Companion Piece to My Visceral Music Thread- A Wrenching Short Story by Chekhov

Welcome friends,

Life can pass us by very quickly if we are not careful. If we don't take the time to appreciate each other, our own selves, the beauty and fragility of life, we may find ourselves yearning for that which can never be retrieved.

I recently wrote a thread about music which can be felt deep within- on a visceral level- and realized that there exists the perfect companion piece to the heartfelt music shared in the form of one of the most deeply emotional short stories ever written. Rothschild's Fiddle is a Chekhov masterpiece.. and it is short enough to read in one 10 minute sitting.

Please take the time to read and respond. This is life-alteringly good.

Hope to hear from a few ATSers on this gut-wrenching, soulful story. No one does nostalgia like the Russians.

IT WAS a tiny town, worse than a village, inhabited chiefly by old people who so seldom died that it was really vexatious. Very few coffins were needed for the hospital and the jail; in a word, business was bad. If Yakov Ivanov had been a maker of coffins in the county town, he would probably have owned a house of his own by now, and would have been called Mr. Ivanov, but here in this little place he was simply called Yakov, and for some reason his nickname was Bronze. He lived as poorly as any common peasant in a little old hut of one room, in which he and Martha, and the stove, and a double bed, and the coffins, and his joiner's bench, and all the necessities of housekeeping were stowed away.

Read the rest here:

www.eldritchpress.org...

Star and flag for your wonderful message. Haven't read story yet as saving for later.

Thanks

Thank you! I'd be eager to hear your impression of it once you read, if you are so compelled.

All the best.

a reply to: zosimov

Just finished reading, great story. There are many lessons to be learned and many underlying nuances at play.

The irony was he made coffins for a living, an object for those "not living" which was a haunting metaphor to his life. He wasted his entire life worrying about money and only focused on what he lost, rather than what he had, allowing life to pass him by. It wasn't up until his deathbed that he realized that he wasted his life and he couldn't bring anything with him so all his worries were insignificant and meaningless.

His relationship with Rothschild was a unique one where they were so different, while being so alike and it was almost Yakov saw himself in the boy. They both were lonely and both loved to play music but Yakov played happy music while Rothschild played sad music, a very subtle but important nuance.

I think Rothschild seeing Yakov weep over the fiddle to a sad tune made him realize everything and the fiddle was a metaphor of him passing a piece of himself along with the lesson he learned, ultimately saving Rothschild from the same fate he suffered.

A very quick and somewhat vague synopsis without getting too deep with the details

a reply to: knowledgehunter0986

My friend I appeciate your taking the time to read and respond!

What an excellent analysis. I find your conclusion about Yakov's final gift being one of life and redemption to be both accurate and uplifting.

Thank you for the incisive and thoughtful post.

a reply to: knowledgehunter0986

Not much to add to your synopsis, but I'd include the town doctor as another interesting foil to Yakov's character; one is in the business of living and the other of dying, and the sucess of one is inversely proportional to the success of the other.

Both men seemed to value profit over life, and both stood to benefit from ill health and misery.

We see their relationship reach its culmination when Yakov's wife is ill and through his desperate but doomed attempts to get an effective treatment. His bitter musings about how his wife would have been better treated had he been wealthy mirrors his own greedy displeasure at losing a wealthy customer who had moved away before dying.

And the motif throughout of life=loss while death=gain is worth thinking about as well.

Lots to think about here. Thanks again.

Still haven't read the story yet but thanks for the friend, can't work out the reply thing on the private message place, so thanks again.

a reply to: Cloudbuster

My pleasure! I've very much enjoyed reading your posts when I see them.

Let me know if you need anything (click little green man under stats to send message) will try to oblige.. or if you just want to chat.