concept
Troika
troika
also: тройка
A traditional Russian carriage or sledge team of three horses harnessed abreast, prized for speed and used for long-distance travel.
Reading notes
- Ionych §108 a troika with bells
A carriage or sledge drawn by three horses harnessed abreast; trading his old pair of horses for a bell-hung troika is one of the story's early, understated signs of Startsev's rising income.
- A Confession §23 troikas
A traditional Russian carriage or sledge drawn by three horses harnessed abreast; hiring several for the guests' late-night ride out of town underscores the narrator's reckless final extravagance before his arrest.
- St. Peter's Day §3 troikas
A troika is a traditional Russian vehicle drawn by three horses harnessed abreast, prized for speed and used here to ferry the hunting party.
- The Post §1 troika
A troika is a team of three horses harnessed abreast, prized for speed on long-distance rural roads; the mail troika here carries the post between the town's post office and the railway station, with the postman riding armed (with the "rusted saber") as a formality of the office rather than any real expectation of danger.
- Murder Will Out (You Can't Hide an Awl in a Sack) §2 troika
A hired troika, a carriage or sledge drawn by three horses abreast, the standard fast conveyance for long-distance travel across the Russian provinces; that Posudin has hired rather than requisitioned one is part of his (failed) attempt at inconspicuousness.
- A Case from Practice §3 A troika
A troika is a carriage or sleigh drawn by three horses harnessed abreast, the standard fast conveyance for meeting a train at a country station.