Letters of Anton Chekhov (Tchekhov) - Penn State University

Anton Chekhovcially I of them.* * *My handwriting is very bad, shaky. That is because the steamer rocks.It’s difficult to write.I broke off here. I went to my lieutenants and had tea. They haveboth had a long sleep and were in a very cordial mood. One ofthem, Lieutenant N. (the surname jars upon my ear), is in the infantry;he is a tall, well-fed, loud-voiced Courlander, a great braggartand Hlestakov, who sings songs from every opera, but has nomore ear than a smoked herring, an unlucky fellow who has squanderedall the money for his travelling expenses, knows all Mickiewiczby heart, is ill-bred, far too unreserved, and babbles till it makes yousick. Like me, he is fond of talking about his uncles and aunts. Theother lieutenant, M., a geographer, is a quiet, modest, thoroughlywell-educated fellow. If it were not for N., I could travel with theother for a million versts without being bored. But with N., whointrudes into every conversation, the other bores me too …. I believewe are reaching Gorbitsa.To-morrow I will make up the form of a telegram which you mustsend me to Sahalin. I will try to put all I want to know in thirtywords, and you must try and keep strictly to the pattern.The gad-flies bite.189