At the end of a month, over the grave of the dead a stone chapel was
erected. Over the driver's there was as yet no stone, and only the fresh green grass sprouted over the mound which served as the sole record of the past existence of a man.
"It will be a sin and a shame, Seryoha," said the cook at the station-house one day, "if you don't buy a gravestone for Khveodor. You kept saying, 'it's winter, winter,' but now why don't you keep your word? I heard it all. He has already come back once to ask why you don't do it; if you don't buy him one, he will come again, he will choke you."
"Well, now, have I denied it?" urged Seryoha. "I am going to buy him a stone, as I said I would. I can get one for a ruble and a half. I have not f... (From: Wikisource.org.) PARABLE THE FIRST
A weed had spread over a beautiful meadow. And in order to get rid of it the tenants of the meadow
mowed it, but the weed only increased in consequence.
And now the kind, wise master came to visit the tenants of the meadow, and among the other good counsels
which he gave them, he told them they ought not to
mow the weed, since that only made it grow the more
luxuriantly, but that they must pull it up by the roots.
But either because the tenants of the meadow did
not, among the other prescriptions of the good master,
take heed of his advice not to mow down the weed, but
to pull it up, or because they did not understand him, or
because, according to their calculations, it seemed foolish to obey, the resu... (From: Wikisource.org.) No one passion holds men so long in its power, or hides so continuously, sometimes to the very end, the vanity of temporal mundane life or so completely keeps men from understanding the significance of human existence and of its real beneficence, as the passion for worldly glory, in whatever form it may manifest itself : petty vanity, love of glory, ambition.
Every overweening desire involves its own punishment, and the sufferings that attend its satisfaction are proof of its worthlessness. Moreover, every overweening desire grows feeble with the passage of time; ambition, however, flares up more and more with the years. The main thing is that solicitude for human glory is always coupled with the thought of service to men, and a man when ... (From: Wikisource.org.) Christendom has recently been the scene of two wars. One is now concluded, whereas the other still continues; but they were for a time being carried on simultaneously, and the contrast they present is very striking. The first—the Spanish-American war—was an old, vain, foolish, and cruel war, inopportune, out-of-date, barbarous, which sought by killing one set of people to solve the question as to how and by whom another set of people ought to be governed.
The other, which is still going on, and will end only when there is an end of all war, is a new, self-sacrificing, holy war, which was long ago proclaimed (as Victor Hugo expressed it at one of the congresses) by the best and most advanced—Christian—section of mank... (From: Wikisource.org.) It was in the reign of the Roman Emperor Trajan,
a century after the birth of Christ. It was at the
time when the disciples of Christ's disciples were still
living, and the Christians faithfully observed the laws
of the Master as it is related in the Acts :
And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart
and of one soul ; neither said any of them that aught of the
things which he possessed was his own ; but they had all things
common. And with great power gave the Apostles witness of
the resurrection of the Lord Jesus ; and great grace was upon
them all. Neither was there any among them that lacked; for
as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them and
brought the prices of the things that were so... (From: Wikisource.org.) In the city lived the shoemaker, Martuin Avdyeitch. He lived in a basement, in a little room with one window. The window looked out on the street. Through the window he used to watch the people passing by; although only their feet could be seen, yet by the boots, Martuin Avdyeitch recognized the people. Martuin Avdyeitch had lived long in one place, and had many acquaintances. Few pairs of boots in his district had not been in his hands once and again. Some he would half-sole, some he would patch, some he would stitch around, and occasionally he would also put on new uppers. And through the window he often recognized his work.
Avdyeitch had plenty to do, because he was a faithful workman, used good material, did not make exorbitant c... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) In the fourth volume of the journal Yasnaya Poly ana
there was printed among the children's composi-
tions by an editorial mistake "A History of how a
boy was frightened in Tula." This little story was not
written by a boy, but was made up by the teacher from
a dream which he had, and which he related to the
boys. Some of the readers, who followed the numbers
of Yasnaya Polyana, expressed their doubts whether
this tale really belonged to the boy. I hasten to apol-
ogize to my readers for this oversight, and seize the
opportunity to remark how impossible are counterfeits
in this class of work. This tale was detected, not be-
cause it was better, but because it was worse, incompa-
rably worse, than all the compositio... (From: Wikisource.org.) .mw-parser-output .wst-smallrefs{font-size:83%;clear:both;line-height:1.25}
↑ Amanita muscaria. In certain parts of Russia, these mushrooms are
eaten dry and swallowed without mastication, thus producing an extended
intoxication. Made into a decoction with willow runners or whortleberry, it becomes a social intoxicant, the effects of which are wild exhilaration and often an increase of strength, so that a man under its influence has been known to run miles bearing heavy burdens. It is so powerful that children have been poisoned by the milk of women who had shortly before been under its influence. Its alkaloid is allied to that of hashish or Indian hemp.—Ed.
↑ The hero of Dostayevsky's most famous novel, "Crime and P... (From: Wikisource.org.) In the evening we have singing, graded reading,
dialogues, physical experiments, and the writing of
compositions. The most popular of these subjects are
reading and the experiments.
During the reading the older ones collect in a star
around the great center-table, with their heads together,
their legs at every angle; one reads, and the others all
repeat what has been read. The younger ones have a
book for each two; and, if they understand it, they
read it just as we grown people do; holding the book to
the light, and supporting themselves on their elbows so
as to make it easier, and evidently they take great comfort in it. Some try to enjoy two comforts at once, and
stand by the heated stove warming themselves and
... (From: Wikisource.org.) At the time of the Czar Ivan the Terrible, [1] the
Strogonofs were rich merchants, and lived in
Perm, on the river Kama.
They had heard that on the river Kama, for a hundred
and forty versts around, there was rich land ; the soil
had not been plowed for a century ; the black forest
for a century had not been felled. In the forests were
many wild animals, and along the river were lakes full
of fish, and no one lived in this land except wandering
Tartars.
So the Strogonofs wrote a letter to the Czar:
"Grant us this land, and we ourselves will found
cities, and we will gather men together and establish
them, and we will not allow the Tartars to pass
through it."
The Czar consented, and granted them... (From: Wikisource.org.)