event
Solar eclipse of 19 August 1887
the 1887 eclipse
also: затмение 1887 года, the solar eclipse of 7 August 1887 (O.S.)
A total solar eclipse visible across the Russian Empire on 19 August 1887 (7 August, Old Style), whose path of totality crossed from the Kingdom of Poland through central Russia and Siberia to Verkhneudinsk; it drew astronomers from across Europe and was widely covered in the Russian press, making it a natural target for Chekhov's satire.
Reading notes
- Before the Eclipse §4 the ceremony a full seven hours
The story satirizes the real total solar eclipse of 19 August 1887 (7 August, Old Style, hence the date given later in the sketch), whose path of totality swept from the Kingdom of Poland across central Russia and Siberia to Verkhneudinsk -- the same itinerary the Moon complains of here. The eclipse drew astronomers from across Europe to observation sites near Moscow and was heavily covered in the Russian press; Chekhov's friend and fellow writer covered the same eclipse from a different comic angle that same year in "From the Notes of a Hot-Tempered Man."
- The Wrongdoers §31 the seventh of August
This dates the story's events to the real total solar eclipse of 19 August 1887 (7 August, Old Style / Julian calendar, then still in civil use in Russia), whose path of totality crossed the Russian Empire and drew genuine astronomers to observe it -- precisely the two "suspicious strangers" the townspeople mistake for spies. Chekhov wrote at least two comic pieces keyed to this same eclipse in 1887 (this story and "Before the Eclipse"/"From the Notes of a Hot-Tempered Man").