The Daily Missoulian., 1910-11-21
COUNT TOLSTO| GIVES
JOURNALIST IDEAS
(Contipued From Page One.)


opposite me. His eyes were such as
one out of ten thousand. men have
deep green eyes-whjch penetrated one
like the X-ray. He said: You are
Hungarian. l like Hungaa-ians. MY
going?'
To Japan to study art and to
America to study immigration, l re-
piled.
"'Art? Art? Who knows what art
Is? What Is your profession?'
IA writer / answered.
"'And you write what?
Plays for the theater'
"'Oh, that is terrible he exclaimed.
No one should write plays. Many of
them poison the soul of the public.
What ether things do you write?'
"'Poems.''
"'And at this the aged novelist
clasped his hands and wrung them in
despair. Poems? OH, you unhappy
man. Why is a man writing poems
if he can write prose- Why does he
make poison of his sentence by
rhyme and rhythm?'
But what, I interposed, of such
as you do?'
ToIstoi Ethics.
"'What is the truth?' he asked. No
body knows 1t and everybody knows.
Everybody Is seeking for themselves
the truth, and from this standpoint,
everybody may be a writer. What
then? | do not like literature, the
modern literature because all the au'-
thors are writing for the sake of
money and not for ideas. They write
cheap stories. catering to the puolic's
likes and avoiding their dislikes. For
me-. Cork and Andregrov are not
writer's; they are business men. You
remember that in 1898, after writing
"The Resurrection" 1 ordered that the
right to publish my hooks be set free.'
:" But he continued, let me learn of
your mission l think 1t an interesting
one. Why are the Hungarians emil
grating?
!" Because all the land Is occupied
on I replied.
"'This is the case in Russia, too, but
T think in q hundred years from now
1t will be a crime to own land here
All the lands and fields will be COM
mon for the people. An American, DR.
Eliot president emeritus of Harvard
university, has the best ideas on this
subject. Have you read him? No? l
am sorry. then, for YOU
with this the aged novelist cut short
the interview by asking to be excused.
I am very old and tired and some
times l am weak. Today l had a very
bad day. must go.' He shook hands
and was gone.
Daily Life.
Secretary Mar'kovietslly returned to
me and l piled him with questions
about Tolstoi's daily life. He said: He
is up early every morning and eats
little breakfast. He walks alone or
rides horseback to the poor Russian
villages. One often sees him halt in
the road and, pulling pencil and paper
from his pocket, make notes of his
thoughts. His happie,t moments are
when poor Villagers come to him as
judge of some dispute.
To-day, for instance, he was aroi-
traitor of some such trouble among 30
men. After walking or riding on such
expeditions. Tolsto comes home to
work, to write. Nobody asks him what
he is writing, because he reads what
he writes soon afterward to others,
and. if they have ideas which appeal to
him. he changes his.
Invariably, however, he repents,
with the exclamation, But these are
not my ideas,' and straightaway he
returns to his own iceas. After the
luncheon at noon, he goes to bed until
dinner time. Many visitors come every
day. but few are received, and in the
evening. with neighhors he has music ,
Il asked Markovietsky about the i'm
perial family's attitude toward Tolstoi.
1t is not true, he said. that the ,czar
and the imperial family are enemies
to Tolstoi. The emperor likes him and
is proud that he is a Russian. think