Georgy M. Gusopoulo, January 29, 1888. Moscow.

1 Written from Moscow on January 29, 1888, this brief letter is addressed to Georgy Gusopoulo, a relative by marriage living in Petersburg whom Chekhov addresses with the joking nickname "Pantaleon." Chekhov reports that he is racing to finish a long novella for the journal "Severny Vestnik" – the work that would become "The Steppe" – and asks Gusopoulo to pass word of it to Petersen and to look in more often on the poet Alexei Pleshcheev.

2 The letter closes with two practical errands: Gusopoulo is asked to collect Chekhov’s fee from the "Peterburgskaya Gazeta" and forward it to Chekhov’s brother, and an itemized account for the story "Sleepy" ("Spat khochetsya") is appended, showing the payment due at twelve kopecks per line. A note of concern about the health of an unnamed "A. I.," who has apparently been prescribed a risky operation in Petersburg, sits amid the business matters – typical of how Chekhov’s letters mix money, literary business, and personal worry in a few short lines.