The short story "Vanka", originally published in 1887 as a Christmas tale in the Peterburgskaya Gazeta, is quintessential Chekhov. Anton Chekhov, Russian short story writer and playwright, was a master of humorous but almost dark tales of mundane and often anti-climactic Russian life in the 19th century. "Vanka" is the story of a young shoemaker’s apprentice, who writes a letter in secret to his only living relative, his grandfather with a desperate plea to save him from the miserable life he lives with the shoemaker. All of Chekov’s trademark techniques are found in this short tale, including potent, bitter-sweet ending.