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pubOne.info thank you for your continued support and wish to present you this new edition. On comparing with the original Russian some English translations of Count Tolstoi's works, published both in this country and in England, I concluded that they were far from being accurate. The majority of them were retranslations from the French, and I found that the respective transitions through which they had passed tended to obliterate many of the beauties of the Russian language and of the peculiar characteristics of Russian life. A satisfactory translation can be made only by one who understands the language and SPIRIT of the Russian people. As Tolstoi's writings contain so many idioms it is not an easy task to render them into intelligible English, and the one who successfully accomplishes this must be a native of Russia, commanding the English and Russian languages with equal fluency.

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Publié par	Pub One Info
Date de parution	27 septembre 2010
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9782819928270
Langue	English

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THE KREUTZER SONATA
AND OTHER STORIES
By Count Leo Tolstoi
TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.
On comparing with the original Russian some Englishtranslations of Count Tolstoi's works, published both in thiscountry and in England, I concluded that they were far from beingaccurate. The majority of them were retranslations from the French,and I found that the respective transitions through which they hadpassed tended to obliterate many of the beauties of the Russianlanguage and of the peculiar characteristics of Russian life. Asatisfactory translation can be made only by one who understandsthe language and SPIRIT of the Russian people. As Tolstoi'swritings contain so many idioms it is not an easy task to renderthem into intelligible English, and the one who successfullyaccomplishes this must be a native of Russia, commanding theEnglish and Russian languages with equal fluency.
The story of “Ivan the Fool” portrays Tolstoi'scommunistic ideas, involving the abolition of military forces,middlemen, despotism, and money. Instead of these he wouldestablish on earth a kingdom in which each and every person wouldbecome a worker and producer. The author describes the variousstruggles through which three brothers passed, beset as they wereby devils large and small, until they reached the ideal state ofexistence which he believes to be the only happy one attainable inthis world.
On reading this little story one is surprised thatthe Russian censor passed it, as it is devoted to a narration ofideas quite at variance with the present policy of the governmentof that country.
“A Lost Opportunity” is a singularly true picture ofpeasant life, which evinces a deep study of the subject on the partof the writer. Tolstoi has drawn many of the peculiar customs ofthe Russian peasant in a masterly manner, and I doubt if he hasgiven a more comprehensive description of this feature of Russianlife in any of his other works. In this story also he has presentedmany traits which are common to human nature throughout the world,and this gives an added interest to the book. The language issimple and picturesque, and the characters are drawn withremarkable fidelity to nature. The moral of this tale points outhow the hero Ivan might have avoided the terrible consequences of aquarrel with his neighbor (which grew out of nothing) if he hadlived in accordance with the scriptural injunction to forgive hisbrother's sins and seek not for revenge.
The story of “Polikushka” is a very graphicdescription of the life led by a servant of the court household ofa certain nobleman, in which the author portrays the differentconditions and surroundings enjoyed by these servants from those ofthe ordinary or common peasants. It is a true and powerfulreproduction of an element in Russian life but little written aboutheretofore. Like the other stories of this great writer,“Polikushka” has a moral to which we all might profitably giveheed. He illustrates the awful consequences of intemperance, andconcludes that only kind treatment can reform the victims ofalcohol.
For much valuable assistance in the work of thesetranslations, I am deeply indebted to the bright Englishscholarship of my devoted wife.
THE KREUTZER SONATA.
CHAPTER I.
Travellers left and entered our car at everystopping of the train. Three persons, however, remained, bound,like myself, for the farthest station: a lady neither young norpretty, smoking cigarettes, with a thin face, a cap on her head,and wearing a semi-masculine outer garment; then her companion, avery loquacious gentleman of about forty years, with baggageentirely new and arranged in an orderly manner; then a gentlemanwho held himself entirely aloof, short in stature, very nervous, ofuncertain age, with bright eyes, not pronounced in color, butextremely attractive, — eyes that darted with rapidity from oneobject to another.
This gentleman, during almost all the journey thusfar, had entered into conversation with no fellow-traveller, as ifhe carefully avoided all acquaintance. When spoken to, he answeredcurtly and decisively, and began to look out of the car windowobstinately.
