First Aid by Anton Chekhov. Short summary

5 seconds

A nearly drowned and distraught old man is treated in different ways: by rocking and rubbing his body. Unable to withstand this treatment, the old man dies.

1 minute

The clerk and the foreman arrive at the scene. Some time ago, an old man who had been drinking fell into the river and was rescued by the men. They tell the clerk and the foreman that the old man does not understand anything and is talking.

The energetic clerk immediately gives the men the task of rocking the victim to bring him to his senses. They set to work with such zeal that the old man is horrified.

A carriage rides by, carrying the old lady and her clerk, Stepan Ivanovich. Noticing that the men are pumping out the drowned man, he goes over to them.

The clerk scolds the men and orders them to rub the old man’s body — it is the way to rescue a drowned man. The men actively rub the victim’s body, but he dies.

Stepan Ivanovich says that he should have rubbed the old man immediately. The men sigh and decide that this is the poor drowned man’s fate.