[The following letter, called forth by the dispute about Venezuela between the United States and England, was written by Count Tolstoy to an English correspondent in the early part of the present year (1896), and first appeared in The Daily Chronicle of 17th March.]
You write asking me to state my opinion on the case between the United States and England, "in the cause of Christian consistency and true peace," and you express the hope "that the nations may soon be awakened to the only means of ensuring international peace."
I entertain the same hope; and for this reason. The complication which, in our time, involves the nations: exalting patriotism as they do, educating the young generation in that superstition, and at the same time shi... (From: Wikisource.org.)
"The world, ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)
The Dukhobors[1] settled in the Caucasus have been subjected to cruel persecutions by the Russian authorities, and these persecutions, described in the report of one who made inquiries on the spot,[2] are now, at this moment, being carried on.
These Dukhobors were beaten, whipped, and ridden down; quartered upon them in "executions" were Cossacks who, it is proved, allowed themselves every license with
these people; and everything they did was with the consent of their officers. Those men who had refused military service were tortured, in body and in mind; and it is entirely true that a prosperous population, who by tens of years of ha... (From: Wikisource.org.)
(Based on a story by Victor Hugo)
In a fishing hut, Jeanna, wife of a fisherman, sits by the fire and repairs an old
sail. Outside, the wind whistles and howls, and waves rumble are splash and
break against the shore. The yard is dark and cold, the sea is storming, but it
is warm and cozy in the fishing hut. Earthen floor is swept cleanly; the fire is
still on in the stove; clean dishes glitter on the shelf. On the bed with lowered
white canopy, five children sleep with the sounds of the howls of stormy sea.
The husband, a fisher, since the morning went out on a boat trip in the sea
and has not return yet. The woman hears the rumble and the roar of the
waves. Jeanna is fearful.
Old wooden clock with a squeaky beat stru... (From: Archive.org.)
Why Tanya, have you dried up? You don't write to me at all, and I so love receiving letters from you, and you and have not yet replied to Levochka[1]'s crazy epistle, of which I did not understand a word.
23rd MarchThere, she began to write, and suddenly stopped, because she could not continue. And do you know why, Tanya dear?
A strange thing has befallen her, and a still stranger thing has befallen me. As you know, like hte rest of us, she has always been made of flesh and blood, with all the advantages and disadvantages of that condition: she breathed, was warm and sometimes hot, blew her nose (and how loud!) and so on - and above all, she had control of her limbs, which - both arms and legs - could assume different positions: in a wo... (From: Wikisource.org.)
(Posthumous notes of the hermit, Fëdor Kuzmích, who died in Siberia in a hut belonging to Khrómov, the merchant, near the town of Tomsk, on the 20th January 1864)
During the lifetime of the hermit Fëdor Kuzmích, who appeared in Siberia in 1836 and lived there in different parts for twenty-seven years, strange rumors were rife that he – concealing his real name and rank – was none other than Alexander the First. After his death these rumors became more definite and widespread. That he really was Alexander the First was believed during the reign of Alexander III not only by the common people, but also in Court circles and even by members of the Imperial family. Among others, the historian Schilder, ... (From: Wikisource.org.)
PETER IGNÁTITCH. A well-to-do peasant, 42 years old, married
for the second time, and sickly.
ANÍSYA. His wife, 32 years old, fond of dress.
AKOULÍNA. Peter's daughter by his first marriage, 16 years old,
hard of hearing, mentally undeveloped.
NAAN (ANNA PETRÓVNA). His daughter by his second marriage, 10
years old.
NIKÍTA. Their laborer, 26 years old, fond of dress.
AKÍM. Nikíta's father, 50 years old, a plain-looking, God-fearing
peasant.
MATRYÓNA. His wife and Nikíta's mother, 50 years old.
MARÍNA. An orphan girl, 22 years old.
MARTHA. Peter's sister.
MÍTRITCH. An old laborer, ex-soldier.
SIMON. Marína's husband.
BRIDEG... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
TO those who ask my opinion whether it be desirable to endeavor by the aid of reason to attain complete consciousness in one's inner spiritual life, and to express the truths thus attained in definite language, I would answer positively in the affirmative, that every man, in order to achieve his destiny on earth, and to attain true welfare,—the two are synonymous,—must continually exert all his mental faculties to solve for himself and clearly to express the religious foundations on which he lives—that is, the meaning of his life.
I have often found among illiterate laborers who have to deal with cubic measurements an accepted conviction that mathematical calculations are fallacious, and not to be trusted. Whether it aris... (From: Wikisource.org.)
Well, it happened about three o'clock. The gentlemen were playing. There was the tall visitor, as our men called him. The prince was there,--the two are always together. The mustached barin was there; also the little hussar, Oliver, who was an actor; there was the Polish pan.[1] It was a pretty good crowd.
