To M. P. Chekhova, 20 April 1887. Zverevo.

1 Written at 6 a.m. on April 20, 1887, to Chekhov’s sister Maria Pavlovna in Moscow, during his long spring trip to the steppe country of the Don region (the journey that would furnish material for "Steppe" and other southern sketches). Chekhov is en route by rail toward Novocherkassk after an overnight wait of eight hours at the small station of Zverevo.

2 The letter is a brief travel note: a wry complaint about the long wait ("what fun!!!"), a quick, painterly sketch of the bare steppe (burial mounds, kites, larks, blue distance), a note that he is sorry to be traveling alone, and a small domestic grievance that only his brother Ivan has written from home. He signs with his early pen name, "A. Chekhonte," and closes with an address panel for the envelope.