person
Dr. Shcherbak
Shcherbak
also: Щербак, доктор Щербак, д-р Щербак, А. В. Щербак
A doctor who traveled with Chekhov on the return sea voyage from Sakhalin, joining him in the shipboard verdict to have sick cattle killed and thrown overboard, and discussed at length with Chekhov the writer Maslov (Bezhetsky). Chekhov later (17 December 1890) describes formally "making the acquaintance of" Shcherbak and calls him remarkable -- an apparent friendship deepening after this letter's shipboard contact, or Chekhov's loose, retrospective use of "acquaintance" for a relationship that had already begun at sea.
Reading notes
- To A. S. Suvorin, 30 August 1891. Bogimovo. §8 A. V. Shcherbak has written to me that he'd like to
publish with you a book with illustrations
Dr. A. V. Shcherbak is the doctor who traveled with Chekhov on the return sea voyage from Sakhalin in December 1890 (see, \S5, and, \S13, where Chekhov reports discussing the writer Maslov with him at length); nine months later, their shipboard acquaintance has developed into enough of a friendship that Chekhov is willing to lobby Suvorin on Shcherbak's behalf for a book deal covering his feuilletons and his own illustrations. "'Petersburg' will soon be in Vladivostok" (vessel:petersburg-steamer) refers to the same class of Far Eastern mail steamer that had carried Chekhov and Shcherbak home together; Shcherbak is evidently now stationed or traveling near Vladivostok, and Chekhov proposes to reach him by telegram once Suvorin answers, timed to catch the ship's arrival there.
- To A. S. Suvorin, 9 December 1890. Moscow. §5 Заболел у нас рогатый скот. По приговору доктора Щербака и Вашего покорнейшего слуги, скот убили и бросили в море.
Shipboard cattle carried live for food were a normal feature of long steamer voyages in this period; when the animals sickened (likely from the same rough seas that nearly capsized the ship), the ship's medical authority -- Dr. Shcherbak, evidently traveling on the same vessel -- and Chekhov himself ("your most humble servant," a mock-formal self-reference) rendered the practical verdict to have them killed and disposed of overboard rather than risk contagion or spoiled meat aboard.
- To A. S. Suvorin, 9 December 1890. Moscow. §14 говорить со Щербаком
The same Dr. Shcherbak of \S5 (the shipboard cattle verdict), now credited with frequent conversation about Maslov during the voyage. Notably, in the later letter (17 December 1890, eight days after this one), Chekhov writes "Познакомился с д-ром Щербаком" ("I've made the acquaintance of Dr. Shcherbak. In my opinion he's a remarkable man... I've become almost close friends with him") -- phrasing that, taken literally, describes a first acquaintance happening after this letter, even though Shcherbak already appears here as an established shipboard companion. Likely explanations: Chekhov's "познакомился" is being used loosely for a friendship that deepened into real closeness only after they were both back in European Russia (the two would have parted ways at some point during the long return voyage or on arrival), or the earlier shipboard contact was functional (a fellow passenger and doctor consulted about the cattle) rather than a personal acquaintance in the fuller sense Chekhov means by 17 December. The corpus preserves both letters as written rather than harmonizing the apparent inconsistency.
- To the Chekhovs, 1891. Florence. §5 Go and see Dr. Shcherbak
Dr. A. V. Shcherbak, the physician who traveled with Chekhov on the return voyage from Sakhalin and became a close acquaintance. Chekhov relays word to him via Pavlovsky, a third party still on the island -- implying Shcherbak himself may also still be reachable there or nearby, or that Pavlovsky is simply the household's known point of contact for reaching him. The errand's content is not explained; only the instruction survives.