HermitshChekhov Entire

Letter · 1892

To Al. P. Chekhov, 23 February 1892. Moscow.

Ал. П. ЧЕХОВУ, 23 февраля 1892 г. Москва.

Headnote

dateline, a short-form repeat of the date, a jocular opening, the news of the estate purchase, farming plans, an invitation, an address for correspondence, a note about an article, closing regards, a mock-signature, and a brief business postscript. Dated 23 February 1892, from Moscow, to Alexander Pavlovich Chekhov, Anton’s elder brother – a companion letter to (28 February, same addressee), which follows up on the same estate news five days later; not a duplicate.

Alexander had recently become editor of a fire-safety/fire-insurance journal (the joking "fireman editor,"), and Chekhov opens by mock-solemnly finding this fate foretold in Alexander’s childhood bedwetting and boyhood fascination with fire brigades – typical fraternal needling, delivered as a straight-faced prophecy. He then delivers the letter’s real news: the purchase of the Melikhovo estate in Serpukhov district, 9 versts from Lopasnya station, with a breathless, comma-strung inventory of its land, buildings, animals, and vehicles, priced at 13,000 rubles with the debt transferred to him – half of what he had been paying in rent for a flat and a dacha combined. He sketches the farming already under way (rye sown, clover and vegetables to follow) with a characteristic aside that if he dies, his relatives can take over the interest payments, then invites Alexander to visit (offering the henhouse as lodging and a staged "fire alarm" as entertainment), gives the new mailing address, passes on word that the actor Garin-Vinding wants to send Alexander an article, closes with regards and a request for money "if you have won," and signs himself in mock grandeur as "Landowner A. Chekhov." The final section drops the joking and the intimate "ty" register for a terse, formal note about the journal’s editorial programme

Two words carry regional/period color rather than offense: "Khokhlandia" (Хохландия), Chekhov’s recurring affectionate nickname for Ukraine (he is joking that he has "betrayed" its songs and crayfish for the new estate near Moscow) – established elsewhere in this corpus (e.g.) and not pejorative in this usage, per the corpus’s китаец-style mirror policy for unmarked-in-context ethnonyms; and "благорастворение" ("благорастворение воздухов"), a stock liturgical phrase from the Orthodox litany for temperate weather, used here as a comic flourish in the parallel list "in the pond, carp; in the woods, mushrooms; in the air, a benign mildness; in the house, togetherness" – rendered by sense rather than as a direct liturgical quotation.

23 February 1892. Moscow.
23 февраля 1892 г. Москва.
23 Feb.
23 февр.
My fireman brother! Now I believe in premonitions and prophecies: when in childhood you used to wet your bed at night, and then in adolescence, besides the wetting, you also took to running to fires and loved to tell of the fire brigade dashing up the stone staircase – even then one should have foreseen that you would become a fire-journal editor. So, congratulations. Put out fires, Sasha, with your talented pen at Sheremetev’s expense, and we shall rejoice.
Пожарный брат мой! Теперь я верю в предчувствия и пророчества: когда в детстве ты орошал по ночам свою постель и потом в отрочестве, кроме орошения, занимался еще тем, что бегал на пожары и любил рассказывать о пожарной команде, бегущей по каменной лестнице,– тогда еще следовало предвидеть, что ты будешь пожарным редактором. Итак, поздравляю. Туши, Саша, пожары своим талантливым пером на шереметьевский счет, а мы будем радоваться.
Now attend. I have betrayed Khokhlandia, its songs and its crayfish. The estate has been bought in Serpukhov district, 9 versts from Lopasnya station. Feel this: 213 desyatinas, of which 160 are forest, two ponds, a mangy little river, a new house, an orchard, a grand piano, three horses, a cow, a tarantass, a racing droshky, carts, sledges, hotbeds, two dogs, birdhouses, and so on – more than your fireman’s mind can take in – all of it bought for 13 thousand, with the debt transferred to me. I shall pay 490 rubles interest a year, that is, half of what I have so far paid altogether for a flat and a dacha. The estate, apart from firewood and other such details, can yield 1,000 rubles of income with average effort, and with real diligence more than 2 thousand. The meadows, let out for rent, bring in 250 rubles.
Теперь внимай. Я изменил Хохландии, ее песням и ракам. Именье куплено в Серпуховском уезде, в 9 верстах от станции Лопасни. Чувствуй: 213 десятин, из них 160 лесу, два пруда, паршивая речка, новый дом, фруктовый сад, рояль, три лошади, корова, тарантас, беговые дрожки, телеги, сани, парники, две собаки, скворечники и протчее, чего не обнять твоему пожарному уму,– всё это куплено за 13 тыс. с переводом долга. Буду платить 490 р. процентов в год, т. е. вдвое меньше, чем в общей сложности платил до сих пор за квартиру и за дачу. Имение, акромя дров и прочих деталей, при среднем старании может дать 1000 р. дохода, а при усердии больше 2 тыс. Луга в аренде дают 250 р.
14 desyatinas of rye have already been sown. In March I shall sow clover, oats, lentils, peas, and all sorts of garden produce. If I croak, I shall leave the interest payments to my relatives.
Уже посеяно 14 десятин ржи. В марте буду сеять клевер, овес, чечевицу, горох и всякую огородную снедь. Если подохну, то проценты предоставлю платить моим родственникам.
Come, Sasha! I shall put you up in the henhouse and arrange a fire alarm for your entertainment. In the pond, crucian carp; in the woods, mushrooms; in the air, a benign mildness; in the house, togetherness. On the 1st of March we move, bidding farewell to Moscow. So then, no more paying for a flat. No more paying for a dacha either. Our own butter, our own halva too. I shall try to pay off the debts in 4 years.
Приезжай, Саша! Я помещу тебя в курятнике и устрою для твоего развлечения пожарную тревогу. В пруде караси, в лесах грыбы, в воздухе благорастворение, в доме сближение. 1-го марта перебираемся, простясь с Москвою. Итак, за квартиру мне уже не платить. За дачу тоже не платить. Масло свое, алва тоже своя. Погасить долги постараюсь в 4 года.
Send "The Fireman" to the following address: Lopasnya Station, Moscow-Kursk Railway, to A. P. Chekhov.
"Пожарного" высылай по следующему адресу: Ст. Лопасня, Моск.-Курской дороги, А. П. Чехову.
Yesterday the actor Garin-Vinding told me he wants to send you an article, "Fires in Theatres."
Вчера актер Гарин-Виндинг говорил мне, что хочет послать тебе статью "Пожары театров".
Give my regards to your family, and keep well. If you have won, send money.
Кланяйся своим и будь здрав. Если выиграл, то пришли денег.
Landowner A. Chekhov.
Помещчик А. Чехов.
In the programme of the journal, you have omitted a section: court cases relating to arson and insurance operations.
В программе журнала Вы пропустили отдел: судебные процессы, относящиеся к поджогам и страховым операциям.

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To Al. P. Chekhov, 23 February 1892. Moscow.

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