The Village · Chapter
XVII explained
Tikhon Ilitch reflects on old photographs, memories of past acquaintances, and his own mortality, before being interrupted by the demands of his farm.
What happens
Tikhon Ilitch reflects on old photographs, memories of past acquaintances, and his own mortality, before being interrupted by the demands of his farm. His thoughts turn to his rise from poverty, and he is troubled by a cook's ominous dream about black cattle, which deepens his anxiety about his possessions and his life.
Themes in this chapter
Isolation and Loneliness
Tikhon's solitary reflections on old photographs and his mortality highlight his emotional isolation despite his material success.
Class and Social Hierarchy
Tikhon's pride in his rise from orphan to landowner and his interactions with officials and servants underscore the rigid social structure.
Nature and the Land
The harsh weather, the pigs, and the stallion emphasize the inescapable demands of the land and farm life.
Characters to notice
- Tikhon Ilitch
Contemplates old photographs, his past, and death; then tends to his pigs and stallion, feeling burdened by his possessions.
- Kuzma
Mentioned as having joked that Tikhon's biography should be written.
- Oska
Helps the cook carry the pigs' feed.
- Vystavkin
Appears in an old photograph, now dead.
Key passages
“The faces gazed out in complete immobility from their shell-work frames. Here was a scene which had never taken place and could not take place: In the field, amid the thick-growing rye, lay two persons—Tikhon Ilitch himself and a young merchant named Rostovtzeff, holding in their hands glasses exactly half filled with dark beer.”
Tikhon looks at an old photograph of himself with a merchant friend, a scene that seems unreal and impossible now.
The photograph evokes a past that feels distant and surreal, highlighting the passage of time.
“And in another five or ten years people would be saying, in speaking of Tikhon Ilitch, too: “The late Tikhon Ilitch.””
Tikhon realizes that in a few years, people will speak of him as 'the late Tikhon Ilitch' after his death.
This thought underscores his preoccupation with mortality.
““Okh, O Lord! I only hope some calamity won’t happen to us today! Last night I had a dream—I thought cattle were being driven into our farmyard: sheep, cows, all sorts of pigs were being driven to us. And they were all black, every last one of them was black!””
The cook expresses fear of a coming disaster, having dreamed of black cattle being driven into the yard.
The dream is a bad omen that unsettles Tikhon.