Personal Library - Resurrection

Author: (Russia) Tolstoy
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-09-01
Features: "Resurrection" is Tolstoy's monumental work, poured out his heart and soul over a decade in his later years, and is a crystallization of his thoughts and art throughout his life. It exposed and criticized Russian society to an unprecedented extent, with a major portion revealing the darkness of the courts, prisons, and government agencies, as well as the stupidity, cruelty, and reactionary nature of officials and the law. Lenin aptly described Tolstoy when evaluating him: "In his later works, Tolstoy fiercely criticized all modern state systems, church systems, social systems, and economic systems," achieving a "clear-eyed realism" that "tore off all masks," becoming a "genius artist" who "created a masterpiece in world literature." On the other hand, he was a fervent advocate of doctrines such as "non-violent resistance to evil," a "Tolstoyan," and an "utterly broken, hysterical wretch."
Katusha Maslova was the daughter of a peasant woman. Her mother worked at the dairy farm of the noblewoman Sophia. Her father was a wandering Romani. At the age of three, Maslova's mother died. The noblewoman, seeing how pretty she was, took her in. Thus, she lived a life half like a lady and half like a maid. She did housework, cleaned rooms, polished religious icons with white chalk, roasted meat, ground flour, brewed coffee, and washed some light chores; sometimes she read to the mistress. At the age of sixteen, she fell in love with the young nobleman, the nephew of the noblewoman, who was a university student visiting his aunt's house for the summer. Two years later, went to serve in the army and passed by his aunt's house on his way. He stayed there for four days. On a Easter evening, he had a physical relationship with Maslova. As he left, he gave her one hundred rubles and went to the army. After that, never sent her a letter. She was pregnant. Once, Maslova learned that would pass by the train station near the estate. The aunt had invited him to come down and visit them, but he replied with a telegram that he couldn't come and would arrive in St. Petersburg on the specified date. Maslova was heartbroken, but she decided to go to the station to see him herself. It was a rainy, cool autumn night. Due to the darkness, she couldn't see the small paths in the fields and got lost. By the time she reached the station, the train was about to leave. She saw sitting in the first-class carriage. But she didn't get a chance to say a word to him before the train departed. Maslova followed along the platform, dropped her kerchief, and fell hard. Maslova was soaked in rain and exhausted when she returned home. From that day on, she underwent great changes in her thinking, realizing the unbridgeable gap between herself and the nobleman. She imagined "sitting on velvet chairs in the brightly lit carriage, talking and drinking, having fun; while I, in the open air, with wind and rain, stood in the dark, crying." She no longer trusted people, believing everything was a deception. When's aunts learned that Maslova was pregnant, they drove her out of the house. To make a living, she had to work as a maid for others, but every time she was molested and humiliated by the master. The child she gave birth to also died. Later, she fell into the Kadykova brothel and became a prostitute. Ten years later, Maslova was involved in a murder case and was put on trial by the court. The circumstances were as follows: A Siberian merchant, Similkov, went to the brothel for pleasure. The waiter Kalgan and the former maid Bochka saw that the merchant was rich and conceived a plan to kill him for his money. They gave a packet of powder to Maslova, asking her to put it in the merchant's tea cup, pretending it was a sleeping pill. At the time, Maslova was being harassed by the merchant and wanted to get rid of him, so she did as they asked. As a result, the merchant was poisoned to death. After the incident, the waiter and the maid bribed the lawyer and placed all the blame on Maslova. The court opened to try Maslova's case., as a noble representative, participated in the trial. During the interrogation, the judges were only busy with their own affairs and indifferent to the case. One judge, having just argued with his wife, was in a bad mood and worried that she wouldn't feed him when he got home after finishing the case. Another judge, Matvey, was always late. He was concerned about his illness. He thought that if he walked twenty-six steps from the door to his seat, his gastritis would be cured. Since twenty-six steps could be divided by three, he added a small step to make it twenty-seven. The assistant prosecutor, Plevy, had been drinking all night and was still not sober when he began to read the trial case against Maslova. The presiding judge wanted to finish the trial before six o'clock so he could go on a date with a red-haired Swiss girl. recognized Maslova in the witness box. This shocked him. He recalled how he had seduced Maslova and believed himself to be the cause of her misfortune. After seducing Maslova, he had once been plagued by guilt. But when he thought that everyone in high society did the same, he felt at ease. After completing his service, he visited his aunt's house, but Maslova had already been driven out by the noblewoman. After that, tried hard to forget his mistake and avoid thinking about it. He was now deeply involved with the nobleman Korchagin and his family. People were talking about his engagement to Maria, the daughter of Korchagin. However, he had no intention of marrying. He was having an affair with the wife of a nobleman from a county. The trial continued. The court was about to sentence Maslova. The assistant prosecutor, Plevy, stood up and delivered a load of nonsense. He judged Maslova guilty based on criminal genetics, believing that the lower class was inherently inferior and that inferior people were bound to commit crimes. Maslova was a prostitute, an "inferior and degenerate example," and her crime was unquestionable. Later, the jurors wrote a verdict against Maslova. They believed that Maslova had no intention of robbing or stealing money, but forgot to add that she had no intention of killing the merchant. also made a mistake. As a result, Maslova had to be sentenced. Originally, the presiding judge disagreed with the verdict, but he feared delaying his date with the red-haired girl and rushed to conclude the case. Maslova was sentenced to four years of hard labor in Siberia. When Maslova was returned to prison, the convicts gave her sympathetic greetings. When they learned that she had been sentenced, one convict said, "In these times, truth has gone to the