According to Nina Lecerf (a character in VN’s novel The Real Life of Sebastian Knight, 1941), the woman who attracted Sebastian is “good as good bread:”
We were silent for quite a long time. Alas, I had no more doubts, though the picture of Sebastian was atrocious – but then, too, I had got it second-hand.
'Yes,' I said, 'I shall see her at all costs. And this for two reasons. Firstly, because I want to ask her a certain question – one question only. And secondly '
'Yes?' said Madame Lecerf sipping her cold tea. 'Secondly?'
'Secondly, I am at a loss to imagine how such a woman could attract my brother; so I want to see her with my own eyes.'
'Do you mean to say,' asked Madame Lecerf, 'that you think she is a dreadful, dangerous woman? Une femme fatale? Because, you know, that's not so. She's good as good bread.' (chapter 16)
In the first stanza of his poem Shestoe chuvstvo (“The Sixth Sense,” 1920) Gumilyov mentions dobryi khleb (the good bread) and zhenshchina, kotoroyu dano, sperva izmuchivshis’, nam nasladit’sya (the woman who at first tortures and then delights us):
Ïðåêðàñíî â íàñ âëþáë¸ííîå âèíî
È äîáðûé õëåá, ÷òî â ïå÷ü äëÿ íàñ ñàäèòñÿ,
È æåíùèíà, êîòîðîþ äàíî,
Ñïåðâà èçìó÷èâøèñü, íàì íàñëàäèòüñÿ.
Fine is the wine enamored of us,
and the good bread baked for our sake,
and the woman who delights us
when she's finished her tweaking games.
(transl. Burton Raffel)
Eventually V. (the narrator in TRLSK, Sebastian’s half-brother) finds out that the woman who played a fatal role in Sebastian’s life was Nina Lecerf (alias Mme de Rechnoy) herself. Her name hints at Nina Zarechnyi, a character in Chekhov’s play Chayka (“The Seagull,” 1896). In his essay on Chekhov, Tvorchestvo iz nichego (“Creation from Nothing,” 1905), Lev Shestov says that one of Chekhov’s most remarkable works is his play “The Seagull:”
Îäíèì èç ñàìûõ õàðàêòåðíûõ äëÿ ×åõîâà, à ïîòîìó è çàìå÷àòåëüíûõ åãî ïðîèçâåäåíèé äîëæíà ñ÷èòàòüñÿ åãî äðàìà “×àéêà”.  íåé ñ íàèáîëüøåé ïîëíîòîé ïîëó÷èëî ñâî¸ âûðàæåíèå èñòèííîå îòíîøåíèå õóäîæíèêà ê æèçíè. (VIII)
According to Shestov, in “The Seagull” the artist’s real attitude to life was expressed most fully. In his essay Shestov points out that in Chekhov’s story Palata ¹ 6 (“Ward No. 6,” 1892) the doctor dies beautifully, in his last minutes he sees a herd of deer, etc.:
È, êàæåòñÿ, “Ïàëàòó ¹ 6” â ñâî¸ âðåìÿ î÷åíü ñî÷óâñòâåííî ïðèíÿëè. Êñòàòè ïðèáàâèì, ÷òî äîêòîð óìèðàåò î÷åíü êðàñèâî: â ïîñëåäíèå ìèíóòû âèäèò ñòàäî îëåíåé è ò. ï. (VI)
The name Lecerf has cerf (Fr., deer) in it.
In a letter of Nov. 25, 1892, to Suvorin Chekhov compares his story “Ward No. 6” to a sweet lemonade that lacks alcohol:
Âû ãîðüêèé ïüÿíèöà, à ÿ óãîñòèë Âàñ ñëàäêèì ëèìîíàäîì, è Âû, îòäàâàÿ äîëæíîå ëèìîíàäó, ñïðàâåäëèâî çàìå÷àåòå, ÷òî â íåì íåò ñïèðòà.  íàøèõ ïðîèçâåäåíèÿõ íåò èìåííî àëêîãîëÿ, êîòîðûé áû ïüÿíèë è ïîðàáîùàë, è ýòî Âû õîðîøî äàåòå ïîíÿòü.
You are a hard drinker, and I have regaled you with sweet lemonade, and you, after giving the lemonade its due, justly observe that there is no spirit in it. That is just what is lacking in our productions—the alcohol which could intoxicate and subjugate, and you state that very well.
In the opening line of Gumilyov’s poem “The Sixth Sense” vino (the wine) is mentioned.
Shestov is the author of Dobro v uchenii gr. Tolstogo i Nitsshe (“The Good in the Teaching of Count Tolstoy and Nietzsche,” 1889) and Dostoevskiy i Nitsshe (“Doestoevski and Nietzsche,” 1902). The latter work is subtitled filosofiya tragedii (“the Philosophy of Tragedy”). The characters of TRLSK include Mr Goodman, the author of The Tragedy of Sebastian Knight. According to V., this book’s title should have been The Farce of Mr Goodman:
Mr Goodman has never been a regular literary agent. He has only bet on books. He does not rightfully belong to that intelligent, honest and hard-working profession. We will leave it at that; but I have not yet done with The Tragedy of Sebastian Knight or rather – The Farce of Mr Goodman. (chapter 7)
In a letter of Sept. 15, 1903, to Maria Alekseev-Lilin (Stanislavski’s wife) Chekhov says that his new play (“The Cherry Orchard,” 1904) is not a drama, but a comedy that sometimes even looks like a farce:
Âûøëà ó ìåíÿ íå äðàìà, à êîìåäèÿ, ìåñòàìè äàæå ôàðñ, è ÿ áîþñü, êàê áû ìíå íå äîñòàëîñü îò Âëàäèìèðà Èâàíîâè÷à.
Chekhov died on July 15, 1904, in Badenweiler (a German spa). His last words were davno ya ne pil shampanskogo (“it’s a long time since I drank champagne”). Btw., July is the sixth month of the year.
Incidentally, in VN’s play Izobretenie Val’sa (“The Waltz Invention,” 1938) the Minister of War mentions prostoy khleb dobrykh sovetov (“the simple bread of good advices”):
Ïîëêîâíèê. Íå ìíå âàì ãîâîðèòü, ÷òî âû íåçàìåíèìû.
Ìèíèñòð. Âìåñòî ìåäîâûõ ïðÿíèêîâ ëåñòè âû áû ëó÷øå êîðìèëè ìåíÿ ïðîñòûì õëåáîì äîáðûõ ñîâåòîâ. Î, ñêîðî îäèííàäöàòü. Êàæåòñÿ, íèêàêèõ äåë áîëüøå íåò... (Act One)
The action in “The Waltz Invention” (a play that sometimes looks like a farce) seems to take place in a dream that Lyubov’ (a character in VN’s play “The Event,” 1938, the wife of the portrait painter Troshcheykin) dreams in the “sleep of death” after committing suicide on her dead son’s fifth birthday (two days after her mother’s fiftieth birthday). The name and patronymic of Lyubov’s mother, Antonina Pavlovna, hints at Chekhov, and the name and patronymic of her husband, Aleksey Maksimovich, hints at Gorky. In a letter of Nov. 25, 1892, to Suvorin Chekhov calls his correspondent and editor gor’kiy p’yanitsa (“a hard drinker”).
Alexey Sklyarenko