The Duel

The Duel is one of A.P. Chekhov’s most substantial stories. It was first published in the newspaper “Novoye Vremya” in 1891.

In a small town on the shores of the Black Sea, two friends meet while swimming: Ivan Laevsky, twenty-eight years old, and the military doctor Samoylenko. Laevsky shares with his friend the twists and turns of his personal life. A few years ago, he met a married woman; together they fled from Petersburg to the Caucasus, deciding to start a new life here. But from the very first day, everything went wrong—not as planned from the start.

The town turned out to be boring, the people uninteresting, and the former passion faded. Ivan Andreevich dreams of escaping back north from here—yet what to do with his tedious mistress? She can’t work, and she has no relatives or close people. By chance, Laevsky’s plans become known to zoologist von Koren, who accuses him of irresponsibility and licentiousness. Furious, Laevsky insults the young man, and the young man challenges him to a duel.