The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1892-07-31

Count Tolstoi in 1892.
the Red Cross. had been received most
kindly by the Countess. We had walked
ever part of the estate together, had visited
the peasants in their homes. had eaten sup
per around the family table, and now in
answer to my questions .he Countess was
giving me bits OF story and fact about her
husbands Intellectual life. 1.-The Count
himself /" said she, ''does not like to talk
about his novels or his writings, and / beg
you # you should write TO him not to men,
lion that you have been reading his works
He is always enthusiastic while at work,
but when the work : finished he is dissats-
fsd with II, and does not want it 10 60 to
De publishers. BE does not like 10 talk
out himself, aud If any one persists in
ing bis Writings the subject of the con-
alton ne viii often excuse himself and
? the ROOM
before l write further let NE give you
words about the Countess. She is to
nd quite as interesting a character as
Stnseh, and did she keep a diary
would rank in lis interesting
n that OF Jane Welsh. the wife OF
philosophic genius, Thomas
She has for 80 years been the
OF Tostoi's great SOUL and she
he balance wheel which, as far as
holds him In cheek ana which
, and ths family from the pow
lie pthSdut5s d kO0u vile ana
other, she ii was that prevented
selling all he had aud giving his
to the poor. and she it is who to-
ages the estates attends TO the edu-
t the children, takes care Of all the
Of her husbands affairs aud his
Id at the same time cheerfuly and
ainlDgiy sOftens the hard road
would lay out for himself and his
The Countess impTesses you at first
as y oman Of remarkable strength
cEeTscter. She IS tall well formed and
4ll6 iOJA ~, ia suJuEu she las = sUu -
years old Ter cheeks are still rosy, and the
gray has hardly begun to show itself in her
7 luSurIant dark halT. Her eyes are dark,
bri ght and full Of intelligence, and her face
is fall Of kind feeling. She is clever con-
VrTsatoDalist, and she speaks English flu
emily with a slight Russian accent she is
WOmanly woman IN every sense of the
word, and the ideals # Tomanhood as en-
bodied in l0lStoi's best characters are taken
from her. Tolstoi's love for her and her
love for him during their 80 years Of mar
ried life have never been questioned, and
his studies Of women have been made like
Rubens' paintings, with his wife for his
model
During our conversation asked the Coun-
tess where Tolstoi got the character Of
Anna Karsnina, and the countess sister,
Countess kOusmiuski, replied that it was
largely taken from the Countess. Nine.
TOistoi then said: "Yes and no. That is
true IN part, and again IL is not true at all.
! am everywhere and nowhere in my hus-
bands novels He takes his characters
ffOm real life, but he changes and ideslizes
them until they are not the same, but are
entirely new creations Some parts Of
Anna Karenina' are almost exact reproduc-
lions OF our experiences. The description
OF AnHas love for her children and her
manner VI taking care OF them are from me (;
the story OF Kitty's cOurtship and
marriage, even 10 the manner In which the
proposal was made, is the story almost line
for line OF our c6urtship and marriage, and
Anna's sickness corresponds TO an illness
that l once had. The Count has been all his
life and is always studying human chsrac-
ter and he ia always noilng down in his
paiaf fhnusBts, expressions and incidents
Tor future use. He has good memory, and
IN little lockbox in his braiu he seems To
store away everything and his material is
always at his command. He has for years
carried a notebook with him, and he will
sometimes stop In conversation and make a
note OF anything that he thinks may be of
value in the future"
/ asked tho Countess If she had one of
these notebooks at hand. She left the
room for moment and then returned with
fat little yellow cslfskin-coyered note
book. Ii was the size of the average
p0eket-diary ana WIS filed with writing in
Russian characters, the letters being very
small and the lines very close together.
There were no blots aud few corrections.
and from the date Of it saw that IL was
made at about the time that 'Anna Kare-
nina was written, and it contained some of
tbe ~ 4terial which made uD that story.
As | again referred to the novel the
Countess told US how Fvistoi began it. Said
she: "'AnIyA Karonfna' was born through
oar Oldest boy falling to sleep while read
ing ouI great poet, Pushkin. His grand
mother, who was visiting US, loved the
boy dearly. She was i'll and had an IN fin
shed poem Of PushkiD, which L was about
10 read TO her. | gave il to my son. how
ever, telling him his grandmother would
much rather hear him read it than me. and
he was reading IL TO her when he dropped
asleep and the book fell open on the table
While it was lying there the Count came in
ana picked IL up and read IL. A. he read
the hrst idea of Anna Karenina' came to n in
ana he left Pushkin and began to write. He
wrote almost steadily at IL until he had COM
Pleted the first draft, but 10 was many
months before 1t was finished and ready for
tbs press"
Does the Count write rapidly?'' asked.
DC NOT think he can be said TO produce
very rapidly was the reply. "He /. yery
careful as 10 the character OF his writings
sBd he believes the world would be much
better OF II many OF the writers of the pres
emit Day would burn their works la manu-
srrpt de holds on TO his own works az
long as possible and he objects, as a rule 10
having them published. He enjoys his work
-as ne eomposes, but great part of the wear
aud tear comes 10 the revision and correc-
uop. de revises hls writings again and
again aud be never correets his own manu-
SCRIPT, but he must have a new copy made
f6F him on clean paper. lie is not a yery
les bic writer, as you see from his note
books, and be writes on all sorts Of paper
dc DICKS up anything that comes to hand
when thought strikes him and writes il
do'|a uron it. A large part of the
two novels Anna Karenina' and
>zs."'t' and Peace were written on
ne oaeksjof envelopes, half-sheets OF note
aper torf from short letters, and some of
pest thoughts have been penned on the
e1s 81 ga pieces Of paper upon which
childTen have been drawing pictures
Gave Thrown away. For this reason it
ara 70 preserve his manuscripts, and
as we hsv. are stored away in the
scum In Moscow After my husband
written his manuscript IL is copied for
F,ir years | copied again and again
e he wrote, and now my daughters
hIm. can't tell you how mary
pied parts of the novel War and
revision and TereYislon. but I
1 copied the completed story
before 1t was brought into the
II went to the printers"
as TO bow the copy was pre-
1o.st0i for revision, and the
]ok a sheet Of note paper and