To A. S. Suvorin, 4 December 1891. Moscow.

Dated 4 December 1891, from Moscow, to Alexei Sergeyevich Suvorin.

Chekhov sends along a Moscow feuilleton – a short sketch of "the Moscow intellectual" – explaining that he had meant to write it the day before but was interrupted by visitors, so it was drafted and sent that same day in a hurry; he professes not to know whether it came out well, tells Suvorin to discard it without a second thought if it doesn’t suit, and asks that his authorship be kept quiet. He adds that he would have liked to make a fair copy but had no time, being in a rush to catch the post, then asks in passing whether the proofs of his story "Kashtanka" arrived, and signs off with a characteristic touch of self-deprecating humor, calling himself Suvorin’s "prayer-book."

The letter is occasional and practical throughout: a quick cover note accompanying a piece of anonymous journalism, with a business query about proofs folded in at the end.