the freedom of his family for 3,500 roubles, being at the rate of 700
roubles a soul, with one daughter, Alexandra, thrown in for nothing.  The
grandson of this serf was Anton Chekhov, the author; the son of the
nobleman was Tchertkov, the Tolstoyan and friend of Tolstoy. 

There is in this nothing striking to a Russian, but to the English student
it is sufficiently significant for several reasons.  It illustrates how
recent a growth was the educated middle-class in pre-revolutionary Russia,
and it shows, what is perhaps more significant, the homogeneity of the
Russian people, and their capacity for completely changing their whole way
of life. 

Chekhov's father started life as a slave, but the son of this slave was
even more sensitive to the Arts, more innately civilized and in love with
the things of the mind than the son of the slaveowner.  Chekhov's father,
Pavel Yegorovitch, had a passion for music and singing; while he was still
a serf boy he learned to read music at sight and to play the violin.  A few
years after his freedom had been purchased he settled at Taganrog, a town
on the Sea of Azov, where he afterwards opened a "Colonial Stores."