"House with a mezzanine" by Anton Chekhov: a brief retelling

The narrative of the work is from the first person - the artist. "The house with a mezzanine" is dedicated to the period when the narrator lived for some time in the Belokurovsky estate of one of the districts of the T. guberniya. According to him, the owner of the estate complained that he could not find a person who could pour out his soul.

The narrator walked into an unfamiliar estate during a walk, where he saw two beautiful girls at once. A few days later one of them came to the estate, which collected money for the peasants affected by the fire. It turned out that the girl's name is Lydia Volchaninova, and she lives not far from the manor. After the death of her father, who was an honorary adviser a few years ago, Lida's family moved to the village, and she herself became a teacher.

One of the holidays appeared, and the narrator went with Belokurov to Volchaninov, where he met Ekaterina Pavlovna, mother of Lida, and her younger sister Zhenya, who was often called Misya because of her childish habit of referring to her own governess. The house with the mezzanine, in which the family lived, looked quite solid.

The author more often happens in the Voltchaninovs, between him and Misya there is mutual sympathy. But with Lida, on the contrary, the relationship did not develop, because she hated the idle lifestyle and tried to impress the working man. She did not like the landscapes of the house, because they did not have folk themes. In many respects Lida is the head of the family, and the mother and Zhenya simply tried not to argue with her, because her temper was afraid. In the story "House with a mezzanine", the brief content of which does not allow to reveal in detail all the characters, a detailed description of the character of Lydia is given.

Between her and the narrator, a skirmish takes place, during which he notes that charitable works in favor of the peasants are not capable of giving a positive result, but rather, on the contrary, they only do harm. According to the narrator, assistance to peasants in the person of the organization of hospitals and schools is unable to release them. On the contrary, there are even more prejudices in people's lives. He also noted that they will now have to pay for zemstvos for getting books, which automatically implies an increase in the amount of work. Lida insists on her, the family supports her. Gradually the author ceases to like the house with a mezzanine, in many respects it is promoted by Lydia.

The narrator confesses I'm in love after another evening walk. The girl responds to him in kind, but immediately tells everyone to Ekaterina Pavlovna and her sister, warning the narrator that they do not keep secrets in their family. The next day the hero comes to the estate of the Voltchaninovs, and Lida informs him that I'm going with my mother to Penza, and then, most likely, they will go abroad.

When the narrator returns, the boy is caught up with a note from Zhenya, in which she apologizes to him and says that she could not disobey the will of her sister.

The author has never seen the Voltchaninov family. One day he happened to meet with Belokurov and he told that Lydia still lives and works as a schoolteacher. About the owner of the estate, he could not tell anything intelligible.

The hero of the story gradually forgets the house with the mezzanine and the family, in which the main is Lydia. Only in moments of bitter loneliness he remembers the Voltchaninovs and hopes that someday he will see Misya again.

The story "House with a mezzanine" is among the best works of Anton Chekhov, in 1960 it was filmed.