To Al. P. Chekhov, 6–7 November 1888. Moscow.
Ал. П. ЧЕХОВУ, 6 или 7 ноября 1888 г. Москва.
Headnote
1 A tiny joke note to Chekhov’s elder brother Alexander Pavlovich Chekhov, dated only "6 or 7 November 1888. Moscow" – the whole letter is a single Latin one-liner, written as a mock-solemn Latin epitaph complete with its own parenthetical translation into Russian, which Chekhov supplies himself in the source text.
2 Chekhov announces, in Latin, that Korbo – a dog already reported as gravely ill with a persistent cough in the earlier letter to Alexander of September 1888 (,, where Chekhov jokes grimly about "treating him to some morphine") – has now died, and congratulates Alexander on being a donkey rather than a dog, since donkeys live longer. No other content.
Korbo, canis clarissimus, mortuus est. Gaudeo te asinum, sed non canem esse, nam asini diutius vivunt Korbo, the famous dog, has died. I’m glad you’re a donkey and not a dog, for donkeys live longer (Lat.)..
Korbo, canis clarissimus, mortuus est. Gaudeo te asinum, sed non canem esse, nam asini diutius vivunt Корбо, знаменитая собака, издох. Радуюсь, что ты осел, а не собака, ибо ослы живут дольше (лат.)..