To A. S. Lazarev, 18 February 1892. Moscow.

dateline, a short-form repeat of the date, the body, a closing invitation, and the signature. Dated 18 February 1892, from Moscow.

A short, wry follow-up to Alexander Semyonovich Lazarev, writing as "Gruzinsky", continuing the loan-seeking thread from (2 February, same addressee): there Chekhov had asked Lazarev to sound out a contact named Mikhailov about borrowing up to 1,500 rubles for the Melikhovo estate purchase. Here Chekhov tells Lazarev he was right all along – literary men, as Chekhov had warned him, find it nearly impossible to borrow even 500 to 1,000 rubles – but waves off the failure as unimportant, thanks Lazarev for his trouble, and offers, half-joking, to return the favor in kind ("tooth for tooth") whenever Lazarev himself needs money. He closes with a brief well-wish and an invitation to visit.