A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life

“The Darling” is a story by Anton Chekhov, written in 1899. Its main character—the “darling” of the story’s title—is a woman named Olenka. Olenka is an affectionate and dependent woman, who always needs to be devoted to someone.

Olenka’s first love was her father, who died when she was young. As a young woman, she has a romance with Kukin, a boarder at her house. Kukin, the director of a small theatre, is a “sallow” and melancholy man (148). He and Olenka marry, and Olenka becomes obsessed with theater life, talking about it at length to her friends, and doing office work for Kukin. While on a theatre tour, Kukin dies unexpectedly. Olenka learns of his death through a misspelled telegram, brought to her in the middle of the night.

She mourns Kukin for a few months, and then meets Pustavalov, a prosperous businessman. Pustavalov is the owner of lumberyard, and is a conventional, comforting figure. Olenka and Pustavalov marry, and enjoy several happy years together; Olenka takes on his interests, just as she did with Kukin, this time becoming deeply interested in the lumberyard business. While Pustavalov is away on business, Olenka staves off her loneliness by talking to Smirnin, a “young army veterinary” (155) who rents a wing of the married couple’s house.