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Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy
Tolstoy's childhood
(From memories)
I was born and spent my first childhood in the village of Yasnaya Polyana. I don’t remember my mother at all. I was one and a half years old when she died. By a strange coincidence, not a single portrait of her remains... in my image of her there is only her spiritual appearance, and everything that I know about her is wonderful, and I think - not only because everyone who told me about my mother tried to say only good things about her, but because there really was a lot of this good in her...
There were five of us children: Nikolai, Sergei, Dmitry, me, the youngest, and my little sister Mashenka...
My older brother Nikolenka was six years older than me. He was, therefore, ten or eleven when I was four or five, precisely when he took us to Fanfaron Mountain. In our early youth - I don’t know how it happened - we called him “you”. He was an amazing boy and then an amazing person... His imagination was such that he could tell fairy tales or ghost stories or humorous stories... without stopping or hesitating, for hours and with such confidence in the reality of what he was telling that you forgot that it was fiction.
When he wasn't talking or reading (he read a lot), he was drawing. He almost always drew devils with horns, curled mustaches, interlocking with each other in a wide variety of poses and busy with a wide variety of activities. These drawings were also full of imagination and humor.
So, when my brothers and I were - I was five, Mitenka was six, Seryozha was seven years old - he announced to us that he had a secret, through which, when it was revealed, all people would be made happy; there will be no illnesses, no troubles, no one will be angry with anyone, and everyone will love each other, everyone will become ant brothers... And I remember that I especially liked the word “ant”, reminiscent of ants in a mound. We even played a game of ant brothers, which consisted of sitting under chairs, blocking them with drawers, hanging them with scarves and sitting there in the dark, huddling together. I remember feeling a special feeling of love and tenderness and really loved this game.
The ant brotherhood was revealed to us, but the main secret of how to make sure that all people do not know any misfortunes, never quarrel or get angry, but are constantly happy, this secret was, as he told us, written on a green stick. , and this stick is buried by the road on the edge of the Old Order ravine( Old Order- the forest in Yasnaya Polyana, where L.N. Tolstoy is buried.), in the place in which I - since my corpse must be buried somewhere - asked, in memory of Nikolenka, to bury me. Besides this stick, there was also some Fanfaron mountain, to which he said that he could take us if only we fulfilled all the conditions laid down for that. The conditions were, firstly, to stand in a corner and not think about the polar bear. I remember how I stood in the corner and tried, but I couldn’t help but think about the polar bear. I don’t remember the second condition, something very difficult... to walk through the crack between the floorboards without tripping, and the third is easy: not to see a hare for a year - it doesn’t matter whether it’s alive, or dead, or roasted. Then you must swear not to reveal these secrets to anyone.
The one who fulfills these conditions and other, more difficult ones that he will discover later, one desire, whatever it may be, will be fulfilled. We had to say our wishes. Seryozha wished to be able to sculpt horses and chickens from wax, Mitenka wished to be able to draw all sorts of things, a painter, in a large form. I couldn’t think of anything except to be able to draw in a small form. All this, as happens with children, was very soon forgotten, and no one entered Fanfaronova Mountain, but I remember the mysterious importance with which Nikolenka initiated us into these secrets, and our respect and awe for the amazing things that were revealed to us.
In particular, the ant brotherhood and the mysterious green stick that was associated with it and was supposed to make all people happy left a strong impression on me...
The ideal of ant brothers clinging lovingly to each other, only not under two armchairs hung with scarves, but under everything firmament all the people of the world, remained the same for me. And just as I believed then that there was that green stick on which was written something that should destroy all evil in people and give them great good, so I believe now that there is this truth and that it will be revealed to people and will give them that what she promises.
Local history is serious, forever
After graduating from the Moscow State Institute of History and Archives and working in the Moscow archives, I returned to Dmitrov, and, ironically, worked at the Central Library for more than 30 years in a building built on the site of the ancient house of the merchant Sychev, where I lived with my parents in the 1960s. e years at the address Pochtovaya, 11. The house was demolished in the 1970s, but for a long time I dreamed of it with all the interior details: a wooden staircase, tiled stoves, numerous windows and a massive door. It was a good place: a spacious yard, vegetable gardens, residents...
In the library, I started as a bibliographer in the methodological and bibliographic department, worked as the head of the OIEF sector and the non-stationary sector, then returned to the information and bibliographic department as head. sector of local history.
Since 1996, I began to study local history and gradually work became the meaning of life for me. And it was a wonderful time! The nineties, so criticized now, opened A New Look on history, on ourselves. They were that sip fresh air, which was so lacking during the years of stagnation.
What about local history? If we talk about library stuff, then it all fit on one shelf. And the demand was small. Knowledge of local history was not included in school curricula; in general, interest in the history of the region was discouraged long ago and for a long time. Among local history literature, a special place was occupied by collections published by the Dmitrov Museum of Local History in 1920-30, during the “golden decade” of local history, the authors of which were genuine enthusiasts with scientific knowledge: M.N. Tikhomirov, K.A. Soloviev, A.D. Shakhovskaya, M.S. Pomerantsev and others. They left a legacy of work that has not lost its value to this day.
How the messengers of freedom came, or rather returned, to Dmitrov Golitsyn. In 1996, the library hosted an exhibition of works by artist Vladimir Golitsyn. The photograph captured the participants in this exhibition: Illarion, Mikhail, Elena, Georgy, Ivan Golitsyn, friends and acquaintances. She was extremely important to them. Dmitrov was part of life big family in 1930-50 Vladimir Golitsyn, the head of the family, left here forever to die in the camp. His children grew up here. Having survived the most difficult war years, they stepped into the world, each building their own destiny. How many memorable meetings will there be later? The last one took place in 2008, when the 600th anniversary of the Golitsyn family was celebrated. They arrived already aged with an irreparable loss, without Illarion Vladimirovich. But during this time the Golitsyns had already conquered Moscow, they survived, with their talent, deeds, and thoughts they broke through the wall of silence, proud of their ancestors.
Another representative of the Dmitrov nobility returned to Dmitrov, a descendant of the Norov-Polivanov family - Alexey Matveevich Polivanov. Noble estates became interesting not only as places associated with the Decembrists, but also as cultural nests. In the wake of those years, on the initiative of A.M. Polivanov, created a memorial corner in the former Nadezhdino estate, dedicated to a wonderful family that gave Russia a scientist, participants in the Suvorov wars and the Patriotic War of 1812, zemstvo leaders, and teachers. Alexey Matveevich was the epitome of action and perseverance. He was in such a hurry to make up for lost time, to restore the past, as he felt that he was not given much time. Alexey Matveevich traveled with the Society of Decembrist Descendants to many cities with a traveling exhibition, visited Switzerland and followed the route of his ancestor, who crossed the Alps in 1799, and at the end of his life attended the opening of the estate church in Nadezhdino.
I remember the exhibition in the library “Friends of Pushkin in Dmitrovsky District” (1999), at which a few items were exhibited - V.S.’s burka. Burrow, dishes, photographs. Where is all this now? After the death of Alexei Matveevich, who received these relics? Do his children need them?
The series of exhibitions “Small Encyclopedia of the Dmitrov Region” and “From the Family Archive” were held in the hall of the 3rd floor. They took place thanks to cooperation with the descendants of the Voznichikhins, Istomins, Varentsovs, Zilov-Semevskys. Each exhibition is a search for new information and meeting people. At first, Romuald Fedorovich Khokhlov provided great assistance in their organization. He came to the library at a difficult time, when he was fired from the museum, without which he could not imagine his life. Could he imagine that his knowledge and merits turned out to be of no use to anyone there?
For me, R.F. Khokhlov became the person who aroused my interest in local history and became for me an example of a true scientist. For more than 30 years he was an educator, museum worker, local historian, a milestone in the history of our Dmitrov. But there is no prophet in his own country. The museum doesn't even have a corner dedicated to him. Such people are inconvenient, they are not loved, they are Don Quixotes tilting at windmills.
After the departure of Romuald Fedorovich, in order to somehow compensate for the irreparable loss and pay tribute to a bright and unforgettable personality, I began preparing a collection of his works. Working on the collection became a real school for me. Feeling that my knowledge would not be enough, I turned to Doctor of Historical Sciences A.I. Aksenov. After listening to me, he expressed doubts about the timeliness of my idea, but agreed to be my editor. Yes, in many ways he was right. But on the other hand, I collected priceless memories that were shared by Alexander Ivanovich himself, Evgeny Vasilyevich Starostin, Honored Professor of MGIAI. It was very important for me that such wonderful scientists would evaluate his work. Of course, I also turned to Sigurd Ottovich Schmidt. He supported this idea, wanted to help somehow, sent a welcoming letter to the evening in memory of R.F. Khokhlova in 2006, and in 2013 he paid a visit to Dmitrov. Speaking at a meeting in the library, he openly declared the need to publish a collection of his student’s works. But, apparently, the time has not come yet. Publishing activity in Dmitrov is casual in nature, it is carried out by people interested in personal commercial success.
In addition to the collection, which included scientific works, essays, articles by R.F. Khokhlova, a bibliographic list of his works, I still have a diary that I kept since 1999, as living evidence of his life and our communication, which lasted only a few years.
Another person whose departure interrupted the thin thread of communication and support. This is Nikolai Alekseevich Fedorov. Now, looking back, you understand how small the circle of like-minded people involved in local history was.
Both Khokhlov and Fedorov, they were all like a center around which people, ideas, and meetings revolved. Everyone knew them from publications in the newspaper; they were aware of the cultural life of the city. They themselves were part of a process that took place in society called glasnost. For Romuald Fedorovich, as a researcher, this time provided the opportunity to write on a wide variety of topics, but his main works were already in the past, and there was no time left to start new ones. How he regretted it. His talent was revealed during the years of prohibitions and ideological pressure. He wrote with bitterness that it was not he who had to deal with Dmitlag, but he rejoiced at the success of his colleague, N.A. Fedorov, his research work on the fate of the builders of the Moscow-Volga canal.
The death of Nikolai Alekseevich Fedorov, the circumstances and its indirect causes caused a real shock in society. It is a pity that his last years were overshadowed by the reorganization of the newspaper's editorial office, which he resisted. Later, when I was working on the biobibliographic reference book “N.A. Fedorov – journalist, editor, local historian,” while studying biographical documents and the miraculously preserved handwritten magazine “Eccentrics,” I learned a lot about the author himself: in his youth, a great connoisseur of literature, passionate about sports, working with youth (organizer of KVN at school), a person looking for his place in life, which he could not imagine without journalism.
From the list of publications one could trace the professional growth of Nikolai Alekseevich: from notes and reports to critical articles, and with the advent of the columns “Returned Names”, “Channel and Fates”, he took an active civic position. The history of Dmitlag and the fate of people became his main theme.
An important milestone in local history was associated with the return of the name of the poet Lev Zilov. Several meetings were held in the library with the participation of the poet’s grandson, Fyodor Nikolaevich Semevsky. The very first meeting and presentation of the collection “Call native land. Remembering the Forgotten Poet" is an unforgettable page. There was so much enthusiasm, genuine interest in the fate and work of Lev Nikolaevich. The author-compiler of the collection and the first researcher of the life and work of L.N. spoke at the evening. Zilova Zinaida Ivanovna Pozdeeva from Taldom. Together with her came the general director of the Porcelain Verbilok plant, Vadim Dmitrievich Lunev, a young, impressive leader and sponsor of this collection. It was with his support that the book “The History of the Gardner Porcelain Factory” appeared two years later.
Fyodor Nikolaevich Semevsky amazed everyone with the simplicity and modesty of a true intellectual. But he had his own merits as a biologist. Communication with him and his wife Vera Alexandrovna left the warmest memories. I was invited to visit them in a private house on Timiryazevskaya, which preserved the atmosphere of an old, cozy Moscow house. Once again they came to the meeting in Dmitrov with an expensive gift - a collection of rare publications by Lev Zilov, with the poem “Grandfather” (1912), collections of poems and children's books from the 20-30s. XX century.
The first decade of the 21st century is a very important page in the life of the library. In 2004, a museum of the history of the library was opened. T.K. took an active part in the creation of the museum. Mamedova, who came to the library from the Taldom Museum. Her experience as a museum employee was useful in organizing a small exhibition at the library museum. Over the 7 years of work in the library, while doing research work to collect information on the history of librarianship in Dmitrov, she published articles about libraries: zemstvo, temperance society, Red Army, the work of libraries during the war and many other notes in the local press. Tatyana Konstantinovna had not only museum experience, but also journalistic experience, she went to people, turned to archives, obtaining the necessary information bit by bit. Our interests in the field of library local history overlapped, but each had its own topic.
Thanks to new documents, the history of the city's libraries before 1918, previously unexplored by anyone, has been given a completely new perspective. Suddenly, a true picture of the past with its achievements, a surge in the social activity of the city fathers and all educated layers of Dmitrov society began to emerge. The zemstvo and city authorities created city libraries, and an entire library network in the county, the so-called people's libraries. The names of the benefactors became known - E.N. Gardner, E.V. Shorina, S.E. Klyatov, A.N. Polyaninov, M.N. Polivanov and more than 50 founding members of the Alexandrovsk City Public Library. In the library museum, this period is the most interesting in terms of faces, facts and its uniqueness. After all, we managed to preserve grains of the past, which seemed to be lost forever.
Contact with old-timers gave impetus to the study and collection of material about Evnikia Mikhailovna Kaftannikova. It was necessary to hurry, because there were few living witnesses left even then, but still there were some. These are Galina Aleksandrovna Istomina, Mark Andreevich Ivanov, Vadim Anatolyevich Flerov, Zinaida Vasilievna Ermolaeva, Natalya Mikhailovna Ivanovskaya and others. Everything suddenly came to life: E. Kaftannikova’s autograph on Tokmakov’s book (1893), and notes with a dedicatory inscription, brought unexpectedly to the library, and memories, and rare photographs, theater posters, and dry lines of reports and certificates! Everything came together in a short biography, a book “Eunicea” about the fate of a woman, half of whose life was spent in her passion for theater and art, and the other half in the library.
My other works were also dedicated to library workers - Alexei Nikitovich Topunov and Alexandra Matveevna Varentsova, as well as essays on the history of the library.
A special page in my life is “Memorable Alexey Egorovich Novoselov”, the second most difficult work to complete, which required me a lot of time and knowledge to prepare for publication a unique source, which was the diary of a Dmitrov merchant.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, a very active stage in the development of local history began. The library was replenished with new publications, collections from the “Annals of Local History” series with previously inaccessible sources from the museum. New thematic folders were created on the history of populated areas, the estates of Nadezhdino, Olgovo, Nikolskoye-Obolyanovo, monasteries and churches of the Dmitrov region, about the Dmitrov merchants, the canal named after. Moscow, Honorary Citizens of the Dmitrov District, streets and squares of Dmitrov and many others. The demand for local history material was great; unfortunately, it was not always possible to satisfy the demand. The information that was gleaned from the local press could not fill the gaps in local history and modern life district. This was a period when the newspapers “Dmitrovsky Vestnik”, “Dmitrovsky Izvestia”, “Times and News” often published local history articles.
The demand for local history literature was extremely high. But as soon as the Internet became a reality, it became clear that, along with traditional types of library work, it was necessary to turn to the virtual space of the Internet. A local history portal “Dmitrov Region” was created, which was based on the local history fund, research work of department employees and local historians.
Open access to any information, including local history, is a great achievement of our time, and it is the future of the library. But I am glad that my time gave me the happiness to engage in research work, to identify “The Diary of the Merchant A.E. Novoselov”, to take photographs of an unknown photographer of the early twentieth century, to collect information on the history of the library, to publish local history bibliographic collections, to collect memories of townspeople and much more.
While working in the library, I met many interesting people. All of them are imprinted in my memory as dear memories.
I would like to end my “memories” with the words of R.F. Khokhlova. In them I see a great meaning about the purpose of a person, summing up his life and work: “This is not an easy science - history, but it is even very complex. And not “bread” at that. And yet: how many discoveries (big and small) have been made during this time? For me, this compensates for all the hardships and troubles. God be with them, I think, the troubles will pass, and history and culture are eternal, at least as long as at least one person remains on Earth.”
Elovskaya N.L.
Current page: 1 (book has 5 pages in total) [available reading passage: 1 pages]
Tolstoy Lev Nikolaevich
Memories
L.N. Tolstoy
MEMORIES
INTRODUCTION
My friend P[avel] I[vanovich] B[iryukov], who undertook to write my biography for the French edition of the complete work, asked me to tell him some biographical information.
