New-York tribune., 1886-07-18
TOLsrOpS AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
nnu.nn.p1r 1NrpnsprCTIYE WORK.

n ToLsroL Translated from the fsvssis sIirnwe & Co.
r. HAPGooD limo PIP. 3Sl. l. l. Wv -,
These memoirs were not put forward Nv '"o -"
thor as embodying his own experience o"V
understood tn at they are really autobosr"p.. -.
the MAN, though the names OF the poor IL.
duced are fictitious and probably so"o "a ~, %
cidents are imaginary. That they wero 'i''0, ,.L
and do illustrate the childhood, boyhoou a"u 1-
of Count Tolsto himself there can be no oo"o'' ~
even had such representations occuIrou "
fessed work of fiction they must have peon rno n,a
snit of self analysis, just as the description " %
Copperfields boyhood is in fact repiouu0'
ha corlv life of Charles Dickens 1t is evident ta'
Count ToIsto was always gwen 10 ,n'''o 's h;.
musings. He was always homely boy, anu nl'
e, 80 ,orsora =, beoutv WAS realized by him soon'
aud had a marked effect upon his character. his
mother once told him that since he was noO manu-
.ome he must be good and the remark sahh "'''
into his heart and in due time bore iruit'
His strong and unrained imagInation 10
shown in the records of his earlier years ino"s
healthy lad he was full Of strange renect'o"s'o"
of meditation, and much given as perhaps '"o'
hovo are 10 inventinr all kinds OF enterprises anu
adventures for the future His record oil cnlunoou
IL very full and minute perhaps TOD much So ~ ="
natural; for when the grown man trles W i'
his Young life it is impossible Tor MN W P'o'a'o
acan in their original freshness and naiyete the
| ohildhocd an existence far apart from that Oh
maturity. In all such cases the temptation 10 III
t.r,ret dim recollections by after experience ~
aorl, irresstble bnt il has seldom been more sue
cessfullv ayoded.than by COunt 1ostoi. Here ~
curiously faithful picture OF one oi tlo o'uo,O
phases of childish entail development Ino o"ii-
dren are going to play some ga'ues' ana o,ou'',
the elder brother. who is outgrowing tha' h'nu %
amusement, spoils the fun by injecting ma''oi-oi
fact spirit INTO the business
Voodya was evidently putting on airs u h,nS. 5nn
have been because he was proud oil having Iiu"on
| the hunter and he feigned to be very mucn Ia
tirned Possibly aso he had too mnch % sonna selso,
and too little force OF Consisted in acting
= scene from the Robinson Suisse" wh'ch we
| had read not long before. ,o +his 20
Now. please -. why. won't you 90 TINS TO 70
please us !" persisted the girls 4Gu shall oe oe
Charles or Ernest the father ThineTSer YEN you
like" said Katenka trying go to pun iii" 'f'D ''''
sr.Ihu roo ni " Jon,t want to; it's tresome" said
yolodva' stretching himself and smiling I'D Sell
f,,s hstter TO stay at homo If nobody wants to
nlar" declared Liabotchka through her tears.
