The Crocodile

Ivan Matievich visits the arcade of Saint Petersburg with his wife, Yelena Ivanovna, and his friend and colleague Semyon Semyonovich, who also serves as the story’s narrator. There, while observing a crocodile—an exotic attraction in the daily life of Russia—Ivan Matievich boasts and taunts the animal for its sluggishness. He even goes so far as to pry open the crocodile’s jaws and step inside. The animal swallows him whole, and to the great surprise of the narrator, Semyon, his friend survives comfortably in the crocodile’s elastic stomach. The German owner of the exotic animal refuses to cut the creature open and demands outrageous things in exchange for releasing him. A bizarre cycle of events and reactions unfolds in response to Semyon Semyonovich’s efforts to free his friend from the crocodile and find a solution to this unnatural occurrence. However, no solution for the hero’s liberation emerges. Ivan Matievich continues his new daily life inside the crocodile, with Semyon Semyonovich now also acting as a secretary for his trapped friend.