"Literature is my lover, and medicine is my wife." Chekhov once jokingly described the relationship between the two in his life.
Looking at the world literary world, there are many writers who studied medicine. Once they enter the literary world, they often get rid of or terminate their medical career, so they can devote themselves to literary activities. Chekhov, who is also a doctor, has a long history of medicine and literature. , but has always been in the shadows, in a position that does not contradict each other. Even after he really became famous in the Russian literary world, not only did he not give up the profession of a doctor, but he would abandon writing because of the busy and urgent medical work in a certain period of time. Even at the end of his life, when he stopped practicing medicine after moving to Yalta for health reasons, he still saw patients from time to time when they needed it. It can be said that as a doctor Chekhov actually ran through his short life.
"Doctor is my profession, writing is just my hobby." In 1884, as early as graduating from the Faculty of Medicine of Moscow University, Chekhov planned his life in this way. Subsequently, Chekhov began to practice medicine in the area of Voskresensk, about 60 kilometers away from Moscow. During this period, in addition to interning and treating patients at the local Qijin Hospital, he also took the place of the county doctor who went to other places to get married.
As a doctor, there is often no clear commute time, especially in the Russian era where Chekhov lived, material conditions were extremely scarce, and the only means of transportation he relied on were carriages and sleighs. No matter the distance, no matter the distance or the snow, as long as the patient needs to visit the doctor at any time, it is the normal work of doctors at that time. According to Chekhov's younger brother, Miba Chekhov, in his memoirs, during that time, his brother Anton Pavlovich (Chekhov) could not rest at night, "one night, from ten to ten Kartsev, two versts away, came to ask him (brother) to see him, and he took me there, and when we were passing through the swamp, we both saw the phosphorous fire for the first time in our lives."
As early as when he was studying at Taganrog Middle School in his hometown, Chekhov began to write comic novels and tried to contribute. In 1880, when Chekhov was 20 years old, his debut novel "Shards" was published in "Dragonfly" magazine, marking the beginning of his writing career. According to the recollection of M. B. Chekhov, during the three years that Chekhov lived in Babkinno, that is, from 1885 to 1887, with the successive publications of a series of lively stories in "Tidbits" and "St. Petersburg Newspaper" Chekhov rose to fame in Russian literary circles after his works of pleasure. By great coincidence, at the same time, "his fame as a doctor spread over at least fifteen versts around Pablokino. Patients from various nearby villages came to see him by car or on foot. So our family was It seems to be a treatment center with a complete pharmacy..." His younger brother also revealed in his memoirs that Chekhov had not yet opened a clinic at that time, and their home was equivalent to a clinic. He practiced medicine in just a few years, but Chekhov was already well-known as a doctor, and the villagers who came to see him often crossed the threshold.
The spring of 1892 was an important milestone in Chekhov's short life. He set up a manor in Merihovo, about 70 kilometers south of Moscow, owned his own real estate, and ended his family's indeterminacy. the life. But as soon as he moved to Merihovo, Chekhov opened a clinic and practiced medicine in a radius of about 25 kilometers. It is said that the owner of Merihovo is a doctor, and the sick peasants also came from all directions, and Chekhov treated them free of charge. In 1893, when cholera broke out in the Serpukhov region where Merikhov was located, Chekhov became a non-staff doctor in the Moscow Regional Autonomous Committee and immediately started treatment. It should be noted that this work is unpaid, completely voluntary and voluntary. During this period, Chekhov contributed almost all of his time, riding around in a carriage all day, and did not set aside a minute to write. "We work like savages," he "commented" this summer in a letter to his friend and publisher Suvorin. In addition to the rescue work, during this period, Chekhov also devoted himself to a large number of public welfare undertakings. The following list gives a glimpse of the staggering workload at the time: in 1894 he became a member of the Serpukhov Regional Self-Government Council, working for the well-being of local celebrities. Afterwards, until he left Merihovo in 1898, he built a medical station and three schools for Merihovo; promoted inspections of factory hygiene; collected books for his hometown Taganrog library; The Chronicle; Participating in the National Census of 1897; Raising Funds to Restore the Great Bell of Merihovo Church…
It is an obvious fact that Chekhov practiced medicine all his life and made it his career. Practicing medicine did not bring him much real income. In many cases, he only charged a small fee to farmers who came to see a doctor, or it was free. When encountering a particularly poor patient, he would spend his own money to buy medicine and provide it for free. Chekhov also said in an apologetic tone: "How can I have the heart to let those farmers pay?" It can be said that practicing medicine and devoting to public affairs are all out of obligation and public welfare for Chekhov, not only there is not much reward to be desired, They even often post backwards, with their own royalties and royalties.
