Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-07-30

the same time cheerfully and uncom-
plainingiy sOftens the hard road
which he would Law out for himself and his
family. The countess impresses YOU at first
meeting a. a woman Of remarkable strength OF
character. She il tall well formed and fine
looking, and though she has . son twenty-nine
years old her cheeks are still rosy, and the gray
has hardly begun to show itself In her iuxuri-
ant dark hair. Her ewes are dark, bright and
fun Of intelligence, and her face II full OF kind
feeling. She Is q clever conversationalist, and
she speaks English huertly with slight Rus
sense Of tho word, and the ideals OF womanhood
q embodied In Tolstois best characters are
taken from her. Tolstoi's love for her and her
love for him during their thirty years Of mar
rted life have never been Questioned. and his
studies Of women have been made like Ruben 9
paintings, with his wife for his model
now ANNA KARKSINA WAS WRITTEN.
During our Conversation asked the countess
where Tolstoi got the character Anna Karenina,
and the countess SISTER, Countess Kousminski.
replied that IL wns largely taken from the conn
tesA Madame Tolstoi then said: Yes and no.
That Il true in part, and again 1t il not true at
au- i am everywhere and nowhere in NV
husbands novels He takes his characters from
real life. but he changes countries and idealizes
them until they are not the same but are entirely
new creations. some parts Of Anna Karenina
are almost exact reproductions Of our expert
ences- The description Of Annals love for her
children and her manner Of taking care OF Their,
are from me, the story Of Kitties cour.ship ard
marriage, even TO the manner in which the pro-
poal was made, Is the story almost line for lire
q our courtshfp and marriage, and Anna's
sickness corresponds to an illness tina.
once had The count has been all his life
and IL slvays studying human character
ana he h always noting down in his mind
thoughts. expressions and incidents for future
use- He has good memory and in little loci
box In his brain he seems to store away every.
thing and his material is always at his com
maod. He has for years carried a note boob
with hiic, and he viii sometimes stop in CONVEX.
sation and make q note OF anything that be
thinks NAV be Of value in the future
] AIDED the COUNTIES. IL she had one Of thes>
Dsss bo0As 81 hand she left the room for q
moment and then returned with fat little
yellow calfskin-covered note book II was the
dxe Of the Average pocket diary and was filed
With writing In Russian characters. the letteu
hoing very small and the lines VERY close TO-
gstAsr. There we're no bloss and few cor.
rsesions. and from tho date of II saw that ii
was made at about the time that Anna karenin1
was written. and il contained some Of the ma
terial which made up that story
As again referred to The novel the countess
told us how relstoi began IT, Said she: "Anns
Ksrenin. was born through our oldest boy fall
ing 10 sleep while reading our great poet
Pushkim. His grandmother. Who Was WAITING
Us, loved the boy dearly. she vas IL and
had an an6ni~hsd poem q Pushkin. which
vas about 70 read to hsr- I gave IL 20 my son
however, telling him his grandmother woale
mnch rather hear him read il than me, ant
he Was reading to her when be dropped asleey
and tbs book fell open on the table. Wbue y
vas living there the count came In and picked l
% and read 10 As he read the mrs: idea %
Anna EareniGa came 70 him and be lois Push
Aas end begAn . vxits. He wrote almoe