dogs." believed the court's verdict was unfair. He went to find the lawyer Fanaly, intending to appeal the case to a higher court. At the same time, he also went to see the prosecutor. He admitted that he had seduced Maslova, requested a visit to the prison, and was prepared to marry her to atone for his mistake. He declared that he would no longer serve as a juror because the court's "trials were not only useless but also immoral." In prison, met Maslova and asked her to forgive him, telling her about his decision to marry her. But Maslova couldn't forgive him for his past. She angrily said, "You can go find your countesses, my price is a ten-ruble note—I'm a convict, you're a count, there's nothing for you here! You've had your fun with me in this world, and now you want to use me to save yourself so you can go to heaven! I hate you—your glasses, your dirty fat face! Go, go!" was turned away, but he wanted to do what was right in his conscience, even if Maslova didn't want to marry him, he wanted to go to Siberia with her. Where she went, he would go. He began to criticize the life path he had walked and felt ashamed of his parasitic life, wanting to break away from his class. To prepare for Siberia, returned to his estate—Kuzminskoye Village. On the estate, he implemented measures to improve the lives of the peasants. He rented out the land to the peasants at a low price (30% cheaper than what the peasants rented from the nobles in the county) and changed their dependence on the nobles. Then, he visited Panof (the estate he inherited from his aunt) and talked directly with the peasants to understand their living conditions, sympathizing with their poverty and plight. He believed, "The main reason the common people are so poor is that they have lost the only thing that can feed them—the land." He supported the tax system proposed by the American Henry George, believing that "land cannot be the property of anyone; like water, air, and sunlight, it cannot be bought or sold. Everyone has an equal right to enjoy the benefits that land gives to humanity." Here, he rented out the land to the peasants and further used the funds collected from them as public funds or taxes for the peasants' own use. He called a meeting of peasant representatives. At first, the peasants were skeptical and didn't believe the nobles' kindness. After explained repeatedly, they eventually accepted it. When returned to the provincial city from the countryside, he felt an immense sense of relief and a sense of discovery, as if a traveler had discovered new land. gave Maslova a family photograph from his aunt's house that he had found in Panof, which included photos of her and, and told her that he was going to St. Petersburg for a trip because the Supreme Court would be hearing Maslova's appeal case. At the same time, he also helped Maslova transfer from the prison to the prison hospital for work. stayed with his aunt in St. Petersburg. His uncle, Count Ivan Mikhaylovich, was the former Minister of State. Through his introduction, visited several influential figures, including the Chief Justice Wolf, the member of the Appeal Committee, Baron von Frolov, and the head of the state-run church, Topolov. However, these high-ranking officials were just as concerned with their own interests as the others, regardless of the prisoners' fate. Through his visits, clearly saw that "these officials, from his aunt's husband, the Chief Justice, Topolov, to the handsome, clean, dignified, and self-important gentlemen sitting at the desks of various ministries, although they clearly saw that this situation was causing innocent people to suffer, they didn't care at all. They were only concerned with suppressing and eliminating all dangerous elements." Maslova's appeal case was dismissed by the Supreme Court for insufficient grounds. left St. Petersburg and told Maslova the bad news. By then, Maslova had left the prison hospital. She was falsely accused of having an affair with the medical assistant and was sent back to prison. once again told her that he was determined to go to Siberia with her. Maslova fell in love with again, and so deeply that she unknowingly did everything he hoped she would: she quit smoking and drinking, and no longer showed off her charms. But she also thought that this union would be a misfortune to him. She couldn't accept the sacrifices he made for her. The convicts being sent to Siberia set off. It was a hot July day, and the streets were almost deserted, with only a few passersby walking in the shadows. Some convicts couldn't withstand the intense sunlight and died of heatstroke on the spot. campaigned tirelessly for the prisoners' poor conditions, almost becoming their protector. Meanwhile, under his influence, Maslova was transferred to the category of political prisoners. In this group, she was quiet and peaceful and no longer bothered by men. Maslova found the political prisoners to be "lovable good people" and learned that they stood with the common people, opposing the upper class. Some of them were from the noble class but sacrificed their privileges and freedom for the common people, which made her particularly admire and respect them. She met a political prisoner named Simonsen. He was shy, modest, and had great willpower. After graduating from university, he joined the Populist movement, served as a village teacher, and "openly criticized things he believed were false and unjust." For this, he was arrested. Soon after, Simonsen fell in love with Maslova. At that time, Maslova had to choose between Simonsen and. She felt, " was proposing out of generosity and because of what had happened in the past. But Simonsen loved her because of her in her current situation, just because he loved her." So, she accepted Simonsen's love. With the help of his St. Petersburg friend, the assistant prosecutor Selinin, had Maslova's case changed from hard labor to exile near Siberia. He told Maslova the news. At that moment, a need for family and children arose in his heart. However, Maslova had decided to go with Simonsen. She didn't want to "ruin"'s life. was rejected again, but he didn't feel any pain. He had done his best and made sacrifices to love her. He had paid enough to atone for his mistake. Thus, he peacefully slept on a bench outside the prison, feeling a sweet and satisfying sleep. After that, Maslova and Simonsen left. was left behind. He found five life principles in the Gospel: to be pious toward God, to swear, to endure, to love enemies, and not to resist. He believed that if people followed these five principles and constantly repented, they could "attain the greatest happiness, and the heavenly kingdom on earth would be established." He began to live a completely new spiritual life. His soul was saved.