Short Fiction · Chapter
A Nightmare explained
Kunin, a young member of the Rural Board, invites Father Yakov Smirnov to discuss opening a church parish school in Sinkino.
What happens
Kunin, a young member of the Rural Board, invites Father Yakov Smirnov to discuss opening a church parish school in Sinkino. Initially put off by Father Yakov's timid and shabby appearance, Kunin grows increasingly disturbed as the priest confesses his extreme poverty, his inability to support his young wife, and the desperate conditions of his parishioners—including a doctor's wife reduced to washing linen in the river. Overwhelmed by shame and guilt, Kunin resolves to help, tearing up the sermons Father Yakov left behind and planning to give his salary to the priest.
Themes in this chapter
Suffering and Compassion
Father Yakov's vivid account of his own and his parishioners' suffering awakens Kunin's compassion, leading him to tear up the sermons and plan to give his salary.
Hypocrisy and Moral Failure
Kunin initially feels superior and dismissive of Father Yakov, only to realize his own blindness and failure to see the poverty around him despite his official roles.
Social Class and Inequality
The stark contrast between Kunin's comfortable position and the abject poverty of Father Yakov and his parishioners, including a doctor's wife washing linen in the river.
Characters to notice
- Father Yakov Smirnov
The impoverished and ashamed priest of Sinkino, who confesses his dire poverty, his pride, and his inability to properly serve his parish.
- Verotchka
Kunin, the permanent member of the Rural Board, who initially judges Father Yakov harshly but later feels deep remorse and a desire to help.
Key passages
“I am ashamed of my clothes, of these patches here. I am ashamed of my vestments, of being hungry. And is it seemly for a priest to be proud?”
Father Yakov confesses his shame over his poverty and his pride, questioning whether a priest should feel such pride.
Highlights the internal conflict between religious humility and personal dignity.
“A doctor's wife, brought up at a select boarding-school! She had got up you see, early and gone half a mile from the village that people should not see her. She couldn't get over her pride!”
Father Yakov describes how the doctor's wife, despite her education, secretly washes her family's linen in the river to hide her poverty.
Illustrates the extreme lengths to which people go to conceal their destitution.