Small Fry is not a great story. A lowly civil servant has to work on Easter eve while the rest of the town is out celebrating and feels awful about it. The clerk is self-centered with low self-esteem and at no point does he even think about the porter who is on duty with him and missing the festivities too.    Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) was a Russian writer and playwright, considered by many to be one of the best writers of short stories in the history of literature. Chekhov was also a successful physician, but writing was his true passion. He was quoted as saying "Medicine is my lawful wife and literature is my mistress."