Letters of Anton Chekhov (Tchekhov) - Penn State University

Letters of Anton Chekhov to His Family and Friends with biographical sketchTO A. S. SUVORIN.YALTA, March 10, 1900.No winter has ever dragged on so long for me as this one, andtime merely drags and does not move, and now I realize how stupidit was of me to leave Moscow. I have lost touch with the northwithout getting into touch with the south, and one can think ofnothing in my position but to go abroad. After the spring, winterhas begun here again in Yalta—snow, rain, cold, mud—simply disgusting.The Moscow Art Theatre will be in Yalta in April; it will bring itsscenery and decorations. All the tickets for the four days advertisedwere sold in one day, although the prices have been considerablyraised. They will give among other things Hauptmann’s “LonelyLives,” a magnificent play in my opinion. I read it with great pleasure,although I am not fond of plays, and the production at the ArtTheatre they say is marvellous.There is no news. There is one great event, though: N.’s “Socrates”is printed in the Neva Supplement. I have read it, but with greateffort. It is not Socrates but a dull-witted, captious, opinionatedman, the whole of whose wisdom and interest is confined to trippingpeople up over words. There is not a trace or vestige of talentin it, but it is quite possible that the play might be successful becausethere are words in it such as “amphora,” and Karpov says itwould stage well.How many consumptives there are here! What poverty, and howworried one is with them! The hotels and lodging-houses here won’ttake in those who are seriously ill. You can imagine the awful casesthat may be seen here. People are dying from exhaustion, from theirsurroundings, from complete neglect, and this in blessed Taurida!One loses all relish for the sun and the sea ….404