To I. P. Chekhov, 22 August 1888. Sumy.
И. П. ЧЕХОВУ, 22 августа 1888 г. Сумы.
Headnote
1 A brief travel notice sent from Sumy, in the Kharkov region, to Chekhov’s brother Ivan, a schoolteacher at the Arbat School in Moscow. The Chekhov family was summering at Luka, the Lintvaryov estate near Sumy, that year.
2 Chekhov reports he is setting off with the Smagin family to Poltava province to look at buying a farmstead, and promises to telegraph the outcome once the trip proves worthwhile. He signs with his familiar joking pen name "Antoine," then gives the reverse-side address for the envelope.
22 August.
22 августа.
We are off to Poltava province, to the Smagins’, to buy a farmstead. If the trip isn’t wasted, I’ll telegraph the result.
Едем в Полтавскую губ. к Смагиным покупать хутор. О результате, в случае, если не проедемся всуе, буду телеграфировать.
On the reverse:
На обороте:
To the teacher
Учителю
Ivan Pavlovich Chekhov.