I really wanted to fulfill his wish, and I began to compose my biography in my imagination. At first, imperceptibly for myself, in the most natural way, I began to remember only one good thing in my life, only like shadows in a picture, adding to this good the dark, bad sides and actions of my life. But, thinking more seriously about the events of my life, I saw that such a biography would be, although not an outright lie, but a lie due to incorrect coverage and exposure of the good and suppression or smoothing out of everything bad. When I thought about writing the whole true truth, without hiding anything bad in my life, I was horrified at the impression that such a biography would have to make.
At this time I got sick. And during the involuntary idleness of my illness, my thoughts constantly turned to memories, and these memories were terrible. I experienced with the greatest strength what Pushkin says in his poem:
MEMORY
When the noisy day ceases for a mortal
And on the silent hailstorms
A translucent shadow will cast the night
And sleep, the reward of the day's labors,
At that time for me they languish in silence
Hours of languid vigil:
In the inactivity of the night they burn more alive in me
Snakes of heart's remorse;
Dreams are boiling; in a mind overwhelmed by melancholy,
There is an excess of heavy thoughts;
The memory is silent before me
The scroll develops its long one:
And, reading my life with disgust,
I tremble and curse
And I complain bitterly, and I shed bitter tears,
But I don’t wash away the sad lines.
In the last line I would just change it like this, instead of: sad lines... I would put: I don’t wash away the shameful lines.
Under this impression, I wrote the following in my diary:
I am now experiencing the torments of hell: I remember all the abomination of my former life, and these memories do not leave me and poison my life. It is common to regret that a person does not retain memories after death. What a blessing that this is not the case. What a torment it would be if in this life I remembered everything bad, painful for my conscience, that I did in my previous life. And if you remember the good, then you must remember all the bad. What a blessing that memory disappears with death and only consciousness remains - consciousness, which represents, as it were, a general conclusion from good and bad, as if a complex equation reduced to its simplest expression: x = positive or negative, large or small value. Yes, great happiness is the destruction of memories; it would be impossible to live joyfully with it. Now, with the destruction of memory, we enter life with a clean, white page on which we can write again the good and the bad.”
It is true that not my whole life was so terribly bad - only one 20-year period of it was like that; It is also true that even during this period my life was not completely evil, as it seemed to me during my illness, and that even during this period, impulses towards good awoke in me, although they did not last long and were soon drowned out by unrestrained passions. But still, this work of thought of mine, especially during my illness, clearly showed me that my biography, as biographies are usually written, with silence about all the nastiness and criminality of my life, would be a lie, and that if you write a biography, then you need to write the whole real truth. Only such a biography, no matter how ashamed I may be to write it, can be of real and fruitful interest to readers. Remembering my life in this way, that is, considering it from the point of view of the good and evil that I did, I saw that my life falls into four periods: 1) that wonderful, especially in comparison with the subsequent, innocent, joyful, poetic period of childhood up to 14 years old; then a second, terrible 20-year period of gross debauchery, serving ambition, vanity and, most importantly, lust; then the third, 18-year period from marriage to my spiritual birth, which, from a worldly point of view, could be called moral, since during these 18 years I lived a correct, honest family life, without indulging in any vices condemned by public opinion, but all whose interests were limited to selfish concerns about the family, about increasing his fortune, about acquiring literary success and all kinds of pleasures.
And finally, the fourth, 20-year period in which I now live and in which I hope to die and from the point of view of which I see the whole meaning of the past life and which I would not want to change in anything, except in those habits of evil, which I have learned in past periods.
I would like to write such a story of life from all these four periods, completely, completely truthful, if God gives me strength and life. I think that such a biography written by me, even with great shortcomings, will be more useful for people than all that artistic chatter with which my 12 volumes of works are filled and to which people of our time attribute an undeserved significance.
Now I want to do this. I will first tell you about the first joyful period of childhood, which especially attracts me; Then, ashamed as I may be, I will tell you, without hiding anything, the terrible 20 years of the next period. Then the third period, which may be the least interesting of all, in, finally, the last period of my awakening to the truth, which gave me the highest blessing of life and joyful peace in view of approaching death.
In order not to repeat myself in the description of childhood, I re-read my writing under this title and regretted that I wrote it: it was so bad, literary, and insincerely written. It could not have been otherwise: firstly, because my idea was to describe the story not of my own, but of my childhood friends, and therefore there was an awkward confusion of the events of their and my childhood, and secondly, because at the time of writing this I was far from independent in forms of expression, but was influenced by two writers, Stern (his "Sentimental Journey") and Topfer ("Bibliotheque de mon oncle"), who had a strong influence on me at that time [Stern ("Sentimental Journey") and Töpfer ("My Uncle's Library") (English and French)].
In particular, I now did not like the last two parts: adolescence and youth, in which, in addition to the awkward mixing of truth with fiction, there is insincerity: the desire to present as good and important what I did not consider then good and important - my democratic direction . I hope that what I write now will be better, most importantly, more useful to other people.
I
I was born and spent my first childhood in the village of Yasnaya Polyana. I don’t remember my mother at all. I was 1 1/2 years old when she passed away. By a strange coincidence, not a single portrait of her remains, so I cannot imagine her as a real physical being. I am partly glad of this, because in my idea of her there is only her spiritual appearance, and everything that I know about her is wonderful, and I think - not only because everyone who told me about my mother tried to talk about There was only good in her, but because there really was a lot of this good in her.
However, not only my mother, but also all the people surrounding my childhood - from my father to the coachmen - seem to me exclusively good people. Probably, my pure childhood feeling of love, like a bright ray, revealed to me the best qualities in people (they always exist), and the fact that all these people seemed to me exceptionally good was much more true than when I saw them alone flaws. My mother was not good-looking and very well educated for her time. She knew, in addition to Russian - which she, contrary to the then accepted Russian illiteracy, wrote correctly - four languages: French, German, English and Italian - and should have been sensitive to art, she played the piano well, and her peers told her me that she was a great master at telling enticing tales, inventing them as she told them. Her most valuable quality was that, according to the servants’ stories, she was, although quick-tempered, restrained. “She will blush all over, even cry,” her maid told me, “but she will never say a rude word.” She didn't even know them.
I still have several letters from her to my father and other aunts and a diary of the behavior of Nikolenka (elder brother), who was 6 years old when she died, and who, I think, was most like her. They both had a character trait that was very endearing to me, which I assume from my mother’s letters, but which I knew from my brother - indifference to people’s judgments and modesty, going so far as to try to hide the mental, educational and moral advantages that they had in front of other people. They seemed to be ashamed of these advantages.
In my brother, about whom Turgenev very correctly said that he did not have those shortcomings that are needed to be a great writer, I knew this well.
I remember once how a very stupid and bad man, the governor’s adjutant, who was hunting with him, laughed at him in front of me, and how my brother, looking at me, smiled good-naturedly, obviously finding great pleasure in this.
I notice the same feature in letters to my mother. She was obviously spiritually superior to her father and his family, with the exception of Tat. Alex. Ergolskaya, with whom I lived half my life and who was a woman of remarkable moral qualities.
In addition, both had another trait that, I think, determined their indifference to the judgment of people - this is the fact that they never, precisely never, anyone - I already know this for sure about the brother with whom I lived half my life - no one was ever judged. The sharpest expression of a negative attitude towards a person was expressed by his brother with subtle, good-natured humor and the same smile. I see the same thing in my mother’s letters and heard from those who knew her.
In the lives of Dmitry of Rostov there is one thing that has always touched me very much - this is the short life of one monk, who, known to all the brethren, had many shortcomings and, despite this, appeared in a dream to an elder among the saints in the very best place Raya. The surprised elder asked: what did this monk, intemperate in many ways, deserve such an award? They answered him: “He never condemned anyone.”
If there were such awards, I think my brother and my mother would have received them.
Another third feature that set my mother apart from her environment was the truthfulness and simplicity of her tone in her letters. At that time, expressions of exaggerated feelings were especially common in letters: incomparable, adored, the joy of my life, invaluable, etc. - these were the most common epithets between loved ones, and the more pompous, the more insincere they were.
This trait, although not to a strong degree, is visible in my father’s letters. He writes: “Ma bien douce amie, je ne pense qu”au bonheur d”etre aupres de toi...” [My most tender friend, I only think about the happiness of being near you (French)], etc. n. It was hardly entirely sincere. She always writes the same thing in her address: “mon bon ami” [my good friend (French)], and in one of her letters she directly says: “Le temps me parait long sans toi, quoiqu”a dire vrai, nous ne jouissons pas beaucoup de ta societe quand tu es ici" [Time drags on for me for a long time without you, although, to tell the truth, we enjoy your company little when you are here (French)], and is always signed the same way: "ta devouee Marie" [ Mary devoted to you (French)].
My mother lived her childhood partly in Moscow, partly in the village with an intelligent, proud and gifted man, my grandfather Volkonsky.
II
What I know about my grandfather is that, having reached the high ranks of chief general under Catherine, he suddenly lost his position due to his refusal to marry Potemkin’s niece and mistress Varenka Engelhardt. To Potemkin’s proposal, he replied: “Why did he think that I would marry his b....”.
For this answer, he not only stopped in his career, but was appointed governor of Arkhangelsk, where he remained, it seems, until the accession of Paul, when he retired and, having married Princess Ekaterina Dmitrievna Trubetskoy, settled on the estate received from his father Sergei Fedorovich Yasnaya Polyana.
Princess Ekaterina Dmitrievna died early, leaving my grandfather with his only daughter Marya. It was with this much-loved daughter and her French companion that my grandfather lived until his death around 1816.
My grandfather was considered a very strict master, but I had never heard stories about his cruelties and punishments, so common at that time. I think that they were, but the enthusiastic respect for importance and rationality was so great among the serfs and peasants of his time, whom I often asked about him, that although I heard condemnations of my father, I heard only praise for his intelligence, thriftiness in caring for peasants and, in particular, my grandfather’s huge servants. He built wonderful rooms for the courtyard servants and made sure that they were always not only well-fed, but also well dressed and having fun. On holidays, he organized entertainment for them, swings, and round dances. He cared even more, like any smart landowner of that time, about the welfare of the peasants, and they prospered, especially since high position grandfather, inspiring respect for police officers, police officers and assessors, freed them from the oppression of their superiors.
He probably had a very fine aesthetic feeling. All his buildings are not only durable and comfortable, but extremely elegant. The park he laid out in front of the house is the same. He probably also loved music very much, because he kept his good small orchestra only for himself and his mother. I also found a huge elm tree, three girths wide, growing into the wedge of a linden alley and around which benches and music stands were made for musicians. In the mornings he walked in the alley, listening to music. He hated hunting, but loved flowers and greenhouse plants.
A strange fate brought him together in the strangest way with the same Varenka Engelhardt, for whose abandonment he suffered during his service. This Varenka married Prince Sergei Fedorovich Golitsyn, who as a result received all kinds of ranks, orders and awards. It was with this Sergei Fedorovich and his family, and therefore with Varvara Vasilievna, that my grandfather became close to such an extent that my mother was betrothed from childhood to one of Golitsyn’s ten sons and that both old princes exchanged portrait galleries (of course, copies painted by serfs painters). All these portraits of the Golitsyns are now in our house, with Prince Sergei Fedorovich in St. Andrew’s ribbon and the fat red-haired Varvara Vasilievna, a cavalry lady. However, this rapprochement was not destined to happen: my mother’s fiancé, Lev Golitsyn, died of fever before the wedding, whose name was given to me, the 4th son, in memory of this Leo. I was told that my mother loved me very much and called me: mon petit Benjamin [my little Benjamin (French)].
I think that love for the deceased groom, precisely because it ended in death, was that poetic love that girls experience only once. Her marriage to my father was arranged by her and my father's relatives. She was rich, no longer in her early youth, an orphan, but her father was a cheerful, brilliant young man, with a name and connections, but my grandfather Tolstoy was very upset (to such an extent that his father even refused the inheritance). I think that my mother loved my father, but more as a husband and, most importantly, the father of her children, but she was not in love with him. Her real loves, as I understand it, were three or maybe four: love for her deceased fiancé, then a passionate friendship with her French companion m-elle Henissienne, about whom I heard from my aunts and which ended, it seems, in disappointment. This M-elle Henissienne married her mother’s cousin, Prince Mikhail Volkhonsky, the grandfather of the current writer Volkhonsky. This is what my mother writes about her friendship with this m-elle Henissienne. She writes about her friendship on the occasion of the friendship of two girls who lived in her house: “Je m”arrange tres bien avec toutes les deux: je fais de la musique, je ris et je folatre avec l”une et je parle sentiment, ou je medis du monde frivole avec l"autre, je suis aimee a la folie par toutes les deux, je suis la confidente de chacune, je les concilie, quand elles sont brouillees, car il n"y eut jamais d"amitie plus querelleuse et plus drole a voir que la leur: ce sont des bouderies, des pleurs, des reconciliations, des injures, et puis des transports d"amitie exaltee et romanesque. Enfin j"y vois comme dans un miroir l"amitie qui a anime et trouble ma vie pendant quelques années. -il les charmantes illusions de la jeunesse, ou tout est embelli par la toute puissance de l"imagination? Et quelquefois je souris de leur enfantillage" [I feel good with both, I make music, I laugh and fool around with one, I talk about feelings, I share frivolous light with the other, I am madly loved by both, I enjoy the trust of each, I reconcile them when they quarrel, since there was no friendship more abusive and more funny in appearance than their friendship. Constant displeasure, crying, consolation, scolding and then outbursts of friendship, enthusiastic and sensitive. So I see, as if in a mirror, the friendship that animated and confused me for several years. I look at them with an inexpressible feeling, sometimes I envy their illusions, which I no longer have, but whose sweetness I know. Frankly speaking, the lasting and real happiness of mature age, is it worth the charming illusions of youth, when everything is decorated with the omnipotence of the imagination? And sometimes I grin at their childishness (French)].
The third strong, perhaps the most passionate, feeling was her love for her older brother Coco, a journal of whose behavior she kept in Russian, in which she wrote down his misdeeds and read to him. This journal shows a passionate desire to do everything possible to raise Coco in the best possible way, and at the same time a very unclear idea of what it takes to do this. For example, she reprimands him for being too sensitive and crying when he sees animals suffering. A man, according to her concepts, needs to be firm. Another shortcoming that she tries to correct in him is that he “thinks” and instead of bonsoir [good evening (French)] or bonjour [hello (French)] he says to his grandmother: “Je vous remercie” [Thank you (French)].
The fourth strong feeling, which perhaps existed, as the aunties told me, and which I so wished to exist, was love for me, which replaced the love for Coco, who at the time of my birth had already separated from my mother and entered the hands of men.
She needed to love someone other than herself, and one love was replaced by another. This was the spiritual appearance of my mother in my mind.
She seemed to me to be such a high, pure, spiritual being that often in the middle period of my life, during the struggle with the temptations that beset me, I prayed to her soul, asking her to help me, and this prayer always helped me.
My mother’s life in my father’s family, as I can conclude from letters and stories, was very happy and good. My father's family consisted of an old grandmother, his mother, her daughter, my aunt, Countess Alexandra Ilyinichna Osten-Sacken, and her pupil Pashenka; another aunt, as we called her, although she was a very distant relative to us, Tatyana Alexandrovna Ergolskaya, who was brought up in my grandfather’s house and lived all her life in my father’s house; teacher Fyodor Ivanovich Ressel, whom I described quite correctly in “Childhood”.
There were five of us children: Nikolai, Sergei, Dmitry, me, the youngest, and my younger sister Mashenka, as a result of whose birth my mother died. My mother’s very short married life—it seems no more than 9 years—was happy and good. This life was very full and decorated with the love of everyone for her and her for everyone who lived with her. Judging by the letters, I see that she lived very secluded then. Almost no one, except for the close neighbors of the Ogarevs and relatives who happened to be driving along the main road and stopped by without visiting Yasnaya Polyana. The mother's life was spent in classes with children, in evening reading aloud novels for grandmother and serious reading, like "Emile" by Rousseau, for herself and reasoning about what she read, in playing the piano, in teaching Italian to one of the aunts, in walks and housekeeping. In all families there are periods when illness and death are still absent and family members live calmly, carefree, without reminders of the end. Such a period, I think, was experienced by the mother in her husband’s family before her death. No one died, no one became seriously ill, and my father’s upset affairs were getting better. Everyone was healthy, cheerful, and friendly. Father amused everyone with his stories and jokes. I didn't find this time. When I began to remember myself, my mother’s death had already left its mark on the life of our family.
