Letter to Maria Alexandrovna Ulyanova, November 17, 1908

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November 17, 1908

Mother dearest,

Manyasha has left today for Lausanne to consult Dr. Mermod, a distinguished specialist on ear troubles. He made the appointment in writing—you have to wait your turn to see famous people here. The general opinion, however, is that he is a competent doctor. Four years ago I had a minor operation in his clinic and it was done magnificently. So I hope he will be able to help Manya, because her ear is troubling her quite a lot and prevents her from working. She has taken a room on the same staircase as ours but a floor higher; a stove has been put in the room and it is warm there. She has dinner and supper with us. Her only trouble has been with her Latin. It seems that Latin is obligatory and the only date for an examination was November 19. This left her only ten days. I did try to persuade her to risk it, covering all the grammar in a “forced march”, especially as she knows French very well. She proved unable to work intensively, however, on account of her ear; the time was so short that she stood a poor chance anyway. And so she dropped the Latin. She consoles herself with the idea that we shall probably all be going to Paris and she, of course, with us. In Paris, Latin is not obligatory. As regards this move of ours—it is almost fully decided, but I do not expect we shall be able to make a move in less than a month from now. There will be more than enough bother with the moving, of course. We hope that a big city will put some life into us all; we are tired of staying in this provincial backwater. It is true, of course, that Paris is more expensive. But the climate is no worse than that of Geneva. Here the climate is rather damp and the mists are unpleasant. We are going to find out what to do with the bicycles. It is a pity to leave them behind; they are excellent things for holidays and pleasure trips, but the duty on them there is, I believe, quite high, although I hope to be able to manage that, too. Please tell Anyuta that I have already sent my philosophical manuscript to the acquaintance who lived in the town where we met before my departure for Krasnoyarsk in 1900. I hope that by now he has received it and delivered it to you. If he has not, you must go and see him since he does not live far from you. I ask you very earnestly to drop me a line immediately on receipt of the manuscript. I have written to two friends in St. Petersburg asking them to help me arrange publication. I asked them to write to Anyuta, if anything turns up, through our mutual acquaintance who works at Znaniye. I hope for very little from Znaniye itself; the “boss” there, who gave Anyuta a half promise, is an old fox and will probably go back on it after sniffing at the atmosphere on Capri, where Gorky lives. We shall have to look elsewhere. I have already written that I am prepared to make every concession.

I embrace you fondly, my dear, and wish you good health.

Yours,

V. Ulyanov