MOSCOW,
October 17, 1887.
... I am extremely glad to have met you. I say it sincerely and with all my
heart. In the first place, I deeply value and love your talent; it is dear
to me for many reasons. In the second, it seems to me that if you and I
live in this world another ten or twenty years we shall be bound to find
points of contact. Of all the Russians now successfully writing I am the
lightest and most frivolous; I am looked upon doubtfully; to speak the
language of the poets, I have loved my pure Muse but I have not respected
her; I have been unfaithful to her and often took her to places that were
not fit for her to go to. But you are serious, strong, and faithful. The
difference between us is great, as you see, but nevertheless when I read
you, and now when I have met you, I think that we have something in common.
I don’t know if I am right, but I like to think it.