The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-03-25
ToIstoy's Story
Resurrection" His Latest,
Is a Masterpiece.

Ho-ng man or woman, but it is a gold
Line to any one who, in the course or ar
irving at a stage of battered maturity,
has stopped as a target a good many or
Outrageous fortunes sings and arrows.
The difference between literature and
literary effort is the difference between
beef-steak and syIiabub. The syllabub re-
freshes at the moment, but before the
next meal time you have a keener recol-
lection Of the beefsteak. Toastoy's Re
direction" is literature. His people live
A Iamentable number of ;nk-wrought
people do not.
In ''Resurrection'' you meet the, prin-
opal character of the book as a man;
having met him and followed him for a
few chapters, you know him forever He
suggests no other character you have
ever met. He is as distinct and mimi
tabIy individual as every one Of your
friends in flesh and blsod. His hard
Russian name you do not learn to spell,
much less pronounce. but you usually
know it, and having read Resurrection
and in the following twenty years waded
through wide wastes of literary creations
If you should come across ''Nekhludoff,
his name, the whole character would rise
again before you complete.
It is interesting to study how Tolstoy
stamps this character upon the printed
page before you, with what little de-
scription, but with bold, brief character
istic utterances or actions.
This is his story. and it no more plum
6ers the work of its richness to relate an
outline Of it than it harms Hamlet TO
read il before seeing it. Nekhludoff is
young Russian Prince, who early falls
into the ideas of democracy, inevitably
extreme in Russia. He visits two maiden
aunts while he is still boy. These aunts
have taken upon themselves the educa-
ton Of an ilIegitimate daughter of one of
the peasants The girl is not enhancing
Iy, but is singularly attractive. Her name
IS MasloTa- The boy and girl fail into
puppy love, the Durest and most heav-
emily here below. The boy goes away,
becomes military, and to a degree moral
~ lax He makes ,sho4t visit, on the
way to a campaign, to his aurts. He
finds there Aaslnva, a young woman. He
seduces her: She is dismissed thereafter
from his mind. He becomes in time
tnan OF infinite. letsures and luxury. a
Catch in arsstocratic circles. He is
drawn as a, juror in a criminal
court And there. he SECS the.
prisoner al the Bar-MasIova. the
woman he had ruined many years be-
fore She is4aicourtessn, one of long dis
sipation She 'charged with poisoning a
man while he -isfinEa debauoh. The court
scenes are de9crdbed with marvellous
power She does, not, see Nekhludoff. She
Is not guilty. .The jury, s1beoause of her,
attractiveness waqts} to accuit her, but
brings IN a bunglingS verdict which con-
wcts her and leads to- a sentence of penal
servitude in Siberia
'Maslova, when she heard the sentence,
blushed scarlet. I'm not: guilty, not
guilty she suddenly cried, so it resound-
ed through the room. 1t is a sin! l am
not guilty. L never wished never
thought It's the truth l am saying
the TRUTH and sinking on the bench she
burst into tears and sobbed aloud"
Prince Nekhludoff seeks to have the
verdict corrected when 1t is too Hte. At
ter much thought he decides TO make
that woman reparatfoh. He decides to
see that she gets Justice; that she shall
have from him, aton4ment, that he will
devote his life to her, that he will marry
her. He arranges to visit her in prison,
and there is no more striking, masterful
scene in literature than whcn these two,
the Prince and the courtesan. meet after
many years.
"A moment later MaSlova came out Of
the side door. Stepping softly, she came
up close to Nekhudotf, stopped, and
looked Up at him from under her brows.
lat oh nj in rim q :
over her forehead in the same way
1t had been two days ago; her face,
though unhealthy and puffy. was attract
i've and looked perfectly calm. only the
glittering black eyes glanced strangely
from under the lids.
You may talk here" said the in
spector and Struggling his shoulders he
stepped aside with look of surprise.
Nekhludof moved towards a seat by the
wall
'Maslova cast a questioning look at the
inspector in surprise, followed Nekhlu-
doff to the bench. and having arranged
her skirt sat down beside him.
I know 1t is hard for you to forgive
me- he began. but stopped. His tears
We're choking him. But though I can't
undo the past, 1 shall now do what is in
my power. Tell me-
How have you managed to find me-?
she said without answering his question.
neither looking away from him nor quite
at him.
but why she asked, speak Of this?
remember nothing That's all finished
No. it is not finished; 1 wish to re-
deem my sin
% There's nothing to redeem What's
been has been and is passed. she said:
and what he never expected. she looked
at him and smiled in an unpleasantly
Turing, yet piteous manner.
Now this well-dressed, carefully-got-
up gentleman with perfume6 beard was
no longer the Nekhludoff whom she had
loved but only one Of the people who
made use Of creatures like herself when
they needed them. and whom creatures
like herself had to make use OF in their
turn as prohtably as they could: and that
is why she looked at him with a Turing
smile and considered silently how she
could best make use Of him
Nekhludof told her he was trying to
have the verdict set aside. He sai5:
II have already spoken TO an advo-
cate
No money ought to he spared: it
should be a good one she said.
d. I shall do all that is possible
They were silent, and then she smiled
again in the same way.
And l should ike 70 ask You a
little money If you can. not much