The Duel and Other Stories by Anton Chekhov, Fiction, Anthologies, Short Stories, Classics, Literary

While his restless wife watches, the chemist snores contentedly, smiling at his dream -- that the whole village has a cough and are buying his curative syrup!
Then she hears outside two shadowed figures, a doctor and an officer, talking between themselves . . . about the chemist with the oversized jaw of an ass and his ever-so-contrasting, so-fetching wife! Then the doorbell rings.
Soon the chemist's wife finds herself hosting a small midnight party, gazing upon their ruddy faces and listening to their chatter -- and soon she, too, grows quite lively. Oh, she feels so gay! The dead weight pressing her down on this heavy summer night lifts completely . . .

Anton Chekhov (1860-1904), Russian physician, dramatist and author, is considered to be one of the greatest writers of short stories and modern drama. Born in Taganrog, a port town near the Black Sea, he attended medical school at Moscow University. He began writing to supplement his income, writing short humorous sketches of contemporary Russian life. A successful literary careered followed, before his premature death of TB at the age of 44. He is best-remembered for his four dramatic masterpieces: The Seagull (1896), Uncle Vanya (1899), Three Sisters (1901) and The Cherry Orchard (1904).