Letter to Maria Alexandrovna Ulyanova, March 15, 1897

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March 15, 1897

All this time I have been on the look-out for letters from you, Mother dearest, but so far in vain; enquiries at the post office tell me nothing. I am beginning to think that you have not written to me because you are waiting for the telegram I did not manage to send on arrival. In view of the great length of postage time between us (i.e., letters taking too long en route), you must write without waiting for an address. If I am sent away from here I will leave word at the post office for letters to be forwarded. So please write to me more often to the last address known to you—I am miserable without letters from home. All I have had is Manyasha’s note, brought by the doctor.

Today I said good-bye to the doctor. He went on to Irkutsk. He was not allowed to stay here any longer, i.e., the local authorities would not allow it. So far I am not being troubled and I do not think they can bother me because I have sent an application to the Governor-General and am now awaiting a reply. Incidentally, it is not absolutely impossible that I, too, shall have to make that journey. In these parts the spring thaw is considered to begin from today and a journey by post horses becomes more expensive and more difficult. The weather is excellent, real spring weather. I spend my time here in two ways—first, in visiting Yudin’s library, and second, in getting to know the town of Krasnoyarsk and its inhabitants (many of them exiles). I go to the library every day and since it is two versts from the outskirts of the town I have to walk some five versts; it takes about an hour. I am very glad to have the walk and enjoy it, although it sometimes makes me quite sleepy. There turned out to be far fewer books on my subject in the library than might have been expected from its general size; nevertheless there are some that are useful to me and I am very glad that I do not have to waste my time here completely. I also visit the town library, where I can see journals and newspapers that arrive here on the eleventh day after publication, but I cannot get used to such old “news”. If I have to live a few hundred versts from here, the post will take still longer and it will be still more necessary to write frequently without waiting for a reply; if you wait for a reply it will be more than a month!

It is a great pity nothing is known about the party. I have quite given up expecting a telegram from Anyuta and have decided that either she has not been able to find out anything, or that there has been a delay. I have heard that no more columns are to come here on foot, which means that the party will come by rail. If that is so, I cannot understand why they are being delayed in Moscow. Will it be possible to pass books on? Food? Letters? If these questions are not too late I should be very glad to get an answer to them from Anyuta.

March 16. I missed the post yesterday. The train for Russia leaves here late at night, but the station is a long way away.

Many kisses for you and my regards to everyone. Tomorrow, perhaps, I shall try at last to send off to Anyuta the books that were borrowed for a short time.

Yours,

V. U.

Did my letter with the address arrive? Just in case, I shall repeat it—Bolshekachenskaya Street, House of Klavdiya Popova. You may also write Poste restante and I will ask for letters at the post office. When I leave here, letters will be forwarded.