To A. S. Suvorin, 7 May 1891. Aleksin.

A short letter of 7 May 1891, written from the dacha Chekhov has taken at Aleksin station on the Oka, shortly after his return from the 1891 European trip with Suvorin. He gives his unusual mailing address (via the stationmaster, since he lives by the station rather than in the town), sketches the summer place – woods, river, nightingales, a pleasant tedium after the bustle of the trip abroad – and reports an unexpectedly generous 300 rubles from the Society of Dramatic Writers. He asks Suvorin to tell Anna Ivanovna that the French exhibition (the 1891 Paris exposition of French art the two had discussed) is not yet ready and is said to be unimpressive. The bulk of the letter turns to money: Chekhov reckons his debt to Suvorin at not less than 800 rubles, promises repayment through his bookseller Zandrok once funds come in over the summer, and half-jokingly resolves that once clear of debt he will borrow another two thousand – torn between his own readiness to lend money and his fear of growing dependent on borrowing. He closes with the view from his window, a request for a letter, and greetings to Suvorin’s household.