A

RUSSIAN PROPRIETOR

and

OTHER STORIES

BY

COUNT LYOF N. TOLSTOÏ

TRANSLATED FROM THE RUSSIAN

BY

NATHAN HASKELL DOLE

NEW YORK

THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO.

13 ASTOR PLACE

[v]

PREFACE.

The following tales are, with one exception, taken from the second volumeof Count L. N. Tolstoï's collected works, and are representative of hisliterary activity between 1852 and 1859.

The first story, though only a fragment of a projected novel to be called"A Russian Proprietor," is perfect and complete in itself. One cannot helpfeeling that it is autobiographical; Count Tolstoï himself, it will beremembered, having suddenly quitted the University of Kazan, in spite ofthe entreaties of his friends, and retired to his paternal estate ofYasnaya Polyana, near Tula. The aunt whose letter is quoted in the firstchapter must have been Count Tolstoï's aunt, mentioned in the secondchapter of "My Confession."

The "Recollections of a Scorer" and "Two Hussars" are both evidentlyreminiscent of Count Tolstoï's gambling-days. Both must have been suggestedby some such terrible experience as that told of the count's gambling-debtin the Caucasus.

"Lucerne" and "Albert" are likewise evidently transcripts from the author'sown experience. The strange benefactor in each, and the shadowy PrinceNekhliudof, are all Count Tolstoï in phases quite distinct from what he isat present.[vi]

"The Three Deaths," written in 1859, has little of the sombre power of"Iván Ilyitch." The scalpel which was so remorselessly applied to the soulin the latter is wholly hidden. It is realism pure and simple; and thecontrast between the death of the peasant and of the lady is left toinference, made all the stronger by the unexpected and grandiose finale inthe death of the tree.

In interesting contrast to these characteristic stories is the little gementitled "A Prisoner in the Caucasus," which is found in Vol. IV. of theCount's works under the heading "Tales for Children." The style isperfectly simple and lucid; the pictures of life in the Tatar village amongthe mountains are intensely vivid, painted with strong and masterlytouches; and the reader will not soon forget the little laughing maidenDina, with the rubles jingling in her braided hair. She stands forth as oneof the most fascinating of the author's creations.

NATHAN HASKELL DOLE.

Boston, Dec. 5, 1887.

[vii]

CONTENTS.