Letters of Anton Chekhov (Tchekhov) - Penn State University

Letters of Anton Chekhov to His Family and Friends with biographical sketchTO HIS BROTHER ALEXANDR.IRKUTSK, June 5, 1890.MY EUROPEAN BROTHER,It is, of course, unpleasant to live in Siberia; but better to live inSiberia and feel oneself a man of moral worth, than to live in Petersburgwith the reputation of a drunkard and a scoundrel. No referenceto present company.170* * *Siberia is a cold and long country. I drive on and on and see no endto it. I see little that is new or of interest, but I feel and experience agreat deal. I have contended with flooded rivers, with cold, withimpassable mud, hunger and sleepiness: such sensations as you couldnot get for a million in Moscow! You ought to come to Siberia. Askthe authorities to exile you.The best of all Siberian towns is Irkutsk. Tomskis not worth abrass farthing, and the district towns are no better than the Kryepkayain which you were so heedlessly born. What is most provoking,there is nothing to eat in the district towns, and oh dear, how consciousone is of that on the journey! You get to a town and feel readyto eat a mountain; you arrive and—alack!—no sausage, no cheese,no meat, no herring even, but the same insipid eggs and milk as inthe villages.On the whole I am satisfied with my expedition, and don’t regrethaving come. The travelling is hard, but the resting after it is delightful.I rest with enjoyment.From Irkutsk I shall make for Baikal, which I shall cross by steamer;it’s a thousand versts from the Baikal to the Amur, and thence Ishall go by steamer to the Pacific, where the first thing I shall do isto have a bath and eat oysters.I got here yesterday and went first of all to have a bath, then tobed. Oh, how I slept! I never understood what sleep meant till now.* * *