character
N.O. (invented, pismo-3-734)
N.O. (invented)
also: Н. О., our venerable poet N.O.
A fictional 'venerable poet' invented by Chekhov as the butt of a mock-official notice nested inside a real comic letter to Dr. Obolonsky: the undersigned (Chekhov, in a parody-bureaucratic voice) formally notifies this made-up 'N.O.' that his verses insulting Chekhov and his family will be printed in the Picturesque Review. The initials coincide with the real, unidentified young poet 'N. O.' from, but per the translator's note the two are explicitly NOT the same figure: this one is an invented target within a single letter's internal joke, not a reference to any real correspondent, and must not be conflated or merged with.
Reading notes
- To N. N. Obolonsky, December 1889. Moscow. §2 our venerable poet N.O.
This letter is a single real note to Dr. N. N. Obolonsky (see the title/headnote) that NESTS an invented mock-official notice inside itself; it is not two documents stitched together. Within that invented notice, "N.O." is a fictional target Chekhov makes up on the spot to be the butt of the joke -- a supposed "venerable poet" whose verses insult Chekhov and his family. This "N.O." is a distinct, invented figure and must NOT be linked or conflated with the real, historical "N. O." -- the young poet whose actual poems Chekhov forwarded to Pleshcheyev in the earlier letter. The initials coincide by design (part of the joke's parody-official flavor) but the referents do not:'s N.O. is a real acquaintance being helped;'s N.O. is a fictional stand-in being mocked. The addressee Obolonsky's own initials (N. N.) also do not match "N.O.," reinforcing that the internal addressee is not Obolonsky either -- he is simply the real-world recipient of this whole comic bagatelle.