Questions follow: Since there is no income from practicing medicine and social public services, why is Chekhov still willing to devote himself to it, even interrupting and shelving his writing, and even after becoming famous in the Russian literary world, he is unwilling to get rid of the profession of a doctor?
Tracing the short life of Chekhov, it can be found that this writer Ehrenburg was hailed as the most humanitarian writer in Russia. He was very different from Tolstoy's ideal. Chekhov did not believe in any ideas and doctrines, and he never did. Believe in beautiful and empty slogans, as Eilenburg said: "He loves life, but he does not swear and does not pray." That is to say, Chekhov is a real activist, more willing to use his actions, acts of kindness, and practices that benefit others and change society. He once wrote in one of his letters: "It would be good if every man left behind a school, a well, or something like that, leaving a trace of his life after his disappearance." Chekhov, precisely one of the ways in which he realized that he left a trace in his life.
On the other hand, the reason why Chekhov never gave up practicing medicine is that the profession of a doctor has established a close connection with the Russian social reality and the general population. I came into contact with all kinds of people walking and breathing on the Russian land, and I was able to sneak into the deepest part of Russian social reality, touched the hidden facts and truth, and gained insight into the various lesions of reality. In this sense, practicing medicine fed back his literary activities and became an inexhaustible source of living water for his writing.
Throughout Chekhov's early literary activities - he used the pseudonym of Antosha Chihunt at that time, and most of what he wrote were comic novels and sketches, with a narrow vision, and most of his works were based on his hometown Tagan. Roger characters he saw or was familiar with. But after he became a doctor, his writing changed completely, his vision became wider and wider, and all kinds of people in his writing appeared one after another, such as farmers, college students, teachers, prosecutors, maids, priests, Tolstoyists, alcoholics, seamstresses , actresses, "superfluous people", murderers, thieves, misers, and villains... The fate of many characters constitutes a great tragedy, a small drama, a farce, thus making his works a mirror of society. Presents a picture of the reality of Russian society in the nineteenth century.
Some people therefore assert that if Chekhov were not a doctor, his writing might have taken on a different face.
In Chekhov's 1898 CV for alumni, he spoke of the bounty of medicine for his writing: "I have no doubt that medical work has had a great influence on my literary activity, it has greatly expanded my The field of vision has enriched my knowledge. The real value of this knowledge to me as a writer can only be realized by a person who is a doctor. This knowledge also has a guiding role. Because of this, I was able to avoid many mistakes."
Needless to say, only the experience of working in the hospital allowed him to write "The Sixth Ward", which exudes a formalin atmosphere and is a metaphor for the pain of Russian reality at that time. County doctors, nurses, midwives, environmentalists, and veterinarians treated as doctors can all appear in his work. The protagonists in "The Fugitive", "Surgery", "Duel", "Uncle Vanya" and other works are undoubtedly his colleagues, or the professional doctors he knew and was familiar with when he practiced medicine in the countryside.
How can a writer dive into the turbulent sea of reality without deviating from the track of life, without breaking the connection with the people walking and breathing on the vast land? Different from those writers who stick to their hometown the size of a postage stamp all their lives and have their roots in a certain base of life, Chekhov is sometimes in Yalta, Moscow, and sometimes in the backcountry of Russia, rarely staying in one place for a long time, and life will inevitably be like a river. Driftwood, but his medical career effectively made up for this shortcoming. As a doctor, he used a stethoscope to keep close to the hearts of thousands of people and to the beating pulse of Russia's vast land, thus gaining strong support for literary activities.
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