45th issue of the weekly magazine ‘Fragments’ (‘Oskolki’) with illustrations on 2 sheets of November 4, 1889. Editor Leikin Nikolai Alexandrovich (1841-1906).
The cartoon, placed on the title page, depicts Chekhov in a carriage drawn by a symbolic troika from ‘The Bear’, ‘Ivanov’ and ‘The Wood Demon’. The writer is thinking about where to go next: to the left, along the ‘dramatic’ road, or straight ahead, along the ‘narrative’ one. The directions are determined by the corresponding signposts. The cartoon’s author is the artist Mechislav Mikhailovich Dalkevich (1861-1941).

Anton Pavlovich has been published in many outlets. Among them were humorous magazines “Dragonfly”, “Alarm clock”, “Fragments”, “Spectator”. From time to time his notes were placed on its pages by the “Petersburg newspaper”, and he collaborated with the famous “Russian thought” as an editor. To provide the family financially, Chekhov had to work a lot. Anton Pavlovich undertook almost any material: articles, short stories, reviews, short court reports, came up with anecdotes and captions for illustrations. Longest of all, the writer collaborated with “Fragments”, in the publishing house of Nikolai Leikin, who became Chekhov’s guide to the world of literature.

In the 80s of the 19th century, the ‘Fragments’ magazine was considered the most liberal humorous publication. In the period from 1882 to 1887, more than 270 Chekhov’s literary works appeared on the pages of the magazine, including his first collection, “Tales of Melpomene”. At Leikin’s demand, Anton Pavlovich was obliged to write briefly and in a joking manner. Chekhov himself advocated for the brevity of expressing thoughts. It was during this period that Chekhov’s famous aphorism “Brevity is the soul of wit” appeared. But sometimes he still lacked the allotted one hundred terms. The talent already went beyond short humorous stories.

In 1886, Chekhov began cooperation with the reputable St. Petersburg edition of Alexei Sergeevich Suvorin “New Time” (“Novoye Vremya”). By this time, Anton Pavlovich had already earned enough only from literature. In 1887, the fame of the playwright came to Chekhov. The plays “The Bear”, “The Proposal”, “Ivanov”, “The Wood Demon”, staged in professional and amateur theaters, were invariably popular with the audience. This popularity formed the basis for Dalkevich’s playful drawing, hinting that Chekhov is equally talented in literature and in drama. And now he must make a difficult choice of the creative path along which to move forward.