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  • The story takes place on a ship and involves the priest spying on the newlyweds couple in their cabin.

Can't remember the title though. (It was re-published in one of his short story collections in English.)

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    I found "Ariadne", a shortish story about a man on a ship talking to his cabin mate about his relationship with a woman. Doesn't quite match your description, but has some common elements. I guess there's no chance you misremembered that badly?
    – Rand al'Thor
    Dec 12, 2018 at 7:47
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    Also "Gusev", about a priest on a ship but no married couple.
    – Rand al'Thor
    Dec 12, 2018 at 7:49
  • @Randal'Thor I recall discussing it in a class I took on Chekhov's stories. (The man wrote a lot of them! Even the most extensive online lists I am not sure are complete. If I do come across it, I'll either self-answer or delete the question.)
    – DukeZhou
    Dec 12, 2018 at 16:50

1 Answer 1

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This looks like В море ("On the sea"):

  • There is a newlyweds' cabin on the ship in the sea
  • The sailors have made two holes in the cabin walls to spy on the newlyweds for their own amusement
  • The cabin is occupied by a newlywed Protestant priest and his wife, the sailors (a father and his son) are spying on them.
  • They witness the pastor (who is apparently in need of money) convincing his young wife to prostitute herself to a rich English banker, to which she finally agrees. The pastor and his wife speak a language the sailors don't understand, so it's not clear what is the pastor convincing his wife of till the end of the story.
  • When the sailors realize what's happening, the father stops watching in disgust and orders his son to do the same

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