To D. V. Grigorovich, 24 December 1888. Moscow.

1 Written from Moscow on December 24, 1888, this short letter to the veteran novelist Dmitry Grigorovich is an apology, prompted by word relayed through Chekhov’s sister that Grigorovich had been hurt by his failure to pay a call before leaving Petersburg. Chekhov explains the lapse as a misunderstanding arising from an ambiguous exchange during an evening walk, asks forgiveness, and closes with Christmas greetings, theater news, and a request for a photograph.

2 After the dateline and re-dating (1-2), Chekhov opens by noting he is writing on stationery belonging to his publisher Alexei Sergeyevich Suvorin, then recounts his sister’s report that the Suvorin household felt he had slighted Grigorovich by not visiting him before leaving Petersburg (3). He protests that no offense was intended, attributes his inertia partly, half-jokingly, to a "lazy Ukrainian" temperament, and affirms his genuine pleasure in Grigorovich’s company. He then reconstructs the specific misunderstanding: on an evening walk from a museum to a shop, in the company of both Grigorovich and Suvorin, he had announced his intention to call soon (3-4); Suvorin remarked that Grigorovich would not be found at home (5); Grigorovich’s silence at that moment was the whole of the "slight" – Chekhov says he read it wrongly and takes the blame regardless (6). He asks for a word that Grigorovich is not angry, offering half-jestingly to serve as his physician-guide about the streets of Petersburg on his next visit (6), then gives Christmas greetings with a wistful aside on the beauty the season would have in Russia if the peasantry were not so poor and hungry (7). He passes to theater news: the Moscow premiere of Suvorin’s play "Tatyana Repina" is set for January 16, with Yermolova and Lensky in the leads, and Chekhov invites Grigorovich to attend alongside Suvorin, wagering that the Moscow cast will outdo the Petersburg production, whose ensemble outside the first act he calls provincial ("Tambov") (8). He repeats his request for reassurance and asks for an inscribed photograph (9), then closes with a warm valediction and signature (10-11).