Tragedy on Lake Num-to
Memoirs of Lidia Nikolaevna Astrakhantseva on 16 notebook pages, they came to the archivists of the Berezovsky district, as they say, through second hands. They were given by Liliya Nikolaevna’s granddaughter Olga Dymova, who lives in St. Petersburg.
Kazym uprising... After 78 years, conflicting opinions and speculation about what happened have not diminished. Books have been devoted to this historical fact, a feature film has been created, but for some reason there is no feeling of the veracity of what is presented. The manuscript of Lydia Astrakhantseva is the view of the closest person, a woman who foresaw the tragedy...
“I want to write down all the events of the last three months, which, with thousands of all sorts of questions and ideas, drill into my brain and devastate my soul, completely devastate my soul. I want to write it down because my daughters Sveta and Nora are still just babies. They don’t know the horror of death, they just believe that dad left before spring, but someday they will want to know what happened to their father, why he died and what he was like. Will I then be able to tell them everything as clearly and in detail as I know it now? ...Time, they say, is the best healer and smoothes out all experiences, no matter how acute they may be.
On October 22, 1933, Peter and I returned to the village. Berezovo from vacation. Peter’s vacation was far from over, but he and I were in a hurry to get home before navigation stopped, since otherwise we would have to get home by the winter route, and it is long, or rather slow, under our conditions and difficult, and most importantly, Peter was bored and worried about the kids . What irony! Hurry, underuse your vacation, go quickly to your family to take a quick look at everything, pat the children as you go, smile at some success shown by the child, and leave, throw yourself into the work of the RIK (district executive committee), district committee (district party committee ), bury yourself in newspapers, books - a lot of things have accumulated...
And on October 26, Peter had to go to Kazym. I learned about the need for him to leave on the 24th. A vague anxiety, incomprehensible to me then, nervousness took possession of me... This was facilitated by the knowledge of working conditions among the Khanty people of Kazym, which I had thanks to my work in 1930-1931 at the Kazym cultural base.
Peter and I arrived at the cultural base at the time of its construction and organization, when there was nowhere to live. I had to move into one of the unfinished rooms of the hospital and, having already moved in, insert frames and hang doors. We lived at the cultural base until September 1931, and when the construction of the cultural base and its organization were basically completed, Peter did not want to stay at the base due to problems with the head of the base, Babkin. We went on vacation to Tomsk, where we had to be stuck until May 1932 due to the cessation of navigation and my ill condition. I wanted to go again to the Turukhansky region, to the Yenisei, where Peter was drawn out of habit, but the Berezovsky district committee, which did not remove Peter from the register when he left the cultural base, offered to return, and upon his return the district appointed Peter to the post of chairman of the Berezovsky district executive committee.
At the time of the construction of the cultural base, the mood of the natives was calm. They unconditionally carried out all the necessary work related to construction. At the end of the work - the construction of the cultural base, the Khanty people who participated in it, numbering 30-40 people, made a decision at one of the meetings to bring the children to school by winter route. In general, everything seemed to be completely fine. But upon arrival from Tomsk in May 1932, I had to meet with employees leaving the cultural base, and they told the following about the events that took place there.
When in the fall of 1931 the question of staffing the native school with students became the question of the day, the head of the base, Comrade Babkin, set to work with his characteristic “party” fervor. Cultural brigades were sent to all yurt associations to recruit children. At this moment, it was the district executive committee that developed and issued a resolution on compulsory primary education. This decree did not apply to the native population, but, as an exception, the Yuilsky town was included for the application of the decree (the name does not correspond to reality - the Yuilsky town consists of only a few yasak yurts and is located closest to the nomadic camps of the more prosperous Kazym reindeer herders). Apparently, the okrug executive committee mistakenly included it, understanding by the word “town” some large settlement with a settled population. In order to make a greater impression on the natives, a messenger was sent after the brigades, presenting at a meeting of the natives the allegedly just received decree on the compulsory education of Khanty children at school. This made the proper impression, and soon, with howling and crying of both children and mothers, the Khanty began to transport the children to school. In total, up to 50 people were transported. An administrative penalty was applied to the native who stubbornly did not want to send his children to school, and his gun was taken away in the form of a fine (with the participation of Dedyukhin and, it seems, Babkin).
If we add to this the excesses committed by trade organizations in matters of contracting, supply, etc., then it will become clear why already in December of the same year, after waiting for the base manager Babkin to leave the base (the natives felt a strong administrative fist in him), the natives large quantities They raided the base, removed the children from school, demanded that the council be re-elected, that the rights of the shamans be restored, and they threatened to burn the base. The district employees who came to sort out this matter made concessions and allowed the re-election of the council. They were elected to the Kazym Council: the chairman was the native Spiridonov, the members were the natives Kaksin and Volgin. After all the unrest that the base experienced at that time, there was a reaction. And at a time when a huge amount of explanatory work was needed among the natives, the base employees were overcome by panic, fear of making trips to yurts and generally coming into close contact with the natives.
Meanwhile, a new pressing issue was brewing - the fishing of Lake Num-to (translated from Samoyed - Lake Bogovo), a sacred Samoyed lake, very rich in fish, located 227 km from the base on the border of the Kazym Council and the Obdorsky District. Procurement organizations involuntarily turned their attention to him. At a meeting of the native poor - a cooperative activist - a resolution was passed to send a fishing team to this lake. The artel was sent, but the Samoyeds went to the lake and demanded that the fishing stop. After this, brigades were sent to Num-to to resolve this issue.
The first brigade, consisting of Shershnev, Khozyainov and others, arrived at Num-to, sent an invitation to the Samoyeds so that they would go to Num-to for negotiations, and at that time the members of the brigade themselves began preparing for defense, preparing weapons, bombs and other things, and not Having waited for the arrival of the Samoyeds, although they notified them of the time of arrival, they left for the base. The second brigade, consisting of Myakushko, Loskutov and others, went out a lot through the swamps, got lost in the forest, but did not contact the Samoyeds. The third brigade, consisting of Gapin (from the regional executive committee), Terentyev and others, did not contact the Samoyeds, but upon their return they assured that the mood of the natives was completely peaceful.
However, the district committee suggested that the Berezovsky district organizations send an authoritative brigade along the first winter route to resolve issues with the Samoyeds for a longer period. And Peter joined this brigade. The rest of the composition: the head of the base Smirnov, the representative from the regional party committee Schneider, from the GPU - Posokhov, from the Kazym integral - Nesterov, two young native activists Kaksin Nikita and Lozyamov, and from the native council Spiridonov and Kaksin Egor.
Peter, Smirnov, Schneider left in October by water, but due to muddy roads they were delayed in Polnovat. Smirnov left for the base on foot, Pyotr and Schneider left Polnovat for the base on November 12 on reindeer. Posokhov came there after them. I don’t know when the brigade left the base for Num-to, but I received a telegram from my husband via a messenger who was going to the base with the following content: “Num-26 arrived completely healthy (before leaving for the base he was seriously ill with a sore throat), hello, kiss , Peter." I received this telegram on December 4th. I didn't hear anything else from him. Then alarming rumors spread that an OGPU detachment had arrived in Kazym, that convoys with food, people, and other things were being sent there.
All subsequent time I lived under enormous tension in my nervous system: rumors spread around the 20th of December that on Kazym the Samoyeds had captured a brigade, beaten and held as hostages until a number of their demands, essentially counter-revolutionary, were fulfilled. I rushed from one institution to another. I asked what happened and whether these rumors were true in the Regional Executive Committee, the district committee, in the OGPU department, but everywhere I received the answer that these were nonsense rumors, that, however, Kazym was not entirely calm and people had been sent there for mass work, but that soon everything would be Peter will also return.
Moreover, at the district committee they showed me a telegram signed by Astrakhantsev dated December 13, which spoke about the reporting and election campaign. My anxiety grew and I began to talk about going to the base. Then, on December 26, I received a telegram with the following content: “The reporting and election has been delayed, the plenum of the council has opened on the 26th, it will end on January 1st, I will leave on the fifth of Astrakhan.” I felt from the style of this telegram that it was not from my husband, and I asked Ignatov (deputy chairman of the Berezovsky district executive committee) who fabricated this telegram, but he dissuaded me of my suspicions. So, all I had to do was wait for January 5th.
This deadline also came - there was no news from my husband, and on January 11 I went to the cultural center. At the cultural center I learned terrible details. Arriving at Num-to, the brigade sent members of the local council Spiridonov and Kaksin to the Samoyeds in the tundra with the aim of calling the Samoyeds to Num-to for negotiations. Spiridonov and Kaksin returned and reported that the Samoyeds were about a hundred kilometers from Num-to and were inviting a brigade to go there. The brigade has left. A meeting was held there, but its end was postponed to the next day, that is, to December 4. On this morning, the members of the brigade were sitting waiting for the natives to gather again to continue the meeting, when suddenly the tent began to quickly fill with people, someone shouted something, the Samoyeds and Ostyaks attacked the members of the brigade, tied them up, dragged them out into the street, beat them, Afterwards they dragged me into the tent again. Three members of the brigade were confiscated of their weapons. Next, the Samoyeds forced Nikitin (an employee of Uralpushnina), who had just arrived at the scene of events after the massacre (his team called him to go with them to the camp, as he spoke the Samoyed language, but he was late and arrived later), their demands, namely:
1. Return the four kulaks and shamans confiscated in 1933.
2. Remove trading organizations from the Num-to Lake area.
3. Do not recruit children to school, etc. and so on.
The deadline given for fulfilling these requirements was one month. If these demands were met, the Samoyeds promised to return the brigade. Nikitin, Spiridonov and Kaksin were released with this letter. On the sixth, the cultural center learned about what had happened, on the eighth, the district committee, and on the tenth, OGPU officers left Sverdlovsk. This expedition was headed by comrades Chudnovsky and Bulatov.
Upon their arrival at the cultural base, and before their arrival, mass work to explain what happened among the natives of the Ilbigort, Khulor, Amnin, Vyrgim and other yurt associations, protests were made, confirmed by the collection of tangas, and delegations were sent to the Samoyeds. The first native delegation sent was detained for nine or twelve days. Afterwards she was released. From the second brigade, the Russian Belozerov was detained and not released. The third delegation returned safely fifteen days later (this delegation carried a protest secured by tangs). All returning delegations assured that everyone from the brigade was alive, that they were fed and kept quite freely apart in separate tents, that the Samoyeds did not want to fight, but only wanted their demands to be met.
In the first days of January, on the ninth, the last delegation was sent, consisting of Spiridonov, Volgin and Anton (I forgot his last name). She was given orders to warn the Samoyeds and Yuil Ostyaks one last time so that they would release the detainees, otherwise the Soviet government would have to take unwanted measures. The brigade traveled for 27 days, returned empty-handed, but assured once again that although they did not see the prisoners, they learned that they were all alive, that the Samoyeds and Ostyaks were separated; Astrakhantsev, Smirnov, Schneider, Posokhov and Nesterov are with the Samoyeds, and Lozyamov, Kaksin and Belozerov are with the Ostyaks, that the Samoyeds and Ostyaks stand by their demands, but do not want to fight, they migrated quite far, so, forward, supposedly the delegates traveled for 13 days , back 9 days and stayed in place for 4 days.
Without waiting for the return of this delegation, with the arrival of the L-108 plane and on reindeer, a detachment left the cultural base on Num-to on February 2 under the leadership of Bulatov, Chudnovsky remained at the base - at headquarters. Until February 20, we received information from Num-to that the detachment was moving into the tundra, the plane was doing reconnaissance, discovered some of the tents and captured a scout, that in early February 12 sledges went to Num-to, obviously for fish stored there, but what they and 4 natives who rode out on these sledges were detained, that the airplane took off with part of the detachment and, flying up to three standing chums, took two Samoyeds there (the rest were left in the chums), and Bulatov left a letter in the chums so that the Samoyeds would immediately They brought Russians to these plagues, for whom an airplane will fly in a day and return in return all the captive natives who have now been taken.
On February 20 or 21, Chudnovsky called me and reported that many Ostyaks came close to Samarovo in search of food in the shops, and their head was detained by the active din of the Red Army detachment, including the main shaman Vandymov Efim and the leader of the movement Ernykhov (I.A. ?). One of the captives, Pavel Lozyamov, was found at Vandymov’s place.
This news made me happy and reassured me. It seemed that this was the “first sign” that one of these days the rest of the people would be found. But on February 23, out of the blue, I received a telegram from Berezov, from home: “The district committee has received news from Samarovo that Pyotr Vasilyevich is being taken wounded, leave immediately.” Two hours after receiving it, I left for Berezovo with the heavy feeling that this telegram was a preparation, that in fact Peter had been killed.
I arrived in Berezovo at one in the morning on February 25, immediately went to the OGPU department and found out what I already knew by virtue of a premonition on the road from the base to Berezovo. Terrible, monstrous details! It turned out that on February 18, Bulatov’s detachment met the Samoyeds, the latter offered armed resistance and despite the detachment’s good weapons (rifles, machine guns, bombs), the battle lasted 40 minutes. As a result, despite the numerical dominance, the Samoyeds were taken. Losses on the part of the Russian detachment were 3 people and one was wounded, on the part of the Samoyeds - 9-10 people. Having captured the Samoyeds, the Russians demanded to know where the brigade was. Then the Samoyeds said that five Russians had long been killed.
Having captured the brigade on December 4, the Samoyeds and Ostyaks 10-15 days later staged a great shamanism - “pores”, where the main shaman Vandymov Efim said that five Russians must be sacrificed. After this, all the captives were taken to Lake Num-to, they threw ropes around their necks, tied them to deer, drove the deer, and thus strangled everyone. After which the strangled people were scalped, and Schneider’s breasts were cut out.
There were 60 kulaks and shamans arrested in Kazym. Soon a trial took place in Ostyako-Vogulsk. Eleven people were sentenced to capital punishment, but they appealed and the execution was commuted to 20 years in prison. Soon most of them died because they could not stand imprisonment. 9 people were acquitted.”
Memoirs of L.N. Astrakhantseva prepared for publication
chief specialist of the archival department
administration of the Berezovsky district
I.Yu. Konstantinova
Victor Lebrun. Publicist, memoirist, one of L.N. Tolstoy's secretaries (1906). Born in 1882 in Yekaterinoslav in the family of a French engineer who worked in Russia for forty years. Fluent in Russian and French. The years of his life in Russia are covered in great detail in published memoirs. In 1926, Lebrun went to France, where he lived until his death (1979).
<Л. Н.Толстой>
Second part (continued). Start at
Tolstoy Day
The external life of the world writer was more than monotonous.
Early in the morning, when the big house is still completely quiet, you can always see Tolstoy in the yard with a jug and a large bucket, which he carries with difficulty down the back stairs. Having poured out the slops and filled a jug with fresh water, he goes up to his room and washes himself. According to my village habit, I got up at dawn and sat down in the corner of the small living room to do my own written work. Along with the rays of the sun, rising above the centuries-old linden trees and flooding the room, the office door usually opened - and Lev Nikolaevich, fresh and cheerful, appeared on the threshold.
God help you! - he told me, smiling affectionately and vigorously nodding his head so that I would not be distracted from my work. Stealthily, so as not to be noticed by the often early visitors, so as not to interrupt the thread of his thoughts with conversation, he made his way into the garden.
In the large pocket of his blouse there was always a notebook and, wandering through the lovely surrounding forests, he would suddenly stop and write down a new thought at the moment of its greatest vividness. An hour later, sometimes earlier, he returned, bringing the smell of fields and forests on his dress, and quickly walked into the office, tightly closing the doors behind him.
Sometimes, when we found ourselves alone in a small living room, he, looking at me with concentration, shared with me what he was thinking while walking.
I will never forget these amazing minutes.
I remember serfdom very well!.. Here, in Yasnaya Polyana... Here every peasant was engaged in cartage. (The railroad did not exist at that time.) So, then the poorest peasant family had six horses! I remember this time well. And now?! More than half of the households are horseless! What did this railway bring them?! This civilization?!
I often remember the incident at the races in Moscow, which I described in Anna Karenina. (I lowered it so as not to interrupt the story.) It was necessary to finish off the horse that had broken its back. Do you remember? So, there were a lot of officers present. The governor himself was there. But not a single soldier had a revolver with him! They asked the policeman, but he only had an empty holster. Then they asked for a saber, a sword. But all the officers had only festive weapons. All the swords and sabers were wooden!.. Finally, one officer ran home. He lived nearby and brought a revolver. Only then was it possible to finish off the horse...
