To M. P. Chekhova, 5 May 1887. Chasov-Yar.

1 Written on 5 May 1887 from the Chasov-Yar railway station, this brief postcard-like note to his sister Maria comes from the same spring journey through the Don steppe country that produced the longer "field report" to the Chekhov family from Ragozina Balka a few days earlier. Chekhov is en route from Kravtsov’s estate toward Slavyansk and the Svyatye Gory (Holy Mountains) monastery, before continuing on to his native Taganrog.

2 The letter is a rapid string of terse travel notes rather than a developed narrative: his itinerary, an instruction for Maria to write ahead about the family’s move to their summer dacha, a self-deprecating joke comparing his sore leg to the limp of his editor and frequent target of humor Nikolai Leikin, a mock threat to join a church choir if his funds run out, and a wry complaint about being saturated with "poetic" scenery on the trip. It closes with the address panel from the reverse of the card, reproduced here as separate sections.