person
Cherskii
also: Черский, Cherskii, Chikh, Чих
A self-described "mysterious stranger" who called on Chekhov asking for train fare to Petersburg, claimed to write for Oskolki under the pseudonym "Chikh," and said Bilibin owed him money; Chekhov gave him nine rubles and left an enclosed letter as security, but hedges the whole account with "if he is not lying." Not otherwise attested in this corpus or cross-referenced with any known Oskolki contributor; per the translator's flag, no identity should be inferred beyond what this letter states, and the pseudonym "Chikh" is recorded as this figure's own unverified claim rather than a confirmed byline.
Reading notes
- To V. V. Bilibin, 22 February 1892. Moscow. §6 Just now a certain Cherskii was here, a mysterious stranger
Cherskii is introduced by Chekhov himself as a "mysterious stranger" (\foreignlanguage{russian}{таинственный незнакомец}), and the whole anecdote is hedged by Chekhov's own closing proviso, "if he is not lying" (\foreignlanguage{russian}{Если он не врет}). He is not otherwise attested in this corpus or identifiable against any known Oskolki contributor of the period; his claimed pseudonym, "Chikh" (\foreignlanguage{russian}{Чих}, literally "sneeze"), is recorded here as his own unverified self-description, not a confirmed byline. No identity beyond what this letter states should be inferred for either name.