office
Yard-porter (dvornik)
yard-porter
also: dvornik, дворник
The caretaker-porter of a Russian building or estate's grounds, informally deputized in Imperial Russia for minor policing and surveillance duties alongside the beat constable.
Reading notes
- To A. S. Suvorin, 10 October 1891. Moscow. §3 the porter pesters me every day
The dvornik, or yard-porter -- the caretaker figure attached to a Russian residential building, informally deputized for minor policing and registration duties, including checking that residents' papers were in order. It is this official function, not mere nagging, that explains why an expired passport becomes the porter's daily business with Chekhov.