The House with the Mezzanine and Other Stories

The House with the Mezzanine and Other Stories lists in its contents The House With The Mezzanine, Typhus, Gooseberries, In Exile, The Lady With The Toy Dog, Goussiev and My Life. A narrator says that nigh on seven years ago he was living on the estate of Bielokurov, a landowner. A passage says Genya thought that the narrator, as an artist, knew a great deal and could guess what he did not know.

A speaker says a man must think himself higher than lions, tigers, stars, higher than anything in nature, since otherwise he is not a man, but a mouse which is afraid of everything. The text says a man was called Radish in the town, that people said it was his real name, and that no sooner did he hear a play was in hand than he gave up all his work and went to the Azhoguins' to paint scenery. A narrator talking about Masha asks his sister when she thinks Masha will return, and the sister answers that she thinks Masha will be back at Christmas.