The Cattle-Dealers
The Cattle-Dealers (also called The Cold Blood) is an 1887 short story by Anton Chekhov. It grew from Chekhov’s spring journey to the Russian South, during which he noted a railway dispute and a real-life tale about a Taganrog merchant trying to sell cattle in Moscow.
In the story, an old man named Malakhin travels with his son Yasha by freight train to Saint Petersburg to sell his cattle. Along the way, officials and railway workers seek bribes to move the train and provide services. Malakhin keeps paying, sometimes for little or nothing, and becomes increasingly desperate. Four days later, after bribing his way to the capital, he reaches Moscow almost penniless but finally sells his cattle. Although the mission is completed, he has lost much of his money.
The Cattle-Dealers is part of Chekhov’s Taganrog cycle and reflects a background anecdote about a merchant and railway officials. It was first published in Novoye Vremya in late October/early November 1887 and later included in the 1890 collection Gloomy People, with continued reissues. It appeared in Chekhov’s Collected Works (1899–1901).
Critical reception has been mixed. Some reviewers saw it as Gogol-inspired and a sharp look at Russian character, while others found the central focus unclear or the piece shallow. Lev Tolstoy is said to have admired the story. Critics noted the tale’s portrayal of a patient, passive merchant and the pervasive, ordinary corruption that surrounds him.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 18:48 (CET).