Leo Tolstoy - Top Ten World Writers

Author: Tong Yiqiu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
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1. From childhood to university, 200 kilometers south of Moscow, not far from the city of Tula, there is a beautiful noble estate—Yasnaya Polyana. It is covered in flowers, shaded by lush trees, and a dense forest stands out. In the center of the forest clearing stands a spacious, ancient landlord's mansion. On August 28, 1828, Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy was born here. Tolstoy came from a distinguished family; his ancestors had served as state ministers and heads of the Privy Council during Peter the Great's reign, and his grandfather had been the governor of the Kazan Province. His maternal grandfather was a descendant of Rurik, one of the rulers of Russian history, who had served as an ambassador and governor and had been granted the rank of General. The maternal grandfather was proud and clashed with the new czar, resigning and retreating to Yasnaya Polyana at the age of forty-six to focus on expanding the estate and educating his only daughter, Maria. Tolstoy's father had also served in the military in his youth and participated in the War of 1812 against Napoleon. Among Tolstoy's three brothers, he loved and respected the eldest, Nikolai, who was five years his senior, while he admired and appreciated the second brother, Sergey. The second brother had handsome features, a beautiful voice, and a talent for painting. He even admired the second brother's unashamed selfishness. He imitated the second brother, hoping to become like him. He later recalled that this was due to his own personality, always preoccupied with how others perceived him, which ruined the joy of life, so he particularly admired the second brother's "confident" selfishness. But in the end, admiration did not equate to love; he loved the eldest brother. Nikolai was indeed a peculiar person. Turgenev once said that Nikolai had only lacked the flaw necessary to become a great writer, which was vanity. In reality, he possessed the true temperament of a writer, such as a keen artistic discernment, a high sense of propriety, a kind yet pleasant humor, extraordinary imagination, and a realistic yet lofty worldview. Once, when Tolstoy was about five years old, his ten-year-old eldest brother announced to the three younger brothers that he had a secret. If he ever revealed it, using this secret would make everyone happy, free from illness and any unpleasantness, and everyone would live in love like "ant brothers." The Tolstoy brothers were very fond of the word "ant," and they even played the game of "ant brothers": everyone sat under chairs, surrounded the chairs with boxes, covered their eyes with scarves and handkerchiefs, and cuddled closely in the dark. Tolstoy loved this game very much and felt particularly excited, his heart filled with a special kind of love. However, what was the secret that could make everyone happy? The eldest brother said that this secret was written on a small green stick and buried near the Zakharyevka Gorge in the forest. The story of this small green stick fascinated the five-year-old Tolstoy. Many years later, in his old age, he wrote an important essay titled "The Small Green Stick." He once said, "To cuddle together like ants, not just under the scarfed-up chairs, but for all people in the world to do so—that remains my ideal. At that time, I believed that the small green stick truly existed, inscribed with: one must eliminate all evil in the world and grant people great happiness. Today, I still believe that this truth is eternal, it will be known to people, and it will grant them all that it promises." Over seventy years later, Tolstoy passed away, and according to his wishes, he was buried near the Zakharyevka Gorge, under a large tree, where the eldest brother had said the small green stick was buried.
In his childhood, Tolstoy was lively and loved everything, yet he was also sensitive and fond of deep thought. He always ran around with a bright smile, like a ray of light. He enjoyed joking. When faced with setbacks, he would be sad but never cry; instead, he would tear up when others showed affection to him. He was very emotional, meaning he was easily moved, so he was nicknamed "the crying child." He liked to do extraordinary things to surprise everyone. When he was around seven or eight years old, he longed to fly and, for some reason, believed he had mastered the secret of flying. He thought that if he held his knees tightly with both hands and jumped from a high place, he would fly like a bird. One day, when everyone was going to eat, he climbed to the window of the attic and jumped into the courtyard. When someone found him lying in the yard, he had lost consciousness. Fortunately, he didn’t break any bones, but he did suffer from some concussion. After sleeping for eighteen hours, he woke up again. It was truly a miracle; otherwise, a slight mistake might have caused great works like "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina" to disappear from that old window.
Once, when the Tolstoy family was traveling in a three-horse carriage, they took a break. Tolstoy got out to walk. When the carriage was about to catch up, he started running. The faster the horses ran, the faster he ran, chasing them desperately, and ran for over two miles before he could no longer keep up and had to be pulled back into the carriage by his family. Another time, he fell in love with a nine-year-old girl who was older than him. When he saw her talking to someone else, he grew jealous and pushed her off the balcony, injuring her and leaving her lame for a long time. When his brothers started attending the riding school, he insisted on learning despite his young age and his father’s advice. He fell once but never again after that. When it was his turn to ride a tired old horse that his brothers had already ridden, the horse refused to leave the stable. Angrily, he whipped the horse so hard that the whip broke. He asked the steward for another thick whip, but the steward said, "You can’t see how tired it is and how old it is. Why can’t you show it some kindness?" He got off the horse and saw the old horse trembling on the sides, exhaling steam. He felt very sorry and hugged the horse’s neck, asking for its forgiveness. From then on, he never mistreated horses again.
From a very young age, he was troubled by his appearance, and any topic related to his looks made him very uncomfortable. He once despaired, thinking that someone with a flat nose, thick lips, and small gray eyes like him could never be happy in the world; he even prayed to God, willing to give up everything for a beautiful face. When he started school, his grades were not good either. A tutor who had taught them said, "Nikolai dares to think and dare to act; Sergey dares to think but not to act; Lev neither dares to think nor dare to act." P1-3