To M. N. Albov, 20 November 1891. Moscow.

Dated 20 November 1891, from Moscow, to Mikhail Nilovich Albov, an editor at the journal "Severny Vestnik" ("Northern Herald"), the same addressee as the letters of 30 September 1891 and 22 October 1891.

Chekhov sends Albov his story, now retitled "In the Village" (a plainer, more general title than the one he had used before, though he admits it is duller). He asks Albov to have the printing house send proofs quickly, promising to read and return them the same day; he expects many slips in the text, since influenza still has him in its grip and his head will not work – listlessness and complete indifference – and the errors will need fixing in proof. He is sleeping badly and reading constantly, and asks Albov to send him a copy of his own work "The Cassock" ("Ryasa"), which he has not yet read – "take pity on a sick man." He then raises money matters: he has no funds, has fallen into debt, and is writing little for publication; he asks Albov to intercede at the journal’s office so his fee is paid now, before the story is even printed, noting that Demakov will calculate the story’s length in signatures and that, since he writes so little now, he does not sell his work for less than 250 rubles per signature. Finally he passes on a request from Nikolai Mikhailovich Yezhov, whose story Albov has accepted: Yezhov asks that the proofs be sent to him so he can polish it. Chekhov closes with good wishes and signs off.

The tone is practical and a little weary – a writer laid low by influenza, pressing an editor on two fronts at once (fast proofs, fast payment) while doing a colleague a small favor.