What metaphors are used in The Darling by Anton Chekhov?

When Smirnin, the surgeon, reappears with his son, Olenka's empty courtyard, which serves as a metaphor for her soul, is filled with dust: "On a hot July day, toward the evening, when the town herd of cattle was being driven along the street and the whole yard was filled [napolnilsia] with dust clouds, someone suddenly knocked at the gate."