THE SAP

The other day I asked the governess of my children, Julia Vassilyevna, to come to my office. I wanted to settle up. 
“Will you please have a seat, Julia Vassilyevna?” I said to her. “Let’s settle. For sure, you need money, but you are so conservative that you never ask… Well… You and I agreed on thirty rubles per month…” 
“On forty…” 
“No, you are wrong, on thirty… I have it written down… I always pay only thirty to governesses. Well, you have lived here two months…” 
“Two months and five days…” 
“Two months exactly. That is what I have written down. So I owe you sixty rubles… Deduct nine Sundays… you were not teaching Kolya on Sundays, you only took time off… and also three holidays…”
Julia Vassilyevna blushed and plucked at the trim of her dress, but… didn’t say a word! 
“Three holidays… So we should deduct twelve rubles… Kolya was sick for four days and you did not have classes… You had classes only with Varya… You had a toothache for three days and because of that my wife gave you free time after dinner… Twelve and seven makes nineteen. Well, after deductions, forty-one rubles remain… Is this right?” 
One of Julia’s eyes became red and filled with tears. Her chin began trembling. She nervously coughed and blew her nose – but again, not a word!
“At New Year’s Eve you broke a tea-cup and saucer. So we would deduct two rubles. The cup was more expensive, and it was in our family for a long time but I don’t care! You win some and you lose some! Then Kolya climbed a tree and tore his coat, and it was completely your fault… off with another ten rubles… It was also your fault that the maid stole Varya’s shoes. You should have been more careful. You get your salary. So off with another five… January 10th you borrowed ten rubles from me.”
“I did not,” whispered Julia Vassilyevna. 
“But I have it written down!” 
“Well, if you say so…” 
“We should deduct twenty-seven from forty-one – it leaves fourteen…” 
Both of her eyes filled with tears… Sweat appeared on her long pretty nose. Poor girl! 
“I borrowed money only once,” she said in a trembling voice. “I borrowed only three rubles from your wife… I did not take anymore…” 
“Did you? But I don’t have it written down! Subtract three from fourteen, it leaves eleven… Here is your money, sweetheart! Three… three… three… one and one… Here!” 
And I gave her eleven rubles… She took them with trembling fingers and put them into her pocket.
 “Merci,” she whispered. 
I jumped and started walking around the room. I was outraged. 
“What are you thanking me for?” I asked. 
“For money…” 
“But, God damn it, I cheated and robbed you! I stole your money! Why are you thanking me?” 
“In other places they did not pay me at all…” 
“Didn’t they? That’s good! I made fun of you; I gave you an evil lesson… I will give you all your eighty rubles! Here they are in the envelope! Do you have to be so sappy? Why aren’t you protesting? Why are you silent? Where are your teeth? Is it possible to be such a sap?” 
She smiled weakly and I saw on her face: “It is possible!” 
I asked her to accept my apology for the evil lesson and gave her, to her great astonishment, all eighty. She shyly thanked me and left… I looked after her and thought: it is so easy to be strong in this world!

Источник: Е.В. Полищук, Е.В. Суровцева. Чехов / Chekhov. Рассказы А.П. Чехова по-русски и по-английски с комментариями. 2-е изд., испр. – М.: Р.Валент, 2015. 94 с. ISBN 978-5-93439-501-9