Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Children

The Game of Lotto (1865), by Charles Joshua Chaplin

Children is a short story by Anton Chekhov, who died on this date in 1904 of tuberculosis at the age of 44. You can read this story online at this link. It begins,
Papa and mamma and Aunt Nadya are not at home. They have gone to a christening party at the house of that old officer who rides on a little grey horse. While waiting for them to come home, Grisha, Anya, Alyosha, Sonya, and the cook’s son, Andrey, are sitting at the table in the dining room, playing at loto. To tell the truth, it is bedtime, but how can one go to sleep without hearing from mamma what the baby was like at the christening, and what they had for supper? The table, lighted by a hanging lamp, is dotted with numbers, nutshells, scraps of paper, and little bits of glass. Two cards lie in front of each player, and a heap of bits of glass for covering the numbers. In the middle of the table is a white saucer with five kopecks in it. Beside the saucer, a half-eaten apple, a pair of scissors, and a plate on which they have been told to put their nutshells. The children are playing for money. The stake is a kopeck. The rule is: if anyone cheats, he is turned out at once. There is no one in the dining room but the players, and nurse, Agafya Ivanovna, is in the kitchen, showing the cook how to cut a pattern, while their elder brother, Vasya, a schoolboy in the fifth class, is lying on the sofa in the drawing room, feeling bored.

They are playing with zest. ...
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16 comments:

  1. ...the painting is sweet.

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  2. It's all fun and games until Mama comes home and yells at everyone for not being in bed. 😺

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  3. He was a great author. Hugs, Valerie

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  4. Have no clue what the game of lotto is or how it is played or what a kopeck is, so it was hard for me to follow even in this sample part--lol! Love the painting, though. :)

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    1. I'm unfamiliar with this game but just went with it lol

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  5. It is a beautiful painting with elegance

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  6. What a beautiful image and poignant story.

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  7. You chose the perfect illustration. That's a lovely painting!

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    1. I was pleased to find a suitable piece of art :)

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  8. Such a beautiful painting.

    All the best Jan

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    1. The children are intent on their game, aren't they :)

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