To A. N. Pleshcheyev, 25 April 1888. Moscow.

1 Written from Moscow on 25 April 1888 (Easter Sunday) to the poet Alexei Nikolaevich Pleshcheyev, continuing the invitation to the Lintvaryov estate near Sumy that Chekhov had extended in his letter of 17 April.

2 Chekhov opens with an Easter greeting, then relays his brother’s report from a scouting trip to the rented dacha – sent specifically to inspect the property, the brother describes a run-down estate with a collapsed porch, shabby furniture, and no comforts, which Chekhov recounts self-mockingly to talk Pleshcheyev into visiting anyway. He jokes about the shabby room and furniture Pleshcheyev can expect, announces that his novella is finished and going out the next day, and recommends the local fishing. The letter closes with the same kind of practical travel instructions as the 17 April letter: a reminder to telegraph ahead from Kursk, and the train schedule from Moscow through Kursk and Vorozhba to Sumy.