To such an extent “they” felt calm and out of any danger at that time!..
And when the teacher told me this wonderful incident, so typical of the era, - an incident from the “good” old days,” - all of Russia, from edge to edge, was already shaking with the swell of the impending revolution.
Yesterday in the hall they talked about “Resurrection”*. They praised him. Aya told them: in “Resurrection” there are rhetorical passages and artistic passages. Both of them are good individually. But to combine them in one work is the most terrible thing... I decided to publish this only because I had to quickly help the Doukhobors*.
One morning, passing through the small living room, he takes me by the arm and asks in an almost stern voice:
Are you praying?
Rarely, I say, not to say rudely - no.
He sits down at the desk and, leaning over the manuscript, says thoughtfully:
Whenever I think about prayer, one incident from my life comes to mind. It was a long time ago. Even before my marriage. Here in the village I knew a woman. She was a nasty woman... - And suddenly a double, interrupted sigh escaped him, almost hysterical. - I lived my life poorly... Do you know that?..
I nod my head slightly, trying to calm him down.
She arranged dates for me with such women... And then one day, in the dead of midnight, I was making my way through the village. I look into her street. This is a very steep alley that goes down to the road. You know? Everything around is quiet, empty and dark. Not a sound is heard. There is no light in any window. Only below from her window is a sheaf of light. I went to the window. Everything is quiet. There is no one in the hut. The lamp burns in front of the icons, and she stands in front of them and prays. He crosses himself, prays, kneels down, bows to the ground, gets up, prays some more and bows again. I stayed like that for a long time, in the dark, watching her. She had many sins in her soul... I knew it. But how she prayed...
I didn’t want to bother her that evening... But what could she have been praying for so passionately?.. - he finished thoughtfully and moved the manuscript towards her.
Another time he returned from a morning walk transformed, quiet, calm, radiant. He puts both hands on my shoulders and, looking into my eyes, says with enthusiasm:
How beautiful, how amazing old age is! There are no desires, no passions, no vanity!.. Yes, however, what am I telling YOU! You yourself will soon find out all this, - and his kind, attentive eyes, looking out from under his overhanging eyebrows, say: “You can never express all the significant things that a person experiences in this life, despite this web of suffering, despite the destruction of the body. I say this not for words, but truly, truly.”
In his office, Tolstoy drank coffee and read letters. I marked on the envelopes what needed to be answered or what books to send. Then he took away the tray with the dishes and sat down to write. He got up from his desk only at two or three o'clock in the afternoon, always noticeably tired. The great hall was usually empty at this time of day, and breakfast awaited the writer there. Most often oatmeal is on water. He always praised it, saying that he had been eating it for more than twenty years, and it didn’t get boring.
After breakfast, Lev Nikolayevich went out to the visitors, without whom a rare day passed in Yasnaya Polyana, and, after talking with them, he invited those close in views to stay, and endowed the rest - some with books, some with kopecks, and fire victims from neighboring villages with three rubles, sometimes more , depending on the size of the misfortune that occurred.
Tolstoy received two thousand rubles a year from the imperial theaters for productions of “The Power of Darkness” and “The Fruits of Enlightenment.” He distributed this money sparingly, often expressing fear that it would not be enough for the year. He agreed to take it only after it was explained to him that if he refused, the money would be used to increase the luxury of the theater.
As far as I know, this was the entire personal income and expense of one who could have been the richest man in the world if he wanted to exploit his pen commercially.
Having finished with the visitors, which was not always easy, Tolstoy took a long walk on foot or on horseback. He often walked six kilometers to visit Marya Alexandrovna Shmit. He sometimes rode fifteen kilometers on horseback. He loved the subtle paths in the large forests with which he was surrounded. He often visited distant villages to check on the situation of a peasant family asking for help, or to help a soldier find traces of her lost husband, or to establish the extent of losses caused by a fire, or to rescue a man illegally imprisoned. On the way, he spoke affably to those he met, but always carefully drove around behind the lines of rich dachas.
Returning home, he rested for half an hour. At six o'clock he had dinner with the whole family.
In a very large hall with two lights, opposite family portraits in golden frames, a long table was set. The end of the table was occupied by Sofya Andreevna. To her left sat Lev Nikolaevich. He always showed me a place near him. And since I was a vegetarian, he himself kindly poured me soup from a small soup bowl that was served to him, or served me his special vegetarian dish.
The Countess hated the vegetarian regime.
At the other end of the table, two white-gloved footmen stood waiting for the end of the ceremony.
After exchanging a few words with his family and guests, Tolstoy again retired to his office, carefully locking the door of the small living room and his own. The great hall was now full and noisy. They played the piano, laughed, and sometimes sang. At that time, the thinker was doing some light work in his office. He wrote letters, a diary, and at one time his memoirs.
Evening readings
At evening tea, with his hand in his belt, the teacher reappeared in the hall, and rarely did an evening pass without him reading aloud the passages that most struck him from the book he had just read.
His readings are extremely varied and always of the highest interest. I will never forget them or his reading style. Listening to him, I forgot everything, I saw only what was being discussed.
Tolstoy is inspired, he is completely imbued with the subject, and he passes it on to the listener. In each phrase he emphasizes only one word. What is of primary importance. He emphasizes it at the same time with extraordinary tenderness and softness, characteristic of him alone, and at the same time with some powerful penetration. Tolstoy does not read, he puts the word into the soul of the listener.
The great Edison sent Tolstoy a recording phonograph* as a gift. In this way, the inventor was able to preserve for the future several phrases of the thinker. About thirty years ago, in the Soviet Union, gramophone discs conveyed them perfectly. I remember one phrase and emphasize the words that are emphasized:
Man lives only by trials. It's good to know this. And lighten your cross by voluntarily putting your neck under it.
But then Tolstoy appears at the door of the small living room. He is holding a large book in his hand. This is a volume of the monumental “History of Russia” by S. M. Solovyov (1820-1879). With visible pleasure, he reads to us long passages from “The Life of Archpriest Avvakum” (1610-1682).
This tireless warrior against the king and the church was at the same time a brilliant writer. His Russian language is inimitable. For the last fourteen years of his life, the tsar kept him at the mouth of the Pechora in Pustozersk in an earthen prison. Two of his associates had their tongues cut out. From here the indomitable Old Believer sent his fiery messages and accusatory letters to the Tsar through his friends. Finally, the king ordered him to be burned along with his followers.
Before, long ago,” explains Tolstoy, “I read all of him.” For the tongue. Now I'm re-reading it. Solovyov gives many long excerpts from his writings. This is amazing!..
Another time these are the sayings of Lao-Tse*, a Chinese sage of the sixth century BC, who was later deified and served as the basis for Taoism, one of the three official religions China.
Tolstoy apparently enjoys every phrase, emphasizing the main word in it.
True words are not pleasant.
Nice words are never true.
The wise are not learned.
Scientists are not wise.
Good people are not argumentative.
Disputants are never kind.
This is what you have to be: you have to be like water.
There is no obstacle - it flows.
Dam - she stops.
The dam burst - it flows again.
In a square vessel it is square.
In the round - she is round.
That's why it is needed most of all.
That's why she's the strongest.
There is nothing in the world that is softer than water,
Meanwhile, when she falls on the hard
And against the resisting, nothing can be stronger than it.
He who knows others is smart.
He who knows himself has wisdom.
He who defeats others is strong.
He who conquers himself is powerful.
Another time it's a newly published book about John Ruskin*.
“Very interesting,” says Tolstoy, “and I learned a lot about him from this book.” This chapter will need to be translated and published in Mediator. The quotes from his writings here are very good. It gets a little worse towards the end. He has this, you know, shortcoming common to all such people. The Bible amazes them so much that they adapt their good thoughts to various of its darkest places...
However, this sometimes gives a very special imprint, so overall it’s very good.
Another evening it new biography, Michel Angelo* or “Notes of Catherine”*, or Schopenhauer’s long dialogue* on religion, omitted by censorship and which the translator sent to the thinker as a proof. This translator was a member of the court* and a passionate admirer of Schopenhauer.
One day the teacher was very excited. He held in his hands Elzbacher's Anarchism*, which he had just received from the author.
The book on anarchism begins to enter the phase in which socialism now finds itself. What did people think of socialists just a few decades ago? These were villains, dangerous people. And now socialism is considered the most ordinary thing. And so Elzbacher introduces anarchism into this very phase. But he's German. Look: there are seven of us, and he sorts us out on twelve tables. But in general he is completely honest. Here is a table that indicates in which case the author allows violence. And, look, Tolstoy is not there. There are only six of them.
Tired of reading and talking, Tolstoy sometimes sat down to play chess. Very rarely, when there was an influx of social guests, a “pint” was arranged; but at about eleven o'clock everyone left.
In relation to the teacher, I always adhered to strict tactics. Never spoke to him first. I even tried to be unnoticed so as not to interrupt his train of thoughts. But at the same time, I always stayed close. So, in the evenings I never left the hall before him. And often, noticing me somewhere in the corner, he would come up, take my arm and, on the way to his room, tell me his latest thought.
Nothing in the world could change this order. There were no Sundays, no family holidays, no “vacations”. If he very rarely decided to go to Pirogovo to visit his daughter Marya, he left after breakfast, finishing his work and carefully packing the necessary manuscripts and books into his suitcase, so that in the evening he could continue his usual circle of studies in a new place.
Manual labor
As far as I know, no detailed information about Tolstoy’s physical work has ever appeared in print. Romain Rolland, in his good, perhaps the best foreign work on Tolstoy*, kept silent about this side of the teacher’s life. The refined European writer with his clean suit and gentle hands was too alien to menial work, manure, and a dirty, sweaty shirt. Like many of Tolstoy's translators, he did not want to scare off salon readers. And yet, in response to his question, Tolstoy wrote a long article* about the basic moral significance of hard work.
The need for personal participation in the hardest work is one of the cornerstones of the thinker’s worldview. And before, until he was sixty-five years old, or even longer, the great writer seriously and hard worked the most menial peasant work. And at that time everything was done by hand. There were no cars at all.
His working day began at dawn, and until late breakfast Tolstoy was at work, and after that it was business as usual. The hours that in my time were devoted to walking were at that time devoted to the most difficult work for the benefit of the poorest families in the village. He sawed aspens and oaks in the forest, transported beams and built huts for widows, and laid stoves. A special specialist in the stove business was a close friend of Lev Nikolaevich, the famous artist, professor at the Academy N. N. Ge*, who lived for a long time in Yasnaya and illustrated the Gospel. Every spring, Tolstoy and his daughters took out manure, plowed with the peasant's plow and sowed the widow's fields, harvested grain and threshed with a flail. Every summer, he and a team of local mowers mowed hay in the Yasnaya Polyana meadows, as described in Anna Karenina. He mowed on the same terms as the peasants: two haystacks for the “landowner,” that is, Sofya Andreevna and his sons, and one for himself. And he took this earned hay to the village to the most needy widows. As it is said in the Koran: “So that alms may then come out of your hand.”
Marya Alexandrovna told me more than once about working with Lev Nikolaevich in the field and in the forest, in which she took an active part.
It was especially difficult in the forest for peasants to cut large oak trees from their stumps into huts. Lev Nikolaevich was demanding in his work. Got excited. But little by little I adapted to this work...
Once, dear boy, there was such a drought, such a terrible drought, that I could not get a single crumb of hay for my cow. I was desperate. Hay was very expensive. But I didn’t have any money this fall. And I don’t like borrowing that much. It's always so hard to pay after. And then, one evening, I see two lovely carts of hay driving into my yard. I am running. This is Lev Nikolaevich, all covered in dust, his shirt wringed out of sweat. I didn’t say a word to him about the hay or my need, but he guessed my situation!..
I have repeatedly asked peasants about Lev Nikolaevich’s former work. “I could work,” “I really worked,” they always answered me. You don’t often hear such an answer from them about the work of an intellectual.
Manual labor was the only occupation that completely satisfied the thinker. Everything else, including his writing service to the enslaved people, seemed insignificant and doubtful to him.
Questions and answers
I cannot find words or images to express how close Tolstoy was to me. It was not just the simple attraction of communicating with a charming, charming, beloved storyteller from childhood that attracted me to him. I was united with Tolstoy by the complete commonality of that need for research, which constituted in me the very essence of my being. Since I can remember, this has been my only need in life. Everything else was only of service importance.<нрзб>, only Tolstoy fully possessed this need.
More than fifty years of intense inner work separated me from my teacher, but Tolstoy understood what I told him, as no one understood either before or after our ten-year communication. Tolstoy understood perfectly. Often he did not let me finish and always answered definitely and always to the essence of the question.
The first days, when I uttered a question, a charming light of playful surprise lit up in the small gray eyes with their inexpressible, somehow piercing shade of intelligence, subtlety and kindness.
It's amazing how often people don't understand the simplest things.
It seems to me like this,” the teacher answers. - They have a full vessel. Either it lies sideways, or upside down. So you can't put anything in there. In such cases, it is best to move away.
Lev Nikolaevich, what is madness? - I asked another time without any preamble. The playful expression in the eyes is stronger than usual.
I have... My own explanation... - the teacher answers. He emphasizes “is” and stops. Together with the playful enthusiasm of the piercing eyes, this means a lot. This says: “Don’t think, young man, I also noticed this contradictory phenomenon, thought about it and found an explanation.” He emphasizes “his own”, and this means - as always, I am in conflict with the generally accepted, but this is the result of my analysis. These two exclamations are a preface. The answer follows.
This is selfishness,” explains the teacher. - Focusing on yourself, and then on one such idea.
Once I risked a significant critical remark about Tolstoy’s previous works. This was at a time when, after the abolition of preliminary censorship, the new press law made it possible to print anything. Only the book had to be defended in court and lose everything and go to prison if confiscated. My favorite friends: Gorbunov, N. G. Sutkova* from Sochi, P. P. Kartushin*, a rich Don Cossack who gave away his entire fortune, and Felten* from St. Petersburg finally began to publish Tolstoy’s forbidden writings in Russia in very large quantities.
The young publishers of Obnovleniya* sent large birch bark boxes to Yasnaya full of the most combative brochures: Soldier's Memo, Officer's Memo. Ashamed! Letter to the sergeant major. Appeal to the clergy, What is my faith? A summary of the Gospel, etc., etc. Gorbunov defended book after book in court, and the other three editors successfully hid behind one another for a long time. Ultimately, Sutkova took the sin upon himself and served a year and a half in prison for this enterprise.
It’s a pity,” I once decided to remark, “that these books are now published in their previous form. They would be worth reconsidering. In some places they are completely outdated. But there are places, I must say, that are downright wrong. Tolstoy looks questioningly.
For example, in So What Should We Do?, this passage is about the factors of production. It says that you can count not three of them, but as many as you like: sunlight, warmth, humidity, etc.
Tolstoy did not let me finish:
Yes. This is all included in the term "earth". But is it really possible to redo all this now!.. This was written at different times... People will take what they need from what they have.
Tolstoy's God
I had the hardest time with Tolstoy's God.
I grew up in the most conscious atheism. As for Arago*, God for me was “a hypothesis to which I never had the slightest need to resort”! What did this word mean to Leo Tolstoy?
Just a few weeks after my first visit I had to live near Yasnaya. One day, after evening tea, Lev Nikolaevich, feeling unwell, called me to his place. He was then located downstairs, in the same room “under the arches”* in which he spoke to me for the first time.
What is occupying you now? What are you thinking about? - he spoke, lying down on the oilcloth sofa and with his hand slipped under his belt, pressing his sore stomach.
About God, I say. - I'm trying to understand this concept.
In such cases, I always remember Matthew Arnold's definition*. Don't you remember him? God is the eternal, existing outside of us, leading us, demanding righteousness from us.” He studied the Old Testament books and, for that time, this was enough. But after Christ, we must also add that at the same time God is love.
Yes, however, everyone has their own idea about God. For materialists, God is matter, although this is completely wrong; for Kant it’s one thing, for a village woman it’s another,” the teacher continued, seeing that I was only perplexed at his words.
But what kind of concept is this that differs from person to person? - I ask. - After all, everyone has the same other concepts?
From what? There are many subjects about which different people have completely different ideas.
For example? - I ask in surprise.
