Vanka (short story)

"Vanka" (Russian: Ванька)[note 1] is an 1886 short story by Anton Chekhov.

"Vanka"
1953 illustration by Tatyana Shishmaryova
AuthorAnton Chekhov
Original title"Ванька"
CountryRussia
LanguageRussian
Published inPeterburgskaya Gazeta
Publication date25 December 1886 (old style)

Publication

The story was first published in Peterburgskaya Gazeta's No. 354 (25 December; new style: 7 January 1887), 1886 issue, in the Christmas Stories section, signed A. Chekhonte (А. Чехонте).[1]

In a slightly revised version, it was included into the 1888 collection Short Stories (Рассказы, Saint Petersburg) and appeared unchanged in all of its 1888–1899 re-issues. It made its way into the compilations Children (Детвора, 1889) to be reproduced unchanged in its second and third (1890, 1895) editions. In 1900, with unauthorized cuts, it appeared in a children's reader Zolotyie Kolosya (Golden Spikes). Chekhov included the story into Volume 4 of his Collected Works published by Adolf Marks in 1899–1901.[1]

Synopsis

A nine-year-old boy is in desperate need to convince his grandfather, his only relative (a wayward character, who seems to be totally indifferent to the boy's fate), to take him back to his country home. Stealthily, he writes a letter to describe the unbearable life he leads in the house of the shoemaker Aliakhin, whom he serves as an apprentice for, suffering from hunger, abuse and humiliation. Finally, very pleased with his effort, he puts it into an envelope, inscribes the address: "The village, to my grandfather, Konstantin Makarych" and drops it into a post-box, well aware that it is upon this precious item that his whole life now totally depends.

Influence on language

The phrase “The village, to grandfather” (Russian: на деревню дедушке) from the story became an idiomatic expression, which refers to sending something to inaccurate, incomplete, unclear, questionable, or non-existent address, where it will not be delivered or answered.

Notes
  1. Vanka, Van'ka: a diminutive for Ivan
gollark: Anyway. The first thing to do should just be to download an image of the ÖS you want.
gollark: Do you also have a micro SD card reader?
gollark: Download an image of your preferred OS before then. You could use Arch Linux ARM.
gollark: <@290217153293189120> …?
gollark: You also need a microUSB charger and possibly HDMI cable and keyboard and mouse. Or just a USB-serial thing.

References
  1. Polotskaya, E. A. Commentaries to Ванька. The Works by A.P. Chekhov in 12 volumes. Khudozhestvennaya Literatura. Moscow, 1960. Vol. 4, pp. 568
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