On Christmas Night (V Rozhdestvenskuyu Noch)

'The prosecutor accuses me of wasting my time on trifles... Remember what I found when I was appointed to the New Year's post...'—this is how the outgoing old year justifies itself before the court in one of Chekhov's short stories. But the judges are adamant: the old year is sentenced to eternal exile into oblivion. This collection brings together stories by A.P. Chekhov dedicated to the New Year and Christmastide. These include humorous stories that comically play on festive New Year's traditions—the Christmas tree, gifts, feasts, visits to relatives and friends, signature lists in the front hall, folk festivals, omens and superstitions, scary bedtime stories, etc. These also include works written in the genre of Christmas or Yuletide stories—for example, such well-known ones as 'On the Way,' 'Vanka,' 'Champagne,' 'Boys,' 'The Shoemaker and the Evil Spirit,' and others. Chekhov's works feature happy endings and tragic finales, amusing situations and incredible coincidences. His characters are touching in their dreams of happiness and hopes for miracles. Many of the writer's stories unfold into parables, touching on eternal questions of human existence, forcing us to reflect on mercy and the highest truth.