She was a horribl cry-baby. ,-,o.,. orr T
sCome along then; only please uon oi''
o"V oWolod~a's condescension afforded us but very
little satlsaction on the contrary, ,nn Ms oS the NAV
| When we sat down the ground ana, lina9in-
ing that were setting out on y .SHnE ID G sat
tI2, 9t solied hands and in an attitude which had
| nothing in common with the attitude OF nsnel
man. remarked on this TO hin; put M ne ne ,ood T
either a greater less flourish OF handSahu snouid
not travel any further involuhtarlty t aErvtb uItb
| " sticl on nv shoulder and took my way 10 the
| woods Volodya lay down Hat on his back WIN h's
hands under his head. and sad it was ali the same
s hon,,h he went too Such speeches and behay-
or cooled MS toward this game ana were eNtrene.S % ~
unpleasant the more so, rs IL was iinp0Ss oc n"' ~
admit in ones own lnlnd thab 'olouSa ""o w
"I' Knew myself that not only could not kill
bird with my stick. but that 1t was lnpossipc ~; ~
fire il OF That WAS " hat the game cuhSlsl'u ~
II Won iudge things in that fashion, then IL - ,hl-
possible 20 ride Oh chairs but, thought l. Noloaya
/ himself must remember how. on long winter even
inrs we covered an armchair WIFE cloth, anu
made calash out of lt,wliIe one mounted ~ coH'i
man tLe other as fooi man. and the girls sat IN
ti iidie with three chairs for trOka Ot horses,
and We set ont "a journey And how many az
ventures happened on the way amt how merrliy
and sNifilg tle winter evenings "a SCI Jt"7Ius :
iy, the present standard, there woud be 10 games
Ans if there are games, what Is lett I
The description of his mothers death aud funeral
ia clearly in no way ictitiors. and here again the
self-analvsis is very suggestive and carlous. lie
ones INTO the room where his mother lies and
stands on a char that he can look down into ihe
coCiu. lie describes the feelings which he eAper-
fenced, aud then:
The door creaked a dyachok entered the room
IN relicve the other his noise rO1sed me ana 'h'
first Thought which occurred to me was tiat shCu &C.
! / was NOT CRYING ana WAS standing on chair III
-, at,;,u IN which had nothing touching about IT,
! the dyachok might take me Tor an uhieeHhS u"y
who had climbed on the chair out oi ply OF cuilosr
! ty | crosse, MY SELF made "a reverence, anu Desan
to cry. .a;o,. find that tlat
moment OF self-orgetiulness was the pu'S o'o @ ",
! truu,ne grief Before and after the burial, never
ceased to weep. and was sad hut III puts nc - -
shame to recall that sadness, because lee.is ol
sci love was always mingled with IL at one tin1
Jcs,re Ia show that was more sorry than anypody
eIsr again solictudc as to the IMPRESSION WHICH
ms nroducing upon others; at another tiine al
;,n'esss curiosity which caused mo 10 ma ke obscr
vatons upon Minis cap and the faces 0l th0Sc pre-
sent despiscd myself. because the leeiing eAIei
I ienced was not exclusively one or sorrow anu
.riod IN concel al others; for this reason my re
oret was Insincere and unnatural, Moreo!tl,
i cxper. .enced sort of pleasure IN khowins Ina, M
! ,vas unhappy. | tired to arouse my CONSCIOUSNESS >
NJ unha ppiness; and this egOtstlcal feeiing' mor
than all the rest stied genuine grlei wl'hh inc'
Of course grief which does not interfere will
close observation of what is going on cannot be Verl
! nrofound. but the grief of children ID seldom pro
a fouud. and its superfcai:ty IS ono oil Natuio
> means of selt-protecton. Count Iolstol, however
i must ALWAYS have been rather morDldly sei-co"
aciors He seems to have been no more than clever
or tvelve years old when he began to question Ill
d ;orer self and though his communIngs do not revea
|. any remarkable intellectual development the iul
ncss with which they are recorded ana their rrsein
o | lorce In those through which the majority OF CON
o manly bright children have passed, give them
= | hiding interest He seems to have lived an lnnC
n cont and for the most part wholesome chldhoo
u and boyhood. Jealousy of his brother, dislike
: one of his tutors, faint penchant for prett
+. chambermad and studies of his father and grand
d mother. fll up this period. lie was not studiou
;. lad beine TOO DIR, amy to apply himself lie wa
:, healtbily self-conceted, apt TO do absurd thing
10 uudcr excitement and the stimulus of variety an
very sensitive to the ridicule which sucn ioies ei
, tailed upon him.
desire to he good in vague way hau s'ion
! hold upon him as he passed into youtn nom po'
= booI and not once but several times he urew
d long rules and regulations for himself, havin
. La Ii Ia cnumlt AHalL