“ ... I have nothing particular to tell you about my life and work. I am to teach the theory of music, and yesterday I held the preliminary examination. Many pretty girls presented themselves.... I like Moscow very well, but I doubt if I shall ever get accustomed to it; I have been too long rooted in Petersburg.” _To A. and M. Tchaikovsky._ “_January_ 15_th_ (27_th_). “MY DEAR BROTHERS,--Do not waste your money on stamps. It would be better to write only once a week, a long letter in the form of a diary.... “I get on very well with everyone, especially with Rubinstein, Kashkin, Albrecht, and Osberg.[12] I have also made friends with a family of the name Tchaikovsky.[13] I have eaten a great deal at their house, but I did not take part in the dancing, although I was attired in Rubinstein’s dress-coat. The latter looks after me like a nurse, and insists upon doing so. To-day he forced me to accept half a dozen new shirts (you need not mention this to the Davidovs or anyone else), and to-morrow he will carry me off to his tailor to order me a frock-coat. He is a wonderfully kind man, but I cannot understand how he has won his great reputation as a musician. He is rather ordinary in this respect, not to be compared to his brother.[14] “In mentioning my friends here, I must not omit Rubinstein’s servant Alexander. He is a worthy old man, and possesses a splendid white cat which is now sitting on my lap, while I stroke it gently. My pleasantest pastime is to think of the summer. Lately I have felt drawn to Sasha, Leo, and their children, and have now decided to spend the summer with you at their house.” _To A. and M. Tchaikovsky._ “_Sunday, January_ 30_th_ (_February_ 11_th_). “ ... I laugh heartily over Dickens’s _Pickwick Papers_, with no one to share my mirth; but sometimes this thought incites me to even wilder hilarity. I recommend you to read this book; when one wants to read fiction it is best to begin with such an author as Dickens. He has much in common with Gogol; the same inimitable and innate humour and the same masterly power of depicting an entire character in a few strokes. But he has not Gogol’s depth.... “The idea of an opera begins to occupy my attention. All the libretti Rubinstein has given me are utterly bad. I have found a subject, and intend to write words myself. It will simply be the adaptation of a tragedy. The poet Plestcheiev is living here, and has promised to help me.” _To his sister, Alexandra Davidov._ “_February_ 7_th_ (19_th_).