Letters of Anton Chekhov (Tchekhov) - Penn State University

Letters of Anton Chekhov to His Family and Friends with biographical sketchis sick of such fare in two days. I have only twice had dinner duringthe whole journey, not counting the Jewess’s fish-soup, which I swallowedafter I had had enough to eat with my tea. I have not had anyvodka: the Siberian vodka is disgusting, and indeed, I got out of thehabit of taking it while I was on the way to Ekaterinburg. Oneought to drink vodka: it stimulates the brain, dull and apatheticfrom travelling, which makes one stupid and feeble.Stop! I can’t write: the editor of the Sibirsky Vyestnik, N., a localNozdryov, a drunkard and a rake, has come to make my acquaintance.N. has drunk some beer and gone away. I continue.For the first three days of my journey my collarbones, my shouldersand my vertebrae ached from the shaking and jolting. I couldn’tstand or sit or lie.... But on the other hand, all pains in my head andchest have vanished, my appetite has developed incredibly, and myhaemorrhoids have subsided completely. The overstrain, the constantworry with luggage and so on, and perhaps the farewell drinkingparties in Moscow, had brought on spitting of blood in themornings, which induced something like depression, arousinggloomy thoughts, but towards the end of the journey it has left off;now I haven’t even a cough. It is a long time since I have coughed solittle as now, after being for a fortnight in the open air. After the firstthree days of travelling my body grew used to the jolting, and intime I did not notice the coming of midday and then of eveningand night. The time flew by rapidly as it does in serious illness. Youthink it is scarcely midday when the peasants say—“You ought toput up for the night, sir, or we may lose our way in the dark”; youlook at your watch, and it is actually eight o’clock.They drive quickly, but the speed is nothing remarkable. ProbablyI have come upon the roads in bad condition, and in wintertravelling would have been quicker. They dash uphill at a gallop,and before setting off and before the driver gets on the box, thehorses need two or three men to hold them. The horses remind meof the fire brigade horses in Moscow. One day we nearly ran over anold woman, and another time almost dashed into an etape. Now,would you like an adventure for which I am indebted to Siberiandriving? Only I beg mother not to wail and lament, for it all ended154