Letter · 1891

To A. I. Urusov, 3 May 1891. Moscow.

А. И. УРУСОВУ, 3 мая 1891 г. Москва.

Headnote

A brief, high-spirited note to Prince Alexander Ivanovich Urusov (1843-1900), written two months after the previous letter to him. Chekhov, just back from a spring tour through Italy, Paris, Nice, Berlin, and Vienna, declines Urusov’s invitation to tea in a single breezy paragraph – the trip reduced to "Sodom and Gomorrah" and a glimpse of naked women in Paris – then gives his summer address before leaving for the country to hear the nightingales.

3 May 1891. Moscow.
3 мая 1891 г. Москва.
3 May. ’91.
3 май. 91.
Much-esteemed Alexander Ivanovich, your letter, in which you invite me to a cup of tea "with consequences," I received only yesterday, on returning from Sodom and Gomorrah. In the time we haven’t seen each other, I managed to visit Italy, Paris, Nice, Berlin, Vienna... In Paris I saw naked women.
Многоуважаемый Александр Иванович, Ваше письмо, где Вы приглашаете меня на чашку чая "с последствиями", я получил только вчера, вернувшись из Содома и Гоморры. Пока мы не виделись, я успел побывать в Италии, в Париже, Ницце, Берлине, Вене... В Париже видел голых женщин.
Just in case, I’ll give you my summer address: Aleksin Station, on the Syzran-Vyazma railway.
На всякий случай сообщаю Вам свой летний адрес: Ст. Алексин Сызрано-Вяземской жел дороги.
Keep well, until we meet again!
Будьте здоровы, до свиданья!
Today I’m leaving for Aleksin to listen to the nightingales.
Сегодня уезжаю в Алексин слушать соловьев.
Yours, A. Chekhov.
On the envelope:
На конверте:
In town,
Здесь,
Arbat, Nikolsky Lane, own house
Арбат, Никольский пер., свой дом

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