To Al. P. Chekhov, 17 May 1887. Moscow.
Ал. П. ЧЕХОВУ, 17 мая 1887 г. Москва.
Headnote
1 A brief, hastily scrawled note written in Moscow on May 17, 1887, just after Chekhov’s return from his first trip back to his native Taganrog. Addressed familiarly to "Gusev" – a nickname or pen-name Chekhov used for his brother Alexander Pavlovich Chekhov, a journalist working in Petersburg – but routed through the postal address of Alexander himself, "Kavalergardskaya 20, apt. 42," as the note on the reverse of the card makes clear.
2 The card is essentially a set of quick errands: Chekhov gives his new address at Voskresensk outside Moscow, asks Alexander to arrange newspaper notices for his forthcoming book In the Twilight (the volume dedicated to the novelist Dmitry Grigorovich), and sends greetings, all dashed off, he notes, while riding in a train carriage. The single word "Furugelm" (Sections 6) is left unexplained in the original and may refer to a mutual acquaintance or a private joke between the brothers.