author - "Leo Nikoleyevich Tolstoy"
true one. This noteof regret and of a curious longing for perfection were the chiefmental impressions which I gathered from that new stage of mygrowth--impressions which imparted new principles to my view ofmyself, of men, and of God's world. O good and consoling voice,which in later days, in sorrowful days when my soul yieldedsilently to the sway of life's falseness and depravity, so oftenraised a sudden, bold protest against all iniquity, as well asmercilessly exposed the past, commanded, nay, compelled, me tolove only the pure vista of the present, and promised me all thatwas fair and happy in the future! O good and consoling voice!Surely the day will never come when you are silent?
IV
OUR FAMILY CIRCLE
PAPA was seldom at home that spring. Yet, whenever he was so, heseemed extraordinarily cheerful as he either strummed hisfavourite pieces on the piano or looked roguishly at us and madejokes about us all, not excluding even Mimi. For instance, hewould say that the Tsarevitch hims
spheres, and in recent times it has sofaded away as to prevail no longer against man's reasonableunderstanding and the true religious feeling. People saw moreand more clearly, and now the majority see quite clearly, thesenselessness and immorality of subordinating their wills tothose of other people just like themselves, when they are biddento do what is contrary not only to their interests but also totheir moral sense. And so one might suppose that having lostconfidence in any religious authority for a belief in thedivinity of potentates of various kinds, people would try to freethemselves from subjection to it. But unfortunately not onlywere the rulers, who were considered supernatural beings,benefited by having the peoples in subjection, but as a result ofthe belief in, and during the rule of, these pseudodivine beings,ever larger and larger circles of people grouped and establishedthemselves around them, and under an appearance of governing tookadvantage of the people. And when the old
the young shopman had thrown her up she was getting more and more into the habit of drinking. It was not so much the flavour of wine that tempted her as the fact that it gave her a chance of forgetting the misery she suffered, making her feel more unrestrained and more confident of her own worth, which she was not when quite sober; without wine she felt sad and ashamed. Just at this time a woman came along who offered to place her in one of the largest establishments in the city, explaining all the advantages and benefits of the situation. Katusha had the choice before her of either going into service or accepting this offer--and she chose the latter. Besides, it seemed to her as though, in this way, she could revenge herself on her betrayer and the shopman and all those who had injured her. One of the things that tempted her, and was the cause of her decision, was the woman telling her she might order her own dresses--velvet, silk, satin, low-necked ball dresses, anything she liked. A mental picture of herse
it is only necessary for him to display intelligence,--one man in the military service, another in the judicial, another on the violin. There have been many and varied expressions of human wisdom, and these phenomena were known to the men of the nineteenth century. The wisdom of Rousseau and of Lessing, and Spinoza and Bruno, and all the wisdom of antiquity; but no one man's wisdom overrode the crowd. It was impossible to say even this,--that Hegel's success was the result of the symmetry of this theory. There were other equally symmetrical theories,--those of Descartes, Leibnitz, Fichte, Schopenhauer. There was but one reason why this doctrine won for itself, for a season, the belief of the whole world; and this reason was, that the deductions of that philosophy winked at people's weaknesses. These deductions were summed up in this,--that every thing was reasonable, every thing good; and that no one was to blame.
When I began my career, Hegelianism was the foundation of every thing. It was floating i
s of our present progress could justify this deed; and that though everybody from the creation of the world had held it to be necessary, on whatever theory, I knew it to be unnecessary and bad; and therefore the arbiter of what is good and evil is not what people say and do, nor is it progress, but it is my heart and I. Another instance of a realization that the superstitious belief in progress is insufficient as a guide to life, was my brother's death. Wise, good, serious, he fell ill while still a young man, suffered for more than a year, and died painfully, not understanding why he had lived and still less why he had to die. No theories could give me, or him, any reply to these questions during his slow and painful dying. But these were only rare instances of doubt, and I actually continued to live professing a faith only in progress. "Everything evolves and I evolve with it: and why it is that I evolve with all things will be known some day." So I ought to have formulated my faith at that time.
On
ing upstairs. "Well, I'm glad he has come; things will be more lively." After a look in the glass I ran gaily downstairs and into the veranda; I was out of breath and did not disguise my haste. He was sitting at the table, talking to Katya about our affairs. He glanced at me and smiled; then he went on talking. From what he said it appeared that our affairs were in capital shape: it was now possible for us, after spending the summer in the country, to go either to Petersburg for Sonya's education, or abroad.
"If only you would go abroad with us --" said Katya; "without you we shall be quite lost there."
"Oh, I should like to go round the world with you," he said, half in jest and half in earnest.
"All right," I said; let us start off and go round the world."
He smiled and shook his head.
"What about my mother? What about my business, he said. "But that's not the question just now: I want to know how you have been spending your time. Not depressed again, I hope?
When I
as in it nothing that is morally obligatory. Is not that the idea that you intended to convey?" he asked the lady.