The tall visitor and the prince were playing together. Now, here I was walking up and down around the billiard-table with my stick, keeping tally,--ten and forty-seven, twelve and forty-seven.
Everybody knows it's our business to score. You don't get a chance to get a bite of anything, and you don't get to bed till two o'clock o' nights, but you're always being screamed at to bring the balls.
I was keeping tally ; and I look, and se... (From: Wikisource.org.)
In the country. A veranda covered by a gay awning; sunlight; flowers; SOPHIA KARÉNINA, LISA, her little boy and nurse.
Lisa (standing C. in door. To the little boy, smiling), Who do you think is on his way from the station?
Misha (excitedly). Who? Who?
Lisa. Papa.
Misha (rapturously). Papa’s coming! Papa’s coming!
[Exits L. through C. door.
Lisa (contentedly, to SOPHIA KARÉNINA). How much he loves Victor! As if he were his real father!
Sophia Karénina (on sofa L. knitting—back to audience). Tant mieux. Do you think he ever remembers his father?
Lisa (sighing). I can’t tell. Of course I’ve never said anything to him. What’s the us... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
You ask me—first, How I understand the word religion; and, second, Whether I admit the existence of morality, independent of religion as understood by me. I will answer these most important questions, well put by you, as best I can.[1]
There are three separate meanings generally implied by the word religion. First—That religion is a certain true revelation
given by God to men, from which proceeds man's worship of God. Such an interpretation is applied to religion by all believers in one of its existing forms, who regard in consequence their particular form as the only true one. Second—That religion is a collection of superstitious statements, from which a worship equally superstitious is derived. Such an interpretation ... (From: Wikisource.org.)
'And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy Kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.'-Luke xxiii. 42, 43.
There was once a man who lived for seventy years in the world, and lived in sin all that time. He fell ill, but even then did not repent. Only at the last moment, as he was dying, he wept and said:
'Lord! forgive me, as Thou forgavest the thief upon the cross.'
And as he said these words, his soul left his body. And the soul of the sinner, feeling love towards God and faith in His mercy, went to the gates of heaven, and knocked, praying to be let into the heavenly kingdom.
Then a voice spoke from within the gate:
'What man is it that knocks at th... (From: Wikisource.org.)
To Critics
A LETTER ADDRESSED TO "THE DAILY CHRONICLE'
SINCE the appearance of my book, "The Kingdom of God is within Us," and my article on "Patriotism and Christianity," I often hear and read in articles and
letters addressed to me, arguments against, I will not
say the ideas expressed in those books, but against such
misconstructions as are put upon them. This is done
sometimes consciously, but very often unwittingly, and
is wholly due to a want of understanding of the spirit of
the Christian religion.
" It is all very well," they say ; " despotism, capital
punishments, wars, the arming of all Europe, the precarious state of the working-classes, are indeed great evils,
and you are right in condemning all this ; ... (From: Wikisource.org.)
Nekhludoff left home early. A peasant from the country was still driving along the side street and calling out in a voice peculiar to his trade, “Milk! milk! milk!”
The first warm spring rain had fallen the day before, and now wherever the ground was not paved the grass shone green. The birch trees in the gardens looked as if they were strewn with green fluff, the wild cherry and the poplars unrolled their long, balmy buds, and in shops and dwelling-houses the double window-frames were being removed and the windows cleaned.
In the Tolkoochi [literally, jostling market, where secondhand clothes and all sorts of cheap goods are sold] market, which Nekhludoff had to pass on his way, a dense crowd was surging along the... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
When I was about thirty-seven years old I acted in a manner of which I had always disapproved. I had known of other people acting in the same way, and had always felt that they were doing wrong. It was in sex matters that I sinned, and the case was the more startling because I had been guilty of no outwardly wrong action of the kind since I was quite a young man, and for about a year before the lapse I had been stirred by a strong desire to change my whole way of life and be of more use in the world than heretofore. And the question arose — Was I to confess my conduct to those whose lives were linked to mine and whom I could not wound without lacerating myself? or had I better conceal it?
If I told them the truth it ... (From: Archive.org.)
A poor woman had a daughter, Masha. Masha one
morning, in going after water, saw something lying on
the door-step, wrapped up in rags.
Masha set down her pail and undid the rags. When
she had opened the bundle, there came forth a cry from
out the rags, ua! ua! ua !
Masha bent over and saw that it was a pretty little
baby. He was crying lustily, ua! ua! ua! Masha
took him up in her arms and carried him into the house,
and tried to give him some milk with a spoon.
