A Confession, or Olya, Zhenya, Zoya by Anton Chekhov. Short summary

5 seconds

A man tells why he is not married. The first lover showed herself to be stupid; the second, realizing he had no writing talent, left the man; he embarrassed himself in front of the third.

1 minute

Makar Baldastov tells in a letter the reasons why he did not marry.

With young Olenka, the man was having a great time and was in love with her. But one day on a walk she got scared of a goose and looked silly. A disappointed Makar dumped her.

Dating Zhenya, the man wanted to become a writer. She supported him.

Makar wrote a piece dedicated to Zhenya and sent it to a magazine. The reply from there was that he was mediocre. Zhenya agreed with the opinion of the editorial board and grew cold to Makar.

The man adored the opera and went there with the Pepsinovs. He was in love with their daughter Zoya. One day Makar decided to confess his love to her at the opera.

But he started to hiccup and was disgraced. The next day, Zoya’s father informed him that he would not give his daughter away to a young man who could not behave.

Makar could tell of twelve more similar cases.