To A. S. Suvorin, 30 October 1891. Moscow.

Chekhov opens by denying Suvorin’s apparent accusation (made in a letter now lost) that he has been asleep at the wheel over the printing of "The Duel" – he insists he is keeping watch, not sleeping, and that if the edition is not ready in time the fault will lie with fate, not with him. He reports that he handed the corrected and signed proof of the first printer’s sheet to Alexei Alexeyevich for prompt delivery to Neupokoev, along with a request to hurry the returning of further proof, and turns Suvorin’s own charge back on him with a light jab ("Who is it that’s asleep, then?"). He says he is expecting Suvorin in Moscow and reports that the novella for "Severny Vestnik" is finished. He notes, in a single flat sentence, that Palmin was buried the day before, and that burying people is dreary. He closes with a brief valediction and signs off.