To A. N. Pleshcheyev, 30 December 1888. Moscow.
А. Н. ПЛЕЩЕЕВУ, 30 декабря 1888 г. Москва.
Headnote
1 Written from Moscow on 30 December 1888 to the poet and "Severny Vestnik" editor Alexei Nikolaevich Pleshcheyev, this is a short New Year’s letter closing out the autumn-winter 1888 sequence (cf. letters 470, 475, 483, 488, 490, 491, 497, 499, 502, 506, 512, 519, 528, 531). It opens with an exuberant, joking round of New Year wishes – health, good sleep, appetite, money, fewer manuscripts to read, and a wallet of 200,000 roubles found under the pillow, capped by the wish that all of Pleshcheyev’s creditors be locked up in the Peter and Paul Fortress.
2 Chekhov reports a minor social note – a woman named Elena Alekseyevna called once, was given a warm reception, but left displeased despite Chekhov’s own account of himself as having been "brilliant and witty," and has not returned – followed by a complaint of Moscow tedium, no money, and no inclination to write, with a plan to return to Petersburg in January if his health permits.
3 The letter turns to substantial theater and publishing business: Chekhov reports that his play "Ivanov" is likely to go on at the Alexandrinsky Theatre as a benefit performance for Fyodorov-Yurkovsky, with Strepetova and Savina in the cast, and takes up Pleshcheyev’s earlier offer to print "Ivanov" in "Severny Vestnik," agreeing readily, naming the March issue, and joking that he will charge an astonishingly low fee. He follows with a characteristic piece of gallows humor, asking Pleshcheyev, "for the sake of my widow and children," to spare "Ivanov" from rejection by the Theatrical Committee, adding that although unmarried he writes plays purely for the benefit of his future widow, since he expects eventually to marry. He notes that Act IV of "Ivanov" has been "remade root and branch, mercilessly."
4 The letter closes with a run of shorter publishing notices and season’s greetings: Chekhov has donated his own bound copy of the Garshin memorial collection to a charity auction and asks Pleshcheyev to hold a copy for him to buy; he will send a story for the April issue; a short tale of his will appear in the New Year number of "Novoye Vremya." He passes on his sister’s earnest thanks for Pleshcheyev’s hospitality, adds his own regards and congratulations, and sends respects to Anna Mikhailovna and Maria Dmitrievna, closing with a warm embrace and the signature.