The Darling(1898)

The story's protagonist, Olenka, is so meek that everyone calls her ‘Dushechka’. She completely immerses herself in the affairs and concerns of her husbands: first, a theater entrepreneur, then, a lumberyard manager, then, a veterinarian… She wasn't just curious and knowledgeable, but became a competent assistant and even her vocabulary changed, depending on her husband's interests.

Leo Tolstoy was delighted with the story and its protagonist. In his opinion, she was the ideal woman. However, Chekhov, despite his apparent detachment, doesn't glorify this type of personality.

Translated by Constance Garnett, Publisher The Macmillan Company, 1928