It is known that Anton Pavlovich Chekhov is the author of many short humorous stories. In terms of describing the characters of his characters, he was an unsurpassed master.
His characters came to life in his works. “You read one of them, and then you look out the window and see its continuation in life. All the characters in the author's stories are residents of our town. Their conversations, appearance, clothes, manners: everything is literally snatched from Chekhov's books. This is how K. I. Chukovsky spoke about the master. The story of Anton Pavlovich "Surgery" was written by him in the style of realism. This is a small episode from the life of the Zemstvo hospital. The main characters are a paramedic named Kuryatin and a deacon of the local Vonmiglas church who came to see him. The following is a summary of Chekhov's "Surgery".
Vonmiglasov comes to the reception
Zemskaya hospital. In view of the fact that the doctor left to get married, the appointment is led by paramedic Sergei Kuzmich Kuryatin.
He is a plump man in his forties, with an untidy appearance. He wears a well-worn jacket and jogging trousers. He sits and smokes a cigar that spreads a stench. The local deacon Vonmiglasov comes to the reception. This is an old tall man. He is dressed in a brown cassock with a wide leather belt. Entering, he looks for an icon with his eyes, and not finding one in the doctor's office, he is baptized on a bottle with a carbolic solution standing next to him. Then the deacon takes out a prosphora from the folds of his clothes and puts it in front of Kuryatin. To the paramedic’s question, “What are you complaining about?” Vonmiglasov replies that he is plagued by a severe toothache, such that "at least lie down and die." The deacon did not sleep the last night before the reception, and now he really hopes that the "deliverer" paramedic will save him from this nightmare. It would seem that a disastrous situation is an unbearable toothache in a patient. What is there to be excited about here? What can be laughed at? But the author, a master of the humorous and satirical genre, further describes the main characters in such a comical way that it is impossible not to smile. Read on Chekhov's story "Surgery".
Deacon's flattery
The paramedic tells his charge to sit on a chair and open his mouth. The deacon hurriedly follows his instructions. Kuryatin frowns and sees a bad tooth with a large hollow in his mouth. All this time Vonmiglasov did not stop talking. He tells the doctor that Father Deacon ordered him to apply vodka with horseradish to his gums, Glikeria Anisomovna gave him a thread from Mount Athos and advised him to rinse his mouth with warm milk … Nothing helped. Kuryatin replies to this that, they say, all these are prejudices, that onlymedicine can cure a bad tooth. And there is only one solution - the tooth needs to be pulled out. Here the deacon begins to flatter the paramedic, calling him a "benefactor" and promising to subsequently pray for him day and night. Chicken praise is pleasant. He smiles and says that this is a matter for him "just spit." As an example, he cites the case of the landowner Alexander Ivanovich Egyptian, when he came to Kuryatin with a bad tooth and asked him to tear it out. Sergei Kuzmich, who had never done this before, arranged everything as it should. Even a summary of Chekhov's "Surgery" is able to convey the character of the main characters. At the beginning of the story, Kuryatin is important and boastful. He makes significant mines, tries to "make a fog", using medical terms incomprehensible to the deacon. And he, in turn, is polite with the doctor, courteous. Vonmiglasov praises him in advance for the result, flatters him. On his face is a mask of humility and complete trust in this unlucky "luminary of science." How the speech of the characters will change, their attitude towards each other, we will see further.
Procedure starts
The patient, not tired of praising the doctor, sits with his mouth wide open.
Kuryatin with an air of importance announces that you need to pull your teeth with skill: sometimes you can limit yourself to only a key or a goat's leg, and in some cases you may need tongs. The paramedic first takes a goat's leg from the table, looks at it, then puts it back, takes the tongs and gets to work, asking the patient to open his mouth wider. The procedure for pulling out a tooth is further narrated by Chekhov's story"Surgery". The summary of the work will reveal to us all the subtleties of this difficult surgical intervention.
"Seven Circles of Hell" by Vonmiglasov
The sexton closes his eyes as much as he can. For several minutes, the words are heard in the office: "Holy Mother …", "Fathers benefactors …", "Vvv …". Kuryatin, all in tension, pulls his tooth, crying out from time to time: “It’s not like him! Don't grab your hands! Now…". Vonmiglasov, unable to endure the hellish pain any longer, cries out: “Fathers! Guardians! Angels! Help … Yes, pull it!” The doctor pulls with all his might, but in vain. The patient bulges his eyes, raises his legs high, wiggles his fingers. His face turns purple, tears appear. Another agonizing half-minute passes. Kuryatin tramples around him, but there is still no result. When reading these lines, a picture arises before our eyes: a poor patient is sitting on a chair, his mouth open and waving his arms in pain. And next to him stands a doctor, rolled up his sleeves, and drags the tooth with tongs.
The same image will appear before the eyes of a reader familiar with the story of Anton Pavlovich when he hears the words: “Chekhov. Surgery . A very brief summary of the work is given here, and it conveys the main meaning of the author's creation.
Doctor's failure
Suddenly, the forceps slip off the tooth. The patient and the doctor take a deep breath. Then the sexton puts his fingers into his mouth and discovers that the ill-fated tooth is still in place. He begins to reproach the doctor for taking too long. Kuryatin, in turn, makes excuses and tries to prove that the patient himselfguilty: grabbed by the hands, interfered, kicked, and that's the result of zero. The paramedic sits down his client, intending to try again to extract the bad tooth. He asks for a minute to take a breath, and again prepares for execution. Vonmiglasov gives the doctor advice not to delay, but to immediately pull. To this, Kuryatin mockingly remarks to the deacon that pulling teeth is not reading on the kliros and not drumming bells. “Surgery is not an easy task,” follows from all his remarks. The paramedic pulls a tooth, but again nothing happens. He tries to pull, the patient screams. And suddenly - crunch. The tooth broke, but the spine remained in the gum.
Further, reading the summary of Chekhov's "Surgery", it will be possible to make sure that the main characters did not show wisdom. The patient, angry, cursing, left with nothing. And the doctor, instead of somehow correcting the situation, entered into a skirmish with him.
Reproaches of the deacon
Kuryatin looks puzzled and says in a barely audible voice: “Such an opportunity. And what if a goat's leg … ". The patient at first does not understand what happened. He sits with his eyes wide open, then reaches into his mouth and says: “Lousy devil! Why were you Herods imprisoned here?” Kuryatin tries to object to him, saying that Mr. Alexander Ivanovich Egyptian, having gone through this test, did not swear even then. But Vonmiglasov, spewing curses and taking the prosphora, goes home. We read the summary of the story "Surgery". Chekhov in his work ridicules pomposity, stupidity, rudeness, servility andboasting. The end of the story is left open. This is a feature of most of the author's works. Thus, he, as it were, invites the reader to come up with his own end to this story.
After reading the summary of Chekhov's "Surgery", we understand that in life there are many situations that seem tragic at first glance, and only the author's talent turns an everyday scene into an immortal humorous work.
