''Reception'' () is a one-act comedy by

Maxim Gorky Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (; ), was a Russian and Soviet writer and proponent of socialism. He was nominated five times for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Before his success as an aut ...

.Commentaries to Дети
Collected Works by A.M. Gorky, vol. 12 // На базе Собрания сочинений в 30-ти томах. ГИХЛ, 1949-1956. ТОМ 6 It was first published in 1910, in ''Sovremenny Mir'' under its original title. Simultaneously it came out as a separate edition under the title ''Children'' (), via the

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

-based Ladyzhnikov Publishers. Gorky mentioned it in his 20 November 1910 letter to

Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky Mykhailo Mykhailovych Kotsiubynsky (; 17 September 1864 – 25 April 1913) was a Ukrainian author whose writings described typical Ukrainian life at the start of the 20th century. Kotsiubynsky's early stories were described as examples of an e ...

: "I send you my ''Reception'', perhaps it will make you smile," he wrote from

Capri Capri ( , ; ) is an island located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrento Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples in the Campania region of Italy. A popular resort destination since the time of the Roman Republic, its natural beauty ...

Characters

* Prince Svir-Mokshanski, of uncertain age, balding and frailAs described by Gorky * Bubenhof, solid and behaves like a conqueror *Mokey Zobnin, of around fifty, shifty, perky and prone to fantasizing * Ivan Kichkin, old, fat and unhealthy * Pyotr Tipunov, soft-spoken and peace-loving * Kostya Zryakhov, a plump young man, speaks condescendingly and with unexpectedly long vowels * Yevstigneyka, a disheveled character with eyes of a lunatic * Tatyana Zobnina, a widow, stout and moving lazily * Marya Viktorovna, a perky and lively girl * Drunken passenger, Old woman with a petition, the Station master, Bykov the janitor, the Gendarme, the Telegraph man

Synopsis

Two rival families of the local merchants grudgingly unite to buy a huge plot of land from a local aristocrat, with a view to build a timber factory. The reception at the railway station astounds the Prince (who arrives with a German companion). He is delighted with the way how the people here admire him and are such pure and nice creatures, 'like children'. Some other locals (including a perpetuum mobile inventor) join the party with their pleas and complaints. The celebration turns sour when it transpires that the land has just been sold, to the German man.

References

External links

Дети
The original Russian text 1910 plays Russian plays Plays by Maxim Gorky {{1910s-play-stub