Yes, there are as many of them as you like... Well, for example... Well, at least air: for a child it does not exist; an adult knows him - well, how can I say this? - by touch or something, he inhales it, but for a chemist this is completely different. “He spoke with the calm persuasiveness with which children answer the simplest questions.
But, if ideas about an object can be different, then why use the word “God” to indicate it? - I ask. - The peasant woman, using it, wants to say something completely different than you?
Our ideas are different, but we have something in common. For all people, this word evokes in its essence a concept common to all of them, and therefore it cannot be replaced by anything.
I didn't continue the conversation anymore. Having been occupied exclusively with the study of Tolstoy’s writings for more than a year, it was only here that I first felt what he was talking about when he used the word “God.”
The words “For materialists, God is matter” were a revelation to this understanding. These words finally showed me exactly the place that the concept of “God” occupies in Tolstoy’s worldview.
Much time later, I managed to return to this topic again. This was shortly after Tolstoy was excommunicated from the Orthodox Church by the Holy Synod*. Tolstoy had just published his wonderful “Response to the Synod”*.
The Thinker was recovering from his illness, but he was very weak, so I did not dare talk to him for a long time. One day, approaching the house, I found him lying on a couch in the garden in front of the veranda. Only Marya Lvovna was with him. The large table in the garden was set for dinner, and the men were already crowding around the small table with snacks. But I wanted to take a moment to talk.
What, Lev Nikolaevich, can you philosophize a little, won’t it tire you?
It’s okay, it’s possible, it’s possible! - the teacher answers cheerfully and affably.
I've been thinking about God lately. And yesterday I thought that it is impossible to define God by positive definitions: all positive definitions are human concepts, and only negative concepts with “not” will be accurate.
Absolutely right,” the teacher answers seriously.
So it’s inaccurate, you can’t say that God is love and reason: love and reason are human properties.
Yes Yes. Absolutely right. Love and reason only connect us with God. And this, you know, when you write such things as a response to the Synod, you involuntarily fall into such a tone that is understandable to everyone, commonly used.
After this confession, there was not the slightest doubt left for me about the complete absence of absurd mysticism in Tolstoy’s views.
It is not for nothing that at the end of his article “On Religion and Morality”* he said: “Religion is the establishment of a relationship with God or the world.”
Tolstoy's God was nothing more than the world, the universe, considered in its essence, incomprehensible to our cognitive ability, in its incomprehensible infinity.
Only for Tolstoy the universe stood above our understanding, and we had only responsibilities towards it, while for scientists the universe appears as the play of some blind forces in some dead matter. And we do not have any responsibilities towards her, but on the contrary, we have the right to demand from her as much pleasure as possible.
And, as almost always, Tolstoy was right.
In fact, for human understanding of the universe there can only be two points of view: the EGO-centric view - everything exists FOR a person. (Just as in astronomy there was a geocentric view for thousands of years.) Or a COSMO-centric view. We exist FOR the universe, to fulfill in it the creative work assigned to us in it, guided in this work by our highest needs: understanding and mutual assistance.
Is it necessary to prove that the first view is devoid of the slightest reasonable basis?
What could be more absurd than to assume that the vast universe exists to satisfy our desires!
We have two needs: one is to explore and understand, and the other is to help and serve each other. And we have the highest duty, guided by them, to serve the human race in the most useful way available to us.
This was the first revelation indicated to me by Tolstoy.
There was no place for stupid mysticism here.
But I explore this basic problem of the conscious life of the individual in a separate chapter of the second part of this book.
The third part
Chapter five. WHITE BRIDE
Pioneer in the Caucasus
While I was thus absorbed in a close study of the thoughts and life of Leo Tolstoy, chance gave my life a more definite direction.
My mother, a tireless lover of great travel, was finishing up the waste of the insignificant inheritance on the railways that her father* left her after his forty years of service as an engineer on the Russian railways.
At one of the transfer points, she met an elderly friend, whom she had long lost sight of. The latter ended up with a small plot of land on the Black Sea coast. Having learned about my desire to settle in the village, she immediately offered it to me for use so that she could live with us forever and so that I could grow vegetables there for the whole family. And I accepted this offer.
The country where I decided to settle was interesting in many ways.
Just over half a century before our arrival, it was still inhabited by a warlike tribe of mountaineers, whom it conquered and expelled cruel Nikolai First. These were the Circassians, those same daring and poetic Circassians who found their Homer in the author of “Cossacks” and “Hadji Murat”.
The northern coast of the Black Sea is almost entirely high and steep. In only one place in its western part it forms a large round protected bay. This bay has attracted people since ancient times. During excavations on its banks, we found glasses with Phoenician inscriptions.
In this region, under the Circassians, there was such an abundance of fruit trees in the forests and gardens that every spring seemed to cover the area with a white veil. Sensitive to the beauty of their native nature, the Circassians christened their settlement, nestled in this hospitable part of the coast, with the charming name “White Bride”, in Circassian - Gelendzhik*. Now this blooming corner gave shelter to me too.
The Black Sea region, a narrow strip stretching between the sea and the western part of the Caucasus Range, was at that time the gates of the Caucasus. The Caucasus is wild, unknown, still relatively free and alluring. Whole sections of the population then flocked to this newly annexed region. Rich people were attracted here by the wild grandeur of nature. The poor were attracted by the warmth and availability of free or cheap land for settlement. In the summer, summer residents from the capitals and even from Siberia flocked to the coast in large numbers. Every year, from large industrial centers, a whole army of wandering proletarians, “tramps,” trooped here on foot for the winter. In his first stories, Maxim Gorky masterfully described their life. Revolutionaries and political figures persecuted by the police, sectarians persecuted for their faith, and almost all “ideological intellectuals” seeking to “sit down on the ground” and thirsting for a new life also flocked here.
As always, I entered this new and most significant period of my life with a very definite plan. By working independently on the land, I wanted to develop my means of subsistence and sufficient leisure for mental work. I wanted to extract from the earth the opportunity to study, research and write, completely independent of people and institutions. No study in tsarist universities, no service in institutions could give me this freedom. This was the first reason that attracted me to farming.
Another powerful force that connected me with the earth was the deeply rooted instinct of the farmer, inherited from my ancestors. My father's parents were good farmers in Champagne*. I loved the earth with all my being. The mystery of the earth that feeds humanity, the mystery of this powerful, incalculable force of productivity of the plant and animal world, the mystery of the wise symbiosis of man with these worlds deeply worried me.
The plot of land that was supposed to feed me, according to the stupid and criminal custom of all bourgeois governments, was granted to some general for military merits. The latter, like most such owners, kept it uncultivated in anticipation of the settlement of the country and a rise in land prices. The general's heirs continued the same tactics, and when I wanted to buy from them two hectares of arable and two hectares of inconvenient land, they demanded from me an amount equal to the cost of a good residential building! I had to agree to go into debt to pay the general's heirs.
My land was located in a lovely valley in the lower reaches of a mountain river and a fifteen-minute walk from a wonderful sandy sea beach. At one end the site abutted the river, at the other it went up a hill. In its low-lying, flat and extremely fertile part, it was overgrown with dense and very tall forests.
My farming began with uprooting. A mud house with a cellar and a barn was built from the harvested timber. And then, gradually clearing the forest inch by inch and selling firewood, I paid off the debt and began to grow on the virgin black soil such watermelons that the gods of Olympus would envy them, shoulder-length winter wheat, all kinds of vegetables and fodder grasses.
Nature is like a woman of the highest dignity. To fully understand and appreciate her, you need to live with her in very long and complete proximity. Every corner of an arable land, garden or vegetable garden has its own inexplicable charm for those who know how to see it. Well, skillfully managed agriculture pays better than service in enterprises. My connection with the earth is even more intimate here than in Kikety. The land is very fertile. Thanks to the influx of summer residents, sales of vegetables, milk, and honey are ensured. I could now easily expand my farm, save money and buy field after field and house after house. But I'm interested in something else. I earn myself only the bare minimum subsistence level and devote all my leisure time to mental work. I study and read continuously, and write to Tolstoy often and at length. I’m also trying to collaborate with the book publishing house “Posrednik”, founded by Tolstoy. But here the tsarist censorship invariably blocks the way. One of my works that died from censorship was the study “A. I. Herzen and the revolution"*. While in Yasnaya, I made for her very large extracts from the complete Geneva edition of Herzen’s forbidden works. Tolstoy sometimes mentions this article in his letters, as he thought about editing it.
So, gradually I achieved what I was striving for. By the sweat of my brow I eat the bread of my field. I have absolutely no other income, and I live somewhat below the average Russian peasant. I earn about five hundred working days a year as an unskilled rural worker. In this regard, I have moved further than a teacher. I finally achieved those external forms for which he yearned so much. But, as it could not be otherwise, reality turns out to be significantly lower than the dream.
I have too little leisure for mental work, and it is completely irregular. The economy suddenly cruelly and for a long time breaks the thread of what it started. It was very painful. But according to dogma, this was a personal and selfish matter, and I stoically endured this deprivation.
However, something even worse began to emerge, not of a personal, but of a general and fundamental nature. The dogma of “non-participation in the evils of the world,” one of the cornerstones of the teaching that I intended to implement, remained almost entirely unfulfilled. I sell vegetables, milk, honey to rich idle summer residents and live on this money. Where is the non-participation here? Evil in the world triumphs and will continue to triumph. And I'm participating in it. Is this aspiration really vanity? “Vanity of vanities and vexation of spirit”*?..
I have chosen the best form of life imaginable, and my outer life is normal and pleasant. It provides complete physiological and aesthetic satisfaction. But it does not provide moral satisfaction. This note of melancholy and dissatisfaction is noticeable in my letters to Tolstoy. He answers me.
Thank you, dear Lebrun, for writing such a good letter. I always think of you with love. I sympathize with your two sorrows. It would be better without them, but you can live with them. What corrects everything, you know what, is love, real, everlasting, in the present and not for a select few, but for that which is one in all.
Bow to mother. Our people remember and love you. And I.
Thank you, dear Lebrun, for informing me about yourself from time to time. You must feel that I love you more than my neighbor, and that is why you do amo. And good. Don't be discouraged, dear friend, don't change your life. If only life is not the kind you are ashamed of (like mine), then there is nothing to desire or seek except strengthening and revitalizing your inner work. She also saves in a life like mine. There is rather a danger of becoming arrogant. But you are not capable of this.
I am healthy, as can an old man who has lived a bad life be healthy. Busy with Reading Circle for children and lessons with them.
I kiss you and Kartushin* brotherly, if he is with you.
Hello to your mother. We all remember and love you.
L. Tolstoy
A small town that could teach great things
The semi-agricultural, semi-dacha town in which we live is of absolutely exceptional interest. In some respects, he was the only one of his kind in all of Russia at that time. Without exaggeration I can say that if the unfortunate rulers of nations had been able to see and learn, this little town could have taught them the techniques of municipal organization that are of fundamental importance.
Long before me, several intelligent followers of Tolstoy* settled near Gelendzhik: a veterinarian, a paramedic, a home teacher. They were joined by several leading sectarian peasants and farm laborers. These people tried to organize an agricultural colony* on the inaccessible, but fabulously fertile neighboring mountains. They were attracted to these inaccessible peaks by the land, which could be rented from the treasury for next to nothing. On the other hand, the remoteness and inaccessibility of the area saved them from persecution by the police and the clergy. After a few years, only a few individuals, born farmers, remained from the community. But the moral educational influence on the population of these selfless people was very great.
These followers of Tolstoy were at the same time Georgists*. They understood the full social significance of that unearned income, which in science was called ground rent*. Therefore, when the rural community demarcated three hundred hectares of land for estates and the villagers began to sell these plots to summer residents, these people taught the village assembly to tax not buildings, but bare land, and, moreover, in proportion to its value.
In fact, the system has been simplified. Manor plots of five hundred square fathoms were divided into three categories, and the owners had to pay 5-7.5 and 10 rubles per year for them, regardless of whether they were built up or not. (A ruble at that time was equal to the daily wage of a good unskilled worker, and a square fathom was 4.55 square meters.)
The cement plant, which was built on peasant land, was subject to the same procedure. He paid for the surface a few kopecks per square fathom and a few kopecks per cubic fathom of mined stone. In addition, the plant was obliged to deliver cement free of charge for all public buildings and to bury quarries.
The results were most brilliant. At the expense of this tax, rural society collected three thousand rubles in annual taxes, which were extorted from each family per capita throughout Russia. The rural community built excellent schools, cement sidewalks, a church, and maintained watchmen and teachers.
Just part of the land rent from three hundred hectares of estate land and several hectares of factory, non-arable land was enough for this. And this tax was paid voluntarily and unnoticed for decades!..
Last flowers
Idealistic groups and settlements in this region arose and disintegrated constantly. One significant agricultural colony existed for more than thirty years, until the most fundamental reforms.
The colonies disintegrated, and most of the townspeople returned to the cities, but the most capable and selfless minority remained in the countryside and somehow merged with the agricultural population. As a result, by the time of my settlement, there were about thirty families in the volost, united by friendship and common ideas. We often, especially on winter evenings, got together, secretly from the tsarist police. I read a lot to the peasants. All the forbidden news that I received from Yasnaya were immediately copied and distributed. In addition, we read history, as well as Victor Hugo, Erckman-Chatrian, the publications of The Mediator, and secret revolutionary literature. The sectarians sang their hymns, and everyone loved me very much. I write to the teacher that this side of life is very pleasant.
The teacher's answer is like a delicate flower.
Thank you, dear friend, for your letter*. It’s just scary, which is very good for you. No matter how good it is, take care of a spiritual corner in your soul about a rainy day, Epictetus, into which you can go when something that outwardly pleases you is upset. And your relationship with your neighbors is excellent. Treasure them the most. I remember you and love you very much. I myself am very busy with lessons with the children. I run a Gospel and Reading Circle for children nearby. I'm not happy with what I did, but I don't despair.
I kiss you brotherly, fatherly. Hello mother.
Oh, I’m afraid for the Odessa community members. It’s terrible when people are disappointed in the most important thing, the sacred. To prevent this from happening, there must be internal spiritual work, and without it everything will probably go poorly.
The colony of Odessa residents, which is mentioned, consisted of one and a half dozen city residents of various professions. Technicians, postal officials, office and bank employees, women with and without children were united with the idea of buying land and managing things together. As usual, after a few months they quarreled, and two or three individual farmers remained on the earth.
But suddenly some strange rumor appears in the newspapers about a fire in Yasnaya Polyana. I'm worried. I telegraph Marya Lvovna* and write to Tolstoy. He answers.
I didn’t burn out, my dear young friend*, and I was very glad, as always, to receive your letter: but I was sick with influenza and was very weak, so I couldn’t do anything for three weeks. Now I come to life (for a short time). And during this time, so many letters have accumulated that today I wrote and wrote and still haven’t finished, but I don’t want to leave your letter unanswered. Although I won’t tell you anything worthwhile, at least I’ll tell you that I love you and that I feel very good in my soul, and if I lived just as long, I wouldn’t have to redo all that joyful work that I want to do, and which, of course, is the only one I won’t do the hundredth.
Kiss you. Respect and bow to Mother. Lev Tolstoy
I wanted to attribute a few more words to you, dear Lebrun, but the letter has already been sent and therefore I’m putting it in the parcel.
I wanted to say that you should not be discouraged that your life does not work out according to your program. After all, the most important thing in life is to cleanse ourselves of bodily hereditary abominations, always, under all conditions, possible and necessary, and we need one thing. This form of life must be the consequence of this work of enlightenment of ours. What confuses us is that the internal work of improvement is entirely in our power, and this makes us feel unimportant. The structure of external life is connected with the consequences of the lives of other people and seems to us the most important.
This is what I want to say. Only then can we complain about the bad conditions of external life when we put all our efforts into internal work. And as soon as we put in ALL our strength, either external life will turn out as we wish, or the fact that it is not as we wish will cease to bother us.
Vladimir Grigorievich Chertkov* was selflessly devoted to Tolstoy and the letter of his teaching. He was rich, but his mother did not give him his richest estate in the Kherson province, so that his ideological son could not give it to the peasants. She gave him only income. And Chertkov with this money provided enormous services to Tolstoy and especially to the dissemination of his writings, prohibited by censorship. When the tsarist government suppressed the “Mediator” and deprived it of the opportunity to print its motto on each book: “God is not in power, but in truth”*, Chertkov and several friends were exiled abroad. He immediately, following the example of Herzen, founded the publishing house of “Svobodnoe Slova”* in England with the same motto and most carefully published all the forbidden writings of Tolstoy and distributed them in Russia. In addition, he built Tolstoy’s “Steel Room”* to store original manuscripts. It also contained interesting materials on the history of Russian sectarianism, which was very numerous and varied.
