Letter 4721

Tchaikovsky Research
Date 9/21 July 1892
Addressed to Vasily Bertenson
Where written Saint Petersburg
Language Russian
Autograph Location Moscow (Russia): Russian State Archive of Literature and Art (ф. 39)
Publication За тридцать леть. Пётр и Модест Чайковские. Листки из воспоминаний (June 1912), p. 810 (abridged)
П. И. Чайковский. Полное собрание сочинений, том XVI-Б (1979), p. 126

Text and Translation

Russian text
(original)
English translation
By Brett Langston
9 июля [18]92

Дорогой Василий Бернардович!

Возвращаю долг и при сем ещё и ещё благодарю целителя не только моего тела, но и моего кармана.

Будьте здоровы!

Искренно преданный,

П. Чайковский

9 July 1892

I return herewith my debt, and thank the healer not only of my body, but also of my pocket [1].

Keep well!

Sincerely devoted,

P. Tchaikovsky

Notes and References

  1. Vasily Bertenson's memoirs relate that this note was written the morning after Tchaikovsky, Bertenson, Vladimir Davydov and Aleksandr Litke had visited Leiner's restaurant in Saint Petersburg. "The menu was very elaborate", Bertenson recalled. "Pyotr Ilyich ordered, among other things, a yard-long sterlet, etc. I a word, it was a grand repast. Then the bill was presented and Tchaikovsky discovered that the had left his wallet at home and had with him only a small purse with some change. Embarrassed, Tchaikovsky asked his nephews to help him out, but the young men, who had not counted on such large expenditure, had not brought enough money with them either. Fortunately I turned out to be the 'capitalist' of the evening" — quoted in Tchaikovsky through others' eyes (1999), p. 184.