February 16, 1899, Yalta
You don't have to rummage around for the material printed in 1885.
What isn't indicated in the letter does not have to be copied, for all of it has already been published in collections.
I need "The Tale," "The Teacher," "Sister," "Difficult People," "Life's Tedium," and "Tales of Life." These are some of the first stories that were printed in "New Times," soon after "Requiem" and "The \Vitch."
There is still another "Tale" that is about millionaires. It was published at New Year's, or Easter, or Christmas.
What is "Bad Weather?" Let's have it.
Have someone else copy the folios and do the searching. You are no longer of an age to engage in such occupations. Here you are fifty-three years old and have for some time been suffering from impotentia senilis, if you will pardon the ex- pression! I however am still a young man and I'm even on the lookout for a bride.
Your benefactor,
A. Chekhov
Have every story copied into a separate writing-paper note- book; indicate the year and the issue. Write on one side of the paper.
To IVAN ORLOV
February 22, /8gg, Ya/ta
Greetings, dear Ivan /vanovich,
... I have sold Marx everything—my past and my future, and have become a Marxist for the rest of my life. For every 320 pages of prose already published I will receive 5,ooo from him; five years from now I will receive 7 ,ooo and so on—with an increase every five years. Thus, when I am 95, I will be getting a fearful mess of money. I am getting 75,000 for my past. I drove a bargain in favor of myself and my heirs to retain royalties from the plays. But alas! I am still far from being a Vanderbilt. Twenty-five thousand is already on hand, but I won't be getting the remaining 5o,ooo in any hurry, but spread over two years; so I really can't set myself up in style.
There is no particular news. I am not writing much. During the coming season my play,* which has not thus far been put on in the big cities, is being produced at the Little Theatre: nice royalties involved, as you can see. My house in Autka has scarcely got under way because of the raw weather, which has stretched on for almost all of January and February. I'll have to leave before the completion of building operations . . . . I have hopes of constructing a house on the cheap side, but in European style, so as to be able to spend time there in winter as well. The present little two-storey place is adequate only for summer occupancy. . . .
Actually, Yalta in winter is a cross that not everyone can bear. It abounds in drabness, slanders, intrigue and the most shame- less calumny. . . .
Your letter contains a text from the scriptures. To your com- plaint regarding the tutor and various failures, I will also reply quoting chapter and verse: put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man. . . . And I recall yet another expression con- cerning the sons of man, those very ones who make life so dif- ficult for you: they are children of the age. It is not the tutor, but the entire educated class that is at fault, all of it, my good sir. \Vhile they are just university students they are an honest, admirable group of people, they are our hope, the future of Russia; but no sooner do these university students, male and female, stand on their own feet and turn into adults than this hope for the future vanishes into smoke and in the filter are left nothing but doctors, owners of summer cottages, insatiable officials, thieving engineers. ... I do not believe in our edu- cated class, which is hypocritical, false, hysterical, poorly edu- cated and indolent; I don't believe in it even when it suffers and complains, for its persecutors emerge from its own bosom. I believe in individuals, I see salvation in individual personali- ties scattered here and there throughout Russia—they may be
1 Uncle Vanya.
intellectuals or peasants—these are the ones with the power, however few they may be. A prophet is not honored in his own country; the individual personalities of whom I speak play an insignificant role in society. They do not dominate, but their work is apparent; at any rate, science is continually going for- ward, social consciousness is growing, questions of morality are beginning to cause uneasiness, etc., etc.—and all this is being done despite the public prosecutors, the engineers, the tutors, despite the intelligentsia en masse and despite everything.
. . . I clasp your hand cordially—keep well, happy and gay. Write I
Your
A. Chekhov
To LYDIA AVILOVA
February 26, i8gg, Yalta
Dear Lydia A lexeyevna,
. . . Five or six days ago I sent you a letter and today I am writing again. What is new in St. Petersburg and in literature? Do you like Gorki? In my opinion he is genuinely talented, his brushes and colors are genuine, but his is a sort of unrestrained, devil-may-care gift. His "On the Steppe" is a magnificent thing. But I don't like Veresayev or Chirikov a bit. Theirs is not writing, but chirping; they chirp and then sulk. And I don't like the writer Avilova because she writes so little. \Vomen authors should write a great deal, if they want to master the art; just take these Englishwomen as an example. \Vhat marvel- ous workers! But I seem to have gone in for criticism; I am afraid that in reply you are going to write me something edifying.
Today the weather is delightful, springlike. The birds are trilling, the almond and cherry trees are in blossom and it is hot. But still I should be going north. My "Seagull" is being performed in Moscow for the eighteenth time and I am told it is staged magnificently.
Keep well. I cordially clasp your hand.
Yours,
A. Chekhov
To MARIA CHEKHOVA
March 29, 1899, Yalta
Dear Masha,
I have already sent you word that on the first of January 1900 I will receive thirty thousand from Marx and will then be able to pay whatever amount you need for the house. If you like Yeremeyev's property, by all means buy it; perhaps Yeremeyev is agreeable to selling it before the first of January—in which event we can make out the title deed; if not, we can borrow. A mortgage can be raised, but not for a large amount, not above ten thousand, so that paying the interest won't be burden- some.
The house apparently will not pay for itself, but if we have a comfortable, decent and quiet apartment, it will fully compensate for all our losses; for the quieter (in the physical sense) our existence, the more lightly and gladly can work be done. Bestir yourself and make Yeremeyev take responsibility for the business of the title deed, i.e., all the expenses connected with the sale of the house, or else the house will certainly stand us thirty-two and a half thousand. You can just explain to him that it is easier for him to come down in the price than for us to add to it.1
As to "Uncle Vanya,"2 I am not going to write or telegraph anything; I don't know the committee's address and therefore I don't know where to send a telegram; secondly, my letters go unanswered; I have already written Nemirovich-Danchenko a
The house in Moscow was never bought.
Chekhov had already had trouble with Uncle J'anya. He had refused to allow the Maly Theatre to make any changes in the play.
thousand times; thirdly, this whole business has annoyed me terribly, I just can't stand any more of it. Let me repeat, all this business with "Uncle Vanya" has annoyed me and I am not going to put on any of my plays with anyone or anywhere. And I won't write to anyone. . . .
The almond tree (with red blossoms) is blooming mag- nificently on our Autka property and it is a joy. The house is going up and work is at fever heat.
I will be arriving soon. Keep well. Greetings to Mama.
Your Antoine
To ANNA SUVORINA