The lady, with a nod of her head, expressed her approval of this translation of her thoughts.
"Then," resumed the lawyer, continuing his remarks.
But the nervous gentleman, evidently scarcely able to contain himself, without allowing the lawyer to finish, asked:
"Yes, sir. But what are we to understand by this love that alone consecrates marriage?"
"Everybody knows what love is," said the lady.
"But I don't know, and I should like to know how you define it."
"How? It is very simple," said the lady.
And she seemed thoughtful, and then said:
"Love . . . love . . . is a preference for one man or one woman to the exclusion of all others. . . ."
"A preference for how long? . . . For a month, two days, or half an hour?" said the nervous gentleman, with special irritation.
"No, permit me, you evidently are not talking of the sa
e were in some way to blame. Behind her, with the same offended look, stood a wealthy young man, and examining magistrate, whom Peter Ivanovich also knew and who was her fiance, as he had heard. He bowed mournfully to them and was about to pass into the death-chamber, when from under the stairs appeared the figure of Ivan Ilych's schoolboy son, who was extremely like his father. He seemed a little Ivan Ilych, such as Peter Ivanovich remembered when they studied law together. His tear-stained eyes had in them the look that is seen in the eyes of boys of thirteen or fourteen who are not pure-minded. When he saw Peter Ivanovich he scowled morosely and shamefacedly. Peter Ivanovich nodded to him and entered the death-chamber. The service began: candles, groans, incense, tears, and sobs. Peter Ivanovich stood looking gloomily down at his feet. He did not look once at the dead man, did not yield to any depressing influence, and was one of the first to leave the room. There was no one in the anteroom, but Gerasim da
r guided by the example of Christ in the treatment of enemies; therefore they cannot be agreeable to the will of God, and therefore their overthrow by a spiritual regeneration of their subjects is inevitable.
"We regard as unchristian and unlawful not only all wars, whether offensive or defensive, but all preparations for war; every naval ship, every arsenal, every fortification, we regard as unchristian and unlawful; the existence of any kind of standing army, all military chieftains, all monuments commemorative of victory over a fallen foe, all trophies won in battle, all celebrations in honor of military exploits, all appropriations for defense by arms; we regard as unchristian and unlawful every edict of government requiring of its subjects military service.
"Hence we deem it unlawful to bear arms, and we cannot hold any office which imposes on its incumbent the obligation to compel men to do right on pain of imprisonment or death. We therefore voluntarily exclude ourselves from every legisl
true one. This noteof regret and of a curious longing for perfection were the chiefmental impressions which I gathered from that new stage of mygrowth--impressions which imparted new principles to my view ofmyself, of men, and of God's world. O good and consoling voice,which in later days, in sorrowful days when my soul yieldedsilently to the sway of life's falseness and depravity, so oftenraised a sudden, bold protest against all iniquity, as well asmercilessly exposed the past, commanded, nay, compelled, me tolove only the pure vista of the present, and promised me all thatwas fair and happy in the future! O good and consoling voice!Surely the day will never come when you are silent?
IV
OUR FAMILY CIRCLE
PAPA was seldom at home that spring. Yet, whenever he was so, heseemed extraordinarily cheerful as he either strummed hisfavourite pieces on the piano or looked roguishly at us and madejokes about us all, not excluding even Mimi. For instance, hewould say that the Tsarevitch hims
spheres, and in recent times it has sofaded away as to prevail no longer against man's reasonableunderstanding and the true religious feeling. People saw moreand more clearly, and now the majority see quite clearly, thesenselessness and immorality of subordinating their wills tothose of other people just like themselves, when they are biddento do what is contrary not only to their interests but also totheir moral sense. And so one might suppose that having lostconfidence in any religious authority for a belief in thedivinity of potentates of various kinds, people would try to freethemselves from subjection to it. But unfortunately not onlywere the rulers, who were considered supernatural beings,benefited by having the peoples in subjection, but as a result ofthe belief in, and during the rule of, these pseudodivine beings,ever larger and larger circles of people grouped and establishedthemselves around them, and under an appearance of governing tookadvantage of the people. And when the old
the young shopman had thrown her up she was getting more and more into the habit of drinking. It was not so much the flavour of wine that tempted her as the fact that it gave her a chance of forgetting the misery she suffered, making her feel more unrestrained and more confident of her own worth, which she was not when quite sober; without wine she felt sad and ashamed. Just at this time a woman came along who offered to place her in one of the largest establishments in the city, explaining all the advantages and benefits of the situation. Katusha had the choice before her of either going into service or accepting this offer--and she chose the latter. Besides, it seemed to her as though, in this way, she could revenge herself on her betrayer and the shopman and all those who had injured her. One of the things that tempted her, and was the cause of her decision, was the woman telling her she might order her own dresses--velvet, silk, satin, low-necked ball dresses, anything she liked. A mental picture of herse
it is only necessary for him to display intelligence,--one man in the military service, another in the judicial, another on the violin. There have been many and varied expressions of human wisdom, and these phenomena were known to the men of the nineteenth century. The wisdom of Rousseau and of Lessing, and Spinoza and Bruno, and all the wisdom of antiquity; but no one man's wisdom overrode the crowd. It was impossible to say even this,--that Hegel's success was the result of the symmetry of this theory. There were other equally symmetrical theories,--those of Descartes, Leibnitz, Fichte, Schopenhauer. There was but one reason why this doctrine won for itself, for a season, the belief of the whole world; and this reason was, that the deductions of that philosophy winked at people's weaknesses. These deductions were summed up in this,--that every thing was reasonable, every thing good; and that no one was to blame.
