work
Vedma (The Witch)
"The Witch"
also: Ведьма, The Witch
A short story by Chekhov published in Novoye Vremya in 1886, depicting a sexton's wife accused by her husband of being a witch who conjures storms; Chekhov reports here that it earned him about 75 rubles and acknowledges, with some ambivalence, that it is darker and more serious than his usual comic work.
Reading notes
- To V. V. Bilibin, 11 March 1886. Moscow. §11 "The Witch," in \emph{New Times}
"The Witch" (Ведьма), a story darker and more serious in register than Chekhov's usual comic sketches, had just appeared in the prestigious Novoye Vremya; the roughly 75 rubles it earned him exceeded a full month's income from his longtime outlet Fragments, a telling sign of the widening gap between the pay -- and prestige -- of the two markets he was straddling in early 1886.