Chekhov's Early Writings

I decided to dig up some stuff on Chekhov’s early short stories. Interestingly enough, I found a story called the Reed Pipe that bears an uncanny resemblance to Konstantin’s play in Act I of The Seagull. Before I get into that, here is some stuff I learned about Chekhov the short story writer:
• many of his early stories are highly absurdist, decidedly comical
• he satirizes the Tsarist bureaucracy in numerous stories
• not really concerned with the underdog but moreso with the absurdity of human behavior
In The Reed Pipe (1887) the bailiff of a farm is wandering through the woods and comes across an old shepherd who talks to him about nature. The language is so similar to the text that Nina performs that I could not help but wonder whether Chekhove was making fun of himself, or using this earlier work as a template for Konstantin’s unsuccessful play. Here are some direct quotes:
• “Cows, sheep, and hobbled horses were wandering among the bushes and snuffing the grass in the wood, crackling branches underfoot,” (163).
• Later, the shepherd says, “ ‘Twenty odd years back, I remember there were geese here, cranes, duck and black grouse—it was teeming with them! The gents would go out hunting and all you’d hear was “Bang-bang! Bang-bang!...Eagles, falcons, the big eagle owls—they’ve all gone…” (164).
• “[The bailiff] stared before him in a reverie. He was trying to think of a single area of nature that had not yet been touched by the all-consuming disaster…the rising sun was trying to break through the clouds and catch a glimpse of the earth,” (166).
• “One could sense the proximity of that cheerless time which nothing can avert, when the fields become dark and the earth is muddy and chill; when the weeping willow seems to be sadder than ever and the tears trickle down her trunk; when only the cranes can flee from the all-pervading disaster and even they, as though afraid of offending morose nature by declaring their happiness, fill the skies with mournful, melancholy song,” (169).
• “[The bailiff] felt full of the bitterness and the disorder manifest in nature,” (169).
Wow! Konstantin’s “People, lions, eagles, and partridges…” seems to be a parody of Chekhov’s own work!
Chekhov, Anton. Chekhov: The Early Stories, 1883-1888. Trans. Patrick Miles and
Harvey Pitcher. New York, NY: MacMillan Co., 1982.

--Alborz