- A short collection showing Chekhov in an amusing, playful light, poking fun at his characters, with the moral detachment that also characterizes his major, serious works In The Death of a Civil Servant, an administrative clerk accidentally sneezes on a hierarchical superior at the opera, which results in great embarrassment and hilarious and futile attempts at atonement. The other short stories included in this volume, A Calculated Marriage, The Culprit, The Exclamation Mark, The Speechmaker, Who Is to Blame, and A Defenceless Creature are in the same absurdly comical vein.