Letters of Anton Chekhov (Tchekhov) - Penn State University

Letters of Anton Chekhov to His Family and Friends with biographical sketchTO A. S. SUVORIN.MELIHOVO, March 17, 1892.… Ah, my dear fellow, if only you could take a holiday! Living inthe country is inconvenient. The insufferable time of thaw and mudis beginning, but something marvellous and moving is taking placein nature, the poetry and novelty of which makes up for all thediscomforts of life. Every day there are surprises, one better thananother. The starlings have returned, everywhere there is the gurglingof water, in places where the snow has thawed the grass isalready green. The day drags on like eternity. One lives as though inAustralia, somewhere at the ends of the earth; one’s mood is calm,contemplative, and animal, in the sense that one does not regretyesterday or look forward to tomorrow. From here, far away, peopleseem very good, and that is natural, for in going away into the countrywe are not hiding from people but from our vanity, which in townamong people is unjust and active beyond measure. Looking at thespring, I have a dreadful longing that there should be paradise inthe other world. In fact, at moments I am so happy that I superstitiouslypull myself up and remind myself of my creditors, who willone day drive me out of the Australia I have so happily won ….296