Letter 2361

Date	8/20 October 1883
Addressed to	Modest Tchaikovsky
Where written	Verbovka
Language	Russian
Autograph Location	Klin (Russia): Tchaikovsky State Memorial Musical Museum-Reserve (a3, No. 1720)
Publication	П. И. Чайковский. Полное собрание сочинений, том XII (1970), p. 252

Text and Translation

Russian text (original)

English translation By Brett Langston

Каменка 8 окт[ября] 1883 Модичка! Прими участие в Степане, т. е. если случится, рекомендуй его на хорошее место. Я считаю его жертвой несправедливости, ибо с ним было поступлено так: в начале лета его отпустили на побывку домой с просьбой поскорее вернуться; он и уехал. А незадолго до того он совершил довольно невинный поступок, т. е. выпил бутылку остатков вина, которое он разливал из бочки в бутылки в большом доме, егоза это побранила длинная талья. Степан поехал домой, и вскоре случился пожар, на котором дотла сгорело всё [его] добро и матери. Он воззвал о помощи в Каменку, и талья послала ему 25 р[ублей] и приказанье не являться больше в Каменку за то, что выпил бутылку вина. Теперь мне говорят, что, в сущности, его надо удалить от Miss Eastwood, и это и есть причина, почему его отпустили. Нечего сказать, справедливо!

Kamenka 8 October 1883 Modichka! Look after Stepan, i.e. if the opportunity arises, recommend him for a good position. I consider him a victim of injustice, because this is what happened to him: at the start of the summer, he was sent home on leave with a request to return quickly; and he duly left. But not long before that, he had committed a quite innocent act, i.e. he had drunk the remains of a bottle of wine, which he had poured from a barrel into bottles in the big house, and for this he was scolded by Tall Talya. Stepan went home, and soon afterwards a fire broke out, in which all his property, and that of his mother, was burned to the ground. He called on Kamenka for assistance, and Talya sent him 25 rubles and ordered him not to come to Kamenka any more, because he had drunk the bottle of wine. Now I'm told that, in fact, they had to remove him from Miss Eastwood, and this is the reason why he was dismissed. Needless to say, this is an outrage!