On one of my visits to Yasnaya, Chertkov offered me a service in this institution of his. I accepted the offer in principle. Working for him would mean for me to continue the same work of spreading Tolstoy’s word, which then captured me. But circumstances beyond my control forced me to refuse this offer and remain a farmer. This was a very significant step in my life.
As is my custom, I write to the teacher about this. Marya Lvovna answers, and Tolstoy adds a few words at the end of the letter.
Dear Viktor Anatolyevich, we are very sorry that you are not going to see the Chertkovs. And they would bring him a lot of benefit and learn English themselves. Well, there’s nothing to do, you can’t go against the bullshit.
Well, what can I tell you about Yasnaya. Everyone is alive and well. I'll start by seniority. The old man is healthy, he works a lot, but the other day, when Yulia Ivanovna* asked him where the work was, he very cheerfully and playfully said that he sent her to hell, but the next day she returned from hell, and Sasha is still *chicks her on Remington*. This work: afterword to the article “On the meaning of the Russian revolution”*. Today Sasha is going to Moscow for a music lesson and must take her with her. Dad rides horseback and walks a lot. (Now I’m sitting with Yulia Ivanovna and writing, he came from riding and is talking next to Sasha about the article. And he went to bed.)
Mom has completely recovered and is already dreaming of concerts and Moscow. Sukhotin, Mikhail Sergeevich*, went abroad, and Tanya* and her family live in that house as before. We're still here, waiting to go. Now there is no road, the mud is impassable, Yulia Ivanovna took up painting very zealously. He makes screens and wants to sell them on occasion in Moscow. The girls seem to mind their own business, laugh a lot, go for walks, and rarely sing. Andrei still lives the same way, only he has no one to tickle, and therefore he is not so cheerful.
Dusan warms his feet in the evenings, and later comes out to us and writes a “Notebook”*, which he and my husband check and correct. So, you see, everything is exactly the same as before. We always remember you with love. Write how you will get settled in Gelendzhik. Everyone bows to you very much. I leave a place, dad wanted to attribute.
Maria Obolenskaya
And I regret and do not regret, dear Lebrun*, that you did not get to Chertkov YET. As always, I enjoyed reading your letter, write more often. I miss you very much. Despite your youth, you are very close to me, and therefore your fate, of course, not physical, but spiritual, interests me very much.
Gelendzhik, like any “dzhik” and whatever place you want, is good because under any conditions there, and the worse, the better, you can live there and everywhere for the soul, for God.
Kiss you. Hello mother. L. Tolstoy.
Gradually, my correspondence with the elderly teacher became more and more animated.
Thank you, dear Lebrun*, for not forgetting me. I am always glad to communicate with you, and I am also glad to see the cheerful spirit of the letter.
I live in the old way and remember and love you, as well as all of ours. Say my regards to your mother.
I’m always glad to receive your letter*, dear Lebrun, I’m glad because I love you. When I receive the article, I will treat it strictly and write to you.
Hello mother. L. T. (2/12.07)
Now I have received, dear Lebrun*, your good, good long letter and I hope to answer in detail, now I am writing only to let you know what I received and that I love you more and more.
I wanted to answer your long letter at length, dear friend Lebrun, but I don’t have time. I will only repeat what I already wrote, that your state of mind is good. The main good thing about him is humility. Don't lose this precious foundation of everything.
Today I received your other letter with an addition to Herzen*. Dusan will answer you about the business side. My marks, crossings out, are the most insignificant. I started to make serious adjustments, but there was no time, so I left it. Maybe I'll do some proofreading. Goodbye for now. Kiss you. Bow to mother.
Suddenly the newspapers bring news that Tolstoy’s secretary has been arrested and exiled to the North. Chertkov brought N. N. Gusev* as secretary. This was the first paid and excellent secretary. With his knowledge of shorthand and complete devotion, he was extremely useful to Tolstoy. While he and Dr. Makovitsky were in Yasnaya, I could be completely calm about my beloved teacher. Gusev's expulsion alarmed me to the core. I immediately write to the teacher, offering to come immediately to replace the exiled one.
The whole amazing soul of the thinker is visible in his answer.
Yasnaya Polyana. 1909.12/5.
I am so guilty before you, dear friend Lebrun, for taking so long to respond to your not only congenial and, as always, very intelligent, but also heartfelt, kind letter, that I don’t know (how) it’s better to apologize to you. Well, my fault, sorry. The main thing happened because I thought I answered.
Taking advantage of your self-denial is out of the question. Sasha and her friend do an excellent job of recording and putting in order my senile radotage*.
Everything I could say, I said as best I could. And it is so hopeless that those people who can be stabbed on the head and heart, as you put it, would move even an inch from the position in which they stand and in the defense of which they falsely use all the intelligence given to them, that to continue to understand that , which is clear as day, seems to be the most empty activity. Some of what I wrote about law and science in general is now being translated and published. When it comes out, I'll send it to you.
Despite this, my reluctance to continue to let, as Ruskin said, undoubted truths into one long ear of the World so that it, without leaving any trace, would immediately come out of the other, I still feel very good, little by little I am doing as I know how to do my own thing, I won’t say improvement, but reducing my nastiness, which gives me not only great interest, but also joy and fills my life with the most important matter, which a person can always do, even a minute before death. I wish you the same and allow me to advise you.
Bow to your wife for me. What kind of person is she?
Hello to your mother. Leo Tolstoy, who loves you very much
Tolstoy felt very painfully when others were persecuted because of his writings. He always suffered greatly in such cases and wrote letters and appeals, asking the authorities to persecute only him, since only he is the source of what the authorities consider a crime. So it was now. He wrote a long accusatory letter to the police officer who arrested Gusev and, it seems, to someone else.
My heart was breaking looking at this, and I, a young man, decided to advise the elderly teacher to remain completely calm, “even if we were all hanged” and write not such letters, but only eternal and significant ones. Tolstoy answers.
Thank you, dear, dear Lebrun*, for your good advice and your letter. The fact that I did not answer for so long does not mean that I was not very happy about your letter and did not feel the recrudescence* of my friendship for you, but only that I am very busy, passionate about my work, and old and weak; I feel close to the limits of my strength.
The proof of this is that I started writing the day before yesterday and am now finishing it at 10 in the evening.
God help you in you - just don’t drown it out, he will give you strength - to fulfill your intention in marriage. All life is only an approximation to the ideal, and it is good when you do not let go of the ideal, but, whether crawling or sideways, put all your strength into getting closer to it.
Write your long letter in moments of leisure, a letter not to me alone, but to all people close in spirit.
For the most part, I don’t advise writing, especially to myself, but I can’t resist for now. I won’t advise you against it, because you are one of the people who thinks in an original way. Kiss you.
Hello to your mother, bride.
My “big letter”, which Tolstoy mentions, remained unwritten. The “minutes of leisure” that I had were too short. And there was too much to say. The subject that occupied me was too significant and versatile.
Seeing that time is passing and I can’t write at length, I send a short letter to the teacher. It seems like the first time in ten years of our correspondence. The answer was not delayed.
Thank you, dear Lebrun*, and for your short letter.
You are one of those people with whom my connection is firm, not direct, from me to you, but through God, it would seem the most distant, but on the contrary, the closest and firmest. Not by chords or arcs, but by radii.
When people write to me about their desire to write, I mostly advise them to abstain. I advise you not to refrain and not to rush. Tout vent a point a cetuf guff aft attendee*. And you have and will have something to say and the ability to express.
Your letter is unfounded in that you express your contentment in the spiritual area, and then seem to complain about dissatisfaction in the material area, in that area that is not in our power, and therefore should not cause our disagreement and dissatisfaction, if the spiritual is in the foreground . I am very happy for you that, as I see, you live the same life with your wife. This is a great blessing.
Please convey my heartfelt greetings to your mother and her.
Your letter found me with an unhealthy liver. That’s why this letter is so wrong.
Kiss you. What about Herzen?
I still cannot come to terms with the enormous transgression associated with this letter. This letter, Tolstoy's last letter*, remained unanswered. I had many, many friends and correspondents. And as far as I remember, correspondence with everyone ended with my letters. Only the gentle, beloved Tolstoy should have remained unanswered. Why now, re-reading these yellowed leaves, can’t I atone for my guilt?!
Then, in the heat of youth, there was too much to say to my beloved teacher. It didn't fit into the letter. There was no way to write in detail in the intense work environment that I created for myself. In addition, the new horizons that began to open from the new position of an independent farmer for me were still completely vague. It took many years of study and experience to bring them into clarity. And then I suffered, took up the pen, threw away unfinished letters... Tolstoy was old. He had a year to live*. But I didn’t realize it. I was so caught up in the same ideas and the same ideals. Such is the blindness of youth. And the days and weeks changed with the same speed with which you leaf through a book!
In addition, events soon began in Yasnaya Polyana that radically disturbed my peace*.
Black impenetrable clouds obscured that lovely radiant horizon under which I lived these ten years of close communication with the intelligent, gentle and loving soul of an unforgettable and brilliant teacher.
COMMENTS
S. b ...they talked about “Resurrection”... I decided to publish this only because it was necessary to quickly help the Doukhobors. - July 14, 1898 Tolstoy wrote to Chertkov: “Since it has now become clear how much money is still missing for the resettlement of the Doukhobors, I think this is what to do: I have three stories: “Irtenev”, “Resurrection” and “O. Sergius“ (I’ve been working on it lately and wrote the end in rough). So I would like to sell them<…>and use the proceeds to resettle the Doukhobors..." (Tolstoy L. N. PSS. T. 88. P. 106; see also: T. 33. P. 354-355; commentary by N. K. Gudzia). The novel “Resurrection” was first published in the magazine “Niva” (1899. Ha 11 -52), the entire fee was donated to the needs of the Doukhobors.
P. 8 ...The great Edison sent Tolstoy a recording phonograph as a gift. - On July 22, 1908, the American inventor Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931) turned to Tolstoy with a request to give him “one or two sessions of the phonograph in French or English, preferably in both” (the phonograph is Edison’s invention). V. G. Chertkov, on Tolstoy’s instructions, responded to Edison on August 17, 1908: “Leo Tolstoy asked me to tell you that he considers himself not entitled to reject your proposal. He agrees to dictate something for the phonograph at any time” (Tolstoy L.N. PSS. T. 37. P. 449). On December 23, 1908, D. P. Makovitsky wrote in his diary: “Two people arrived from Edison with a good phonograph<…>L.N. was worried a few days before the arrival of Edison’s people and today he practiced, especially in the English text. On French I translated and wrote it myself. He spoke Russian and French well. The text of “The Kingdom of God” didn’t come out well in English, he stumbled over two words. Tomorrow he will speak again”; and December 24: “L. N. spoke the English text into the phonograph” (“Yasnaya Polyana Notes” by D. P. Makovitsky. Book 3. P. 286). At first, Tolstoy used the phonograph quite often to dictate letters and a number of small articles for the book “Cool Readings.” The device interested him very much and made him want to talk. Tolstoy’s daughter wrote that “the phonograph makes his work very easy” (letter from A.L. Tolstoy to A.B. Goldenweiser dated February 9, 1908 - Tolstoy’s correspondence with T. Edison / Publ. A. Sergeenko // Literary Heritage. M ., 1939. T. 37-38. Book 2. P. 331). The beginning of the pamphlet “I Can’t Be Silent” was recorded on a phonograph.
P. 9 ...Lao-Tze... - Lao Tzu, Chinese sage of the 6th-5th centuries. BC e., perhaps a legendary figure, according to legend - the author of the philosophical treatise “Tao Te Ching” (“Book of the Path and Grace”), who is considered the founder of Taoism. Tolstoy found in the teachings of Lao Tzu much that was similar to his views. In 1884, he translated some fragments from the book “Tao-te-king” (see: Tolstoy L.N. PSS. T. 25. P. 884). In 1893, he corrected the translation of this book made by E.I. Popov, and he himself wrote a summary of several chapters (see: Ibid. T. 40. P. 500-502). In 1909, he radically revised this translation and wrote an article about the teachings of Lao Tzu. His translation, along with this article, appeared in the Posrednik publishing house in 1909 under the title “The Sayings of the Chinese Sage Lao-Tse, Selected by L. N. Tolstoy” (see: Ibid. T. 39. pp. 352-362) . The texts of Lao Tzu were also used in “The Reading Circle”, and Tolstoy gives them in abbreviation, every now and then inserting his own fragments when quoting, designed to explain the original source. At the same time, “the modern researcher is amazed<…>accuracy of translation, L. N. Tolstoy’s intuitive ability to choose the only correct version from several European translations and, with his inherent sense of words, select the Russian equivalent.” However, accuracy is observed only “until Tolstoy begins to edit his own translation “for the reader.” Thanks to this editing, throughout the entire “Circle of Reading” we always hear the voice of Tolstoy himself behind the voices of the Chinese sages” (Lisevich I.S. Chinese sources // Tolstoy L.N. Collected works: In 20 vols. M., 1998 T. 20: Reading circle 1904-1908. November - December, pp. 308).
P. 10 ... a book about John Ruskin that had just appeared - April 6, 1895. Tolstoy wrote in his diary: “I read the wonderful book Birthday Book by Ruskin” (Ibid. T. 53. P. 19; referring to the book by E. G. Ritchie A. G. The Ruskin Birthday Book. London, 1883). John Ruskin (eng. John Ruskin) (1819-1900) - English writer, artist, poet, literary critic, art theorist, who had a great influence on the development of art criticism and aesthetics in the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries. Tolstoy highly valued him and largely shared his views regarding the connection between art and morality, as well as a number of other problems: “John Ruskin is one of the most remarkable people not only in England and our time, but in all countries and times. He is one of those rare people who thinks with his heart<…>and therefore he thinks and says what he himself sees and feels and what everyone in the future will think and say. Ruskin is famous in England as a writer and art critic, but as a philosopher, political economist and Christian moralist he is ignored<…>but the power of Ruskin’s thought and its expression are such that, despite all the friendly opposition that he met and meets especially among orthodox economists, even the most radical ones (and they cannot help but attack him, because he destroys everything to the ground their teaching), his fame begins to be established and his thoughts begin to penetrate the larger public” (Tolstoy L.N. PSS. T. 31. P. 96). Approximately half of the statements of English authors included in the “Circle of Readings” belong to Ruskin (see: Zorin V.A. English sources // Tolstoy L.N. Collected works: In 20 volumes. T. 20: Circle of Readings. P. 328-331).
...a new biography, Michel Angelo... - Perhaps Lebrun is referring to the biography of Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) by R. Rolland, which he sent to Tolstoy in August 1906: “Vies des hommes illustre. La vie de Michel-Ange" (“Cahiers de la Quinzaine”, 1906, series 7-8, No. 18.2; see also: Tolstoy L. N. PSS. T. 76. P. 289).
…“.Notes of Catherine”… - Notes of Empress Catherine the Second / Translation from the original. St. Petersburg, 1907.
... Schopenhauer's long dialogue about religion ~ This translator was a member of the court... - Pyotr Sergeevich Porokhovshchikov, a member of the St. Petersburg District Court, on November 13, 1908 sent Tolstoy a letter along with the translation he completed (published: Schopenhauer A. On Religion: Dialogue / Trans. P. Porokhovshchikova. St. Petersburg, 1908). On November 21, Tolstoy replied: “I<…>Now I am especially happy to re-read your translation and, having started reading, I see that the translation is excellent. I very much regret that this book, which is especially useful in our time, is banned” (Tolstoy L.N. PSS. T. 78. P. 266). On November 20 and 21, D. P. Makovitsky wrote in his diary: “At lunch, L. N. advised<…>read Schopenhauer's "Dialogue on Religion". The book in Russian translation has just appeared and is already banned. Beautifully presented. L.N. read it before and remembers”; "L. N. about the dialogue “On Religion” by Schopenhauer: “The reader will feel the depth of these two views, religion and philosophy, and not the victory of one. The defender of religion is strong." L.N. recalled that Herzen read his dialogue with someone. Belinsky to him: “Why did you argue with such a blockhead?” The same cannot be said about Schopenhauer’s dialogue” (“Yasnaya Polyana Notes” by D. P. Makovitsky. Book 3. P. 251).
