Anton Chekhov's story of a boy, a secret letter, and an address that cannot be found.
Want the fuller version? Read this story at B2/C1 level →
Ten words open the story. Do the four short activities. Say your answer out loud before you reveal it.
Three words: envelope · address · postbox. Say the right word for each meaning, then reveal.
Read each part. Then answer the quick questions from memory, and talk about the discussion question.
Vanka is nine years old. He has no mother and no father — only his grandfather, who lives far away in a small village. Three months ago, Vanka was sent to the big city of Moscow. Now he lives and works in the house of a shoemaker. The shoemaker is his master, and Vanka is learning to make shoes.
It is Christmas Eve. The master, his wife and the workers go to church at night. Vanka does not go to bed. This is his chance! He takes some ink and an old pen from the master's cupboard. He puts a piece of paper on the table. He looks at the door. He looks at the windows. Nobody is coming. He starts to write — in secret.
"Dear Grandfather," he writes. "Happy Christmas. I have no father and no mother. You are the only person I have." And while he writes, he remembers his grandfather: a small, funny old man of sixty-five who works as a night watchman in the village. Every night, grandfather walks around the big house with his two dogs and keeps it safe. Vanka remembers the village at Christmas: the white snow, the bright stars, the cold, clean air.
1. Who is Vanka, and where does he live now?
2. Why is Christmas Eve his chance to write?
1. A nine-year-old boy with no parents. He lives in Moscow, in the house of a shoemaker — his master — and is learning to make shoes.
2. Everyone has gone to church, so the house is empty. He can write his letter in secret.
Vanka writes about his life in the city. "Dear Grandfather, my life here is very bad. Yesterday the master hit me because I fell asleep next to the baby. The master's wife is unkind too. The workers laugh at me and play tricks on me. I am always hungry. In the morning they give me bread. For lunch they give me porridge. In the evening — bread again. I sleep in the corridor, and when the baby cries at night, I cannot sleep at all. I have to rock the baby."
"Dear Grandfather, please come and take me home to the village. I cannot live here any more. I will do everything for you. I will make your tobacco. I will pray for you. When I am big, I will take care of you. Please come. I am so unhappy, and I cry every day. Your grandson, Ivan Zhukov. Dear Grandfather, please come."
He also remembers the good times: walking in the winter forest with grandfather to cut the Christmas tree, and the kind young lady in the big house who taught him to read and write when his mother was alive. Then his mother died. And little Vanka was sent away — first to the kitchen, and then to Moscow.
1. Name three bad things about Vanka's life in the city.
2. What does Vanka promise his grandfather?
1. Any three: the master hits him; the master's wife is unkind; the workers laugh at him; he is always hungry; he sleeps in the corridor; he has to rock the baby at night.
2. He will make grandfather's tobacco, pray for him, and take care of him when he is big — if grandfather takes him home.
Vanka folds the letter and puts it into an envelope. Now — the address. He thinks for a moment. Then he writes on the envelope:
To grandfather, in the village.
He thinks again, and adds: "Konstantin Makarych" — his grandfather's name. That is all. No village name. No street. Vanka does not know that a letter needs more. Nobody has ever taught him.
He puts on his cap and runs out into the cold street in his shirt. He runs to the postbox and pushes the letter in. The letter is gone. An hour later, Vanka is asleep, full of hope. He dreams of the village. He dreams of a warm stove. On the stove sits his grandfather, reading the letter. And next to the stove, the black dog wags his tail.
1. What address does Vanka write? What is the problem with it?
2. How does the story end?
1. "To grandfather, in the village — Konstantin Makarych." There is no village name and no street — the post office can never find grandfather. The letter will never arrive.
2. Vanka posts the letter, falls asleep full of hope, and dreams of his grandfather reading the letter on the warm stove.
Vanka's letter describes his everyday life: "The master hits me. They give me bread. The baby cries." For habits and routines — things that happen every day — English uses the present simple.
Write the present simple of the verb in brackets. Careful with he/she/it!
1. Vanka (live) in the master's house in Moscow.
2. In the morning they (give) him only bread.
3. At night the baby (cry), and Vanka has to rock it.
1. lives (he → -s) 2. give (they → no -s) 3. cries (cry → cries)
Make these sentences negative with don't or doesn't.
1. The master is unkind. He (not / help) Vanka.
2. The workers (not / like) the new boy.
3. Vanka (not / know) how to write an address.
1. doesn't help 2. don't like 3. doesn't know
After don't / doesn't, the verb has no -s: "he doesn't help" (not "doesn't helps").
Write the present simple of each verb in brackets. Then read the paragraph aloud.
Every night, grandfather (work) as a watchman. He (walk) around the big house with his two dogs. In the day he (sleep) in the kitchen. The dogs (go) everywhere with him.
works · walks · sleeps · go
Grandfather = he → -s. The dogs = they → no -s.
Keep the present simple ready — in the Speak tab you'll describe Vanka's daily life, and your own.
Anton Chekhov wrote this story in 1886. He was a doctor as well as a writer, and he knew that many real children in Russia lived like Vanka. The story is short, but people all over the world still read it — and still argue about the ending.
This is the heart of the lesson — do all of it out loud. Use the timer, and fill the time with detail.
Tell the story of Vanka in your own words: the boy in Moscow → the secret letter on Christmas Eve → his hard life → "please come, Grandfather" → the address → the postbox → the dream.
Describe his daily life in the present simple (he works, they give him bread, the baby cries) and use at least four key words (grandfather, master, secret, envelope, address, postbox, hungry, dream).
Talk about these questions: Is the ending happy or sad for you? What do you think happens to Vanka after this night? What would you like to say to the master — or to the grandfather?
Vanka's letter describes his everyday life. Now describe everyday life yourself — in the present simple.
Need an idea? Choose one: