Tolstoy and Tolstaya: A Portrait of a Life in Letters

The whole day I spent in enquiries and uncertainty as to which route to travel: through Morshansk or through Nizhnij [Novgorod].²²³ Il’ina,²²⁴ who was riding with me to Moscow, assured me that it was better to head towards Morshansk. But from all the enquiries I made here — at the post office and with the brother of the Manager of the Penza Village whom I found here, I deduced that the route to Morshansk was uncertain and I could [easily] get lost, and so I decided to head towards Nizhnij. Hence you should write to me at the post office in Saransk, and to Sobolev’s hotel in Nizhnij. The manager’s brother is a rich merchant in Moscow, and from my conversations I gather that his brother has a comfy job there (he has been manager for 15 years already), and that he does not look favourably on a [potential] buyer. That cursed Ris has nothing ready; I haven’t seen his corrected proofs, and probably shan’t be able to take them with me.

I didn’t see Golitsyn²²⁵ and probably shan’t. Yesterday I had nothing to eat along the road, and so to have supper and enquire about the route, I went to a club, where I didn’t find out any specific information. There I met up with Mengden,²²⁶ Sobolevskij²²⁷ and Fonvizin.²²⁸ I left directly after supper. My liver still hurts, but not as much [now], it seems.

Since it’s not yet 2 o’clock, and the train leaves at 5, I’d like to go see the Perfil’evs,²²⁹ to see whether they have any details about Penza. I met Sukhotin,²³⁰ of course. Among other things he told me that [Prince Pëtr Andreevich] Vjazemskij had written some humorous verses about [some] people at the court, such as:

Solovëv ²³³ has only 500 roubles. He says things are tight for him both because it’s summer and because they’re still waiting for Volume 6 [of War and Peace].

I am always with you, and especially when we’re apart I find myself in a soft and humble mood. This was the mood I was in when I arrived at Tula and had the misfortune to see [Aleksandr Mikhajlovich] Kuzminskij — a cold, shallow and evil egotist. It was painful for me to get angry at him, but I had no other choice. I am sure he did not let Tanja go [anywhere]. He is one of those people who takes pleasure in doing unpleasant things for others. I am sure he enjoys his dinner more if he takes it from someone else. —

I bought some books and bouillon; the wine I shall buy at Nizhnij. At Shilovo I shall find out for certain whether I can go to Morshansk. But should I? In any case I shall go back to receive your letters.

I’m leaving the letter unsealed [for now]. I shall add a postscript at the Perfil’evs’ on my way back.

I didn’t find anyone at the Perfil’evs’ except Nastas’ja Sergeevna,²³⁴ and I’m off to Nizhnij [Novgorod] and shall return, too.

Nº 38 – SOFIA ANDREEVNA TOLSTAYA

LEV NIKOLAEVICH TOLSTOY
[LSA 26]
4 September [1869]. Evening. [Yasnaya Polyana]

I’m already experiencing moments of utter despair over your absence, and [wondering] what’s happening with you, sweet Lëvochka, especially when the day draws to a close and I’m left all alone in the evening with my dark thoughts, conjectures and fears. It is so hard living in this world without you; everything’s not as it should be; it seems everything’s wrong and it’s not worth it. I wasn’t going to write to you anything of the sort, but it came out all by itself. And everything’s so confined, so trifling, that I need something better, and that ‘better’ is none other than you, and always you alone.

I received a letter for you from Alexandrine in Livadija,²³⁵ written on your birthday [28 August]. She writes you a lot of tender [words], which I find annoying. She writes along the lines of your last letter to her and your last mood — preparation for death, and I thought it might be better for you if you had married her back then instead, you would have understood each other better. She is so eloquent, especially in French. One thing she notes with justification is that because of her unhappy love she has come to regard everything from the point of view of death, but she writes that she doesn’t understand how you arrived at that; it seems she wonders whether you might have reached this [conclusion] through the same route. She made me wonder, too — whether in your case it wasn’t because of an unhappy love, but because love gave you too little, that you adopted this comforting view of life, people and happiness. Now I’ve more or less retreated into myself, and am looking outward from myself to see where my own comforting path may lie. I wanted to somehow escape from the bustle of my routine life which has so utterly swallowed me up, to get out into the light, find some activity that would give me greater satisfaction and delight, but what that is I have no idea.

It’s not that good for you to go away from me, Lëvochka; I’m left with an angry feeling over the pain caused by your absence. I’m not saying this means you shouldn’t go, only that it’s harmful, the same as I don’t say [one] shouldn’t give birth, I’m only saying that it’s painful.

Our life is very peaceful here, there’s been no one around, — I hardly sleep at all at night, I get up at nine o’clock (our hours are now back to normal), we take tea all together, every day I read with Serëzha, and he writes; I sew, knit, quarrel with Nikolaj²³⁸ sometimes, in the evenings I read [Mrs.] Henry Wood;²³⁹ it’s easy to read her novels — they’re more understandable than others. When I breast-feed Lëvushka,²⁴⁰ I always philosophise, dream, think about you, and so these are my favourite moments [of the day]. Yes, it’s funny that yesterday the postman brought me two letters — from you and Alexandrine, and both of them contained Vjazemskij’s quatrain, which greatly flattered Alexandrine, and this I found funny.

It’s almost incredible that you won’t be coming until the 12th. You can’t expect me to calmly wait out another eight days, when these five have seemed to me a century. And now, probably, you haven’t quite reached your destination. I shan’t ask you to do anything more in Moscow. Hurry home quickly from Moscow; it’s silly to [think] of saving a few kopeks on [the more expensive] groceries in Tula at the expense of the several hours that I am deprived of your company.

For some reason Mamà wasn’t in a good mood yesterday, and overall her mood has completely changed since she visited the Kuzminskijs and saw their dysfunctional ménage. There’s a whole lot I could write to you. I keep thinking throughout the day how I want to write this to Lëvochka, and now I’ve forgotten so much and this letter has turned out all muddled; I was telling you that I’ve got unaccustomed to writing letters; I’d like to just tell you right off everything I want to say, but I can’t do it all at once. Here you are forced to read my letter, my rambling, while if you were at home you would say I’d do better talking to the samovar. I just remembered that and it offended me. So farewell, even though I’m annoyed with you, as here I am tormenting myself on account of your absence. Still, big hugs and kisses. I, too, want to say, as do the Aunties,²⁴¹ May God preserve you. It will be a long, long time before we see each other again.

Nº 39 – LEV NIKOLAEVICH TOLSTOY

SOFIA ANDREEVNA TOLSTAYA
[PSS 83/87]
11 or 12 June 1871. Steamship on the Volga.

I’m writing to you on board a steamship. The letter will be despatched from our first port of call.

There was so much going on in Moscow that I couldn’t get around to it. Especially since my decision as to whether to go to Saratov or Samara was made just an hour before departure.

I went straight to see Vasin’ka.²⁴² Volodja²⁴³ went directly to Petersburg. Vasin’ka wasn’t at home, but he soon arrived. About where to find koumiss they weren’t able to tell me anything. The money — 75 roubles instead of the 100 I was expecting — he handed over to me. That evening I sent a wire to Zakhar’in²⁴⁴ at Bratsovo. In the morning I went to do some shopping, to find a nanny and a doctor, and found all except a doctor. —

There was no [doctor] in the town, and I decided not to go to the dacha to fetch Pikulin²⁴⁵ or Zakhar’in, who sent me a wire inviting me to dinner, for that would have delayed me a whole day. We know what the doctors would have said: they would have said there was nothing of significance, and that it wouldn’t harm me to travel. For a long time I wrestled with the question of where to go. [Pëtr Ivanovich] Bartenev, who had bought an estate at Atkarsk, assured me that there was good koumiss there. Vasin’ka said the same about Saratov. But the Tambov doctor Filipovich,²⁴⁶ and Leont’ev,²⁴⁷ whom I met, as well as [Jurij Fëdorovich] Samarin, all declared that undoubtedly and incomparably the best climate and koumiss recognised by all doctors was in the Samara [region]. Along the way I met another doctor, along with [several] knowledgeable people who all confirmed that Samara was the best, and [so] I am going back to my old place.²⁴⁸ Write to me, please, as soon as you can, at Samara until I send you another address. I’ll arrange with the Samara post office as to how to reach me. —

Now about nannys. I’m afraid that [big] Tanja will have trouble [understanding] my telegraphically brief letter. I went to see the German pastor. The pastor himself²⁴⁹ and especially the elderly widow Dikgof²⁵⁰ gave me five addresses, of which I have been to two. One of them was not at home. Stëpa²⁵¹ located the other — the one whom Mrs. Dikgof recommended the highest, and whose address I sent [to you in a previous letter]; [her name is] Lindgol’m [Lindholm] — and she came to see me. She’s 25 years old. She served as a nanny for 6 years, it seems, in one place, at Mezentsov’s.²⁵² She is not that nice to look at. But she seems to be an honest girl, healthy and unspoilt. She’s agreed [to work] for 12 roubles [a month], with the possibility of a raise in the future. I wrote out her duties: looking after [our] two elder children, maintaining their clothing in order, sleeping with them and sewing [for them]. And teaching them to read and write German. [Her] German is good. She speaks Russian. I would [recommend] hiring her. She asks that her way be paid to Tula, and that after a year she be given a return ticket, if you don’t get along. I said nothing. She promised to wait five days for a reply. If [we] don’t like her [we shall] send her back to Moscow — never mind the extra 3 roubles. We can send her 3 roubles through Vasin’ka — i.e. write her that she can stop by his place, and write to Vasin’ka to give her [the money].

I haven’t received the money from the [vegetable] oil salesman yet — he promised but didn’t come, so it’ll be up to you to collect what he owes [us].

I bought an excellent dish with enhancements, and it is being shipped along with a [a game of] pas-de-géant, which I bought from Puare²⁵³ for 28 roubles. To set up the pas-de-géant, call the men together and try to understand and follow [the instructions].²⁵⁴

The things will be sent out on Wednesday. My health is not just all right, it seems to me actually quite good. Hugs and kisses to the children, to yourself and to everybody there. Please do write in more detail. I’m very happy to see Stëpa. He’s very meek and kind. Ljubov’ Aleksandrovna is probably [staying] with us; hugs and kisses to her and Slavochka [i.e. Vjacheslav Andreevich Behrs]. I’m simply delighted that she’s with you.

Nº 40 – SOFIA ANDREEVNA TOLSTAYA

LEV NIKOLAEVICH TOLSTOY
[LSA 29]
[17–18 June 1871. Yasnaya Polyana]

It is not in a cheerful mood that I write you [today], sweet friend Lëvochka. My nanny’s ill and Lëvushka, too, has a fever and was vomiting. All this has been a great bother, but I’m not letting myself get depressed — I’ve been getting excellent help from Mamà, and Hannah, and Liza and Varja. When you’re not here I take very good care of myself, I take a nap during the day, I go out for walks, and so forth. The other children — indeed, all of us — are healthy. The children enthusiastically devour [wild] strawberries, they’re cheerful, and are out right now for a walk with Grandmother,²⁵⁵ since Hannah is busy helping me. Lëvushka [i.e. their son Lev] is getting along a little better now, and Nanny, too. Probably, by the time you receive this letter, everything here will be just fine once again. I’ve just received your letter from the steamer²⁵⁶ and I’m very happy that you’re feeling fine. Along with your letter I also received letters from Fet ²⁵⁷ and Urusov.²⁵⁸ Urusov wrote me such a precious, intelligent letter that I find myself loving him even more. And Fet, as always, speaks and writes so grandiloquently.

You ask me to write in more detail, but unfortunately I don’t really have time for that today. I really love writing to you — it comforts me to send and receive letters. I am sending you my [new] photo. I had it taken the other day, on Tuesday, at Tula, where I went with Liza and Leonid.²⁵⁹

Your jury duty has been causing us no end of troubles. We obtained the [medical] certificate from Knertser, sent it with Ivan Kuzmich to Sergievskoe, and now the penalty has been lifted and the certificate accepted. There’s been a big fuss about money, too — the 1000 silver roubles which were sent to you in care of [Aleksandr Mikhajlovich] Kuzminskij. Here we made use of the form which you once left for me and on which [your] signature was confirmed by the police with great difficulty.

Tanja [Tolstaya’s sister] is grateful for the nanny. Kuzminskij himself will send her the money; he left today for Moscow. Tanja didn’t hesitate for a moment. She’s overjoyed and has decided to take her at once. Poor Tanja has a very bad toothache and Mamà has started to feel better at our place. It’s hot, sweltering and windy here. The children still go bathing and Knertser has said I should take daily bran-baths. He says my rash is the result of fever and was bound to show up sooner or later. He was quite happy to give me the certificate, saying that you did just the right thing by going for koumiss. He kept saying time and again how helpful it would be for you, since apparently you have become much weaker both physically and emotionally.

And your friends Fet and Urusov are both convinced that you are suffering from your Greek [studies], and I agree with them that this is one of the main causes. Under separate cover I shall send you their two letters to me; read them and write to them from the kibitka [a small carriage]. I shall write them just a brief note, since I have very little time.

Now the walks and rides and games have ceased. All [available] forces, minds and hearts are concentrated on helping me in the nursery without a nanny. It’s all fairly easy to take with such precious helpers. Nanny, too, is suffering from fever and vomiting, she’s quite turned upside-down and probably won’t get well in under a week’s time.

I’m most grateful for the dish and the pas-de-géant. When everyone gets better, I’ll arrange with the Prince [Leonid Dmitrievich Obolenskij] to have it set up. He says we have to hire soldiers from the camp to set it up. For the building they bought wood²⁶⁰ for 450 silver roubles and took up all the space around the house with the thickest beams and boards. They’ll probably start construction soon. I moved Mamà into the study; here [in the nursery] the children didn’t let her have any sleep. I want to write everything down for you as quickly as possible, hence I’m not writing that coherently.

Farewell, dear friend, big hugs and kisses. I’ll be writing more soon, but right now there’s absolutely no more time. Live longer, get well, write more often and don’t worry about us.

I’m delighted to write you some good news about myself, dear friend — namely that two days after my last letter to you,²⁶¹ where I complained about melancholy and ill health, I started feeling fine, and I feel ashamed for alarming you. I cannot, as usual, [bring myself to] write or say to you what I am not thinking. The only thing that upsets me is that tomorrow it will be two weeks since I left, and I have not received any word from you. I am overcome with horror, as I think about and vividly imagine you and the children and everything that could happen to you all.

As for my not receiving letters, nobody’s to blame — it’s just the location: 130 versts not covered by the postal service. Tomorrow it will be a week since the Bashkir messenger left; he was supposed to return on Sunday — today’s Wednesday, and he isn’t here.

Now I’ve learnt my new address, which I’ll append at the end. Write to me alternately: the first time to Samara, the second to the new address. When I receive the letters, I’ll write and tell you which address is better. —

The feelings of melancholy and indifference I was complaining about have passed; I feel I’ve entered a Scythian state of mind, where everything is interesting and new. I feel no dullness whatsoever, but [I do feel] the eternal fear along with your absence, which makes me count the days when my detached, incomplete existence will come to an end. For six weeks I shall endure from day to day, and so by the 5th of August (and I don’t dare talk or think [about it]) I think I shall be home. But what will [I find] at home? Will everybody be well, everyone just the same as I left them? You, most importantly. There’s a lot that’s new and interesting: the Bashkirs, who have a flavour of Herodotus, and Russian peasants, and villages, especially charming in their simplicity and kindness of the people. I bought a horse for 60 roubles and Stëpa and I are riding together. Stëpa’s a fine lad. Sometimes very enthusiastic and he keeps cursing Petersburg with a serious face; he can be annoying at times, and I feel sorry for him because in any case he’s bored and [I feel] sorry that he’s not at Yasnaya. Altogether, I have a great deal to tell you and I shall be annoyed if you listen to how Masha²⁶² squeals and not to what I say. Is that going to happen? And when? I shoot ducks, and we eat them. Now we were out riding and hunting bustards, as usual, we just scared them off, and we were also hunting wolves and a Baskhkir caught a wolf cub. I am reading Greek, but very little. I don’t really feel like it. Nobody has described koumiss better than the peasant who told me the other day that we are feeding on grass, — like the horses. We don’t wish to harm ourselves in any way — not with intense activity, nor with smoking (Stëpa is weaning me from smoking and gives me now [only] twelve papirosas a day, decreasing the amount each day), nor with tea, nor with sitting [and talking] late into the night.

How is my standby, Ljubov’ Aleksandrovna, doing? I would gladly share my current state of health with her. What about the dear stallmaster²⁶⁴ and the girls? I remembered Varja yesterday upon seeing the herds of horses in the hills in the twilight. —

I dreamt that Serëzha was being mischievous and that I was angry with him; it’s probably just the opposite in reality.

Write and tell me how you are getting on. Are you riding horseback and do Mamà and Hannah [Tarsey] curse or praise you often, and what [marks] have you gotten for [good] behaviour? Hugs and kisses.

There’s a boy here. He is four years old and his name is Azis. He’s chubby, round-faced and drinks koumiss, and is always laughing. Stëpa really likes him and gives him candy. This Azis walks around with no clothes. There’s a gentleman living with us who is very hungry, as he has nothing to eat except mutton. And this gentleman says it would be good to eat Azis — he’s so fatty. Write and tell me what [marks] you’ve been getting on your behaviour. Hugs and kisses.

Nº 42 – LEV NIKOLAEVICH TOLSTOY

SOFIA ANDREEVNA TOLSTAYA
[PSS 83/97]
16–17 July 1871. Karalyk. [Preceded by SAT’S Nº 4U, 24-25 June 1871]

It’s been a long time since I’ve written you, dear friend. I’m somewhat to blame, but mostly Fate. I let one opportunity to write slip by, and since then every day I’ve been promised “[the post] is leaving, it’s leaving”, and I kept putting it off, five days, but now I can no longer brook [the delay] and am sending [this letter by] special messenger. My last letter to you, it seems, was on the 10th or the 9th before I left. We’ve actually started our journey: Kostin’ka²⁶⁷ (as he is called) [and] Baron Bistrom,²⁶⁸ a [Russian-]German youth who’s just finished a course at the lycée with honours, Stëpa and I — [we’re all] travelling in [something that looks like] a wicker basket (that’s how everyone travels here), [pulled] by a pair of horses without a guide or a coachman. We didn’t know ourselves where we were going, and we’d ask people we met along the road whether they knew where we were going. We were actually searching for places where there was koumiss, and where we could hunt, with only the foggiest notion of any [rivers named] Irgiz or Kamelik [tributaries of the Volga]. Our trip lasted four days and turned out splendidly. There was such an abundance of game that there was nowhere to store it — even nobody to eat [all those] ducks — and the Bashkirs, and the places we saw, and our companions were splendid.

