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Letters of Anton Chekhov (Tchekhov) - Penn State University

Letters of Anton Chekhov (Tchekhov) - Penn State University

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<strong>Anton</strong> <strong>Chekhov</strong>March 5.We are going!!! I agree to go, where you like and when you like.My soul is leaping with delight. It would be stupid on my part notto go, for when would an opportunity come again? But, my dearfriend, I leave you to weigh the following circumstances.(1) My work is still far from being finished; if I put it by till May, Ishall not be able to begin my Sahalin work before July, and that isrisky. For my Sahalin impressions are already evaporating, and I runthe risk <strong>of</strong> forgetting a great deal.(2) I have absolutely no money. If without finishing my novel I takeanother thousand roubles for the tour abroad, and then for livingafter the tour, I shall get into such a tangle that the devil himselfcould not pull me out by the ears. I am not in a tangle yet because Iam up to all sorts <strong>of</strong> dodges, and live more frugally than a mouse;but if I go abroad everything will go to the devil. My accounts willbe in a mess and I shall get myself hopelessly in debt. The verythought <strong>of</strong> a debt <strong>of</strong> two thousand makes my heart sink.There are other considerations, but they are all <strong>of</strong> small accountbeside that <strong>of</strong> money and work. And so, thoroughly digest my objections,put yourself into my skin for a moment, and decide,wouldn’t it be better for me to stay at home? You will say all this isunimportant. But lay aside your point <strong>of</strong> view? and look at it frommine.I await a speedy answer.My novel* is progressing, but I have not got far.I have been to the Kiselyovs’. The rooks are already arriving.*“The Duel.”221

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