If you are Chekov's father what do you do if you find a Rat in the family barrel.

Chekhov’s father,  Pavel was a grocer, but he failed at everything he touched except religious devotion. 

In between flogging his children – he was exceptionally cruel – he became kapelmeister of the cathedral choir, where his love of the liturgy made services interminable. 

In church, ‘Pavel never compromised over his favourite quality, splendour.’ He was horribly pious. 

Rayfield tells the story of Pavel finding a rat in a barrel of olive oil in his shop. ‘He was too honest to say nothing, too mean to pour the oil away, too lazy to boil and re-filter it. He chose consecration as the Religious way out,