Iván Ilyitch and Other Stories
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COUNT TOLSTOÏ’S WORKS.
| ANNA KARÉNINA | $1.75 |
| CHILDHOOD, BOYHOOD, AND YOUTH | 1.50 |
| IVAN ILYITCH | 1.25 |
| MY RELIGION | 1.00 |
| MY CONFESSION | 1.00 |
| WHAT TO DO? | 1.25 |
| THE INVADERS | 1.25 |
| A RUSSIAN PROPRIETOR | 1.50 |
THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO.,
PUBLISHERS,
13 ASTOR PLACE, NEW YORK.
IVÁN ILYITCH
AND
OTHER STORIES
BY
TRANSLATED FROM THE RUSSIAN
BY
NEW YORK
THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO.
13 Astor Place
Copyright, 1887,
By THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO.
rand avery company,
electrotypers and printers
boston.
PREFACE.
The short stories here presented form about one-half of the twelfth volume of Count Tolstoi’s collected writings.[1] None of them dates back more than three years. They represent the latest phase in the evolution of the author’s peculiar views,—an evolution which may be traced from Olénen in “The Cossacks,” through Pierre Bezúkhof in ‘‘War and Peace,’’ and Levin in “Anna Karénina,’’ down or up to the idealized muzhík who lives by the sweat of his brow, does good for evil, makes no resistance to violence, and comes out victorious over every temptation of the grotesque and naïve Devil and his imps. With the exception of “The Death of Iván Ilyitch,’’ which is a sombre and powerful study of the insidious progress of fatal disease, as well as a study in religious philosophy, all of these fifteen tales were written as tracts for the people, illustrated in many cases with quaint wood-cuts. This form of composition was very likely suggested to Count Tolstoï by the popular tales that have been in vogue in Russia for three or four hundred years.
Such, for example, is the fifteenth-century ‘‘Story of Vasarga the Merchant,’’ in which the child Mudro-muisl, or Wise Thought, solves the riddles of the wicked Tsar Nesmian. This grim but dull-minded tyrant treats Dmitri Vasarga hospitably; but when the guest, in reply to his question, ‘‘What is thy religion?’’ doughtily replies, ‘‘I am of the Christian religion, of the city of Kief, the little merchant Dmitri; and I believe in one God,—Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,’’ he is given one of these choices: to adopt the false religion of the grim tsar, and have great honor; to solve three riddles, or, if he fail to solve the riddles, and still stand firm, to go to prison, and starve to death. It is Mudro-muisl who saves his father’s wealth and health. He puts the tyrant to shame, is elected to the throne by a vote of the people, who were Christian at heart in spite of their tsar, and, having released from the noisome dungeon the three hundred and thirty starving merchants who had been true to their faith, he establishes free trade, and becomes a prosperous and admirable prince,—a most suggestive and inspiring story for any nation that had lurking desires for democracy. Its moral is simply this: that the ruler of a country, even though he be fortified on the throne with wealth and power, is, nevertheless, at the mercy of a little child who has the wit to control and utilize the sentiment of the whole people.
The story of Vasarga is four centuries old, and Russia has not even a constitution. Will Count Tolstoï’s theories of non-resistance and communism, of the blessings of poverty and service, be in practice four hundred years hence?
These stories will be regarded both seriously and as curiosities, for it is impossible not to read between the lines. The only wonder is, that the censor who forbade ‘‘My Religion’’ should have allowed the skazka entitled “Iván Durák.’’ The implication of criticism on the whole military system of Russia is not even covert. The question of regicide is plainly discussed in “A Candle.’’ Though regicide itself is condemned, it is not dubious who is meant by the prikáshchik of the story. Count Tolstoï’s whole system of philosophy is concretely revealed in these allegorical tales: it is not necessary here to discuss the strength or weakness of his logic. But there are few who will not be touched by the moral which Count Tolstoï conveys by means of these curious tales.
In the translation of these stories, no attempt has been made to make smooth, easy reading: the effort has been rather to reproduce the crisp, sharp staccato of the Russian. When Count Tolstoï says, On shol, shol, the rendering is, He went, went; and the deliberate mixture of tenses, past and present, has been pretty carefully followed, so far as the rhythm of translation allowed.
Thus a certain flavor of the original has, it is hoped, been retained; though, of course, the style is crabbed, and will very likely invite criticism. The translator was confronted with the puzzling question of the use of Russian words in the text. The use of some words is certainly justified. Muzhik, or moujic, izbá, samovar, vodka, dvornik, and others, have been utilized so much in all works on Russia, that it would be affectation to translate them into peasant, hut, or cottage, tea-urn, brandy, hall-servant, or hostler. In other cases, a Russian word not difficult to pronounce stands for several words; as khozyáïn for master of the house, baba for peasant-woman. So with diminutives; bátiushka is easier to say than little grandfather. Moreover, as in all Scotch stories, Scotch words are freely used, and unquestionably to advantage; so the moderate use of Russian words seems to be needed, especially where there is no exact equivalent. Thus, in the curious story, ‘‘The Godson,” it seemed absurd to go on calling an old man a godson. The Russian word kréstnik is so near like our christened, having a like derivation, that it was adopted without much hesitation. A glossary of all the words employed in the text may not be found amiss. For the sake of some reader, who may like a little stronger flavor of the original, certain words and expressions are referred to in foot-notes, especially where the same original is rendered in different ways. In nearly all cases the stress is indicated by accent-mark. Vowels have continental pronunciation. Y before a vowel makes a diphthong, as in L-yof.
New York, June 1, 1887.
CONTENTS.
| THE DEATH OF IVÁN ILYITCH | 1 |
| IF YOU NEGLECT THE FIRE, YOU DON’T PUT IT OUT | 91 |
| WHERE LOVE IS, THERE GOD IS ALSO | 112 |
| A CANDLE | 129 |
| TWO OLD MEN | 142 |
| TEXTS FOR WOOD-CUTS:— | |
| The Devil’s persistent, but God is resistant | 178 |
| Little Girls wiser than Old Men | 181 |
| Two Brothers and Gold | 184 |
| Ilyás | 187 |
| THE THREE MENDICANTS | 194 |
| POPULAR LEGENDS:— | |
| How the Little Devil Earned a Crust of Bread | 204 |
| The Repentant Sinner | 208 |
| A Seed as Big as a Hen’s Egg | 211 |
| Does a Man need Much Land? | 215 |
| THE GODSON | 236 |
| SKAZKA (Ivan the Fool) | 266 |
| GLOSSARY | 311 |
- ↑ Sochin’yéniya Gráfa L. N. Tolstávo: Proïzvedéniya Posl’yédnikh gódof. Moskva: Tipografiya M. G. Volchaninova, 1886.
The remainder of the volume consists of ‘‘What Men Live By” (Ch’yém Liudi Zhivui); two papers on the Revision, or Census, in Moscow, the second, “Thoughts suggested by the Revision,” now translated into English under the title “What to do?” certain selections from “My Religion” passed by the censor, and here entitled ‘‘Wherein Happiness [consists] ” (V ch’yém Stchast’yé); and finally a paper written in 1875 on Popular Education (O Narédnom Obrazovanii).
This work is a translation and has a separate copyright status to the applicable copyright protections of the original content.
| Original: |
This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
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| Translation: |
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published in 1887, before the cutoff of January 1, 1929. The longest-living author of this work died in 1935, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 88 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
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