time. The father was severe, and in exceptional cases even went so far as
to chastise his children, but they all lived on warm and affectionate
terms. Everyone got up early, the boys went to the high school, and when
they returned learned their lessons. All of them had their hobbies. The
eldest, Alexandr, would construct an electric battery, Nikolay used to
draw, Ivan to bind books, while Anton was always writing stories. In the
evening, when their father came home from the shop, there was choral
singing or a duet.

Pavel Yegorovitch trained his children into a regular choir, taught them to
sing music at sight, and play on the violin, while at one time they had a
music teacher for the piano too. There was also a French governess who came
to teach the children languages. Every Saturday the whole family went to
the evening service, and on their return sang hymns and burned incense. On
Sunday morning they went to early mass, after which they all sang hymns in
chorus at home. Anton had to learn the whole church service by heart and
sing it over with his brothers.

The chief characteristic distinguishing the Chekhov family from their
neighbours was their habit of singing and having religious services at
home.

Though the boys had often to take their father's place in the shop, they
had leisure enough to enjoy themselves. They sometimes went for whole days
to the sea fishing, played Russian tennis, and went for excursions to their
grandfather's in the country. Anton was a sturdy, lively boy, extremely
intelligent, and inexhaustible in jokes and enterprises of all kinds. He
used to get up lectures and performances, and was always acting and
mimicking. As children, the brothers got up a performance of Gogol's
"Inspector General," in which Anton took the part of Gorodnitchy. One of