To A. N. Pleshcheyev, 30 September 1889. Moscow.

Letter to Alexei Nikolaevich Pleshcheev, 30 September 1889, Moscow.

Pleshcheev (1825–1893), poet and senior editor at the journal Severny vestnik (The Northern Herald), had written to Chekhov with editorial notes on the just-completed novella A Dreary Story (Skuchnaya istoriya), which Chekhov was about to see through proof. Pleshcheev also handled practical matters for Chekhov at the journal’s office, including disbursement of his fee. The two were close correspondents throughout the late 1880s; Pleshcheev was an early and encouraging reader of Chekhov’s longer fiction.

Chekhov thanks Pleshcheev for his notes on A Dreary Story and pushes back gently on a few points: he declines to change the title despite Pleshcheev’s worry that critics will mock it, defends the deliberately flat, "dull" treatment of Katya’s backstory as necessary rather than a flaw, and explains a narrative habit – glancingly recalling earlier characters near a story’s end to consolidate the reader’s impression. He shrugs off the prospect of critical abuse ("my professor abuses them too!"). He then turns to his own affairs: he is taking a break from prose to write a comedy, The Wood Demon (Leshy), of which he has already drafted two and a half acts, describes its tone and characters, and gives a target completion date of 20 October, after which he plans to return to a longer novel-in-progress. He asks Pleshcheev to arrange for his fee to be paid in monthly installments rather than a lump sum, citing his own tendency to spend money quickly once he has it in hand (a self-deprecating comparison to Gogol’s spendthrift Nozdryov). He closes with a brief report on a charitable/literary committee meeting (routine business, praise for two named colleagues) and closing greetings.