Yet it seemed to me that the solitude weighed uponhim. He seemed to perceive that I understood this, and when oureyes met, as happened frequently, since we were sitting almostopposite each other, he turned away his head, and avoidedconversation with me as much as with the others. At nightfall,during a stop at a large station, the gentleman with the finebaggage— a lawyer, as I have since learned— got out with hiscompanion to drink some tea at the restaurant. During their absenceseveral new travellers entered the car, among whom was a tall oldman, shaven and wrinkled, evidently a merchant, wearing a largeheavily-lined cloak and a big cap. This merchant sat down oppositethe empty seats of the lawyer and his companion, and straightwayentered into conversation with a young man who seemed like anemployee in some commercial house, and who had likewise justboarded the train. At first the clerk had remarked that the seatopposite was occupied, and the old man had answered that he shouldget out at the first station. Thus their conversation started.
I was sitting not far from these two travellers,and, as the train was not in motion, I could catch bits of theirconversation when others were not talking.
They talked first of the prices of goods and thecondition of business; they referred to a person whom they bothknew; then they plunged into the fair at Nijni Novgorod. The clerkboasted of knowing people who were leading a gay life there, butthe old man did not allow him to continue, and, interrupting him,began to describe the festivities of the previous year atKounavino, in which he had taken part. He was evidently proud ofthese recollections, and, probably thinking that this would detractnothing from the gravity which his face and manners expressed, herelated with pride how, when drunk, he had fired, at Kounavino,such a broadside that he could describe it only in the other'sear.
The clerk began to laugh noisily. The old manlaughed too, showing two long yellow teeth. Their conversation notinteresting me, I left the car to stretch my legs. At the door Imet the lawyer and his lady.
“You have no more time, ” the lawyer said to me.“The second bell is about to ring. ”
Indeed I had scarcely reached the rear of the trainwhen the bell sounded. As I entered the car again, the lawyer wastalking with his companion in an animated fashion. The merchant,sitting opposite them, was taciturn.
“And then she squarely declared to her husband, ”said the lawyer with a smile, as I passed by them, “that sheneither could nor would live with him, because” . . .
And he continued, but I did not hear the rest of thesentence, my attention being distracted by the passing of theconductor and a new traveller. When silence was restored, I againheard the lawyer's voice. The conversation had passed from aspecial case to general considerations.
“And afterward comes discord, financialdifficulties, disputes between the two parties, and the coupleseparate. In the good old days that seldom happened. Is it not so?” asked the lawyer of the two merchants, evidently trying to dragthem into the conversation.
Just then the train started, and the old man,without answering, took off his cap, and crossed himself threetimes while muttering a prayer. When he had finished, he clappedhis cap far down on his head, and said:
“Yes, sir, that happened in former times also, butnot as often. In the present day it is bound to happen morefrequently. People have become too learned. ”
The lawyer made some reply to the old man, but thetrain, ever increasing its speed, made such a clatter upon therails that I could no longer hear distinctly. As I was interestedin what the old man was saying, I drew nearer. My neighbor, thenervous gentleman, was evidently interested also, and, withoutchanging his seat, he lent an ear.
“But what harm is there in education? ” asked thelady, with a smile that was scarcely perceptible. “Would it bebetter to marry as in the old days, when the bride and bridegroomdid not even see each other before marriage? ” she continued,answering, as is the habit of our ladies, not the words that herinterlocutor had spoken, but the words she believed he was going tospeak. “Women did not know whether they would love or would beloved, and they were married to the first comer, and suffered alltheir lives. Then you think it was better so? ” she continued,evidently addressing the lawyer and myself, and not at all the oldman.
“People have become too learned, ” repeated thelast, looking at the lady with contempt, and leaving her questionunanswered.
“I should be curious to know how you explain thecorrelation between education and conjugal differences, ” said thelawyer, with a slight smile.
The merchant wanted to make some reply, but the ladyinterrupted him.
“No, those days are past. ”
The lawyer cut short her words:—
“Let him express his thought. ”
“Because there is no more fear, ” replied the oldman.
“But how will you marry people who do not love eachother? Only animals can be coupled at the will of a proprietor. Butpeople have inclinations, attachments, ” the lady hastened to say,casting a glance at the lawyer, at me, and even at the clerk, who,standing up and leaning his elbow on the back of a seat, waslistening to the conversation with a smile.
“You are wrong to say that, madam, ” said the oldman. “The animals are beasts, but man has received the law. ”
“But, nevertheless, how is one to live with a manwhen there is no love? ” said the lady, evidently excited by thegeneral sympathy and attention.
“Formerly no such distinctions were made, ” said theold man, gravely. “Only now have they become a part of our habits.As soon as the least thing happens, the wife says: 'I release you.I am going to leave your house. ' Even among the moujiks thisfashion has become acclimated. 'There, ' she says, 'h