Who is happier: Semyon or Vasily?

          In Anton Chekhov's "In Exile," there is a prominent message that the primary character, Semyon, is pushing toward the others: "...if you want to be happy, the very first thing is to not want anything.(pg. 77).  This is a philosophy that he lives by, and also what gives him his nickname, Preacher.   His lifestyle is the perfect way to live out life in exile.  While he may be rude and mocking in his behavior, Semyon is definitely happier, or at least more stable, than Vasily.

          Vasily spends his time in exile swaying up and down (emotionally).  Yes, he has the companionship of his wife and daughter to begin with, giving him true happiness in exile, but his wife soon leaves him, presumably sending him into sadness.  Later, he gains joy from his daughter, but she becomes diseased, potentially fatally, and this, presumably, sends him into sadness.  After his daughter's sickness is diagnosed, he spends his days going from place to place, travelling long distances finding doctors so that his daughter can be healed.  But after a long (undefined in the story) time, he is still searching to no avail, his daughter's condition worsening.  He is chasing after a happiness that has not come to him, seeking something that could be impossible.  He has the companionship of his daughter, but he has spent exorbitant amounts of money to try to cure her, sending for and going to doctor after doctor, while she deteriorates.  

          During the story, Vasily changes behaviorally.  Toward the beginning (when his wife first arrives), he is described as "...panting with joy." (pg. 77).  At the end (while he is going to fetch yet another doctor), he "...stood motionless all the way back, his thick lips tightly compressed, his eyes fixed on one spot." (pg. 83).  It is safe to assume that, at this point, he is feeling no joy, he is only searching for it.

          Semyon, on the other hand, is completely consistent in his mocking tone throughout the entirety of the work.  He has nothing, wants nothing, and condemns those who do want things.  He may be doing this because of his own criminal past, it may be because he has seen the emotional flip-flopping in the life of Vasily and perhaps others before him (he is an old man and it is never said how long he has been in exile).  Either way, Semyon seems completely content in his lifestyle (if not for a touch bitter), and his emotional state is most certainly stable, even if that stability does not lie in joy.