Letter 32
| Date | 7/19 August 1851 |
|---|---|
| Addressed to | Aleksandra Tchaikovskaya |
| Where written | Saint Petersburg |
| Language | Russian |
| Autograph Location | Saint Petersburg (Russia): National Library of Russia (ф. 834, ед. хр. 33, л. 47–48) |
| Publication | П. И. Чайковский. Письма к родным (1940), p. 32–33 П. И. Чайковский. Полное собрание сочинений, том V (1959), p. 36–37 |
| Notes | Includes a drawing by Tchaikovsky of the ivy he had planted in Alapayevsk before leaving for Saint Petersburg in August 1850 [1], and a postscript to Anastasiya Popova |
Text and Translation
Spelling and punctuation errors in the original text have not been indicated.
| Russian text (original) |
English translation By Luis Sundkvist |
 7 августа 1851 год Милейший мой
Ангел Мамаша! Я пишу вам одним потому что верно Папашу уж вы проводили до Шайтанска. Мне все кажется что вы или в Казани, или в Нижнем Новгороде. Но я не думаю что бы вы бы не исполнили такую просьбу какова была моя вы верно сюрпризом поехали с Папашей. Я не буду вам много писать оттого что верно все это я делаю напрасно. Но если вас Папаша оставил в Алапаеве вам скучно так надо вас повеселить бабочка моя, которая любит своего Петрушку или Попку который вас обожает и который с жадностью ждет той минуты, чтобы поцеловать вашу прекрасную ручку. Папашину я наверно поцелую а вашу Бог знает когда. Прощайте мой Ангельская душка. Ваш, Pierre Милая Сестрица.
Целую вас от всего сердца и благодарю за милое ваше письмо. Пётр Ч. Целую ручки у Тёти Лизы и Н[астасьи] П[етровны] и всех братишков и сестер. |
7 August 1851 My dearest
Angel Mamasha I am writing to you alone because you have probably already seen Papasha off as far as Shaitansk [2]. I keep thinking that you are either in Kazan or in Nizhny Novgorod. For I don't think that you would be capable of not fulfilling a request such as mine: I am sure you have gone with Papasha as a surprise. I shall not write to you much because I am sure I am doing all this in vain. However, if Papasha did leave you behind in Alapayeva, you must be sad, and so it is necessary to cheer up my butterfly who loves her Petrushka or Popka [3], who in turn adores you and eagerly awaits that moment when he can kiss your wonderful hand. I shall kiss Papasha's for sure, but God knows when I shall kiss yours. Goodbye, my Angelic dear one. Yours, Pyotr Dear Sestritsa [4].
I kiss you with all my heart and thank you for your sweet letter. Pyotr T. I kiss the hands of Aunt Liza and Nastasya Petrovna [5] and all my little brothers and sisters. |
Notes and References
- ↑ See Letter 10 to his parents on 8/20 November 1850.
- ↑ Ilya Tchaikovsky had promised to visit his sons Pyotr and Nikolay, who were studying at boarding-schools in Saint Petersburg. After making the long journey from Alapayevsk in the Urals to Saint Petersburg, he spent about three weeks with them in September before returning home. Shaitansk is a small settlement on the banks of the Neiva River in the Central Urals.
- ↑ Literally "parrot; Polly". As we find out from Letter 30, it was Aleksandra Tchaikovskaya who called her son by this affectionate name.
- ↑ 'Sestritsa', or 'little sister', was the affectionate name for Tchaikovsky's much older cousin, Anastasiya Vasilyevna Popova (1807–1894), the daughter of Ilya Tchaikovsky's older sister Yevdokiya Popova.
- ↑ Anastasiya Petrovna Petrova (1824–1893) had joined the Tchaikovsky family in Alapayevsk on 24 November/6 December 1849 as a governess, specifically with the task of preparing Pyotr for the School of Jurisprudence in Saint Petersburg. After spending some three years with the Tchaikovskys she worked as a governess in various other families, but returned to her first employer in 1859, when she took charge of the twins, Anatoly and Modest.