When I began my career, Hegelianism was the foundation of every thing. It was floating i
s of our present progress could justify this deed; and that though everybody from the creation of the world had held it to be necessary, on whatever theory, I knew it to be unnecessary and bad; and therefore the arbiter of what is good and evil is not what people say and do, nor is it progress, but it is my heart and I. Another instance of a realization that the superstitious belief in progress is insufficient as a guide to life, was my brother's death. Wise, good, serious, he fell ill while still a young man, suffered for more than a year, and died painfully, not understanding why he had lived and still less why he had to die. No theories could give me, or him, any reply to these questions during his slow and painful dying. But these were only rare instances of doubt, and I actually continued to live professing a faith only in progress. "Everything evolves and I evolve with it: and why it is that I evolve with all things will be known some day." So I ought to have formulated my faith at that time.
On
ing upstairs. "Well, I'm glad he has come; things will be more lively." After a look in the glass I ran gaily downstairs and into the veranda; I was out of breath and did not disguise my haste. He was sitting at the table, talking to Katya about our affairs. He glanced at me and smiled; then he went on talking. From what he said it appeared that our affairs were in capital shape: it was now possible for us, after spending the summer in the country, to go either to Petersburg for Sonya's education, or abroad.
"If only you would go abroad with us --" said Katya; "without you we shall be quite lost there."
"Oh, I should like to go round the world with you," he said, half in jest and half in earnest.
"All right," I said; let us start off and go round the world."
He smiled and shook his head.
"What about my mother? What about my business, he said. "But that's not the question just now: I want to know how you have been spending your time. Not depressed again, I hope?
When I
as in it nothing that is morally obligatory. Is not that the idea that you intended to convey?" he asked the lady.
The lady, with a nod of her head, expressed her approval of this translation of her thoughts.
"Then," resumed the lawyer, continuing his remarks.
But the nervous gentleman, evidently scarcely able to contain himself, without allowing the lawyer to finish, asked:
"Yes, sir. But what are we to understand by this love that alone consecrates marriage?"
"Everybody knows what love is," said the lady.
"But I don't know, and I should like to know how you define it."
"How? It is very simple," said the lady.
And she seemed thoughtful, and then said:
"Love . . . love . . . is a preference for one man or one woman to the exclusion of all others. . . ."
"A preference for how long? . . . For a month, two days, or half an hour?" said the nervous gentleman, with special irritation.
"No, permit me, you evidently are not talking of the sa
e were in some way to blame. Behind her, with the same offended look, stood a wealthy young man, and examining magistrate, whom Peter Ivanovich also knew and who was her fiance, as he had heard. He bowed mournfully to them and was about to pass into the death-chamber, when from under the stairs appeared the figure of Ivan Ilych's schoolboy son, who was extremely like his father. He seemed a little Ivan Ilych, such as Peter Ivanovich remembered when they studied law together. His tear-stained eyes had in them the look that is seen in the eyes of boys of thirteen or fourteen who are not pure-minded. When he saw Peter Ivanovich he scowled morosely and shamefacedly. Peter Ivanovich nodded to him and entered the death-chamber. The service began: candles, groans, incense, tears, and sobs. Peter Ivanovich stood looking gloomily down at his feet. He did not look once at the dead man, did not yield to any depressing influence, and was one of the first to leave the room. There was no one in the anteroom, but Gerasim da
r guided by the example of Christ in the treatment of enemies; therefore they cannot be agreeable to the will of God, and therefore their overthrow by a spiritual regeneration of their subjects is inevitable.
"We regard as unchristian and unlawful not only all wars, whether offensive or defensive, but all preparations for war; every naval ship, every arsenal, every fortification, we regard as unchristian and unlawful; the existence of any kind of standing army, all military chieftains, all monuments commemorative of victory over a fallen foe, all trophies won in battle, all celebrations in honor of military exploits, all appropriations for defense by arms; we regard as unchristian and unlawful every edict of government requiring of its subjects military service.
"Hence we deem it unlawful to bear arms, and we cannot hold any office which imposes on its incumbent the obligation to compel men to do right on pain of imprisonment or death. We therefore voluntarily exclude ourselves from every legisl