Thanks to my title of Count and my previous acquaintance with Stolypin,²⁶⁹ all the Bashkirs know me here and have great respect for me. They received us everywhere with a hospitality that defies description. Wherever we go, the host will cook a plump and juicy mutton, set forth a huge vat of koumiss, roll out rugs and pillows on the floor, seat his guests down on them and not let them go until they have eaten his mutton and drunk his koumiss. [According to a local custom,] he gives his guests drink from his own hands and with his hands (no fork) stuffs pieces of mutton and fat into their mouths, and one cannot insult him [by refusing]. —

After my last letter, I received two more letters from you. I wanted to write [you], darling, [and ask you to] write more often and [tell me] more, but the only way you’ll be able to get a reply to this letter of mine is through Nizhnij [Novgorod]. Still, your letters are probably more dangerous to me than all the Greek [writers] because of the excitement they arouse in me. Especially since I receive them suddenly. I can’t read them without [breaking into] tears; I tremble all over, and my heart beats [fast]. And you write whatever comes into your head, while for me every word is significant; I read all of them over and over. Two things you write about are very sad: the fact that I shan’t see Mamà unless I go to Liza’s and bring her to our place again, which I am planning to do, and, more importantly, that my dear friend Tanja is threatening to leave [Yasnaya Polyana] before I get there.²⁷² That would be sad indeed. Why don’t you write about Auntie Tat’jana Aleksandrovna [Ergol’skaja]? I also received a letter each from Urusov and Fet and shall send a reply. As to Offenberg’s²⁷³ letter, I haven’t any idea yet of how to respond, but there’s no point in hurrying, since his address in Warsaw is good only until the 18th. But I want to answer as follows: to offer him the 90,000 [roubles] he is asking for, but only in instalments, without interest, over 2 ½ [or] 3 years, at 30,000 a year.

Big hugs and kisses to sweet Liza ²⁷⁴ from you and me, and [ask] her not to get angry if in this heat and being constantly drunk [from koumiss], I don’t manage to reply to her letter which gave me such tremendous pleasure. — Hugs and kisses to all, even to Dmitrij Alekseevich,²⁷⁵ if he is there with his family, and regardless of whether he is teasing you or Tanja. Comfort Tanja. If her husband is good, and [I’m certain] he is, the unavoidable separation will result in nothing except that they will have a greater affection and a stronger love [for each other], and along with a slight love-sickness, which the wife ought to find pleasing. There is far less [danger] of unfaithfulness when they are separated than when they are together, since people who are separated cling to the ideal in their soul, which nothing can be compared to. This all concerns you, too. [Ask] Varja [Varja Valer’janovna Tolstaja] to write to me. Stëpa and I will have a lot to say in return. I’m glad that the pas-de-géant is up, but I have no clear picture how that all works for everyone. I can only picture Il’ja falling.

Oh, if only God would grant that everything goes along fine without me right to the end, the way it has according to your latest letters. Farewell, my precious dove, a big hug from me. And all my nerves are shot. Now I just feel like crying, I love you so much.

17 July, evening. P.S. My health is perfect. I’m counting the days. The Bashkir hasn’t brought any letters from you. They didn’t give him any, because Jean [servant Ivan Vasil’evich Suvorov] is too assiduous and wrote a foolish note to the post office. I am hoping [there will be some] tomorrow.

Nº 43 – SOFIA ANDREEVNA TOLSTAYA

LEV NIKOLAEVICH TOLSTOY
[LSA 39]
27 July 1871. Evening. [Yasnaya Polyana]

I don’t know why you asked me to write [to you] on the 27th and 28th in Moscow.²⁷⁶ Does that mean you’ll be in Moscow by the 1st [of August]? I want to believe and at the same time I don’t; I feel happy and at the same time frightened, and don’t know myself what I feel when I think about you and our meeting. Lately I haven’t been able to think of anything else but your arrival; nothing interests me, and when I think about this and the children come by, I tell them Papà will soon be here, and I kiss them with delight, and they understand, and they themselves say every morning that now there are only twelve (or ten) days left. We are all expecting you on the 5th of August. But it’s not very nice when you don’t tell us when you set out. Does that mean I shan’t meet you at the station? I’d be glad to go to Tula if I could see you a whole hour earlier. Now I’ve been following your whole trip in [the railway timetable] Parovoz and, if you left Samara on the 2nd, you could be home by the 5th. I’m so afraid to expect you any earlier. For that matter, I’m afraid of everything: the steamships, and the state of your health, and your impatience to get home; I’m afraid that you might have drunk too little koumiss, and that I failed to persuade you [to continue your treatment and] not to hurry home. But lately I haven’t been strong enough to keep on persuading you not to [hasten] home. I am plagued day and night by my concern for you.

Your latest letter ²⁷⁷ I received the day before yesterday. I read it at the Kozlovka station by lamplight while I was seeing off the D’jakovs. I was given this letter by [our cook] Semën, who was completely drunk at the time we were getting into the carriage to drive to Kozlovka, and as the road was dark and bumpy, I was on pins and needles all the way to the station, I was so anxious. This letter made me frightfully happy to know that you missed me so much, and from the anticipation of seeing you. I wrote you²⁷⁸ about D’jakov’s missing belongings; they haven’t been found, though some of the workers were suspected [of stealing them].

Everyone’s terribly interfering with my getting any [letter-]writing done: [My sister] Tanja is sitting right beside me (we’re all in the drawing-room) along with Liza and Varja — they’re sewing, reading and writing. Tanja and Varja are talking about the servants travelling [with Tanja] to Kutais. Almost nobody’s agreed [to go to Kutais] yet, except for Nanny and Trifovna.²⁷⁹ Leonid [Obolenskij], too, has come down with cholerine; he’s lying in the study, he has a fever, had a bout of vomiting and strong stomach pains. He’s better now, and he’s taken some bouillon for the first time. This cholerine makes me terribly frightened for you, too. After the koumiss [treatment], you should be on the strictest of diets. For God’s sake take care of your health, don’t eat any fruit or anything raw. We’re all very careful here, and we’re all quite healthy, except for Lëlja and Varja,²⁸⁰ who are both coughing; still they go out walking and run around the pas-de-géant. Lëlja does not go out alone, of course, but with me or Hannah, and I hope this, too, will be over by the time you get home. It strikes me funny that you will be reading this letter in Moscow just a few hours before we meet, but right now it seems like it will be an eternity before that happy moment arrives.

Tanja very often receives letters from her husband, and such tender letters I would not have expected from him. He writes that his only comfort is arranging and thinking about [future] conveniences for Tanja and the children, and says that he thinks about and loves her far more than the children.

I am writing from the [Tananyk] farmstead. I arrived safely, along with Timrot.²⁸⁴ Rumours of a decent harvest were not justified. Very bad. I haven’t yet seen all the fields; but [judging] by what I have seen and heard, I doubt what’s lost can be made up for, especially since the same amount will have to be sown again. It has to be sown, since after two bad years one can only expect some good ones, and to stop now would be pointless. Timrot wrote about what he saw in the spring, and then disaster happened on a scale not [even] the old people could remember; both the grass and the wheat were burnt by the heat, the ground was black, and the people started to move away for fear of famine. Today everyone cannot appreciate too much the blessing that there is grass and wheat to some extent. From the financial point of view, this is how our Samara affairs stand: We shall have to give Timrot between 2,000 and 3,000 [roubles] for the harvest and ploughing for next year and we must hope that once he sells his wheat he will send me back between two and three thousand, and, in addition, set up the farmstead on a firm enough footing so that next year we may come and find a wholly self-sufficient estate.

This has been an unfortunate year, but despite this misfortune, one can say that the Samara lands will yield 8% [profit]. One can say 8% since, even though no money will be forthcoming, the management of the farmstead is already costing no less than 2,000 [roubles]. The lease for hay-cutting brings in 670 roubles. Anyway, I can’t explain everything in a letter. I’ll tell you [now] about the farmstead itself and the house. The place is not at Tananyk [proper], but on the grounds of an old farmstead; it’s very good from the management point of view, and a very cheerful place. My first impression — and one you’ll probably share — was very pleasant, despite the fact that there is still no water in the pond.

The house is old (not so nice) and greyish-looking; but it seems that it will suit us perfectly well. It doesn’t have any partitioning walls yet, just two large rooms, and I’ve drawn up a partition plan, which I am sending you. Apart from that, there is a huge kitchen all ready for the foreman and the workers, and a kitchen will be built for us besides. Apart from that, [there is] a cellar, a larder and a small storehouse. These are all made of mud brick with an earthen floor. — Apart from that, on one side of the farmstead there is a huge barn. All this is just about ready. —

There are 5 horses and a ‘wicker basket’,²⁸⁵ and I am arranging to buy cows, sheep, yokes, chickens, etc.

As far as my bodily health is concerned, I can tell you that nothing ails me, and that I have borne the journey superbly; as to my mental state — of course it’s awkward, incomplete, and I’m virtually asleep. I don’t allow myself to think. The farmstead is home to the foreman — a young bachelor lad and a soldier. All around are people hay-cutting and ploughing. Timofej²⁸⁷ is very useful and dear to me. —

I could easily stay here four weeks if Petja [Tolstaya’s brother Pëtr Andreevich Behrs] were with me, as I would comfort myself with the thought that it would useful for him; and truly, the air here — you won’t understand if you haven’t tried it yourself. But [to stay here] all by myself — while it wouldn’t be exactly boring, it would be shameful to waste part of one’s happy and useful life on trifles. But to work without you — without knowing you’re right here — that’s something, it seems, I can’t do. Tell Stëpa [Stepan Andreevich Behrs] — what a tragedy! — Vasilij Nikitych’s precious little granddaughter Sasha, has died from measles.

Farewell, darling. I’ll write you [again] in three days. And I’ll wire you when I leave. —

Nº 45 – SOFIA ANDREEVNA TOLSTAYA

LEV NIKOLAEVICH TOLSTOY
[LSA 42]
[4 September 1876. Yasnaya Polyana]

[Neighbour Aleksandr Nikolaevich] Bibikov²⁸⁹ himself brought over two series today and had dinner at our place, and at the moment is still sitting with Stëpa. Trifovna [Stepanida Trifonovna Ivanova, the Behrs family’s housekeeper, then helping Tolstaya at Yasnaya Polyana] is crying a lot over having to part from Tanja and her children; I comfort her, telling her I’ll come and see her in Moscow. My [hand]writing is terrible, but you’ll [be able to] read it and understand; you simply can’t imagine the noise here and how excited the children are before [Tanja’s] departure. I am full of cares and good intentions for my life from now on, but yesterday there were moments of tearful sorrow [when I realised] that I’m all alone, and that it will be difficult to teach [the children] and to live without either you or Tanja. But today I feel healthy and energetic. Take care, precious; don’t catch cold, don’t get angry, don’t worry about us. If it weren’t for Lëlja’s cough, we would all be healthy.

