Letters of Anton Chekhov to His Family and Friends Part 49

YALTA, September 15, 1903.

... Don't believe anybody--no living soul has read my play yet; I have written for you not the part of a "canting hypocrite," but of a very nice girl, with which you will, I hope, be satisfied. I have almost finished the play, but eight or ten days ago I was taken ill, with coughing and weakness--in fact, last year's business over again. Now--that is to-day--it is warmer and I feel better, but still I cannot write, as my head is aching. Olga will not bring the play; I will send the four acts together as soon as it is possible for me to set to work for a whole day.

It has turned out not a drama, but a comedy, in parts a farce, indeed, and I am afraid I shall catch it from Vladimir Ivanitch [Footnote: Nemirovitch Dantchenko.]....

I can't come for the opening of your season, I must stay in Yalta till November. Olga, who has grown fatter and stronger in the summer, will probably come to Moscow on Sunday. I shall remain alone, and of course shall take advantage of that. As a writer it is essential for me to observe women, to study them, and so, I regret to say, I cannot be a faithful husband. As I observe women chiefly for the sake of my plays, in my opinion the Art Theatre ought to increase my wife's salary or give her a pension!

TO K. S. STANISLAVSKY.

YALTA, October 30, 1903.

... Many thanks for your letter and telegram. Letters are very precious to me now--in the first place, because I am utterly alone here; and in the second, because I sent the play three weeks ago and only got your letter yesterday, and if it were not for my wife, I should know nothing at all and might imagine any mortal thing. When I was writing Lopahin, I thought of it as a part for you. If for any reason you don't care for it, take the part of Gaev. Lopahin is a merchant, of course, but he is a very decent person in every sense. He must behave with perfect decorum, like an educated man, with no petty ways or tricks of any sort, and it seemed to me this part, the central one of the play, would come out brilliantly in your hands....

In choosing an actor for the part you must remember that Varya, a serious and religious girl, is in love with Lopahin; she wouldn't be in love with a mere money-grubber....

TO V. I. NEMIROVITCH DANTCHENKO.

YALTA, November 2, 1903.

... About the play.

1. Anya can be played by anyone you like, even by a quite unknown actress, so long as she is young and looks like a girl, and speaks in a youthful singing voice. It is not an important part.

(2) Varya is a more serious part.... She is a character in a black dress, something of a nun, foolish, tearful, etc.

... Gorky is younger than you or I, he has his life before him.... As for the Nizhni theatre, that's a mere episode; Gorky will try it, "sniff it and reject it." And while we are on this subject, the whole idea of a "people's" theatre and "people's" literature is foolishness and lollipops for the people. We mustn't bring Gogol down to the people but raise the people up to Gogol....

TO A. L. VISHNEVSKY.

YALTA, November 7, 1903.

... As I am soon coming to Moscow, please keep a ticket for me for "The Pillars of Society"; I want to see the marvellous Norwegian acting, and I will even pay for my seat. You know Ibsen is my favourite writer....

TO K. S. STANISLAVSKY.

YALTA, November 10, 1903.

DEAR KONSTANTIN SERGEYITCH,

Of course the scenery for III. and IV. can be the same, the hall and the staircase. Please do just as you like about the scenery, I leave it entirely to you; I am amazed and generally sit with my mouth wide open at your theatre. There can be no question about it, whatever you do will be excellent, a hundred times better than anything I could invent....

TO F. D. BATYUSHKOV.

MOSCOW, January 19, 1904.

... At the first performance of "The Cherry Orchard" on the 17th of January, they gave me an ovation, so lavish, warm, and really so unexpected, that I can't get over it even now....

TO MADAME AVILOV.

MOSCOW, February 14, 1904.

... All good wishes. Above all, be cheerful; don't look at life so much as a problem--it is, most likely, far simpler. And whether it--life, of which we know nothing--is worth all the agonizing reflections which wear out our Russian wits, is a question.

TO FATHER SERGEY SHTCHUKIN.

MOSCOW, May 27, 1904.

DEAR FATHER SERGEY,

Yesterday I talked to a very well-known lawyer about the case in which you are interested, and I will tell you his opinion. Let Mr. N. immediately put together _all_ the necessary doc.u.ments, let his fiancee do the same, and go off to another province, such as Kherson, and there get married. When they are married let them come home and live quietly, saying nothing about it.

It is not a crime (there is no consanguinity), but only a breach of a long established tradition. If in another two or three years someone informs against them, or finds out and interferes, and the case is brought into court, anyway the children would be legitimate. And when there is a lawsuit (a trivial one anyway), then they can send in a pet.i.tion to the Sovereign.

The Sovereign does not sanction what is forbidden by law (so it is no use to pet.i.tion for permission for the marriage), but the Sovereign enjoys the fullest privilege of pardon and does as a rule pardon what is inevitable.

I don't know whether I am putting it properly. You must forgive me, I am in bed, ill, and have been since the second of May, I have not been able to get up once all this time. I cannot execute your other commissions....

TO HIS SISTER.