# Anisim Tsybukin — Short Fiction character guide

> Anisim Tsybukin in Short Fiction by Anton Chekhov.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Anisim, Tsybukin, old Tsybukin

**First appearance:** 0351-in-the-ravine

## Snapshot

A former lackey turned village shopkeeper whose respectable life is shadowed by his estranged daughter Mashutka, an actress he cannot forgive or forget.

## Who they are

Anisim clawed his way from servant to shopkeeper, and his daughter Mashutka once hung on his Bible stories with wide blue eyes. Years later she returned from Moscow as a smoking, clever-tongued actress, and the two spent a fortnight in silence, unable to bridge the gulf between his shame and her freedom. His inability to reconcile love with respectability makes him a quiet study in the cost of provincial pride.

## In the story

### [Peasant Wives](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_5_se/chapters/peasant-wives)

Referred to as Dyudya, the innkeeper who listens to Matvey's story.

### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_5_se/chapters/viii)

Panaurov is the father of Sasha and Lida, living separately with another wife and children; he returns home after being summoned.

### [Chapter XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_5_se/chapters/xvi)

Referred to as old Fyodor Stepanovitch; blind and lonely, boasts about his health, refuses to bless his grandchildren, but is touched by Yulia's sincerity.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_5_se/chapters/iv)

Not present in this chapter.

### [Peasants](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_5_se/chapters/peasants)

A peasant involved in the family's struggles.

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_5_se/chapters/i)

Nikolay's brother Kiryak; a drunken, abusive peasant who beats his wife Marya and terrorizes the household.

### [In the Ravine](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_5_se/chapters/in-the-ravine)

The old patriarch of the Tsybukin family, a wealthy but morally compromised merchant.

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_5_se/chapters/i)

Elder son of Grigory Petrovitch Tsybukin, works in the police detective department and is rarely at home.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_5_se/chapters/ii)

The elder son, rarely home, returns unexpectedly; agrees to marry Lipa at his family's insistence, showing indifference.

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_5_se/chapters/iii)

The groom, arrives before the wedding with new clothes and coins, boasts about his friend Samorodov and his detective abilities.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_5_se/chapters/iv)

Anisim bids farewell to Varvara, confesses his atheism and lack of conscience in people, and hints at dangerous dealings with Samorodov.

### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_5_se/chapters/v)

Mentioned as the source of the counterfeit roubles given as a wedding present.

### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_5_se/chapters/vi)

Anisim is sentenced to six years' penal servitude in Siberia for counterfeiting, casting a shadow over the family.

### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_5_se/chapters/vii)

Referred to as 'the convict' whose wife is the target of Aksinya's jealousy.

### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_5_se/chapters/ix)

Sends a letter from prison written in verse, with a desperate plea for help due to illness and wretchedness.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_5_se/characters/anisim_tsybukin
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_5_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_5_se/characters