What Men Live By

The title of this post is the title of a short story by Leo Tolstoy. Short stories are great because they can be read in a single setting and can be re-read frequently. This particular short story is one that I discovered last week. I plan on reading and sharing it many times--it's a good one.

So, if you have a bit of time, do yourself a favor and read this work of beauty. I feel sure that it will bless you. If you don't have time now, you can copy, paste, and print it. Then you may read it later at your leisure.

So, here's What Men Live By, by Leo Tolstoy.
(Click the title for the link.)

Enjoy!

All Saints' (11) Leo Tolstoy

The following is an excerpt from Resurrection, Tolstoy's final novel.
The main character, Njakyudov, is reflecting on "The Parable of the Vineyard" (aka "The Parable of the Tenants"--Matthew 21:33-44).

"The husbandmen imagined that the vineyard in which they were sent to work for their master was their own, and all that was in was made for them, and that their business was to enjoy life in this vineyard--forgetting the master and killing all those who reminded them of his existence.
'Are we not doing the same' Njakyudov thought, 'when we imagine ourselves to be masters of our lives and that life is given us for enjoyment? This, evidently, is an incongruity. We were sent here by someone's will and for some reason, and we have concluded that we live only for our own joy. And of course we feel unhappy, as laborers do when not fulfilling their master's orders. The master's will is expressed in these commandments [referring to the Sermon on the Mount]. If men will only fulfill these laws, the Kingdom of Heaven will be established on Earth, and men will receive the greatest good that they can attain to.'
'Seek ye first the Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.'"

Experience the Unrivalled Russian Novel

I am writing tonight to promote another free download from Christian Audio. Fascinatingly, this month's selection is The Resurrection, by Leo Tolstoy.

If you have never read a major Russian novel, you have truly missed out. They are long. They can be somewhat tedious (especially to us Westerners who are unfamiliar with Russian culture). But my oh my are they rich. There is a depth to the writings of Dostoevsky and Tolstoy that may be unmatched.

I haven't read The Resurrection, but I know it was Tolstoy's last major novel. I have read The Brothers Karamazov, Crime and Punishment, Anna Karenina, and War and Peace and other Russian works. It takes commitment to get through them, but the payoff is huge. I read one of these works in Bulgarian, so don't tell me you can't do it in English!

I just want to say that I look forward to listening to this work. It's 14 separate downloads--that's 14 CDs worth of listening (and burning, if you'd like to listen on CD...which I intend to do). The book is 398 pages--almost 17 hours of listening. It will be worth listening to attentively. I am sure it will enrich my life in some way.

I just checked out a bit of Tolstoy's story. He became a Christian later on in his life after a raucous young adulthood. I've excerpted the following from his work A Confession. This writing is only about 16 pages long, and though I haven't finished it yet I loved the 9 pages or so that I did read.

This bit (the excerpt) is part of Tolstoy's description of the despair he experienced as he searched for meaning in life:

There is an Eastern fable, told long ago, of a traveller overtaken on a plain by an enraged beast. Escaping from the beast he gets into a dry well, but sees at the bottom of the well a dragon that has opened its jaws to swallow him. And the unfortunate man, not daring to climb out lest he should be destroyed by the enraged beast, and not daring to leap to the bottom of the well lest he should be eaten by the dragon, seizes s twig growing in a crack in the well and clings to it. His hands are growing weaker and he feels he will soon have to resign himself to the destruction that awaits him above or below, but still he clings on. Then he sees that two mice, a black one and a white one, go regularly round and round the stem of the twig to which he is clinging and gnaw at it. And soon the twig itself will snap and he will fall into the dragon’s jaws. The traveller sees this and knows that he will inevitably perish; but while still hanging he looks around, sees some drops of honey on the leaves of the twig, reaches them with his tongue and licks them. So I too clung to the twig of life, knowing that the dragon of death was inevitably awaiting me, ready to tear me to pieces; and I could not understand why I had fallen into such torment. I tried to lick the honey which formerly consoled me, but the honey no longer gave me pleasure, and the white and black mice of day and night gnawed at the branch by which I hung. I saw the dragon clearly and the honey no longer tasted sweet. I only saw the unescapable dragon and the mice, and I could not tear my gaze from them. and this is not a fable but the real unanswerable truth intelligible to all.

The deception of the joys of life which formerly allayed my terror of the dragon now no longer deceived me. No matter how often I may be told, “You cannot understand the meaning of life so do not think about it, but live,” I can no longer do it: I have already done it too long. I cannot now help seeing day and night going round and bringing me to death. That is all I see, for that alone is true. All else is false.

The two drops of honey which diverted my eyes from the cruel truth longer than the rest: my love of family, and of writing — art as I called it — were no longer sweet to me. “Family”. . .said I to myself. But my family — wife and children — are also human. They are placed just as I am: they must either live in a lie or see the terrible truth. Why should they live? Why should I love them, guard them, bring them up, or watch them? That they may come to the despair that I feel, or else be stupid? Loving them, I cannot hide the truth from them: each step in knowledge leads them to the truth. And the truth is death.

If this has whet your appetite, be sure to read the whole thing (as I intend to tomorrow). And do yourself a favor. Take the time and trouble to download The Resurrection. I think you'll be glad you did.