To Cure a Drinking Bout by Anton Chekhov. Short summary

5 seconds

A barber at a provincial theater cured a visiting comedian of drunkenness in the capital — he beat him up and then gave him vodka with ammonia and a burnt rag.

1 minute

A famous comedian, having arrived in a provincial town, got drunk. The entrepreneur is in despair, as this will lead to the cancellation of the tour and loss of a lot of money.

He is advised to appeal to the theatrical hairdresser Grebeshkov, who knows how to cure poisoning.

The hairdresser and the entrepreneur come to the artist and find him unconscious.

The barber begins to beat up the comedian. He tries to resist. Grebeshkov promises that if the artist will behave himself, he will give him vodka.

Grebeshkov adds dirty soap, ammonia, saltpeter to the alcohol. He burns a piece of cloth and pours the ashes in the same place.

He gives this liquid to the performer to drink. The comedian drinks it and becomes ill.

Grebeshkov forces him to drink, and if the comedian refuses, he beats him. A week later, the sober performer gave a great performance and even invited his barber to Moscow with him.