The mother said :
" What have you brought in ? "
Masha said :
" A baby ; I found it at our door."
The mother said :
" We are so poor, how can we get food for another
child ? I am going to the police and tell them to take
it away."
Masha wept, and ... (From: Wikisource.org.)
There was a time between 1820 and 1830 when the officers of the Semenof regiment the flower of the youth at that time; men who were for the most part Freemasons, and subsequently Decembrists[1]—decided not to use corporal punishment in their regiment, and, notwithstanding the stringent discipline then required, theirs continued to be a model regiment without corporal punishment.
The officer in charge of one of the companies of this same Semenof regiment, meeting Serge Ivanovitch Muravief—one of the best men of his, or indeed of any, time,—spoke of a certain soldier, a thief and a drunkard, saying that such a man can only be tamed with rods. Serge Muravief did not agree with him, and proposed to transfer the man into his o... (From: Wikisource.org.)
Voices and an accordion sounded as if close
by, though through the mist nobody could
be seen. It was a work-day morning, and I
was surprised to hear music.
"Oh, it's the recruits' leave-taking," thought I,
remembering that I had heard something a few
days before about five men being drawn from
our village. Involuntarily attracted by the merry
song, I went in the direction whence it proceeded.
As I approached the singers, the sound of song
and accordion suddenly stopped. The singers,
that is the lads who were leave-taking, entered
the double-fronted brick cottage belonging to the
father of one of them. Before the door stood a
small group of women, girls, and children.
While I was finding out whose sons were going,
and w... (From: Archive.org.)
(From a Letter to a Friend)
It is quite true, as you say in your article, and H—— in his, that Christian life is quite impossible in the present unchristian organization of society. The contradiction between his surroundings and his convictions is very painful for a man who is sincere in his Christian faith, and therefore the organization of
communities seems to such a man the only means of delivering himself from these contradictions.
But this is an illusion. Every community is a small island in the midst of an ocean of unchristian conditions of life, so that the Christian relations exist only between the members of the colony; while outside they must remain unchristian, otherwise the colony could not exist for one mome... (From: Wikisource.org.)
I. THE WOLF AND THE KIDS
A GOAT was going to the field after provender, and she shut up her Kids in the barn, with injunctions not to let any one in. Said she : "But when you hear my voice then open the door."
A Wolf overheard, crept up to the barn, and sang after the manner of the Goat : "Little children, open the door ; your mother has come with some food for you."
The Kids peered out of the window, and said : "The voice is our mama's, but the legs are those of a wolf. We cannot let you in."
II. THE FARMER'S WIFE AND THE CAT
A FARMER'S wife was annoyed by mice eating up the tallow in her cellar. She shut the cat into the cellar, so that the cat might catch the mice. But the cat ate up, not only the tallow, but the milk and the ... (From: Wikisource.org.)
One time I went out hunting with Milton. Just as we
reached the forest he began to get a scent. He stretched
out his tail, pricked up his ears, and began to sniff.
I got my musket ready and started after him. I sup-
posed that he was on the track of a partridge, or a pheas-
ant, or a hare. But Milton did not turn off into the woods,
but into a field. I followed him and looked ahead.
Suddenly I caught sight of what he was after. In
front of him a little turtle was making its way it was
of the size of a hat. Its bald, dark gray head and long
neck were thrust out like a pistil. The turtle was mov-
ing along by the aid of its bare feet, and its back was
wholly covered by its shell.
As soon as it saw the dog, it drew in... (From: Wikisource.org.)
Once upon a time, in a certain province of a certain country, there lived a rich peasant, who had three sons: Simon the Soldier, Tarás the Stout, and Iván the Fool, besides an unmarried daughter, Martha, who was deaf and dumb. Simon the Soldier went to the wars to serve the king; Tarás the Stout went to a merchant's in town to trade, and Iván the Fool stayed at home with the lass, to till the ground till his back bent.
Simon the Soldier obtained high rank and an estate, and married a nobleman's daughter. His pay was large and his estate was large, but yet he could not make ends meet. What the husband earned his lady wife squandered, and they never had money enough.
So Simon the Soldier went to his estate to col... (From: Wikisource.org.)
I. The essence of the lie and the deception of the doctrine of state
1.
The deceitful doctrine of state is regarding yourself as connected with the people of one nationality, or one state, separated from the people of other nations and the other states. People torture, kill, rob each other and themselves because of this terribly false dogma. People can free themselves from this dogma only after they identify themselves with the spiritual beginning of the life, which is the same in all people. Once people recognize this beginning in themselves, they can no longer believe in human institutions which only separate that what is connected by God.
2.
It’s reasonable to love virtues, respect courageous acts, recognize kindness regardles... (From: Wikisource.org.)