Surgery (short story)

Short story by Anton Chekhov

"Surgery"

Short story by Anton Chekhov

1905 illustration by A.Apsit

Original title| Хирургия
Country| Russia
Language| Russian
Publication
Published in| Oskolki (1884)
Publisher| Adolf Marks
Publication date| 11 August 1884

"Surgery" (Russian: Хирургия, romanized: Khirurgiya) is a short story by Anton Chekhov, first published in 1884 by Oskolki.[1]

## Publication

[edit]

"Surgery" was written by Chekhov in August 1884. It was first published in the humorous literary and art weekly magazine Oskolki (No. 32, 11 August 1884), signed A. Chekhonte and subtitled "A Scene".

In 1886, the short story was included in Motley Stories collection. Later, after some stylistic editing, it was also included into the Volume 2 of Chekhov's Collected Works, published by Adolf Marks in 1889. For this edition, Chekhov replaced some colloquial words in the story with more literary ones.

During its author's lifetime, the story was translated into Bulgarian, Polish and Serbo-Croatian languages.[2]

## Background

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The story was based on Chekhov's experience as a doctor. Mikhail Chekhov, the younger brother of Anton Chekhov, linked the plot of the story with the residence of Chekhov in the summer of 1884 in Voskresensk and his work as a doctor at the Chikinsky zemstvo hospital.[2][1]

## Plot summary

[edit]

Feldsher Kuryatin, substituting for a chief doctor in a clinic, meets the church sexton Vonmiglasov who suffers from toothache. After thorough examination he decides to remove the tooth. His two unsuccessful efforts, causing much stress and pain both for himself and the patient, result in a quarrel. Vonmiglasov leaves outraged and disgusted, Kuryatin feels quite offended with his client's choice of language and lack of understanding.

## References

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1. ^ a b Commentaries to Хириргия. Полное собрание сочинений и писем: В 30 т. Сочинения: В 18 т. АН СССР. Ин-т мировой лит. им. А. М. Горького. — М.: Наука, 1974—1982. // Т. 3. [Рассказы. Юморески. «Драма на охоте»], 1884—1885. — М.: Наука, 1975. — С. 40—43
2. ^ a b "Хирургия - Повести и рассказы по дате - Антон Павлович Чехов". chekhov.velchel.ru. Retrieved 2017-06-09.

## External links

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* "Surgery" in Russian and English.

* v
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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)
* "At Christmas Time" (1900)
* "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 |

* MusicBrainz work

|

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