To M. M. Dyukovsky, 16 January 1886. Moscow.

1 A short, playful note from Chekhov to Mikhail Mikhailovich Dyukovsky, written in Moscow on 16 January 1886, on the eve of Chekhov’s name day (St. Anthony’s day, his patron feast). Chekhov invites Dyukovsky to the name-day celebration and asks to borrow an assortment of household items — cutlery, teaspoons, glasses, plates, and even a cast-iron stove — for the party, promising everything will be returned undamaged.

2 The letter is a small comic set piece typical of Chekhov’s private correspondence from this period: mock-official language ("promoted to the rank of name-day celebrant"), an absurd claim of poverty ("my wife’s a widow and the children are orphans" — Chekhov was unmarried at the time), and an itemized borrowing list treated with exaggerated formality. It offers a glimpse of the young Chekhov’s domestic circle and his taste for comic self-deprecation in everyday correspondence.