# Lipa — Short Fiction character guide

> Lipa in Short Fiction by Anton Chekhov.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Only Lipa

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

## Snapshot

A young peasant woman whose gentle, trusting nature and devotion to her family are tested by the brutal hardships of village life.

## Who they are

Lipa walks the roads with her mother Praskovya, bowing low to old Tsybukin and offering him a piece of turnover from their bundle. She is pregnant, tired, and full of a simple faith that the world will provide. Her tenderness and vulnerability make her the emotional center of a story about how little the poor can protect what they love.

## In the story

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

Referred to as Mashenka, the young wife who had an affair with Matvey while her husband Vasya was away.

### [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 woman enduring hardship and loss.

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

Marya, the daughter-in-law; present in the barn with Olga, and later weeps during Sasha's reading.

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

A poor, gentle woman from the village who marries into the Tsybukin family and endures great suffering.

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

A poor, beautiful young girl from Torguevo; chosen as Anisim's bride; described as childlike, shy, and trusting.

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

The bride, sits silently during the feast, still as if turned to stone.

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

Lipa stands silently at first, but after Anisim leaves, she transforms into a cheerful, singing figure scrubbing stairs barefoot.

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

Returns from the fair with her mother, feels out of place in her wealthy marriage, and confides her unhappiness to Praskovya.

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

Lipa cares for her baby Nikifor, speaking to him lovingly and dreaming of them working together as peasants.

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

Washing clothes in the kitchen when Aksinya attacks, and is the mother of Nikifor.

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

Grieving mother who carries her dead baby home from the hospital, then is driven away by Aksinya.

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

Shows compassion to old Tsybukin, bowing to him and offering him a piece of turnover; she sings joyfully after work.

## Links

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