A Gentleman Friend

Short story by Anton Chekhov

"A Gentleman Friend"

Short story by Anton Chekhov
Original title| Знакомый мужчина
Country| Russia
Language| Russian
Publication
Published in| Oskolki
Publisher| Adolf Marks (1899)
Publication date| 3 May 1886

"A Gentleman Friend" (Russian: Знакомый мужчина, romanized: Znakomyi muzhchina) is a short story by Anton Chekhov originally published on 20 April (o.s. 3 May) 1886 in Oskolki (Issue No. 18), titled "A Little Bit of Pain" (Немножко боли) and signed A. Chekhonte (А. Чехонте). On 6 July (o.s. 23 June) it was reprinted, unchanged, by Novosti Dnya (Daily News). Under the new title it was included by Chekhov into Volume 1 of his Collected Works, published by Adolf Marks in 1899–1901.[1]

## Background

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The story at least to some extent came about as a response to the letter Chekhov received from Viktor Bilibin who suggested: "[What about a story about] a decent guy who finds himself broke, visits a friend to borrow money but finds it impossible to make such a request and leaves the place without asking?"[1]

## Synopsis

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A lovely young woman named Wanda[note 1] finds herself penniless after leaving a hospital. She decides to visit a man she recently met in a café (who, she mistakenly hopes, would instantly recognize her) to ask for money. The man, who proves to be a dentist, asks her to take her place in a chair and starts examining the state of her teeth. Disheartened by the lack of recognition on his behalf, as well as her own unprepossessing appearance in the mirror, she, rather than asking for money, agrees to have her bad tooth pulled out and pays her last ruble for this. Happily, next day she meets another fine gentleman in the same café, a rich merchant from Kazan, and gets her financial position reasonably improved.

## Notes

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1. ^ "Nastasya Kanavkina by her passport...", which means 'Wanda' is an assumed name. 'Kanavkina' is a derivative from 'Kanava', 'a ditch'; a 'speaking' surname, apparently allowing the author to make an assumption as to his heroine's future.

## References

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1. ^ a b Polotskaya, E. A. Commentaries to Знакомый мужчина. The Works by A.P. Chekhov in 12 volumes. Khudozhestvennaya Literatura. Moscow, 1960. Vol. 4, p. 564

## External links

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* Знакомый мужчина. Original Russian text, at Lib.ru

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Anton Chekhov

* Bibliography

Plays|

* Platonov (1881)
* On the Harmful Effects of Tobacco (1886, 1902)
* Swansong (1887)
* Ivanov (1887)
* The Bear (1888)
* A Tragedian in Spite of Himself (1889)
* The Wedding (1889)
* Tatiana Repina (1889)
* The Wood Demon (1889)
* A Marriage Proposal (1890)
* The Festivities (1891)
* The Seagull (1896)
* Uncle Vanya (1897)
* Three Sisters (1901)
* The Cherry Orchard (1904)

Novel|

* The Shooting Party (1884)

Novellas|

* The Steppe (1888)
* The Duel (1891)
* The Story of an Unknown Man (1893)
* Three Years (1895)
* My Life (1896)

Short stories|

| Motley Stories (1886)|

* "An Enigmatic Nature" (1883)
* "The Death of a Government Clerk" (1883)
* "Fat and Thin" (1883)
* "Surgery" (1884)
* "The Chameleon" (1884)
* "Oysters" (1884)
* "A Living Chronology" (1885)
* "Small Fry" (1885)
* "The Fish" (1885)
* "The Huntsman" (1885)
* "A Malefactor" (1885)
* "Children" (1886)
* "Misery" (1886)
* "Anyuta" (1886)
* "Ivan Matveyich" (1886)

|

In the Twilight (1887)|

* "The Requiem" (1886)
* "The Witch" (1886)
* "Agafya" (1886)
* "Easter Eve" (1886)
* "A Misfortune" (1886)
* "Home" (1887)

Stories (1888)|

* "The Privy Councillor" (1886)
* "Mire" (1886)
* "Vanka" (1886)
* "Happiness" (1887)

Gloomy People (1890)|

* "The Cattle-Dealers" (1887)
* "Sleepy" (1888)
* "A Dreary Story" (1889)
* "A Nervous Breakdown" (1889)

Ward No. 6 (1893)|

* "Gusev" (1890)
* "Peasant Wives" (1891)
* "Ward No. 6" (1892)

Novellas and
Stories (1894)|

* "The Grasshopper" (1892)
* "In Exile" (1892)
* "The Black Monk" (1894)
* "Rothschild's Violin" (1894)
* "The Student" (1894)
* "The Teacher of Literature" (1894)

Little Trilogy (1898)|

* "The Man in the Case" (1898)
* "Gooseberries" (1898)
* "About Love" (1898)

Stories (1901)|

* "Anna on the Neck" (1895)
* "Ariadne" (1895)
* "The House with the Mezzanine" (1895)
* "Peasants" (1897)
* "The Petcheneg" (1897)
* "At Home" (1897)
* "In the Cart" (1897)
* "Ionych" (1898)
* "A Doctor's Visit" (1898)
* "On Official Duty" (1899)
* "The Darling" (1899)

Other stories|

* "The Complaints Book" (1884)
* "A Horsey Name" (1885)
* "Sergeant Prishibeyev" (1885)
* "Grisha" (1886)
* "A Gentleman Friend" (1886)
* "The Chorus Girl" (1886)
* "Shrove Tuesday" (1886)
* "First Aid" (1887)
* "The Runaway" (1887)
* "The Siren" (1887)
* "Boys" (1887)
* "Kashtanka" (1887)
* "A Story Without a Title" (1888)
* "The Bet" (1889)
* "Whitebrow" (1895)
* "The Lady with the Dog" (1899)
* "In the Ravine" (1900)
* "The Bishop" (1902)
* "Betrothed" (1903)

Non-fiction|

Sakhalin Island (1893–1895)

Related|

* Olga Knipper (wife)
* Maria Chekhova (sister)
* Mikhail Chekhov (brother)
* Osip Dymov (character)
* Birth house and museum
* Chekov Shop, home and museum
* Melikhovo, home and museum
* White Dacha, home and museum
* Chekhov Gymnasium and museum
* Chekhov Library
* Bust, Taganrog
* Statue, Taganrog
* Statue, Rostov-on-Don
* Chekhov's gun
* Show, don't tell
* Fragments
* Wild Honey

* Category

Authority control databases |

* VIAF

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