“Anarchism” by Eltzbacher - We are talking about the book: Eltzbacher R. Der Anarchismus. Berlin, 1900 (Russian translation: Elzbacher P. The Essence of Anarchism / Translated under the editorship and with a preface by M. Andreev. St. Petersburg, 1906). Tolstoy received this book from the author in 1900. The book outlined the teachings of V. Godwin, P.-J. Proudhon, M. Stirner, M. A. Bakunin, P. A. Kropotkin, B. Tukker and L. N. Tolstoy. P.I. Biryukov wrote: “Western scientists are beginning to take a serious interest in Lev Nikolaevich, and at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries whole line monographs on Tolstoy in all kinds of languages. In 1900 a very interesting book was published on German Doctor of Laws Elzbacher entitled “Anarchism”. In this book, with the seriousness characteristic of German scientists, the teachings of the seven most famous anarchists, including Leo Tolstoy, are analyzed and presented. The author of this book sent his work to Lev Nikolaevich, and he responded with a letter of gratitude. Here are its essential parts: “Your book does for anarchism what was done for socialism 30 years ago: it introduces it into the program of political science. I liked your book extremely. It is completely objective, understandable and, as far as I can tell, has excellent sources. It only seems to me that I am not an anarchist in the sense of a political reformer. In the index of your book, under the word “coercion,” references are made to the pages of the works of all the other authors you examine, but there is not a single reference to my writings. Isn’t this proof that the teaching that you attribute to me, but which in fact is only the teaching of Christ, is not a political teaching at all, but a religious one?’” (Biryukov P.I. Biography of Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy. T. IV . M.; Pg. 1923. P. 5).
P. 11 ...Romain Rolland in his good, perhaps the best, foreign work on Tolstoy - in the book “The Life of Tolstoy” (“Vie de Tolstoï”, 1911); the book appeared in Russian in 1915.
Meanwhile, it was to him, in response to his question, that Tolstoy wrote a long article... - On April 16, 1887, R. Rolland first addressed Tolstoy with a letter in which he asked questions related to science and art (excerpts of the letter in Russian translation see: Literary heritage. M., 1937. T. 31-32. Having not received an answer, Rolland wrote a second time, asking Tolstoy to resolve his doubts regarding a number of moral problems, as well as questions about mental and physical labor (see: Ibid. pp. 1008-1009). On October 3(?) 1887, Tolstoy responded in detail to this undated letter (see: Tolstoy Λ. N. PSS. T. 64. P. 84-98); Lebrun calls Tolstoy’s answer “a long article.”
...H. N. Ge... - Nikolai Nikolaevich Ge (1831-1894) - historical painter, portrait painter, landscape painter; came from a noble family. For several years he abandoned painting; Ge was actively involved in agriculture and even became an excellent stove maker.
P. 13...N. G. Sutkova from Sochi... - Nikolai Grigorievich Sutkova (1872-1932) graduated from the Faculty of Law, was engaged in agriculture in Sochi, at one time sympathized with the views of Tolstoy, and visited Yasnaya Polyana several times. In his letter sent from Sochi, Sutkova reported that he was selecting thoughts from “The Reading Circle” and “For Every Day” to present them in a popular form. In his letter dated January 9, 1910, Tolstoy answered him: “I was very glad to receive your letter, dear Sutkova. I am also pleased with the work that you have planned and are doing. To set forth the doctrine of truth, the same throughout the world from the Brahmins to Emerson,
Pascal, Kant, so that it is accessible to large masses of people with an unperverted mind, to present it in such a way that illiterate mothers can pass it on to their children - and this is a great task that lies ahead for all of us. Let's do it with all our might while we're alive. L. Tolstoy, who loves you” (Ibid. T. 81. P. 30).
…Π. P. Kartushin... - Pyotr Prokofyevich Kartushin (1880-1916), a rich Don Cossack, like-minded person of L. N. Tolstoy, his acquaintance and correspondent, one of the founders of the publishing house “Renewal” (1906), where Tolstoy’s unpublished works were published in Russia under censorship conditions. S. N. Durylin recalled: “A Black Sea Cossack, handsome, short, in good health, with independent and fairly significant means of living, Kartushin experienced a deep spiritual upheaval: he left everything and went to Tolstoy to seek the truth. Own funds in 1906-1907 he gave money for the cheap publication of Tolstoy’s most extreme works, which even the “Mediator” did not print for fear of government punishment: with Kartushin’s money, the “Obnovlenie” publishing house published “The Approaching of the End”, “Soldier’s” and “Officer’s Memos”, “The End of the Century”, “ Slavery of our time,” etc. Kartushin himself led the life of a voluntary poor man. In letters to friends, he often asked: “help, brother, get rid of money.” And, indeed, he was freed from them: his money went to cheap editions of beautiful books of eternal significance, to their free distribution, to supporting people who wanted to “sit down on the land,” that is, to engage in land labor, and for many other good deeds. But this man of crystalline soul did not find religious peace in Tolstoy either. In 1910-1911 he became interested in the life of Alexander Dobrolyubov. Once the founder of Russian symbolism, “the first Russian decadent,” Dobrolyubov (born 1875) became a novice in the Solovetsky Monastery, and in the end accepted the feat of a wanderer, disappearing into the Russian sea of peasants. Kartushin was attracted to Dobrolyubov by his wanderings, his participation in the hard labor of the people (Dobrolyubov worked as an unpaid farm laborer for the peasants), and his religious teaching, in which the height of moral requirements was combined with spiritual depth and poetic beauty of external expression. But, having fallen in love with Dobrolyubov, Kartushin did not stop loving Tolstoy: to stop loving anyone, and especially Tolstoy, was not in the nature of this wonderful, tenderly and deeply loving person" (Durylin S. In Tolstoy and about Tolstoy // Ural. 2010 No. 3. pp. 177-216).
...Felten from St. Petersburg... - Nikolai Evgenievich Felten (1884-1940), a descendant of the academician of architecture Yu. M. Felten (1730-1801), for several years was engaged in the illegal publication and distribution of Tolstoy’s prohibited works; in 1907 he was arrested for this and sentenced to six months in a fortress. About Felten, see: Tolstoy. N. PSS. T. 73. P. 179; Bulgakov V.F. Friends and loved ones // Bulgakov V.F. About Tolstoy: Memoirs and stories. Tula, 1978. pp. 338-342.
...Young publishers of "Renewal" ... - the above-mentioned I. I. Gorbunov, N. G. Sutkova, P. P. Kartushin and H. E. Felten (the latter served as the executive editor). Founded in 1906 by like-minded people of Tolstoy, the Obnovlenie publishing house published his uncensored works.
...As for Arago, God was a “hypothesis” for me... - May 5, 1905 Tolstoy wrote in his diary: “Someone, a mathematician, told Napoleon about God: I never needed this hypothesis. And I would say: I could never do anything good without this hypothesis” (Tolstoy Λ. N. PSS. T. 55. P. 138). Lebrun recalls the same episode, believing that Napoleon's interlocutor was the French physicist Dominique Francois
Arago (1786-1853). However, according to the recollections of Napoleon’s doctor Francesco Ritommarchi, this interlocutor was the French physicist and astronomer Pierre Simon Laplace (1749-1827), who answered the emperor’s question why there was no mention of God in his Treatise on Celestial Mechanics, with the words: “I did not need this hypothesis” (see: Dusheiko K. Quotations from World History. M., 2006. P. 219).
...in that same room “under the vaults”... - The room “under the vaults” at different times served as Tolstoy’s study room, since it was isolated from the noise in the house. In the famous portrait of I. E. Repin, Tolstoy is depicted in a room under the vaults (see: Tolstaya S. A. Letters to L. N. Tolstoy. P. 327).
P. 14 ...I always remember Matthew Arnold's definition... - Matthew Arnold (Arnold, 1822-1888) - English poet, critic, literary historian and theologian. His “Tasks of Artistic Criticism” (M., 1901) and “What is the Essence of Christianity and Judaism” (M., 1908; both books were published by the Posrednik publishing house) were translated into Russian. The last work in the original is called “Literaturę and Dogma”. Tolstoy found that it was “surprisingly identical” with his thoughts (diary entry dated February 20, 1889 - Tolstoy L.N. PSS. T. 50. P. 38; see also p. 40). Arnold gives the following Old Testament definition of God: “An eternal, infinite power outside of us, demanding from us, leading us to righteousness” (Arnold M. What is the essence of Christianity and Judaism. P. 48).
This was shortly after Tolstoy was excommunicated from the Orthodox Church by the Holy Synod. - Tolstoy was not officially excommunicated from the Church. The “Church Gazette” published the “Decree of the Holy Synod of February 20-23, 1901, Xa 557 with a message to the faithful children of the Greek-Russian Orthodox Church about Count Leo Tolstoy,” which, in particular, said: “The Holy Synod in its care for children Orthodox Church, about protecting them from destructive temptation and about saving the erring, having a judgment about Count Leo Tolstoy and his anti-Christian and anti-church false teaching, he considered it timely to publish as a warning to the church world<…>your message." Tolstoy was declared a false teacher, who “in the deception of his proud mind boldly rebelled against the Lord and against His Christ and against His holy property, clearly before everyone renounced the Mother who fed and raised him, the Orthodox Church, and devoted his literary activity and what was given to him from God talent for spreading among the people teachings contrary to Christ and the Church<…>. In his writings and letters, scattered in great numbers by him and his disciples all over the world, especially within our dear Fatherland, he preaches with the zeal of a fanatic the overthrow of all the dogmas of the Orthodox Church and the very essence of the Christian faith<…>. Therefore, the Church does not consider him its member and cannot consider him until he repents and restores his communion with her” (L.N. Tolstoy: Pro et contra: The personality and work of Leo Tolstoy in the assessment of Russian thinkers and researchers: Anthology. St. Petersburg ., 2000. pp. 345-346).
The “definition” of the Synod caused a stormy reaction in Russia, Europe and America. V. G. Korolenko wrote in his diary on February 25, 1901: “An act unprecedented in modern Russian history. True, the power and importance of a writer who, remaining on Russian soil, protected only by the charm of a great name and genius, would so mercilessly and boldly smash the “whales” of the Russian system: the autocratic order and the ruling Church, are also unparalleled. The gloomy anathema of the seven Russian “hierarchs”, resounding with echoes of the dark centuries of persecution, rushes towards an undoubtedly new phenomenon, marking the enormous growth of free Russian thought” (Korolenko V. G. Pol. collected works. State Publishing House of Ukraine, 1928. Diary. T. 4. P. 211). Korolenko expressed an opinion characteristic of most of Russian society. But at the same time, publications appeared in support of the Synod. Thus, on July 4, 1901, Korolenko noted in his diary an announcement that appeared in newspapers about Tolstoy’s expulsion from honorary members of the Moscow Temperance Society. The basis was the fact that the Society includes only Orthodox Christians, and Tolstoy, after the “Definition” of the Synod, cannot be considered as such (see: Ibid. pp. 260-262). On October 1, Korolenko noted another statement that appeared in the newspapers, first published in the Tula Diocesan Gazette: “Many people, including those writing these lines, noticed an amazing phenomenon with the portraits of Count Λ. N. Tolstoy. After Tolstoy’s excommunication from the church, by the determination of the divinely established authorities, the expression on Count Tolstoy’s face took on a purely satanic appearance: it became not only angry, but ferocious and gloomy. This is not a deception of the feelings of a prejudiced, fanatical soul, but a real phenomenon that everyone can check” (Ibid. p. 272). For more information about the “Definition” of the Synod, see: Why Leo Tolstoy was excommunicated from the Church: Sat. historical documents. M., 2006; Firsov S. L. Church-legal and social-psychological aspects of the “excommunication” of Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy: (On the history of the problem) // Yasnaya Polyana collection-2008. Tula, 2008.
Tolstoy had just published his wonderful “Response to the Synod.” - According to a modern researcher, “Tolstoy reacted to the “excommunication”<…>very indifferent. Having learned about it, he only asked: was “anathema” proclaimed? And I was surprised that there was no “anathema”. Why then was it necessary to fence the garden at all? In his diary, he calls both the “definition” of the Synod and the warm expressions of sympathy that came to Yasnaya “strange”. L.N. was ill at that time...” (Basinsky P. Leo Tolstoy: Escape from Paradise. M., 2010. P. 501). T.I. Polner, who was visiting Tolstoy at that moment, recalls: “The whole room was decorated with luxuriously smelling flowers.<…>"Marvelous! - says Tolstoy from the sofa. - The whole day is a holiday! Gifts, flowers, congratulations... here you are... Real name days! “He laughs” (Polner T.I. About Tolstoy: (Scraps of Memories) // Modern Notes. 1920. No. 1. P. 109 (Reprint commented edition: St. Petersburg. , 2010. P. 133). “Nevertheless, realizing that it is impossible to remain silent, Tolstoy writes a response to the resolution of the Synod, as usual, repeatedly reworking the text and finishing it only on April 4” (Basinsky P. Leo Tolstoy: Escape from Paradise. P. 501). In “Response to the resolution of the Synod of February 20-22 and to the letters I received on this occasion,” Tolstoy confirmed his break with the Church: “The fact that I renounced the church, which calls itself Orthodox, is absolutely fair. But I renounced. from her, not because I rebelled against the Lord, but on the contrary, only because with all the strength of my soul I wanted to serve him “But I not only do not reject God the Spirit, God - love, the only God - the beginning of everything, but I really do not recognize anything.” existing except God, and I see the whole meaning of life only in fulfilling the will of God, expressed in Christian teaching.” Tolstoy objected to the charges brought against him in the “Definition” of the Synod: “Resolution of the Synod<…>illegal or deliberately ambiguous because if it wants to be excommunication, then it does not satisfy the church rules according to which such excommunication can be pronounced<…>It is unfounded because the main reason for its appearance is the wide spread of my false teaching seducing people, while I am well aware that there are hardly a hundred people who share my views and the spread of my writings on religion thanks to censorship is so insignificant that the majority of people who read resolution of the Synod, do not have the slightest idea of what I have written about religion, as can be seen from the letters I received” (Tolstoy L. N. PSS. T. 34. pp. 245-253). Tolstoy's last statement does not entirely correspond to the facts. A huge number of his religious and philosophical works circulated in manuscripts, were distributed in copies made on a hectograph, and came from abroad, where they were published in publishing houses organized by Tolstoy’s like-minded people, in particular, V. G. Chertkov. It was with publications received from abroad that Lebrun became acquainted while living in the Far East.
P. 15. It is not without reason that at the end of my article “On Religion and Morality”... - “So, answering your two questions, I say: “Religion is a known relationship established by man with his individual personality to the infinite world or the beginning of it. Morality is the ever-present guide of life, arising from this relationship.’” (Ibid. Vol. 39, p. 26). The exact title of the article is “Religion and Morality” (1893).
P. 16. ...father... - See about him: Russian World. No. 4. 2010. P. 30.
...“White Bride”, in Circassian Gelendzhik. - Most likely, Lebrun writes about the so-called False Gelendzhik. In a guide to the Caucasus, published in 1914, we read: “9 versts from Gelendzhik, a very poetic place with bizarre beams and hollows, “False Gelendzhik,” is quickly being built and populated.” “Once upon a time, over a hundred years ago, on the site of our village there was the Natukhai village of Mezyb. His name is preserved in the name of the river, which merges with Aderba near the seashore. In 1831, next to the village of Mezyb, on the shore of Gelendzhik Bay, the first fortification on the Black Sea coast was founded - Gelendzhik. Russian ships began to arrive in the bay, bringing provisions for the garrison of the Gelendzhik fortress. Sometimes such a ship sailed at night. The lights of the fortification burned dimly. That's where the ship headed. As he approached, the captain was puzzled: the lights he was walking towards did not belong to the Gelendzhik fortification, but to the Natukhai aul of Mezyb. This mistake was repeated several times, and gradually the name False Gelendzhik, or False Gelendzhik, was assigned to the village of Mezyb. The village is located on the low shore of the Black Sea, 12 kilometers from Gelendzhik. Among the dachas and owners of False Gelendzhik were engineer Perkun, the famous Moscow singer Navrotsskaya (her dacha was built of wood in the old Russian style), officer Turchaninov, Victor Lebrun, L. Tolstoy’s personal secretary, lived here for 18 years. On July 13, 1964, the place was renamed the village of Divnomorskoye. Information provided by the Gelendzhik Museum of History and Local Lore www.museum.sea.ru
P. 17. My father’s parents were good farmers in Champagne. - Champagne is a commune in France, located in the Limousin region. Department of the commune - Creuse. It is part of the canton of Bellegarde-en-Marche. The district of the commune is Aubusson. Champagne (French: Champagne, Latin: Campania) is a historical region in France, famous for its wine-making traditions (the word “champagne” comes from its name).
