To Al. P. Chekhov, 21 October 1887. Moscow.

1 Written from Moscow on 21 October 1887 to Chekhov’s elder brother Alexander Pavlovich Chekhov, then living in St. Petersburg. As in many of their letters, both men hide behind comic pseudonyms: Chekhov signs himself "A. Shapovalov" and addresses Alexander by the joking nickname "Gusev" ("Goose") – both are private jokes between the brothers, not references to any third person. The letter concerns a mundane postal mix-up: a servant, Mishka, was told to send a registered letter (with a photograph of Marya enclosed) but instead mailed it as ordinary post, and Chekhov asks Alexander to confirm whether it arrived.

2 The letter is a brief, informal note built around a folk proverb – "A dull head gives the legs no rest" (roughly, "a scatterbrain makes for a lot of running around") – aimed affectionately at the careless servant. It closes with greetings to Anna Ivanovna, Alexander’s common-law wife, and their children, and ends with the address panel as it appeared on the back of the envelope.