"Slime" or "Mire" (russian: Тина, translit=Tina) is an 1886 story by

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...

. It was included into his 1888 collection ''Stories'' (Рассказы).

Plot

The plot concerns the visit of a lieutenant, Sokolsky, to the house of Susanna Rothstein, the Jewish owner of a vodka

distillery Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distillation is the heati ...

, to collect a debt owed to Sokolsky's married cousin Kryukov, but in fact which Sokolsky hopes that Kryukov will lend on to himself so he can marry his fiancée. Susanna entices the lieutenant to supper, then relieves him of the IOUs, but after spending the night with Sokolsky sends him back empty handed. Furious Kryukov resolves to visit Susanna and recover the debt himself, but he likewise is seduced and returns unpaid. A week later Sokolsky departs to return to his fiancée, having borrowed money from his cousin for his own marriage. Left alone Kryukov waits for another week then cannot resist visiting Susanna again, only to find several men being entertained by her, including Sokolsky who has seemingly forgotten about his fiancée. Krykov cannot judge Sokolsky since he is no better.

Analysis

It has been suggested that the portrayal of the Jewish temptress, Susanna Rothstein, may have been influenced by Chekhov's stormy relationship with his former fiancée Dunia Efros, herself Jewish, and who remained on good terms with Chekhov after marrying his friend the Jewish lawyer and publisher Efim Konovitser. The picture of free-spirited and seductive distillery owner Susanna, and her power over men, was controversial both in Chekhov's time and since, producing varying responses in Chekhov's circle, among critics and also from

translators Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

.Carolina De Maegd Soep ''Chekhov and Women: Women in the Life and Work of Chekhov '' 1987 "In her memoirs she also recalled her sister's opinion about Chekhov: "He is an amazingly talented man and has a subtle ... Thus, for instance, concentrating on the story Slime (1886) she raised the question of principles and morals in connection with the kind of literature which handles erotic themes. "

References

{{Anton Chekhov 1886 short stories Short stories by Anton Chekhov