A summary of "Miracles in a Sieve" by Arkady Averchenko

Arkady Averchenko’s collection of satirical and humorous works was published in 1915. This book is a gallery of colorful human characters from pre-revolutionary Russia, where caustic irony coexists with a gentle, nostalgic melancholy. The author exposes the mechanisms of philistine self-deception, the falseness of social conventions, and the absurdity of everyday situations.

Miracles in a sieve

In the story "The Echo of Felice’s Church," two friends discuss circus performers, after which one shares a story about his Italian servant, Giustino. It turns out that Giustino is unsuited to domestic service: for twelve years, he worked as a live "echo" in a village church, repeating the cries of tourists eight times. After accidentally shouting fifteen times to generous Americans, he lost his job and was unable to learn another trade.

The hero of the short story "The Pyramid of Cheops," Novakovich, along with the author, frightens his sister and servants with a scarecrow made from an easel and a Christmas mask. Later, Novakovich recounts this episode over and over again to friends, embellishing the details with abandon. Gradually, the innocent prank escalates into a shooting, the destruction of an antique tea set, the sister’s fictitious fall from a fourth-story window, the call of the fire brigade, and an arrest, with the narrator himself coming to fervently believe his own invention.

In the novel "The American," Strekachev, lost while hunting, meets an enterprising peasant named Yeremey. He has rented a riverbank overgrown with windfalls, dug observation pits with benches, and, for a fee, lends binoculars to summer residents so they can spy on bathers from the opposite bank. Strekachev is outraged by the peasant’s cynicism, but ultimately pays for the observation post and a cold beer himself.

The satire "Carving" mocks the monstrous absent-mindedness of doctors. A Petrograd professor forgets surgical instruments inside patients, confuses tonsils with the abdominal cavity, and rips open the stitches of every patient in search of a missing silver cigarette case. In the confusion, he operates on a delivery man from a shoe store who arrives with the bill, and the cigarette case is soon discovered pawned.

"Drama in the Byrdin Family" revolves around a count who learns from a magazine about the growing fashion for thin women. Fearing the loss of his social status, the count systematically torments his plump wife with rudeness, insults, and alleged infidelities, forcing her to lose weight. When the countess is reduced to a living skeleton, the latest issue of the magazine proclaims the triumph of the curvaceous, and the count, in despair, slits his throat with a razor.

In the short story "A Desperate Man," a fellow traveler on a train threatens his fellow passengers with the deadly dangers of reading in the carriage, drafts, and the danger of catastrophe. The terrified passengers offer him a comfortable window seat, and at the station, the supposed brave man boasts of his resourcefulness to his companion. The theme of publicity continues in "The First Anecdote About Me," where a writer, struck by absurd posthumous anecdotes about celebrities, concocts a true story about himself in advance. The section concludes with the scene "How Ponasyuk Got Married": the guests are eager to hear the hero recite a poem about his marriage, but each time, at the line "The host enters, holding a double-barreled shotgun…" the reading is interrupted by the audience’s uncontrollable laughter.

People around

The short story "Those Around You" exposes the spiritual deafness of loved ones: when a man announces his impending wedding to his mother, mistress, maid, and random passerby, everyone is concerned only with money, expenses, or the dowry. Only a friend asks about love, and even he is reassured by the news of the bride’s beauty. In the short story "The Connoisseur of the Woman’s Heart," the cynical Max Dvuutrobnikov undertakes to break up Lidochka’s engagement. Instead of attacking the groom’s romantic vices, he praises his petty stinginess and domestic sloppiness, engendering a deep-seated disgust in the girl and extracting money from her mother.

In the story "The Fatal Vozdukhoduyev," the author’s friend assures everyone of his hypnotic irresistibility to women. Over a glass of wine, he confesses to endless rejections and ridicule, but immediately returns to sweet delusions of his own demonic charm. The novella "Motherhood" traces the evolution of women’s views: from naive childhood dreams of children to the constant postponement of pregnancy for the sake of prosperity and maintaining a girlish figure, until the elderly woman’s only hope is the birth of a granddaughter.

The hero of the story "The Professional," Mushuarov, uses sophisticated emotional blackmail: he calls women, clicks the trigger of a revolver near the receiver, and declares his imminent suicide, forcing the frightened women to rush to his home. If the woman remains calm, he sends her a pathetic, accusatory letter.

In "Confession That Relieves," the tipsy civil servant Mokhnatykh confesses to his colleagues on Easter for bribing his boss with rare stamps, forging a check for three thousand rubles, and having an affair. His friends eagerly pry into the details, seeking to exploit the fruits of his repentance for their own gain. The sketch "Home Work" describes a dacha flirtation: the capital’s artist Zdolbunov wins over a married woman with cliched compliments, cynically remarking that simple prey doesn’t require the complex art of seduction.

Nerve-grabbing

The story "The Visitor Seldyaev" introduces the author to an intrusive visitor from Armavir who interrupts his work. Strolling through Petrograd, the writer vainly tries to impress his visitor with monumental bridges, cathedrals, and fictitious stories about a cannibal club. However, Seldyaev remains completely indifferent to the capital’s grandeur and only perks up when he hears news of a merchant acquaintance’s move to Siberia.

In "An Extraordinary Man," the landowner Dvoyerukov attempts to obtain a bank transfer for one hundred and twenty-five rubles without a passport. Using monologues about trust in one’s neighbor, physiognomy, and Christian charity, he wears down the employee and manager with his conversations until management agrees to issue the money, despite strict regulations.

The short story "Chekhovianets" satirizes the speculation on the classic author’s name: a sneaky visitor tries to sell the editor household trash like burnt matches, half-eaten sugar, and someone else’s restaurant napkin for large sums, masquerading as genuine relics of the playwright. This treatment of the theme is complemented by "The Most Modern Memories of Chekhov," in which the incompetent writer Derevyankin describes how he tormented the ailing Chekhov with visits, smoke, and absurd advice, stalking him in the hayloft, and ten years later published a boastful memoir about their great friendship.

In the satire "The Weeping Willow," the perpetually despondent hypochondriac Zyakin torments an acquaintance with suspicions of hidden hostility. Having driven his host to a rage and rudely thrown him out, he, with masochistic triumph, goes off to complain to his next victim. The section concludes with "The Story of Ninochka Krokhina," where the author’s creative vision is ruined by the telephone chatter of an idle acquaintance and the visit of an idle guest, who discuss the harm of interfering with a writer.

Sweet stories

The study "Seven O’Clock in the Evening" conveys the poignant melancholy of an adult alone in the twilight of a festive day. The sounds of the piano and fragments of phrases outside the window intensify the inner isolation. The unexpected arrival of an enthusiastic admirer, who confuses the plots of the books she’s read, fails to dispel the inner chill, leaving the protagonist alone in the silence of the night.

In the story "Dodi’s Pancakes," a five-year-old boy, driven by an insatiable possessiveness, eagerly awaits the Maslenitsa feast. However, reality defies expectations: the pancakes served are round, greasy, and unsweetened. The child’s bitter tears over the plate mark his first encounter with the imperfections of the world.

The final story, "The Terrible Boy," evokes images of the author’s childhood in Sevastopol. The pugnacious and fearless Vanka the Aptekaryonok, who leaped from cliffs into the sea and terrorized all the boys, was the terror of the streets. In November 1914, the writer visited the wounded in the infirmary and recognized the bearded officer as the grown-up Vanka the Aptekaryonok. The hero had lost an arm at the front during an assault on an enemy battery, but retained his youthful good nature and touching memories of old loves in the courtyard.