The Carriage (or "The Coach" in some translations) is a short story by Nikolai Gogol

Nikolai Gogol

Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol was a Ukrainian-born Russian dramatist and novelist.Considered by his contemporaries one of the preeminent figures of the natural school of Russian literary realism, later critics have found in Gogol's work a fundamentally romantic sensibility, with strains of Surrealism...

, one of his shortest works. After reading it, Anton Chekhov

Anton Chekhov

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...

 wrote to Alexei Suvorin, "What an artist he is! His 'Carriage' alone is worth two hundred thousand rubles. Sheer delight, nothing less."

Plot summary

The story opens in the town of B., where things used to be drab, depressing and boring until a cavalry regiment moved into the area. Once this occurs the area becomes lively and full of color, with local landowners coming into town frequently to meet up with officers and have various gatherings and parties. One of the landowners, Pythagoras Chertokutsky, is at a party at the general's house. He mentions he has a splendid coach that he paid around four-thousand rubles for, and the men wish to see it someday, so he invites them to dinner on the following day. During the party, he gets caught up in playing cards and forgets the time, getting home around four in the morning. Because of this, he forgets to tell his wife about the party and is roused from sleep when his wife sees some carriages approaching their house. He at once remembers the party, but has his servants tell everyone that he is gone for the day, hiding in the coach. The general and his friends are upset at his absence, but decide to see the coach anyway and go to the carriage house to see it. They aren’t impressed with the coach and look at it thoroughly, wondering if maybe there is something special hidden inside. They open the apron inside the coach and find Chertokutsky hiding therein. The general simply exclaims "Ah, you are here," slams the door and covers him up again with the apron.