person
Nikifor
also: Никифору, Nikifor
A servant or attendant -- evidently at the Kryukovo station or on the Chekhov household's staff -- whom Chekhov, to his own mock-shame, forgot to tip on departing from a visit to the Kiselevs; he sends the money on after the fact via Gavrila. Distinct from the fictional Nikifor of "Tsvety zapozdalye" and from other Nikifors in the corpus.
Reading notes
- To M. V. Kiseleva, 6 January 1888. Moscow. §9 I had given nothing to Nikifor
A small, self-deprecating anecdote of departure-day embarrassment: Chekhov forgets to tip a servant or station attendant, then sends the money on belatedly -- with the comic suspicion (loc 9) that it will never reach him intact.