Catalog Search Results
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
In the Indian town of Surat, there is a coffee-house where many travellers and foreigners from all parts of the world meet and converse. One day a learned Persian theologian visits this coffee-house. He is a man who has spent his life studying the nature of the Deity, and reading and writing books upon the subject. He has thought, read, and written so much about God, that he eventually lost his wits, became quite confused, and ceased even to believe...
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
The story begins with the childhood and exceptional and accomplished youth of Prince Stepan Kasatsky. The young man is destined for great things. He discovers on the eve of his wedding that his fiancée Countess Mary Korotkova has had an affair with his beloved Tsar Nicholas I. The blow to his pride is massive, and he retreats to the arms of Russian Orthodoxy and becomes a monk. Many years of humility and doubt follow. He is ordered to become a hermit....
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
Sometimes even the smallest and most seemingly trivial actions can have the most disastrous consequences. That's the idea that Russian literary master Leo Tolstoy explores in depth in the title tale in this collection, The Forged Coupon. This anthology brings together some of Tolstoy's finest short stories and novellas, and it is sure to please long-time fans of his work or new readers looking for an accessible entry point from which to
...Author
Language
English
Description
Leo Tolstoy is known, word-wide, as one of the greatest authors of all time. His works include the masterpieces "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina", depicting Russian life realistically, yet with a writing flaire that is gripping. This short story is one of his lesser known works but still worth reading.
5) The Candle
Author
Language
English
Description
"The Candle" is a short story by Leo Tolstoy. It centres on the cruelty of Michael Simeonovitch, who persecutes the peasants. "It was in the time of serfdom..." begins the first line of the story. Tolstoy's narrative focuses on a particular character who misused his power of government to bring "outrageous cruelties upon the serfs who had been placed under his control." He forced the peasantry to do excessive labor, striking terror in his subjects....
Author
Language
English
Description
The story opens with the family of Ivan Shtchevbakoff; a generally harmonious family that does rather well for itself. They were on good terms with their neighbors, the family of Gabriel Chormoi, until one day when a hen that belonged to the Shtchevbakoff family flew into the yard of the Chormoi family and laid several eggs. Later that day, Ivan's daughter in law went to retrieve the eggs, but grandmother Chormoi takes offense at being accused of...
Author
Language
English
Description
"A Lost Opportunity" by Russian writer Leo Tolstoy leads in with a quote from the King James Bible, St. Matthew's "The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant". Written as a fable, "A Lost Opportunity" follows two neighbouring families who are, at first, loving and respectful of one another. They treated each other as they wanted to be treated. Then the head of the families changed and the relationship between the families changed. Ivan and Gavryl were...
8) Polikushka
Author
Language
English
Description
The story of 'Polikushka' is a very graphic description of the life led by a servant of the court household of a certain nobleman, in which the author portrays the different conditions and surroundings enjoyed by these servants from those of the ordinary or common peasants. It is a true and powerful reproduction of an element in Russian life but little written about heretofore. Like the other stories of this great writer, 'Polikushka' has a moral...
Author
Language
English
Description
One day some children found, in a ravine, a thing shaped like a grain of corn, with a groove down the middle, but as large as a hen's egg. A traveler passing by saw the thing, bought it from the children for a penny, and taking it to town sold it to the King as a curiosity. The King called together his wise men, and told them to find out what the thing was.
Author
Language
English
Description
"The Repentant Sinner" is a short story by Russian author Leo Tolstoy first published in 1886. The story details the difficulties of a repentant sinner's attempts to enter Heaven. The story opens with the imminent death of a 70-year-old sinner. The man has never done a good deed in his life, and only with his last words did he address God and ask for forgiveness. When the man dies his soul comes before the gates of Heaven, but they are locked. The...
11) Two Old Men
Author
Language
English
Description
Leo Tolstoy's "Two Old Men" is a challenging and delightful story of the pilgrimage of two neighbours. It is filled with rich lessons and insights-from personal habits to family relationships and how we manage our affairs.
Author
Language
English
Description
A bishop and several pilgrims are travelling on a fishing boat. During the voyage, the bishop engages the fishermen in conversation after overhearing them discuss a remote island nearby their course where three old hermits lived a spartan existence focused on seeking "salvation for their souls." Several of the fisherman claim to have seen them once. The bishop then informs the captain that he wishes to visit the island. The captain attempts to dissuade...
Author
Language
English
Description
"The Imp and the Crust" is a short story by Russian author Leo Tolstoy first published in 1886. It is a cautionary tale against the dangers of alcohol. The story opens with a peasant preparing to plow a field. Having gone without breakfast, he is careful to hide his dinner, a small crust of bread, under his coat. After plowing the field the peasant is hungry and ready for his dinner, but when he picks up his coat he sees that the bread is gone. It...
Author
Language
English
Description
"Little Girls Wiser Than Men" is a short story by Russian authorLeo Tolstoy first published in 1885. It takes the form of a parable about forgiveness. The story opens at the beginning of Holy Week, when there was still melting snow on the ground. An older girl, Akulya, and a younger girl, Malasha, go outside to play. They both have just been given new frocks, but they insist on wading through one of the puddles from the melting snow. They both take...
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
A collection of short stories from one of the most famous writers of very long novels Leo Tolstoy, including: Ilyas, Little Girls Wiser Than Men, The Coffee-House of Surat. 'For man to be able to live he must either not see the infinite, or have such an explanation of the meaning of life as will connect the finite with the infinite.'
Author
Language
English
Description
In this collection, "How Much Land Does a Man Need? And Other Stories," Russian born Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) demonstrates his varied subject matter and style in his shorter fiction. In the title piece, "How Much Land Does a Man Need?," Tolstoy explores this very question through the story of a peasant with an increasing appetite for land. In "What Men Live By," the humble shoemaker Simon sets out to collect money to pay for new coats for the family....
Author
Language
English
Description
Conversations between a Pagan and a Christian. Story from the Time of the Ancient Christians. Guests were one day assembled in a wealthy house, and a serious conversation on life was started. They spoke of present and of absent people, and they could not find a single man who was satisfied with his life. Not only was there not one man who could boast of happiness, but there was not even one man who thought that he was living as was becoming for a...
Author
Language
English
Description
There lived in olden times a good and kindly man. He had this world's goods in abundance, and many slaves to serve him. And the slaves prided themselves on their master, saying: 'There is no better lord than ours under the sun. He feeds and clothes us well, and gives us work suited to our strength. He bears no malice and never speaks a harsh word to any one. He is not like other masters, who treat their slaves worse than cattle: punishing them whether...
Author
Language
English
Description
In the town of Vladímir lived a young merchant named Iván Dmítritch Aksyónof. He had two shops and a house of his own. Aksyónof was a handsome, fair-haired, curly-headed fellow, full of fun, and very fond of singing. When quite a young man he had been given to drink, and was riotous when he had had too much, but after he married he gave up drinking, except now and then.