work
Obyvateli (The Townsfolk)
"The Townsfolk"
also: Обыватели, Obyvateli, "Philistines"
A short piece by Chekhov, submitted to Suvorin's "Novoye Vremya" under the working title "Обыватели" (literally "townsfolk"/"philistines"/petty bourgeois). First mentioned by Chekhov as a submitted manuscript awaiting Suvorin's verdict ("А что касается ее... А мои \"Обыватели\"? Годятся?", 25 November 1889), with its fate then unresolved. Confirmed here (5 December 1889) as a completed, accepted, paid piece: Chekhov asks Suvorin to have the Novoye Vremya office telephone through the fee owed for it. NOT the same work as Chekhov's later full-length play \textit{Meshchane} (\textit{The Philistines}, 1902), which shares an English rendering of the title but is an unrelated work separated by more than a decade; kept as a distinct entity to prevent conflation.
Reading notes
- To A. S. Suvorin, 5 December 1889. Moscow. §4 "The Townsfolk"
Renders Chekhov's working title "Обыватели" ("Obyvateli," literally "townsfolk"/"philistines"/petty bourgeois). This letter CONFIRMS the piece as completed, accepted, and paid (Chekhov is chasing the fee via Suvorin's paper's office), resolving the open question left by the earlier mention in (25 November 1889), where the same working title appeared with its fate still unresolved ("А мои 'Обыватели'? Годятся?" -- "And what about my 'Philistines'? Will it do?"). See, now enriched with this confirmation rather than duplicated. NOT the same work as Chekhov's later full-length play \textit{Meshchane} (\textit{The Philistines}, 1902), an unrelated work separated by more than a decade despite the shared English rendering of the title.
- To V. A. Tikhonov, 30 November 1891. Moscow. §3 It's the same \"Obyvateli,\" but having written the story, I've given it, as you see, a different, more fitting title
"Obyvateli" ("The Townsfolk"/"Philistines,") was the working title of a short piece Chekhov had used in correspondence since 1889; here he explains that the story he is actually sending Tikhonov for \emph{Sever} was written under that title but has since been renamed, and offers -- if Tikhonov prints this one under its new name -- to write a separate story that will properly carry the "Obyvateli" title in March. The letter does not specify which new title he settled on.
- To V. A. Tikhonov, 30 November 1891. Moscow. §3 in March I'll send you another story that will be called \"Obyvateli\"
Chekhov offers to write a wholly new piece to bear the "Obyvateli" title if Tikhonov prefers to keep it in reserve, treating the title itself as a separable, reusable label distinct from any single manuscript -- consistent with his casual, workmanlike attitude toward his own working titles elsewhere in the correspondence.