In The Graveyard

Written by Anton Chekhov

Narrated by Anastasia Bertollo

It was the beginning to get dark. The wind blew stronger tearing off yellow leaves of the old birch trees and One man said to another: "Hadn't we better take ourselves off before it gets worse?" Other man said: "Yegor Gryaznorukov, titular councilor and cavalier. I knew him." He loved his wife, he wore the Stanislav ribbon and didn't read anything. He had an undistinguished life. It seemed that he hadn't any reason to die, but he was dead. He was very curious. While he was listening to a keyhole, he got a hit the head from the door that he sustained concussion of the brain and died. He hated any literature: poems, books, epigrams. But now all his grave-stone was adorned with verses. Someone came to them. What can we expect from the stranger?

• Language: English
• Publisher: SmartTouch Media
• Release date: Jan 17, 2015
• ISBN: 9781467607469

Anton Chekhov

Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) was a Russian doctor, short-story writer, and playwright. Born in the port city of Taganrog, Chekhov was the third child of Pavel, a grocer and devout Christian, and Yevgeniya, a natural storyteller. His father, a violent and arrogant man, abused his wife and children and would serve as the inspiration for many of the writer’s most tyrannical and hypocritical characters. Chekhov studied at the Greek School in Taganrog, where he learned Ancient Greek. In 1876, his father’s debts forced the family to relocate to Moscow, where they lived in poverty while Anton remained in Taganrog to settle their finances and finish his studies. During this time, he worked odd jobs while reading extensively and composing his first written works. He joined his family in Moscow in 1879, pursuing a medical degree while writing short stories for entertainment and to support his parents and siblings. In 1876, after finishing his degree and contracting tuberculosis, he began writing for St. Petersburg’s Novoye Vremya, a popular paper which helped him to launch his literary career and gain financial independence. A friend and colleague of Leo Tolstoy, Maxim Gorky, and Ivan Bunin, Chekhov is remembered today for his skillful observations of everyday Russian life, his deeply psychological character studies, and his mastery of language and the rhythms of conversation.