To N. A. Leikin, 29 March 1888. Moscow.

1 Written from Moscow on March 29, 1888, this letter is addressed to Nikolai Aleksandrovich Leikin, editor of the humor magazine "Oskolki" ("Splinters") and Chekhov’s early publisher and mentor. It opens with a string of small business and social errands: word that Leikin’s books have been sold and payment awaits instructions, confirmation that a set of his books has been delivered to a lady acquaintance (via Chekhov’s brother Misha, who found her put out about it), and a report on Chekhov’s dealings on Leikin’s behalf with the writer Gruzinsky over a possible arrangement with the "Peterburgskaya Gazeta."

2 Chekhov asks after Leikin’s health, urging him not to rely on the bathhouse alone if his fever persists. He describes the summer dacha he has just secured near Sumy, in Kharkov Province, and jokes that he will spend the season roaming Ukraine’s fairs like Gogol’s Nozdryov. He also comments on a story by Leikin’s brother that he read in "Novoye Vremya," judging it fit enough for "Oskolki" after all.

3 The letter closes with Moscow’s spring flood and ice breakup, family greetings to Leikin’s household (Praskovya Nikiforovna and Fedya), a note about the poor light he is writing by, and a request that Leikin urge their colleague Bilibin to take a rest.