The Huntsman by Anton Chekhov — An Estranged Couple Meets on a Country Road

The Huntsman by Anton Chekhov — An Estranged Couple Meets on a Country Road

From LitReading - Classic Short Stories and Timeless Tales by Short Storyverses

August 11, 2026 · 13 min

About this episode

The episode features Anton Chekhov's short story 'The Huntsman', exploring themes of human interaction and emotional complexity.

High summer, and it is too hot to sing. A huntsman walks a road with a gun on his shoulder, a bird in his bag, and a dog running ahead of him. A woman steps out of the rye with a sickle in her hand and says his name. She is delighted to see him. He is not. They sit down between two fir trees, and in the ten minutes that follow, Anton Chekhov does something very quiet and very cruel. He was twenty-five, writing fast and for money under a pen name, and he claimed later that he wrote this one in a bathhouse in a single sitting If you enjoyed this story, buy me an e-book! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/donmcdonald or click FOLLOW Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People in this episode

Host: Don McDonald

Topics covered

  • classic literature
  • short stories
  • summer tales
  • fiction
  • human relationships

Keywords

  • Huntsman
  • Anton Chekhov
  • short story
  • fiction
  • summer stories
  • narrative podcast

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Apple Podcasts, shortstoryverses.com

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