To V. A. Tikhonov, 25 December 1890. Moscow.

Written 25 December 1890 from Moscow to Vladimir Alexeyevich Tikhonov (1857–1914), the playwright, prose writer, and later editor with whom Chekhov carried on a long, jocular theatrical-world correspondence. This short holiday note was written shortly after Chekhov’s return from his journey across Siberia to Sakhalin and back through Asia and Europe – hence the closing joke that recounting the trip properly would take "147 reams" of paper, i.e. he will save the story for when they meet in person rather than attempt it by letter.

a comic Christmas/New Year greeting wishing Tikhonov swift election to the French Academy and his daughter a marriage to the "Prince of San Donato" (a stock byword for a spectacularly grand match, as in similar joking wishes elsewhere in Chekhov’s correspondence of this period), followed by brisk practical notes – Chekhov will not reach Petersburg before 7–8 January, gives his Moscow address, asks whether Tikhonov is serving on "the commission," and asks what Tikhonov has been writing and when Moscow will get to applaud him. It closes with the signature joke about the impossibility of describing the journey home for want of paper.