{"id":114732,"date":"2017-09-01T11:01:53","date_gmt":"2017-09-01T15:01:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=114732"},"modified":"2017-08-31T13:47:26","modified_gmt":"2017-08-31T17:47:26","slug":"whats-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2017\/09\/01\/whats-better\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s Better?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a>

A textile design by Varvara Stepanova, 1924.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

(The Idle Meditations of Shtyck-Junker Krokodilov)<\/p>\n

Both adults and children may go to pubs, but only children can go to school.<\/p>\n

Alcohol relaxes the metabolism, aids fat deposits, gladdens a man\u2019s heart. School isn\u2019t capable of all that. Lomonosov said: \u201cScience nourishes youth, glee to elders grants.\u201d\u00a0But Vladimir the Great often said: \u201cDrinking is the joy of Rus.\u201d Which of the two to believe? Surely the older one.<\/p>\n

Tax revenues certainly don\u2019t come from schools.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The uses of enlightenment haven\u2019t been established, but the harm it brings is clear.<\/p>\n

Rousing the appetite calls not for a diploma but for a shot of vodka.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a pub everyplace, but schools are far from everywhere.<\/p>\n

All this is sufficient to conclude: pubs shouldn\u2019t be abolished, but schools merit reconsideration.<\/p>\n

Literacy can\u2019t be altogether dismissed. Such dismissal would be madness. A man ought to be able to read: PUBLIC HOUSE<\/small>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Translated from the Russian by Elina\u00a0Alter.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Alter is a writer and translator in New York. Look for her translations of Chekhov sketches each day this week on the<\/i>\u00a0Daily.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chekhov considers the merits of alcohol and school. And draws humorous correlations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1233,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[419],"tags":[7493,4738,1803,1328,10489,219,30364,5799,9909],"class_list":["post-114732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arts-culture","tag-alcohol","tag-anton-chekhov","tag-bars","tag-drinking","tag-pubs","tag-school","tag-tax-revenues","tag-vodka","tag-youth"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nChekhov On: What\u2019s Better?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Chekhov considers the merits of alcohol and school, and draws humorous correlations.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2017\/09\/01\/whats-better\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What\u2019s Better? by Anton Chekhov\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"September 1, 2017 \u2013 Chekhov considers the merits of alcohol and school. 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