MOSCOW,
February 22, 1892.
... You are mistaken in thinking you were drunk at Shtcheglov’s name-day
party. You had had a drop, that was all. You danced when they all danced,
and your jigitivka on the cabman’s box excited nothing but general delight.
As for your criticism, it was most likely far from severe, as I don’t
remember it. I only remember that Vvedensky and I for some reason roared
with laughter as we listened to you.
Do you want my biography? Here it is. I was born in Taganrog in 1860. I
finished the course at Taganrog high school in 1879. In 1884 I took my
degree in medicine at the University of Moscow. In 1888 I gained the
Pushkin prize. In 1890 I made a journey to Sahalin across Siberia and back
by sea. In 1891 I made a tour in Europe, where I drank excellent wine and
ate oysters. In 1892 I took part in an orgy in the company of V. A. Tihonov
at a name-day party. I began writing in 1879. The published collections of
my works are: “Motley Tales,” “In the Twilight,” “Stories,” “Surly People,”
and a novel, “The Duel.” I have sinned in the dramatic line too, though
with moderation. I have been translated into all the languages with the
exception of the foreign ones, though I have indeed long ago been
translated by the Germans. The Czechs and the Serbs approve of me also, and
the French are not indifferent. The mysteries of love I fathomed at the age
of thirteen. With my colleagues, doctors, and literary men alike, I am on
the best of terms. I am a bachelor. I should like to receive a pension. I
practice medicine, and so much so that sometimes in the summer I perform
post-mortems, though I have not done so for two or three years. Of authors
my favourite is Tolstoy, of doctors Zaharin.
All that is nonsense though. Write what you like. If you haven’t facts make
up with lyricism.