 | A Morning of a Landed Proprietor — Chapter 17By Leo Tolstoy (1852) |
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| A Morning of a Landed Proprietor — Chapter 17By Leo Tolstoy (1852) |
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Father of Christian Anarchism
: In 1861, during the second of his European tours, Tolstoy met with Proudhon, with whom he exchanged ideas. Inspired by the encounter, Tolstoy returned to Yasnaya Polyana to found thirteen schools that were the first attempt to implement a practical model of libertarian education. (From: Anarchy Archives.)
• "It is necessary that men should understand things as they are, should call them by their right names, and should know that an army is an instrument for killing, and that the enrollment and management of an army -- the very things which Kings, Emperors, and Presidents occupy themselves with so self-confidently -- is a preparation for murder." (From: "'Thou Shalt Not Kill'," by Leo Tolstoy, August 8,....)
• "There are people (we ourselves are such) who realize that our Government is very bad, and who struggle against it." (From: "A Letter to Russian Liberals," by Leo Tolstoy, Au....)
• "If, in former times, Governments were necessary to defend their people from other people's attacks, now, on the contrary, Governments artificially disturb the peace that exists between the nations, and provoke enmity among them." (From: "Patriotism and Government," by Leo Tolstoy, May 1....)
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Chapter 17
When they entered the hut, the old man bowed again, wiped off the bench in the front corner with the flap of his coat, and, smiling, asked :
" What may we serve to you, your Grace ? "
The hut was white (with a chimney), spacious, and had both hanging and bench beds. The fresh aspen-wood beams, between which the moss-caulking had just begun to fade, had not yet turned black ; the new benches and beds had not yet become smooth, and the floor was not yet stamped down.
A young, haggard peasant woman, with an oval, pensive face, Ilya's wife, was sitting on the bench-bed, and rocking with her foot a cradle that hung down from the ceiling by a long pole. In the cradle a suckling babe lay stretched out, and slept, barely breathing, and closing its eyes. Another, a plump, red-cheeked woman, Karp's wife, stood, with her sunburnt arms bared above the elbows, near the oven, and cut onions into a wooden bowl. A third, a pockmarked, pregnant woman, stood at the oven, shielding herself with her sleeve. The hut was hot, not only from the sun, but from the oven also, and was fragrant with freshly baked bread. From the hanging beds the flaxen heads of two boys and a girl, who had climbed there in expectation of dinner, looked down with curiosity at the master.
Nekhlyudov was happy to see this well-being ; but, at the same time, he felt embarrassed before these women and children who gazed at him. He sat down on the bench, blushing.
" Give me a piece of warm bread, I like it," he said, and blushed even more.
Karp's wife cut off a big slice of bread, and handed it to the master on a plate. Nekhlyudov was silent, not knowing what to say ; the women were silent, too ; the old man smiled gently.
" Really, what am I ashamed of ? I am acting as though I were guilty of something," thought Nekhlyudov. " Why should I not make the proposition about the farm to him ? How foolish ! " But still he kept silent.
"Well, Father Dmitri Nikolaevich, what will your order be about the boys ? " said the old man.
" I should advise you not to send them away, but to find work for them here," suddenly spoke Nekhlyudov, taking courage. " Do you know what I have thought out for you ? Buy in partnership with me a young grove in the Crown forest, and fields — "
" How, your Grace ? Where shall I get the money for it ? " he interrupted the master.
" A small grove, for about two hundred rubles," remarked Nekhlyiidov.
The old man smiled angrily.
" It would not hurt to buy it if I had the money," he said.
" Do you mean to tell me you have not that amount ? " said the master, reproachfully.
" Oh, your Grace ! " answered the old man, in a sorrowful voice, looking at the door. " I have enough to do to feed the family, and it is not for me to buy groves."
" But you have money, and why should it lie idle ? " insisted Nekhlyudov.
The old man became greatly agitated ; his eyes flashed, he began to shrug his shoulders.
" It may be evil people have told you something about me," he spoke in a trembling voice, " but, as you believe in God," he said, becoming more and more animated, and turning his eyes to the image, " may my eyes burst, may I go through the floor, if I have anything outside of the fifteen rubles which Ilyushka has brought me, and I must pay the capitation tax, and, you know yourself, I have just built a new hut — "
" All right, all right ! " said the master, rising from the bench. " Good-bye, people ! "
From : Wikisource.org
Father of Christian Anarchism
: In 1861, during the second of his European tours, Tolstoy met with Proudhon, with whom he exchanged ideas. Inspired by the encounter, Tolstoy returned to Yasnaya Polyana to found thirteen schools that were the first attempt to implement a practical model of libertarian education. (From: Anarchy Archives.)
• "It is necessary that men should understand things as they are, should call them by their right names, and should know that an army is an instrument for killing, and that the enrollment and management of an army -- the very things which Kings, Emperors, and Presidents occupy themselves with so self-confidently -- is a preparation for murder." (From: "'Thou Shalt Not Kill'," by Leo Tolstoy, August 8,....)
• "Only by recognizing the land as just such an article of common possession as the sun and air will you be able, without bias and justly, to establish the ownership of land among all men, according to any of the existing projects or according to some new project composed or chosen by you in common." (From: "To the Working People," by Leo Tolstoy, Yasnaya P....)
• "If, in former times, Governments were necessary to defend their people from other people's attacks, now, on the contrary, Governments artificially disturb the peace that exists between the nations, and provoke enmity among them." (From: "Patriotism and Government," by Leo Tolstoy, May 1....)
Leo Wiener was an American historian, linguist, author and translator. Wiener was born in Białystok (then in the Russian Empire), of Polish-Jewish origin. His father was Zalmen (Solomon) Wiener, and his mother was Frejda Rabinowicz. He studied at the University of Warsaw in 1880, and then at the Friedrich Wilhelm University in Berlin. Wiener later declared, "Having 'for many years been a member of the Unitarian Church,' and having 'preached absolute amalgamation with the Gentile surroundings', [I] 'never allied with the Jewish Church or with Jews as such." Wiener left Europe with the plan of founding a vegetarian commune in British Honduras (now Belize). He sailed steerage to New Orleans. On his arrival, in 1880, he had no money. After travel and work around the US, he went to Kansas City, Missouri, and became a lecturer in the department of Germanic and Romance languages at the University of Kansas. He was a polyglot, and was reputed to speak thirty languages... (From: Wikipedia.org.)
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Chapter 17