P. 18. ...research “A. I. Herzen and the revolution.” - Tolstoy’s follower Victor Lebrun in 1906 began compiling a collection of Herzen’s aphorisms and judgments with a biographical sketch about him, which grew into an independent manuscript “Herzen and the Revolution.” According to Lebrun, the manuscript fell victim to censorship. In December 1907, Tolstoy received an article about Herzen by his like-minded person V. A. Lebrun, which contained a number of quotes from Herzen sympathetic to Tolstoy. On the evening of December 3, according to Makovitsky’s notes, he read aloud from this manuscript Herzen’s thoughts about the Russian community, about “the orthodoxy of democracy, the conservatism of revolutionaries and liberal journalists” and about the suppression of European revolutions by military force. Makovitsky asked Tolstoy if he would write a preface to Lebrun's article. Tolstoy replied that he would like to write. On December 22 of the same year, Tolstoy, with guests who had arrived from Moscow, again spoke about this article and said about Herzen: “How little is known about him and how useful it is to know him, especially now. So it is difficult to refrain from indignation against the government - not because it collects taxes, but because it removed Herzen from the everyday life of Russian life, eliminated the influence that he could have ... ". Despite the fact that Tolstoy again said in January 1908 that he intended to write a preface to Lebrun’s article, he did not write this preface, and Lebrun’s article was not published. (Literary heritage, vol. 41-42, p. 522, publishing house of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 1941). “Continuing to admire Herzen, L.N. recalls one of his friends, a young Frenchman living in the Caucasus and who wrote a monograph about Herzen. L.N. speaks with tender sympathy about this work and says: I would very much like to write a preface to it. But I don’t know if I’ll have time. There is so little left to live..." (Sergeenko P. Herzen and Tolstoy // Russian Word. 1908. December 25 (January 7, 1909). No. 299). From the comments to Tolstoy's letters to Le Brun, it is known that Tolstoy sent his article to Posrednik, but it was not published. Most likely due to the ban on censorship.
P. 19. Vanity of vanities and vexation of spirit?... - Words of Solomon in the “Book of Ecclesiastes”, 1.1.
Thank you, dear Lebrun, for writing... - Lebrun dates this letter to November 6, 1905, which, apparently, is a mistake. The letter with the same text is dated November 6, 1908. See: Tolstoy L.N. PSS. T. 78. P. 249.
Thank you, dear Lebrun, for from time to time... - (Tolstoy L.N. PSS. T. 77. P. 150).
I kiss you and Kartushin fraternally... - See note to page 13 present. ed.
P. 20. Long before me, several intelligent followers of Tolstoy settled near Gelendzhik:<…> These people tried to organize an agricultural colony. - In 1886, a group of populist intellectuals led by V.V. Eropkin, N.N. Kogan, Z. S. Sychugov and A.A. Sychugova, having bought a plot of land (250 dessiatines in the region of the Pshady river near Gelendzhik), founded the agricultural community “Krinitsa”. The founder of “Krinitsa” was V.V. Eropkin, an aristocrat, brilliantly educated (law and mathematics faculties of Moscow University). Having become fascinated by the ideas of populism in his youth, he abandoned the environment that raised him and the means of subsistence provided by his family. He made several attempts to set up an agricultural artel in the Ufa and Poltava provinces, which ended unsuccessfully. After a long search, Eropkin bought a plot of land in the Mikhailovsky Pass area. Eropkin’s fate was tragic in its own way: in order to create a material basis for the development of Krinitsa, he was forced to live and work away from his brainchild. Only at the end of his life, seriously ill and paralyzed, was he brought to Krinitsa, where he died. The ideological inspirer of “Krinitsa” B. Ya. Orlov-Yakovlev, a student of the community, librarian, keeper of its archive, calls military doctor Joseph Mikhailovich Kogan. This anarchist and atheist composed the essay “Memo or Idea of Common Sense as Applied to the Conscious Life of People,” in which, in addition to criticizing modern conditions, “he recommended for the happiness of mankind to unite in communities with a complete community of ideas, land, property, labor” (Extracts from B’s diary . Y. Orlov, student of "Krinitsa". The work of I. M. Kogan in many ways anticipated the ideas later known as Tolstoyism. Perhaps for this reason, the Krinichians initially rejected Tolstoyism: “The cause of the Russian people is not Protestantism. Protestantism is the destiny of the German nation, where it has become a popular ideal. The business of the Russian people is creativity, the creation of new forms of life on moral principles, and therefore whoever understands this can be considered a Russian person. Protestantism also manifested itself large and brightly in the person of Tolstoy, but it is not a constructive movement, and therefore did not and does not have practical significance. Our job is to create better social forms on religious principles. In particular, “Krinitsa” is only the forerunner of that great popular movement that should take place in the coming era...” (Krinitsa. A quarter of a century of “Krinitsa”. Kiev: Co-op Publishing House. magazine “Our Business”, 1913. P. 166). However, later, warm and even business relations developed between Tolstoy and the Krinichans, as evidenced by Tolstoy’s letters (See Tolstoy’s letter to Strakhov (PSS. T. 66. pp. 111-112) and a letter to V.V. Ivanov (Literary inheritance. T. 69. Book 1. Publishing house of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Moscow, 1941. P. 540-541). In 1910, “Krinitsa” was transformed from a religious-communist community into an agricultural production cooperative, which was called the “Intelligent Agricultural Artel Krinitsa.” In the same year, a monument to L.N. Tolstoy was erected in “Krinitsa.”
...were at the same time Georgists. - We are talking about the followers of the ideas of Henry George (1839-1897), an American publicist, economist and social reformer. In his book Progress and Poverty (1879), they explored the causes of continued impoverishment in industrialized capitalist countries (despite ever-increasing levels of production), as well as the problems of sharp economic downturns and permanent stagnation. According to George, their main reason is fluctuations in the value of land (in the form of land rent), causing active speculation on the part of landowners. His proposed solution amounted to a “single tax” system, according to which the value of land was to be taxed, which effectively meant common ownership of the land (without changing the legal status of the owner). At the same time, it was necessary to eliminate taxes on income from industrial activities, thereby giving a powerful impetus to free enterprise and productive labor.
...in science it is called ground rent. - Land rent - in exploitative socio-economic formations, part of the surplus product created by direct producers in agriculture, appropriated by land owners; the bulk of the rent paid to land owners by tenants of the land. 3. r. involves the separation of the use of land from ownership of it. In this case, land ownership turns into only a title, giving land owners the right to receive income from land used by other persons and to collect tribute from those who directly cultivate it. “Whatever the specific form of rent, all its types have in common the fact that the appropriation of rent is the economic form in which land ownership is realized...” (Marx K., Engels F. Works. 2nd ed. T. 25. Part 2 . P. 183).
P. 21. Thank you, dear friend, for your letter. - See: Tolstoy L.N. PSS. T. 77. P. 84.
No matter how good it is, take care of a spiritual corner in your soul about a rainy day, Epictetus is a Comrade... - Epictetus (50-138) - ancient Greek philosopher, representative of the Nikopol school of stoicism. Λ. N. Tolstoy here hints at the doctrine of Epictetus: “It is not the phenomena and objects of the surrounding world that make us unhappy, but our thoughts, desires and ideas about the world around us. Therefore, we ourselves are the creators of our own destiny and happiness.”
...Marya Lvovna... - Maria Lvovna Obolenskaya (1871-1906) - daughter of L.N. Tolstoy. Since 1897 she has been married to Nikolai Leonidovich Obolensky. See about her: Russian World. No. 8. 2013. P. 105.
P. 22. I didn’t burn out, my dear young friend... - “Letter No. 33, January 30, 1907, Ya. P. Published from copy book No. 7, pp. 248 and 249" (Tolstoy L.N. PSS. T. 77. P. 30). See about the fire: Russian World. No. 4. 2010. P. 39.
...Vladimir Grigorievich Chertkov... - See about him: Russian World. No. 4. 2010. P. 38.
... “God is not in power, but in truth” ... - These words are attributed to Alexander Nevsky by the unknown author of his “Life”. See Monuments of literature of Ancient Rus': XIII century. M., 1981. P. 429.
...founded the publishing house of “Free Word” in England... - V. G. Chertkov founded several publishing houses: in Russia - “Posrednik”, in England in 1893 - “Free Word”, and after his exile there in 1897 - an English-language one "Free Age Press" and the magazines "Free Word" and "Free Sheets"; returned from England in 1906 and settled near Tolstoy's estate.
... "The Steel Room" by Tolstoy. - See: Russian World. No. 8. 2013. P. 103.
P. 23. ...Yulia Ivanovna... - Igumnova Yu. I. (1871-1940) - artist, friend of T. L. Tolstoy, secretary of L. N. Tolstoy.
...Sasha... - Alexandra Lvovna Tolstaya (1884-1979), daughter of L.N. Tolstoy. See about her: Russian World. No. 8. 2013. P. 105.
...on a Remington. “That’s what almost every typewriter was called at that time.” One of the first known typewriters was assembled in 1833 by the Frenchman Progrin. She was extremely imperfect. It took about forty years to perfect this device. And only in 1873 was a fairly reliable and convenient model of a typewriter created, which its inventor Sholes offered to the famous Remington factory, which produced weapons, sewing and agricultural machines. In 1874, the first hundred cars were already put on sale.
... "On the meaning of the Russian revolution." - The final title of the article, which was originally called “Two Roads.” On April 17, 1906, he writes in his diaries: “...I’m still busy with “Two Roads”. I’m not moving well.” (Leo Tolstoy. Collected works in 22 volumes. T. 22. M., 1985. P. 218). Separately published by the publishing house of V. Vrublevsky in 1907. The article appeared in response to Khomyakov’s article “Autocracy, the experience of systems for constructing this concept.” The conclusion to the article grew into a separate work, “What to do?” The first edition was published by the Posrednik publishing house, it was immediately confiscated, and the publisher was brought to justice. After Tolstoy's death, it was reprinted for the third time in the Nineteenth Part of the 12th edition of the Collected Works, which was also seized by censorship.
Sukhotin Mikhail Sergeevich... - Sukhotin M. S. (1850-1914) - Novosilsk district leader of the nobility, member of the First State Duma from the Tula 1 province. In his first marriage, he married Maria Mikhailovna Boda-Kolycheva (1856-1897) and had six children. In 1899 he married Tatyana Lvovna Tolstoy, daughter of the writer Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy. Their only daughter Tatyana (1905-1996), married to Sukhotin-Albertini.
...Tanya... - Tatyana Lvovna (1864-1950), daughter of L.N. Tolstoy. Since 1897 she has been married to Mikhail Sergeevich Sukhotin. Artist, curator of the Yasnaya Polyana Museum, then director of the State Museum of Leo Tolstoy in Moscow. In exile since 1925.
Andrey... - son of L. N. Tolstoy - Tolstoy Andrey Lvovich (1877-1916). See about him: Russian World. No. 8. 2013. P. 104.
Dushan warms his feet in the evenings, and later comes out to us and leads the “Notebook”... - See about him: Russian World. No. 8. 2013. pp. 93-94.
And I regret and I don’t regret, dear Lebrun... - This note from Tolstoy to a letter from his daughter addressed to Lebrun is shown in the PSS as a separate letter from Tolstoy to Lebrun: “Printed from a copy by the hand of Yu. I. Igumnova in the copy book Ha 7, l. 153. Response to a letter from Viktor Anatolyevich Lebrun dated October 20, 1906.” (Tolstoy L. N. PSS. T. 76. P. 218).
P. 24. ...Thank you, dear Lebrun... - Lebrun mistakenly indicated 1905 instead of 1907. (Tolstoy L. N. PSS. T. 77. P. 214).
Always glad to receive your letter... - Incorrectly dated by Lebrun: 2/12/07. “Letter Ha 301, 1907 November 27. Ya. P. Reply to V. A. Lebrun’s letter dated November 16, 1907 with a notification that the manuscript of his article about Herzen was sent to Tolstoy for review” (Tolstoy L. N. PSS. T. 77. P. 252).
Now I have received it, dear Lebrun... - See: Tolstoy K. N. PSS. T. 77. P. 257.
I wanted to answer at length... - See: Tolstoy L.N. PSS. T. 77. P. 261.
...a letter with an addition to Herzen. - This letter, concerning V. A. Lebrun’s article about Herzen, was not found in the archive. Tolstoy sent the article to the publisher of Posrednik, I. I. Gorbunov-Posadov. As far as is known, the article was not published (Tolstoy L. N. PSS. T. 77. P. 261).
...N. Gusev... - Gusev Nikolai Nikolaevich (1882-1967), Soviet literary critic. In 1907-1909 he was L. N. Tolstoy’s personal secretary and accepted his moral teachings. In 1925-1931, director of the Tolstoy Museum in Moscow. Participated in editing the anniversary edition of the Complete Works of Tolstoy in 90 volumes (1928-1958). Author of works on the life and work of L. N. Tolstoy.
P. 25. I am so. guilty before you... - “Letter No. 193, October 12, 1909. Ya.P.” In Tolstoy's date, the month is incorrectly written in Roman numerals. An excerpt published in the journal Vegetarian Review, 1911, 1, p. 6. Reply to letter
V. A. Lebrun dated August 30, 1909 (mail, pcs.), in which Lebrun offered Tolstoy his services as a secretary in return for the expelled N. N. Gusev. In connection with information that had reached him about Tolstoy’s work on an article on science, he asked him to at least briefly express his attitude “not to the imaginary science prostituted in the service of the rich, but to true science.” On the envelope of this letter, received in Yasnaya Polyana in early September, Tolstoy wrote a note for the secretary’s response: “Answer: I’m so busy with false science that I don’t highlight the real one. And she is." Then no one answered, probably in view of Tolstoy’s departure to Krekshino. In a reply letter dated November 22, V. A. Lebrun wrote in detail about his life and experiences. On the envelope is Tolstoy’s note: “A lovely letter...” (Tolstoy A.N. PSS. T. 80. P. 139).
…radotage - fr. nonsense.
...as Ruskin said it... - This thought by J. Ruskin is placed in “The Reading Circle” (Tolstoy L.N. PSS. T. 41. P. 494). About John Ruskin, see note on page 10 present. ed.
P. 26. Thank you, dear, dear Lebrun... - “Letter to Ha, July 15, 1909, 8-10. Ya. P. Printed from a typewritten copy. Reply to Lebrun's letter dated May 30, 1909." (Tolstoy L.N. PSS. T. 80. P. 12-13).
...recrudescence... - fr. strengthening, increase.
...Thank you, dear Lebrun... - Lebrun was probably mistaken in the date. He dates this letter to October 12, 1909. A letter with the specified date exists (Tolstoy A.N. PSS. T. 80. P. 139), but it contains a completely different text. This is a significant mistake, because further in the text of the book Lebrun calls this letter the last letter from Tolstoy and deeply regrets that he did not have time to answer it. A letter that matches the text: “Letter No. 111 1910. July 24-28.Ya. P. Printed from a copy. The date July 24 is determined by the copy, July 28 - by the notes of D. P. Makovits - who is on the envelope of Lebrun's letter and in the registration book of letters. Envelope without postmark; Apparently, the letter was brought and handed over to Tolstoy by someone personally. ...Response to Lebrun’s letter dated June 15, in which Lebrun described his life, full of economic worries that prevented him from writing, and greeted Tolstoy on behalf of his wife and mother” (Tolstoy L.N. PSS. T. 82. P. 88 ).
Tout vent a point a cetuf guff aft attendee. - The text of the original source is distorted by typewriting. Translation from French: Everything comes on time for those who know how to wait.
P. 27. ...Tolstoy's last letter... - This is really Tolstoy's last letter to Lebrun. But it was written not in 1909 (as Lebrun noted), but in 1910, which significantly changes the course of events (according to Lebrun) in the last years of Tolstoy’s life.
He had a year to live. - Lebrun insists that Tolstoy’s last letter was written to him in 1909, that is, a year before Tolstoy’s death. This is a mistake, because Tolstoy’s last letter was written in July 1910, that is, the year of Tolstoy’s death, if you trust the book of Tolstoy’s letters.
In addition, events soon began in Yasnaya Polyana that radically disturbed my peace. - There were plenty of events in Yasnaya Polyana in 1909. However, the truly dramatic events there began not in 1909, but precisely in July 1910, when Tolstoy’s last letter was written.