Stëpa and my Tanja are also going to see [my sister] Tanja off. What kind of spirits are you in, and how are you doing on the steamer? Does Nikolen’ka like the Volga? I think about you every moment and this makes me happy during this time [of separation]. The only thing bothering me is that mice are eating away at the roots of life, and that things won’t always be the way they are [now]. For some reason today I keep thinking about [Zhukovsky’s] tale of the Wise Man Kerim (1844). But that’s what happens when I am sad. Farewell, you’ll receive this letter on your return journey. Big hugs and kisses, regards to Nikolen’ka. Really, I’ve hardly ever written such incoherent letters.

Nº 46 – LEV NIKOLAEVICH TOLSTOY

SOFIA ANDREEVNA TOLSTAYA
[PSS 83/115]
5 September 1876. Kazan’.

I am writing to you, dear friend, from Kazan’, on today, the 5th, at 11 o’clock at night, and not from the steamer, but from the city of Kazan’ itself, where we have come to stay overnight, since we lost a whole twenty-four hours because of the chaos aboard a Samolët steamer²⁹⁰ we had the misfortune to travel on — it got stuck in the shallows and broke down. You can’t imagine how annoying this has been, when one is counting every minute, as I [am doing] now for you and even more for myself. The trip down the Volga was unpleasant enough up until now — the stuffiness and the [mainly] tradesmen passengers. Anyway, I did find several interesting and even extremely interesting people, including the merchant Deev,²⁹¹ who owns 100,000 desjatinas of land; I am sitting with him at the moment in a hotel room, while Nikolen’ka has gone with a man from [the Khanate of] Khiva to a Kazan’ theatre. There was also a Tatar [who was] a priest. —

I’ll be writing you from Samara about my plans for Orenburg. I should enjoy visiting Orenburg as that fellow Deev is from there and will help me buy some horses. I’d also like to see Kryzhanovskij²⁹³ there. In any case I shall try not to go beyond my 14-day schedule. —

Kazan’ awakens in me memories of unpleasant sorrow.²⁹⁴ Oh, I only hope you and the children — especially you — are healthy and at peace. Hugs and kisses to you, my darling dove, and to the children and my greetings to both Sofesh,²⁹⁵ if she is there, and Mr. Rey.²⁹⁶ —

Nº 47 – SOFIA ANDREEVNA TOLSTAYA

LEV NIKOLAEVICH TOLSTOY
[LSA 45]
15 [January 1877]. Saturday evening [St. Petersburg.]

My dearest Lëvochka, here I am writing you from Mamà’s and I still haven’t quite figured out how I got here so quickly and ended up in Petersburg.²⁹⁸ On [the train] to Moscow I sat with some elderly woman, the wife of a Saratov landowner, talking all the time with her and her daughter, and reading without getting tired. [At the Kursk Station] in Moscow I was met by Istomin,²⁹⁹ and he and I, along with Stëpa [Stepan Andreevich Behrs], [stayed] in the railway carriage [as far as the Nikolaevsky Station, where I] transferred to the Nikolaevsky Express.³⁰⁰ There [at the station] I was met [first] by Serëzha, and later by my Uncle Kostja,³⁰¹ — he’s so splendid, it’s practically a shame; he’s off somewhere for the evening.

Serëzha reacted rather strangely to meeting Uncle, and kept staring at him intently, but it all worked out; we sat there for a whole hour, drinking tea over a cheerful chat. Then we spent quite a while looking for a place for me — the whole [train] was full — and finally found a compartment with two benches, where some lady was seated. At this point Uncle Kostja brought Katkov ³⁰² over to see me. We talked, he was taking the same train to Petersburg for five days. The lady turned out to be very respectable; she was from Orlov, wealthy, a landowner’s wife whose maiden name was Obukhova. I talked with her a lot about literature. She was enthusiastic — and quite intelligently so — about your works. In fact, she told me a great deal: she is very well-travelled — both abroad, and to Petersburg, and all over Russia. Later we both lay down on our respective benches and had quite a good sleep, despite the same perspiration, the same melancholy and coughing, though the coughing wasn’t as bad [as before].

In the morning Katkov dropped by twice to ask me had I slept well and did I need anything. I thanked him and enquired in return, saying that it was hot [in the carriage] along with some other remark. Then Stëpa and I went to see Mamà. She was still in bed, expressing through tears her joy upon seeing me. She was distressed that [my sister] Tanja wasn’t there, but she wasn’t as upset as I had expected. Stëpa went to see Strakhov,³⁰³ while Mamà and I chatted away; she is very advanced in years and is constantly in ill health. And she kept repeating: “I’m so happy to see you! So happy!” Strakhov was at Botkin’s;³⁰⁴ he was talking about me, and gave [the doctor] my visiting card, and Botkin wrote on my card:

“If the Countess drives out, I shall be at her service on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8 p.m. on. If the Countess wishes me to visit her at her home, please give me the address and then I shall arrange a day and time for an appointment.”

Today I wrote Botkin a note saying I had arrived [in Petersburg], and thanking him for his agreeing to come and see me. I asked him to name a time when he was free. He replied that he could come tomorrow between 3 and 5. Mamà and Stëpa, as well as Petja [Tolstaya’s brother], had all advised me to invite Botkin to the house, and not go to him myself. Mamà assures me that I might waste 4 or 5 hours at Botkin’s, [which would be] indecent and unbearable. And Botkin, it seems, does not do a good job of treating patients who come to him, since he has little time to see 60 people. And Stëpa says that you’ll be glad that I invited him over, even though it costs more.

Petja came for lunch with us, along with his wife and daughter.³⁰⁵ She’s really very sweet, his wife, and they are most touching with their dear little daughter and their poverty. Petja would very much like to find some means of getting out of his dismal situation, even if it means taking the first available job so as not to build up further debts. Vjacheslav³⁰⁶ was dressed in a frock coat. He is extremely well-mannered, but is thin and pale. He is in a class equivalent to Grade 5 at a gymnasium.

Liza³⁰⁷ appeared just before [going to] the opera in a magnificent silk outfit with diamonds on her head and everywhere — some sort of stars like Polina’s,³⁰⁸ and plump — horrors!

While Petja was giving his little daughter a drink of milk, he managed to spill some on her dress. She jumped up, shouting: “Stupid! Fool!” etc. [Her] arrogance is amazing. Yes, I agree with you: [it’s better to keep] as far away from her as possible. Tomorrow I’m going to see Alexandrine,³⁰⁹ and somewhere else besides, if I can do it by three o’clock. I’ll be seeing Alexandrine between two and three. In the evening I’ll stay once again with Mamà and Petja and Stëpa. I’ll drop around to see all my relatives for a minute. All-in-all, nothing yet is clear to me [at the moment]; today I didn’t even step outside the house; I stayed the whole day with Mamà and I feel comfortable with her. I keep remembering you all, my dear ones, but I try not to think too much and not to get upset. I’m afraid that at night I shall feel this great longing for you all, and that I’ll imagine all sorts of horrors. But in telling Mamà about my family, about you and the children, it’s just like I’m coming home again and I like talking about you all. Thank my dear [sister] Tanja — she always cares about everything — for the pears. I ate them with delight along the way when my mouth was dry.

Your Anna Karenina (the December [instalment]) was praised to the skies in Golos and Novoe vremja.³¹⁰ I haven’t read them yet; I’ll bring them along, if I can. Mamà, Stëpa and Slavochka told me [about them]. Lëvochka, my precious dove, take care of yourself and the children. A hundred hugs and kisses to you, and Serëzha, and Tanja, and Iljusha, and Lëlja, and Masha.³¹¹ I’ll definitely arrive [home] Wednesday evening.

Nº 48 – LEV NIKOLAEVICH TOLSTOY

SOFIA ANDREEVNA TOLSTAYA
[PSS 83/122]
16 January 1877. Yasnaya Polyana.

As you can see, everything here is going along fine. — Yesterday I taught Lëlja and Tanja, and Tanja got me so angry that I yelled at her, for which I am quite ashamed of myself. I can’t get any work done. Last night the children sat with me and did some colouring, and I played chess with Vladimir Ivanovich,³¹² and later played the piano until one o’clock [in the morning]. Even then I couldn’t get to sleep for a long time and awoke early. Now I’m off to the station. The children went skating, but right now we have a severe frost; overnight it was 19 degrees [below zero], but [today] in the sunshine it’s plus 5. —

The most boring part of life for me is taking meals with teachers constantly sniping at each other.³¹³ Every minute I think of you and try to imagine what you are doing. And it always seems to me that even though I’m depressed (on account of my stomach), that everything will be all right.

Please don’t hurry [home]. Besides, even though you said you wouldn’t be buying anything, don’t think about the money, and if you take it into your head to buy something, borrow the money from [your mother] Ljubov’ Aleksandrovna and go shopping, have fun. — After all, we’ll pay her back in three days.

I am writing to you from Ris’s,³¹⁴ from his magnificent apartment and under the influence of his reassuring geniality. — Kostin’ka³¹⁵ sent me [back] the original, and he himself came. Kostin’ka’s acid nature is unimaginably disturbing. He’s to blame for everything. I poured out all my anger to Ljubimov,³¹⁶ whom I met in the railway carriage as we were coming into Moscow. But I didn’t get overly wrathful. I remembered ‘the spirit of patience and love’.³¹⁷

I am publishing [Anna Karenina] as a separate book with Ris, without censorship, adding from previous [editions] whatever is needed to make up 10 printer’s sheets.³¹⁸

Now it’s 2 o’clock, and I shan’t manage to leave today, but I’ll go at 4 o’clock tomorrow.

We had a safe arrival thanks to Obolenskij.³²⁰ A magnificent four-seater carriage was waiting for us at the train. We were exhausted, but still arrived at 3 o’clock in the morning. This morning Dmitrij Obolenskij came and spent the whole morning with us, partially interfering. I barely managed to excuse myself, to avoid going to his place today, but tomorrow I shall go at 5 o’clock, spend the night there, and leave at dawn, to make it to Kaluga by 12 and to Tula by 5. I would ask you to send horses there for 5 o’clock on the 28th.

I’m terribly disappointed that Sasha³²¹ didn’t come with us. Only God grant that you’re healthy and not troubled by anything. Good-bye, darling. —

Nº 51 – LEV NIKOLAEVICH TOLSTOY

SOFIA ANDREEVNA TOLSTAYA
[PSS 83/130]
9 February 1878. Moscow.

I was tormented the whole journey by the thought that I didn’t say good-bye to you properly and didn’t ask you to write to me.

My only [concern] is that you’re in good health. — Take care, be healthy and don’t worry. I arrived safely, talked with the old fellow Levashev³²² the whole way. I spent the evening in our ‘nest’³²³ with Kostin’ka [i.e. Konstantin Aleksandrovich Islavin] and [Vladimir Konstantinovich] Istomin talking business — i.e. about books.³²⁴ He gave me a lot [of information]. Today I went to see two Decembrists,³²⁵ had dinner at the [English] club and in the evening I was at Bibikov’s,³²⁶ where Sof’ja Nikitichna³²⁷ told me and showed me a great deal.

Now I’ve been spending the rest of the evening at the [Dmitrij Alekseevich] D’jakovs’ with Mashen’ka [Marija Nikolaevna Tolstaja], Lizan’ka [Elizaveta Valer’janovna Obolenskaja] and Kolokol’tsova,³²⁸ and that’s where I’m writing from. Tomorrow I’ll go see the Decembrist Svistunov, have dinner at Istomin’s, and spend the evening with Vladimir.³²⁹

Hugs and kisses to you and the children. The time is passing terribly quickly — nothing gets done and one gets horribly tired.

Nº 52 – SOFIA ANDREEVNA TOLSTAYA

LEV NIKOLAEVICH TOLSTOY
[LSA 47]
[5 March 1878. Yasnaya Polyana].

I am very grateful to you, dear Lëvochka, for sending me the note from Tula,³³¹ but to my concern over you was added another even stronger worry; you shouldn’t have gone; of course, it’s all finished now, and you are probably either in Petersburg or on your way there, but how did your journey end? Yesterday and today my little one³³² was extremely restless on account of the snowstorm, and as I paced the children’s room in quiet, measured steps with the baby in my arms, I paid heart-stopping heed to the howling of the wind. This snowstorm has been blowing for three days now, and I imagine that the trains are delayed everywhere, and that you with your weak nerves and from the unfamiliarity [of the situation] are exhausted from your lengthy journey. And what made you feel you had to go? After all, you didn’t make it to Solovëv’s³³³ lecture, and you probably had a difficult journey. I shall wait impatiently for a letter from you from Moscow on Tuesday. And now you won’t be returning from Petersburg until Saturday at the earliest, otherwise you will have precious little time.

Everything here is always worse when you’re away. The children are acting up; Serëzha and Tanja ran out into this fearful storm wearing nothing but light frocks; I punished both of them and shut Serëzha up in your study and Tanja in Auntie’s room. Then they got into a fight; Il’ja and Lëlja threw paper darts at Serëzha; he got angry and struck them, and they struck back, — [then] they came to me in the nursery to complain. I naturally got very upset with them. After dinner Serëzha bashfully took my hand and said: “Don’t be upset, Mamà!” I told him: “Children, after dinner let’s all get along together — otherwise, what kind of Sunday is this?” Serëzha [then] went off to write his diary. Tanja, too, calmed down, but Il’ja, Lëlja and Masha were unrestrainable, they would hide under the bed, and would call out “Fool!”, and Mr. Nief ³³⁴ even got depressed.

Before bedtime Il’ja and Lëlja came to see me in the nursery to apologise; they lay down on the sofa and kept repeating “What a boring day it’s been!”, to which I responded by giving them a lesson about conscience and pangs of conscience and said that unfortunately I would have to write Papà about their conduct. Lëlja said: “Also say that starting Monday we’ll behave ourselves all week long.”

I still have a fever condition; I’ve stopped following my Lenten fasting.³³⁵ Yesterday the German woman³³⁶ came by, saying that you sent her a fur coat, and Kurdjumov³³⁷ didn’t go on account of the snowstorm and a sore throat. Today Vasilij Ivanovich³³⁸ took a trip to Tula. Yesterday he and I talked a lot about spiritualism and all the children gathered around in a circle to listen.

I am very interested in your acquaintanceship and conversation with Pushchina.³³⁹ You will have a lot of interesting things to tell me. Farewell, dear friend, hugs and kisses to you and Mamà; I can’t wait to hear your news.

Nº 53 – LEV NIKOLAEVICH TOLSTOY

SOFIA ANDREEVNA TOLSTAYA
[PSS 83/134]
7–8 March 1878. Petersburg.

I am writing to you once more in the evening time, dear friend, from Mamà’s. This morning I went to visit Aleksandra Andreevna,³⁴⁰ and stayed with her until 3 [o’clock]. From her place I went to see Bistrom.³⁴¹ The terms [of his sale of land to me] are splendid. I pay 20,000 [roubles] now, the rest over two years at 6% [interest]. He’s very kind and accomodating. From there I went to have dinner with Vladimir [Aleksandrovich Islavin]. I played cards there until 8 [o’clock]. Then I went to see Praskov’ja Vasil’evna;³⁴² I [stayed] there until nightfall, and [then] went home.

Yesterday I fell ill, but today I’m quite healthy. Tomorrow I’ll find out from the notary how and when I can draw up a bill of sale, and I’ll write [you about it].

I received your telegram [sent 7 March] last night and am not replying, since you will probably receive my letter faster than a telegram. I also received your letter.³⁴³ ³⁴⁴ Pity that the children acted up so badly. If you don’t receive a telegram, don’t get upset, darling. —

I’m writing from the steamship ³⁴⁵ in the evening so that I can send [this letter] off early tomorrow morning in Kazan’. The children are sleeping soundly beside me and the whole day our trip has been calm, safe and, as always, not boring. [I have seen] some new and interesting faces, especially a professor from Helsinki on his way to study the idol-worshipping religion of the Mari — the only representatives of the Finnish peoples who have not converted to Christianity. Then there is a young man named Ermolov³⁴⁶ — he used to travel with us as a lycée student, but now as a soldier of the Chevalier Guard. Having heard my story,³⁴⁷ he offered [to lend] me some money, and I borrowed 50 roubles from him. With the same post I am writing to Moscow, asking Nagornov³⁴⁸ to send him and to the Samolët [steamship] office 50 and 60 roubles [respectively]. My chagrin and shame over losing the money has still not passed.

The children are very good, they converse with the ladies, as well as [other] boys their own age, and are not giving Mr. Nief and me too much trouble. Besides, Nief is assiduous as usual, kind-hearted and cheerful. We bought [walking-]sticks at Kuzmodem’jansk and have been buying berries through Sergej [Petrovich Arbuzov].

All the bustle and crowds of people are tedious and difficult to endure, and it’s as though I am unable to breathe spiritually. I shall breathe freely when we get to our destination, and then the usual pattern of feelings and thoughts will ensue.

Are you bored without me? Please don’t let yourself [be bored]. — I can just picture you — if, God forbid, you’re not in good spirits, — saying: “How can I help it? [How could you] go away, abandon me, etc.?” Or, better still, I picture you smiling as you read this. Please, do smile. —

Today is Serëzha’s exam. Please write and tell me what the headmaster³⁴⁹ says. I hope Serëzha, even if he doesn’t distinguish himself all that much, at least won’t fall flat on his face. Hugs and kisses to Tanja — I’m asking her not to walk bow-legged, not to forget to brush her teeth, and not to get thrown by hooks and buttons. Here on the ship the little girls are all very good about this. Hugs and kisses to the dear Geschwister Auntie Tanja and Stëpa ³⁵⁰ and I am grateful to them for looking after you. I know.

Farewell, darling, hugs and kisses to you and Andrjusha. I have not forgotten — and am not forgetting — Masha.³⁵¹ Love and kisses to her.

Nº 55 – SOFIA ANDREEVNA TOLSTAYA

LEV NIKOLAEVICH TOLSTOY
[LSA 53]
18 June 1878. 12 o’clock a.m. [Yasnaya Polyana].

It seems this is already the fifth letter that I’m writing to you, my dear Lëvochka, and every day I receive letters from you, to my great delight. Today I received the one you wrote on the steamship and despatched at Kazan’.³⁵² Why are you still bothered about [the] money [you lost]? It’s neither here nor there, it’s time to forget about it, we’ll just earn more money and shan’t notice those 300 roubles.

I’m writing you this letter against a background of a loud argument between Stëpa and Tanja about the feeding and raising of children, and so I fear it will be an incoherent letter; still, I want to write in a little more detail.

Our grande nouvelle is that Nikolaj Nikolaevich Strakhov is with us. He arrived yesterday on the night train and was very surprised not to find you here. But, it seems, he is very happy that he came. Last night we talked about Samara, and somehow our conversation led to my giving him an invitation, and he will be coming to see us at the end of July at our farmstead,³⁵³ and [then] we’ll [all] come back together. Now he is on his way to see Fet.³⁵⁴ I still haven’t made up my mind whether I shall come [to see you] or not. These past three days my little one [Andrjusha] has not been well, but today, especially this evening, he has shown improvement; the weather has again been warm and delightful, and I am getting ready [to go] again. But, faithful to your rule — and mine, too — I keep repeating: “If God be willing!” I want to go see you as soon as I can, but then I look at Andrjusha’s thin little neck and sunken eyes of these past three days and think: “No, I shan’t go for anything!”

I’ll decide everything after I receive your telegram. The other day my little boy experienced a bad bout of vomiting and I became alarmed to the point of desperation, thinking this was another attack of brain disease. Then yesterday he had diarrhœa and, now that the warm weather has returned, he’s a lot better. I haven’t written you about his disease so as not to scare you, [being] so far away, and still not knowing the specific nature of his illness. Now, apparently, it’s because of his teeth, which are going to be coming out very soon; in the meantime God has shown mercy. Nikolaj Nikolaevich is delighting in Nature, he went swimming with Stëpa, Serëzha and Antosha,³⁵⁵ laughed with [my sister] Tanja, played croquet — he and Tanja against me and Vasilij Ivanovich [Alekseev], and we won, much to Tanja’s disappointment. The older children are behaving themselves well, pretending to be grown-ups. Serëzha sometimes even makes bold, but is quick to shy away if I shame him for that. The headmaster has told me nothing about his marks; rumour has it that he passed his exams, only with a ‘3 minus’ in Latin. — Today they did some horseback riding: Stëpa, Serëzha and Antosha went to see Aleksandr Grigor’evich,³⁵⁶ and gave him 66 roubles for lessons. Now I have 300 roubles and am waiting for a similar amount from Aleksej,³⁵⁷ [also] from Nagornov, but I hesitate to take and carry with me the 3500 roubles from Solovëv.³⁵⁸ How come you asked me: “Are you bored without me?” Do you actually have your doubts about that? But it’s not so much that I’m bored (there’s no time for boredom), as much as I worry terribly about you and the children [Il’ja and Lev], and, believe me, it takes every bit of my soul’s powers to keep from sometimes falling into a state of gloom and alarm. You can’t imagine what goes through my head! And we shan’t be seeing each other again all that soon. [I’m concerned about] how you’re settling in on the farmstead, whether you might have forgotten to buy supplies, having lost my note (a list of provisions for you) in your wallet?

Strakhov says to tell Iljusha that the things for collecting insects have been in Tula for some time, but he forgot to send the receipt and now they will be sending it. [The dogs] Dybochka and Korka are very happy, they were running and playing around the croquet pitch. I’m very glad that Lëlja was so easy to travel with; hugs and kisses to my precious boys, I think quite a lot about them. When I come to the farmstead, I hope they will have lots of interesting things to tell me. My regards to Mr. Nief. God grant we shall meet very soon, and that it will be possible for us to travel. Farewell, my dove; I am going to feed my boy who is calling out, and then to bed.

I am sending you two good letters from the boys.³⁵⁹ They wrote them cheerfully and enthusiastically. They were acting up because they were tired, but now they’re calm, cheerful and precious. I shall begin at the beginning — at the time I wrote my last letter, from the steamer, as we approached Samara. We disembarked before 8 [a.m.], hired drivers and went to buy groceries. We got everything done and made it to the train without hurrying. It leaves at ten minutes to ten.

Here is the plan of the house, and my idea for the apportionment of the rooms. I’ve given a lot of thought to it, and this seems to be the best [choice]. And this is how I’ll set it up if I receive a telegram from you that you are coming. It’s quite clean and pretty warm; the floor has just a few holes here and there — I’ll have it taken care of — and there are even stoves. One is in the office part, one in [the main part of] the house. There are willow-bushes around the house itself and rather pitiful-looking gooseberry bushes, and there’s water right in front of the house. Just one drawback: the farmstead also includes a pit full of dung with flies, which won’t allow us to have dinner, or drink tea, or work [outside] except in the evenings.

I am drinking koumiss — I can’t say with any special pleasure, rather from habit; and I don’t have any particular desire to stay here over the summer. Mr. Nief is discouraged; evidently he doesn’t like it [here]. It’s good that there are lots of horses, and Bibikov³⁶¹ has made us a fine carriage: it easily seats 9 people; it is low and safe. And if you should come, then every day after dinner I imagine we shall [all] take an excursion, some of us on horseback and some in the carriage.

Bibikov is splendid at looking after things. He won’t need money for the harvest. There are melon fields. The horses are very good. The wheat is very good, too. Much better than I had expected. I don’t do anything, I almost don’t do any thinking and I feel I’m in [some kind of] transitional state. I’m concerned about you, and think [about you] whenever I’m alone. Only God grant that everything may be safe during our time apart, and I love this feeling of special love, the very highest spiritual love toward you which I feel all the stronger when we’re apart. Now here’s the main question: should you come or not? Probably not, and this is the reason. I know that I am the principal [focus] in your life. I’d rather return [home] than stay here. I don’t believe in the benefits of koumiss for me. And since there is a drought here and [rumours about] diarrhœa are heard, [I am concerned] about the harmful effects it might have on you and [our youngest son] Andrej. As for major comforts, it’s hardly any better than before. — But don’t forget one thing: whether you decide to come or stay, and whether something happens outside our control, I shall never blame either one of us, even in my thoughts. It shall be God’s will in everything, except our foolish or good behaviour. Don’t get angry — the way you sometimes get upset when I mention God.³⁶² I can’t stop myself from saying this, as it is the very basis of my thought. Hugs and kisses, my precious.

I forgot the most important thing: if you don’t come, we’ll be leaving on the 1st of July.

I-1. Sofia 1863

I-2. Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy and his brother Nikolaj Nikolaevich Tolstoj, 1851.
Daguerreotype by Karl Peter Mazer

I-3. Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy (far right) and his three brothers (left to right) Sergej, Nikolaj and Dmitrij. Daguerreotype, 1854

I-4. Letters from Sofia Andreevna Behrs and her siblings congratulating Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy on his 34th birthday, 28 August 1862, signed (in order): El[izaveta] Behrs, Sonja, A[leksandr] Behrs, Mlle Tatiana Behrs [note written in French]. The note from Sofia Andreevna (Sonja) appears as Letter N° 1 in the current volume.

I-5. Congratulatory letter to Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy on his birthday (28 August 1862) from Sofia Behrs’ father, Andrej Evstaf’evich Behrs, inviting Tolstoy to take dinner with him and his family and to stay overnight. Signed “your sincerely loving Behrs”.

I-6. Sofia Andreevna Tolstaya, Tula, 1866.

Photo by Felitsian Ivanovich Khodasevich

I-7. Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy as a warrant officer in the Imperial Russian army.
Daguerreotype, 1854

I-8. Sofia Andreevna Tolstaya with her two eldest children: Sergej L’vovich [Serëzha] (b. 1863)
(right) and Tat’jana L’vovna [Tanja] (b. 1865) (left).

Photo: Tula, 1866

I-9. Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy’s letter to his wife written on the day of his final departure from Yasnaya Polyana, 28 October 1910. (The two words at the top read “To Sofia Andreevna”.)
It appears as Letter Nº 234 in the present volume.

I-10. A booklet of congratulatory messages to Count Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy on his 80th birthday, 28 August 1908 O. S. (9 September N. S.), with an accompanying letter signed by English author Edmund Gosse.

I-11. Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy, 1878 or 1879.

Photo by Mikhail Mikhajlovich Panov

I-12. Sofia Andreevna Tolstaya with two of her grandchildren (Sonja and Lev), along with her daughter-in-law (Andrej L’vovich’s wife) Ol’ga Konstantinovna Tolstaja (née Diterikhs).

Photo by Sofia Andreevna Tolstaya,October 1900

I-13. Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy with writer Maksim Gorky, Yasnaya Polyana, 1900.

Photo by Sofia Andreevna Tolstaya

I-14. Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy on horseback near Yasnaya Polyana, 1908.

Photo by Karl Karlovich Bulla

I-15. Ivan L’vovich Tolstoj (Vanja, Vanechka), the Tolstoys’ youngest son (1888–1895).

Photo by Sherer, Nabgol’ts & Co, 1893 or 1894

I-16. Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy telling a story to his grandchildren Iljusha (centre) and Sonja (right), children of Andrej L’vovich Tolstoj, September 1909.

Photo taken at Krekshino by Vladimir Grigor’evich Chertkov

I-17. Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy in St. Petersburg, 1897.

Photo by Vladimir Ivanovich Krivosh-Nemanich

1 Pokrovskoe-Streshnevo (Pokrovskoe) — dacha community north-west of Moscow, where for many years Sofia’s father Andrej Evstaf’evich Behrs rented a dacha; it was here on 22 August 1844 that Sofia Andreevna Behrs — later Sofia Andreevna Tolstaya (SAT) was born. See List of Russian Geographical Names at the beginning of this volume for place-names not explained in a footnote.

“I recall once we were all having fun and in a rather playful mood. I kept repeating the same silly line over and over: ‘When I am Empress, I shall do such-and-such’, or ‘When I am Empress, I shall issue an order to…’

Near the balcony stood my father’s cabriolet, from which the horses had just been unharnessed. I took a seat in the cabriolet and cried:

Lev Nikolaevich grasped hold of the shaft and, taking the place of the horse, began pulling me along at a trot, saying:

4 Elizaveta Andreevna Behrs (1843–1919) — Sofia Andreevna’s elder sister. In the Behrs household it was thought that Tolstoy was courting Liza, and she was greatly distressed when Tolstoy proposed to her sister Sofia. Elizaveta Behrs subsequently married aide-de-camp Gavriil Emel’janovich Pavlenkov (1824–1892); after divorce she married a second husband, her cousin Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Behrs (1844–1921). Elizaveta wrote several books on economics: O prichinakh razorenija zemledel’cheskoj Rossii [On the causes of the devastation of agricultural Russia] (St. Petersburg, 1899), Voprosy nashego vremeni [Issues of our time] (St. Petersburg, 1906), Kurs na russkij rubl’ [Russian rouble exchange rate] (Petrograd, 1914). Tolstoy used her as a model for Vera Rostova in War and Peace.

