To I. L. Leontyev, 10 December 1890. Moscow.
И. Л. ЛЕОНТЬЕВУ (ЩЕГЛОВУ), 10 декабря 1890 г. Москва.
Headnote
Checked against the source for genuine multi-item concatenation (the failure mode seen elsewhere in this corpus, e.g./854) – none found; this is one letter.
Dating and setting: 10 December 1890, written from Moscow at the family’s Malaya Dmitrovka address (Firgang’s house), very shortly after Chekhov’s return from his round-the-world journey out to and back from Sakhalin Island (departed spring 1890, spent three months and three days on Sakhalin conducting his census/survey work, then returned by sea via Hong Kong, Singapore, Ceylon, and the Mediterranean rather than back overland across Siberia). This letter is his first substantial письмо-catch-up to Shcheglov after arriving home.
Addressee: Ivan Leontyevich Leontyev, who wrote under the pen name "Shcheglov" (Щеглов) – a close friend and fellow writer of Chekhov’s. Chekhov addresses him throughout with the affectionate nickname "Жан" ("Jean"), rendered here as "Jean," a French-flavored pet name in the same register as "Antoine"/"Antuan" used elsewhere in this corpus for Chekhov himself; it is not a separate person.
Chekhov opens with a playful astronomical conceit (a fallen star returning to its constellation) announcing his return to Moscow, then declines to narrate the Sakhalin trip in detail, instead giving an emotionally charged summary – he is fully satisfied with the experience, having seen both a "hell" (Sakhalin) and a "paradise" (Ceylon) on the same journey, and reflects on travel as a hardship redeemed by memory. He notes the exact duration of his Sakhalin stay (three months, three days) and defers the substantive report on his findings to an in-person meeting. He then pivots to catching up on news: asking after a rumored inheritance for Pleshcheyev, Shcheglov’s health and literary work, and a domestic-life change of Shcheglov’s ("divorced from your granny and the Petersburg Side," a joking reference to Shcheglov having moved residence/circumstances, treated with mock-solemn congratulations on a "new era"). Chekhov reports a cold caught during a storm in the Archipelago on the sea voyage home, and that his family is overjoyed at his return. A lively paragraph describes the mongooses he brought back from India as pets – their fearlessness (including fighting rattlesnakes), curiosity, and attachment to people. He closes with plans to visit an aunt, an estimate that he will not reach Petersburg before the New Year, greetings to Shcheglov’s wife, his signature, and a final line noting his family sends their regards.