face, and a delightful voice. Ryabovitch, looking at her, hoped

that she and no one else was his unknown. . . . But she laughed somehow artificially and

wrinkled up her long nose, which seemed to him to make her look old. Then he turned his

eyes upon the fair girl in a black dress. She was younger, simpler, and more genuine, had a

was she. But soon he began to think her face flat, and fixed his eyes upon the one next her.

After supper, replete and exhilarated, the officers began to take leave and say thank you.

Von Rabbek and his wife began again apologizing that they could not ask them to stay the

night.

"Very, very glad to have met you, gentlemen," said Von Rabbek, and this time sincerely

(probably because people are far more sincere and good-humoured at speeding their parting

guests than on meeting them). "Delighted. I hope you will come on your way back! Don't

stand on ceremony! Where are you going? Do you want to go by the upper way? No, go

across the garden; it's nearer here by the lower way."

The officers went out into the garden. After the bright light and the noise the garden seemed

very dark and quiet. They walked in silence all the way to the gate. They were a little drunk,

Going out of the garden gate, they all began talking at once and laughing loudly about

nothing. They were walking now along the little path that led down to the river, and then

ran along the water's edge, winding round the bushes on the bank, the pools, and the

willows that overhung the water. The bank and the path were scarcely visible, and the other

bank was entirely plunged in darkness. Stars were reflected here and there on the dark

water; they quivered and were broken up on the surface -- and from that alone it could be

seen that the river was flowing rapidly. It was still. Drowsy curlews cried plaintively on the

further bank, and in one of the bushes on the nearest side a nightingale was trilling loudly,

taking no notice of the crowd of officers. The officers stood round the bush, touched it, but

the nightingale went on singing.

"What a fellow!" they exclaimed approvingly. "We stand beside him and he takes not a bit

At the end of the way the path went uphill, and, skirting the church enclosure, turned into

On the other side of the river a murky red fire came into sight, and having nothing better to

do, they spent a long time in discussing whether it was a camp fire or a light in a window,

or something else. . . . Ryabovitch, too, looked at the light, and he fancied that the light

looked and winked at him, as though it knew about the kiss.

Lobytko and Lieutenant Merzlyakov -- a peaceable, silent fellow, who was considered in

His neck still felt as though he had been anointed with oil, and there was still the chilly

sensation near his mouth as though from peppermint drops. The shoulders and arms of the

young lady in lilac, the brow and the truthful eyes of the fair girl in black, waists, dresses,

and brooches, floated through his imagination. He tried to fix his attention on these images,

but they danced about, broke up and flickered. When these images vanished altogether from

the broad dark background which every man sees when he closes his eyes, he began to hear

hurried footsteps, the rustle of skirts, the sound of a kiss and -- an intense groundless joy

took possession of him. . . . Abandoning himself to this joy, he heard the orderly return and

announce that there was no beer. Lobytko was terribly indignant, and began pacing up and

down again.

"Oh! Is that your opinion?" Lobytko persisted. "Lord have mercy upon us, if you dropped

me on the moon I'd find you beer and women directly! I'll go and find some at once. . . .

You may call me an impostor if I don't!"

He spent a long time in dressing and pulling on his high boots, then finished smoking his

cigarette in silence and went out.

"Rabbek, Grabbek, Labbek," he muttered, stopping in the outer room. "I don't care to go

alone, damn it all! Ryabovitch, wouldn't you like to go for a walk? Eh?"

Receiving no answer, he returned, slowly undressed and got into bed. Merzlyakov sighed,

"H'm! . . ." muttered Lobytko, lighting a cigarette in the dark.

Ryabovitch pulled the bed-clothes over his head, curled himself up in bed, and tried to

gather together the floating images in his mind and to combine them into one whole. But

nothing came of it. He soon fell asleep, and his last thought was that some one had caressed

him and made him happy -- that something extraordinary, foolish, but joyful and delightful,

had come into his life. The thought did not leave him even in his sleep.

When he woke up the sensations of oil on his neck and the chill of peppermint about his

"When they were shoeing yesterday, your high nobility, they drove a nail into Pigeon's hoof.

The vet. put on clay and vinegar; they are leading him apart now. And also, your honour,

Artemyev got drunk yesterday, and the lieutenant ordered him to be put in the limber of a

spare gun-carriage."

The sergeant reported that Karpov had forgotten the new cords for the trumpets and the

rings for the tents, and that their honours, the officers, had spent the previous evening

visiting General Von Rabbek. In the middle of this conversation the red-bearded face of

Lebedetsky appeared in the window. He screwed up his short-sighted eyes, looking at the

sleepy faces of the officers, and said good-morning to them.

"Is everything all right?" he asked.

shall catch you up in the evening."

A quarter of an hour later the brigade set off on its way. When it was moving along the road

by the granaries, Ryabovitch looked at the house on the right. The blinds were down in all

the windows. Evidently the household was still asleep. The one who had kissed Ryabovitch

the day before was asleep, too. He tried to imagine her asleep. The wide-open windows of

the bedroom, the green branches peeping in, the morning freshness, the scent of the poplars,

lilac, and roses, the bed, a chair, and on it the skirts that had rustled the day before, the little

slippers, the little watch on the table -- all this he pictured to himself clearly and distinctly,

but the features of the face, the sweet sleepy smile, just what was characteristic and

important, slipped through his imagination like quicksilver through the fingers. When he

had ridden on half a mile, he looked back: the yellow church, the house, and the river, were