5 At age 16 Sofia Behrs wrote a long story, “Natasha”, in which she described the first pure love she dreamt about; she endowed her title character with the traits of her younger sister, Tat’jana (Tanja). Sofia gave the story to Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy (LNT) to read at his request. After reading he wrote in his diary of 26 August 1862: “What energy of truth and simplicity!” (PSS 48: 41)

6 Dublitsky was the leading male character of Sofia Behrs’ story, distinguished by an “extraordinarily unattractive appearance” and an “inconsistency in judgement”, in which LNT recognised himself.

7 Ivitsy — settlement in Tula Gubernia, also the estate of Tolstaya’s maternal grandfather, Aleksandr Mikhajlovich Islen’ev, located in Odoev Uezd of Tula Gubernia, 50 versts from Yasnaya Polyana (it was here in August 1862 that LNT proposed to Sofia Andreevna Behrs).

8 LNT wrote the initials of the words with chalk on a card-table, and Sofia Behrs guessed all the words right on a hunch. Later she reminisced: “I had a vague awareness that there was something serious and important between him and me — something that was already past the point of no return.” (My Life, I. 35)

9 LNT wrote an earlier letter with a proposal of his hand and heart on 9 September 1862, but couldn’t bring himself to offer it to Sofia Behrs (see PSS 83: 3–4).

10 Letters to SAT in Moscow from her relatives. On 19 October 1862 she wrote to her brother Aleksandr (Sasha) Behrs: “Today I received two whole packets of letters from my family and went wild with joy.”

11 After the wedding, which took place 23 September 1862 in Moscow, LNT took his young wife to Yasnaya Polyana, where he plunged into the usual farm activities, the organisation of schools for the peasant children, and the pedagogical journal Jasnaja Poljana [Yasnaya Polyana]. It was hard for 18-year-old SAT to share his attentions with them. She reminisced: “Lev Nikolaevich wanted to accustom me to working with the cattle and dairy cows and took me out to the cattle yard. I tried to watch and take account of the milk yield, the butter churning, and so forth. But the smell of manure soon made me choke and vomit, and I was taken home pale and barely able to stay on my feet.” (My Life, II.5) The newlyweds had their first quarrels.

12 LNT’s trip to Pirogovo was connected with the departure of his brother Sergej Nikolaevich (Serëzha) Tolstoj (1826–1904) and his sister Marija Nikolaevna (Masha, Mashen’ka) Tolstaja (1830–1912) out of the country; during their absence LNT looked after their estate. Sister Marija owned Little Pirogovo, and brother Sergej — Great Pirogovo, located in Krapivna Uezd of Tula Gubernia.

13 Aleksandr Andreevich [Sasha] Behrs (1845–1918), Sofia Andreevna’s younger brother, an officer of the Preobrazhensk Regiment. His being “pleased with his seat” refers to a joke prevalent in the Behrs family at the time.

14 Gustav Fëdorovich Këller (1839–1904) — a teacher at the Yasnaya Polyana School, a position to which he was invited by LNT when the two met in Weimar in 1861. He also taught German at the Tula gymnasium [European-style high school], where he worked for 39 years. In 1862–64 he was tutor to Sergej Nikolaevich’s son Grigorij.

15 Sergej Petrovich (Serëzhka) Arbuzov (1849–1904) — a servant who served 22 years in the Tolstoy household; author of the book Gr. L. N. Tolstoj, Vospominanija S. P. Arbuzova, byvshego slugi grafa L. N. Tolstogo [Count L. N. Tolstoy, Reminiscences of S. P. Arbuzov, former servant to Count L. N. Tolstoy] (Moscow, 1904).

16 In the summer of 1863 Sofia’s younger sister Tat’jana Andreevna (Tanja) Behrs and two of LNT’s relatives, were visiting Sergej Nikolaevich at Great Pirogovo when they got caught in a downpour and were obliged to spend the night at his place. The evening’s conversation was marked with the first hints of romance between Tanja and Sergej Nikolaevich — an evening that would remain a poetic memory to them both the rest of their lives.

17 The 38-year-old Sergej Nikolaevich proposed to the 17-year-old Tanja, but could not break ties with his common-law wife, the gypsy woman Marija Shishkina, who lived in Tula with their son Grigorij and was expecting another baby. He legitimised this marriage, and the couple exchanged their vows on 7 June 1867.

18 LNT was working on the novel he initially entitled The Year 1805, which eventually became War and Peace.

19 Ol’ga Rodionovna (Myshka) Egorova (married name: Bazykina) — a Yasnaya Polyana peasant of rather short stature.

20 In this instance Serëzha refers to the Tolstoy couple’s firstborn son Sergej L’vovich (1863–1947).

21 Jakov Vasil’evich Tsvetkov (1848–1921), a peasant from the village of Vorob’ëka.

22 Boris Filippovich Cherëmushkin (1821–1895) — a merchant, a former serf of the Princes Gagarin.

23 Dorka — a yellow setter, the Tolstoys’ favourite dog, named after Dora, David Copperfield’s first wife in Dickens’ famous novel.

24 Pëtr Fëdorovich Arbuzov — caretaker at Yasnaya Polyana, father to Sergej Petrovich Arbuzov.

25 A reference to Tat’jana Aleksandrovna Ergol’skaja (see Note 33 below) and Pelageja Il’inichna Jushkova.

29 Sof’ja Mikhajlovna Gorstkina (née Kuzminskaja, 1842–1891) — sister to Aleksandr Mikhajlovich Kuzminskij, who in 1867 would marry SAT’s younger sister Tat’jana Andreevna.

30 Anna Karlovna (Anetochka) Zenger (1843–?; married name: Jurgens) — daughter of the chemist appointed to the Imperial Court Karl Petrovich Zenger (1800–1872), a friend of SAT’s.

32 From now on, unless otherwise indicated, the name Serëzha will refer to the Tolstoys’ eldest son Sergej L’vovich Tolstoj (1863–1947).

33 Tat’jana Aleksandrovna Ergol’skaja (1792–1874) — LNT’s second cousin, once removed, who raised him after his parents both passed on in the 1830s. LNT later wrote about her: “The third most important influence in my life after my father and mother was my Auntie, as we called her, T. A. Ergol’skaja… she taught me the spiritual delight of love” (PSS, 34: 364, 366).

34 Ivan Ivanovich Orlov (1863–1889) — foreman in charge of Tolstoy’s Nikol’skoe-Vjazemskoe estate.

36 Kondrat Pimenov — a former servant of LNT’s family, released from employ in 1859.

37 Evdokija Nikolaevna Bannikova (?–1879; married name: Orekhova) — daughter to LNT’s personal attendant Nikolaj Bannikov, a maid to Tat’jana Aleksandrovna Ergol’skaja. Nikolaj is described in LNT’s Childhood [Detstvo]. Evdokija is also known as Avdot’ja.

38 Aleksej Stepanovich Orekhov (?–1882) — valet de chambre, later a foreman and manager at Yasnaya Polyana.

41 Èduard Il’ich Vigand (Wiegand; 1826–1903) — a physician in Tula; later Chief Physician of the Tula Arms Factory.

42 Anatolij L’vovich Shostak (1842–1914) — son to Lev Antonovich Shostak and Ekaterina Nikolaevna Shostak (née Islen’eva), who was headmistress of the Nikolaev Institute in St. Petersburg. Anatolij was a second cousin to SAT and her sister Tanja; the latter had a strong romantic infatuation with him. He was the prototype for Anatolij Kuragin in War and Peace.

43 LNT’s sister Marija Nikolaevna Tolstaja and her children Varvara Valer’janovna (1850–1921; married name: Nagornova), Nikolaj Valer’janovich (1851–1879); Elizaveta Valer’janovna (1852–1935; married name: Obolenskaja).

44 Grigorij Sergeevich (Grisha) Tolstoj (1853–1928) — son of LNT’s brother Sergej Nikolaevich Tolstoj.

45 Vasilij Nikolaevich Bibikov (1830–1893) — landowner in Bogoroditsk Uezd, Tula Gubernia.

46 Nikolaj Nikolaevich Bibikov (1840–1906) — landowner in Krapivna Uezd, Tula Gubernia.

47 Semën Nikolaevich Marsochnikov, son of the owner of Teljatinki House near Yasnaya Polyana.

48 Zephyrlets [Russian: Zefiroty] — a pet name from a legend about a half-bird, half-dolphin as told by Marija Nikolaevna’s godmother (a nun named Mar’ja Gerasimovna) — a name which LNT jokingly applied first to SAT and her sister Tanja and eventually to his nieces Varvara Valer’janovna (Varja) and Elizaveta Valer’janovna (Liza).

51 Afanasij Afanas’evich Fet (real surname: Shen’shin (1820–1892) — prominent Russian lyric poet and friend of the Tolstoy family, who dedicated several poems to SAT. He lived on his Stepanovka estate in Mtsensk Uezd, Orël Gubernia, not far from Pokrovskoe-Vjazemskoe.

52 Nikolaj Vasil’evich Kireevskij (1797–1870) — the owner of the Shablykino estate in Karachev Uezd, Orël Gubernia. He often went hunting with LNT.

54 This occurrence gave LNT the idea for his story Harmful air [Vrednyj vozdukh], which he wrote for his Primer [Azbuka].

55 Ivan Petrovich Borisov (?–1871) — a relative of the poet A. A. Fet and a close acquaintance of LNT’s; he lived on his Novoselki estate not far from Nikol’skoe-Vjazemskoe.

56 Lëvochka (derived from Lev) is SAT’s most frequent pet name for her husband. At this stage she sometimes calls him by the shorter variant Lëva, but later, as of 1869, this latter form is reserved for their fourth child, Lev L’vovich.

58 Tat’jana L’vovna (Tanja) Tolstaja (1864–1950) — the Tolstoys’ second child and eldest daughter. Henceforth the name Tanja will refer to Tat’jana L’vovna unless otherwise indicated.

59 Tat’jana Filippovna was nanny to LNT himself as a child, later to his nieces and to his eldest son Sergej (Serëzha).

60 On 23 November 1864 LNT sent his wife a telegram concerning the upcoming operation on his arm. On 26 September LNT had fallen from a horse and dislocated his shoulder. The arm was unsuccessfully set in Tula and on 21 November LNT had gone to Moscow to consult with doctors there.

61 In Moscow LNT stayed with SAT’s parents: Ljubov’ Aleksandrovna and Andrej Evstaf’evich Behrs, who was Physician to the Imperial Court and had an apartment in the Kremlin.

62 LNT’s sister Marija Nikolaevna, who was visiting Yasnaya Polyana at the time.

64 SAT was transcribing an early draft of LNT’s novel The Year 1805, which would later become War and Peace.

65 24 November (7 December N. S.) is the Day of the Great Martyr Saint-Catherine of Alexandria, one of the most important winter holidays of the Orthodox world.

66 Fëdor Ivanovich Inozemtsev (1802–1869) — a surgeon living in Moscow. In 1847 he became the first surgeon to perform an operation using æther anæsthesia anywhere in the Russian Empire.

67 These telegrams were sent on 24 and 25 November. For the text of the first of these, see Letter Nº 11. The text of the second telegram reads: “Have decided to follow Rudinskij’s advice; he advised not to break, saying it’s almost healed and will greatly improve with physical exercise.” (PSS, 83: 54)

68 In a letter dated 24 November (not included in this volume), SAT wrote: “Has it not entered anybody’s head that I’ll feel terrible if I don’t receive a telegram?” (Pis’ma k L. N. Tolstomu [Letters to L. N. Tolstoy], Moscow, 1936, p. 29)

69 The reference here is to LNT’s brother Sergej Nikolaevich and his 13-year-old niece (daughter of Marija Nikolaevna), Elizaveta Valer’janovna Tolstaja.

70 In October 1864 SAT’s father, Andrej Evstaf’evich Behrs, underwent a tracheotomy operation and was given a silver tube as a prosthetic throat.

71 Vasilij Ermilov Zjabrev (1826–1880) — an elder [starosta] in Yasnaya Polyana.

72 Princess Mar’ja, Prince Andrej — characters in LNT’s novel War and Peace, which SAT was transcribing at the time.

73 Mikhail Nikiforovich Katkov (1818–1887) — editor of the journal Russkij vestnik, in which LNT published his stories Family happiness [Semejnoe schast’e], The Cossacks [Kazaki] and Polikushka. LNT was at the time negotiating with Katkov over the publication of his new novel War and Peace.

75 Orest Ivanovich Rudinskij (1816–1889) — surgeon, professor at the Moscow Military Hospital.

77 Aleksandr Petrovich Popov (1816–1886) — professor of surgery at Moscow University.

79 Prince Dmitrij Dmitrievich Obolenskij (1844–1931) — a Tula landowner, owner of the Shakhovskoe estate in Bogoroditsk Uezd, 6o versts from Yasnaya Polyana.

81 Sergej Mikhajlovich Sukhotin (1818–1886) — chamberlain, a Tula landowner, married to Dar’ja Alekseevna D’jakova, sister to a friend of LNT’s.

84 On the reverse a list of needed purchases is written in SAT’s hand: a piece of cloth, thin flannel, a lining for LNT’s dressing gown, cocoa, soap, a comb, etc.

86 LNT’s brother Sergej Nikolaevich was living common-law with a gypsy from Tula, Marija Mikhajlovna [Masha] Shishkina (1829–1919) and had children by her. They legally married only in 1867.

87 Nikolaj Alekseevich Ljubimov (1830–1897) — professor of physics at Moscow University, one of Mikhail Katkov’s leading associates.

89 Pëtr Andreevich (Petja) Behrs (1849–1910) and Vladimir Andreevich (Volodja) Behrs (1853–1874) — two of SAT’s younger brothers.

91 Ekaterina Fëdorovna Tjutcheva (1835–1882) — daughter of the poet Fëdor Ivanovich Tjutchev, as of 1867: a lady-in-waiting to the Imperial Court. Some time before his marriage LNT was attracted to her.

92 On 30 November SAT’s father, Andrej Evstaf’evich Behrs, celebrated his ‘name-day’ (i.e. the day of the saint whose name he bears) — in his case, St. Andrew’s Day. St. Andrew (Svjatoj Andrej) happens to be the patron saint of Russia, Scotland and a number of European countries.

93 Dar’ja Aleksandrovna D’jakova, née Tulub’eva (1830–1867) — wife of LNT’s friend Dmitrij Alekseevich D’jakov.

94 Varvara Stepanovna (Varin’ka) Perfil’eva (?–1890) — daughter to Stepan Vasil’evich Perfil’ev (1796–1878), a high-ranked general, and sister to Vasilij Stepanovich Perfil’ev (1826–1890), who was married to LNT’s second cousin Praskov’ja Fëdorovna Tolstaja (1831–1887).

95 SAT’s maternal aunt Vera Aleksandrovna Islavina and her second husband Vjacheslav Ivanovich Shidlovskij.

96 Aleksandr Osipovich Armfel’d (1806–1868) — a professor of forensic medicine at Moscow University, who liked to go hunting with SAT’s father.

97 Pëtr Gavrilovich Stepanov (1806–1869) — an actor of the Maly Theatre and a friend of SAT’s father’s.

98 SAT sent her transcribed manuscripts of the novel The Year 1805 (i. e., War and Peace).

102 Nikolaj Vasil’evich Gogol’ (1809–1852), An author’s confession [Avtorskaja ispoved’] (1847).

103 Vjacheslav Andreevich (Slava, Slavochka) Behrs (1861–1907) — SAT’s youngest brother (eighth child in the family).

105 Stepan Andreevich (Stëpa) Behrs (1855–1910) — another of SAT’s brothers (sixth child in the family).

107 Evdokija Nikolaevna Mikhajlova (?–1879) — SAT’s maid, who married valet de chambre Aleksej Stepanovich Orekhov.

108 On 28 November 1864 SAT wrote about the illness her children Sergej (Serëzha) and Tat’jana (Tanja) experienced after being vaccinated for smallpox (PSS 83: 74; letter not included in this volume).

109 archival papers — of the Palace intelligence archives. Mikhail Sukhotin (see Letter Nº 13, Note 82) worked in the offices of the Imperial Court. LNT needed these materials for writing his novel The Year 1805 (i.e. War and Peace).

111 Fëdor Egorovich Gaak (1836–1875) — a surgeon, assistant in a hospital surgery clinic under Dr. Aleksandr Petrovich Popov (see Letter Nº 13, Note 78).

112 Prince Dmitrij Dmitrievich Obolenskij (1844–1931) — a jurist, a writer on current affairs, and Head of the Nobility in Bogoroditsk Uezd.

113 Aleksandr Mikhajlovich Islen’ev (1794–1882) — SAT’s maternal grandfather, a retired military captain.

114 Konstantin Aleksandrovich Islavin (1827–1903) — SAT’s maternal uncle, a friend of LNT’s.

115 Ivan Sergeevich Aksakov (1823–1886) — Slavophile, social activist and writer on topical affairs. See his correspondence with LNT’s editorial associate Nikolaj Nikolaevich Strakhov (Shcherbakova 2007).

116 On a previous visit to Moscow LNT spent an evening with Aksakov, promising to pick up his wife later at the Kremlin so they could go home together. But he did not show up until 4 a.m., causing SAT no end of worry and tears (see PSS 83: 79).

117 Nil Aleksandrovich Popov (1833–1891) — a professor of Russian history at Moscow University and a friend of the Behrs family.

118 Anetochka (chemist’s daughter, a friend to SAT)— see Letter Nº 5, Note 30.

120 Elizaveta Valer’janovna (Liza) Tolstaja, daughter to LNT’s sister Marija Nikolaevna.

122 Nikolaj Vasil’evich Nechaev (1818–1877) — a surgeon, resident physician at the Golitsyn Hospital in Moscow.

125 Anna Petrovna Bannikova (1807–after 1864) — a farmworker in the Tolstoys’ employ.

126 This wine factory at Teljatinki was built by the Tolstoy family in 1863 on a share basis with a neighbouring landowner, but closed down after operating only a year and a half.

127 Natal’ja Petrovna Okhotnitskaja (?–1876) — a poor noblewoman living at the Tolstoys’, a companion to Tat’jana Aleksandrovna Ergol’skaja, after whose death she moved to an alms-house set up on Turgenev’s Spasskoe-Lutovinovo estate.

128 Mar’ja Gerasimovna — a nun, godmother to LNT’s sister Marija Nikolaevna Tolstaja.

129 Sergej Petrovich (Serëzhka) Arbuzov (servant) — see Letter Nº 4, Note 15.

132 Mary Elizabeth Braddon (1835–1915) — English writer, author of Aurora Floyd (1863). LNT was probably reading one of her two subsequent books: either Lady Audley’s secret (1862) or John Marchmont’s legacy (1863), both of which are to be found in his Yasnaya Polyana library.

134 This phrase is uttered three times by the hero of LNT’s story Two hussars [Dva gusara], Count Il’in, in a state of depression and confusion following a huge gambling loss.

135 An opera by the composer Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka (1804–1857), which LNT heard at the Bolshoi Theatre on 6 December 1864.

137 The Chertkov Library is the collection of the archæologist and numismatist Aleksandr Dmitrievich Chertkov (1789–1858) containing more than 20,000 volumes of books and manuscripts; in 1863 it became the first free and publicly accessible library in Moscow, at the initiative of his son, Grigorij Aleksandrovich Chertkov (1832–1900). The Rumjantsev Library was organised by the prominent political figure Nikolaj Petrovich Rumjantsev (1754–1826), who offered his private collection for public use. From 1924 to 1992 it was known as the Lenin Library; since then it has been known as the Russian National Library, one of the largest in Europe.

138 LNT divided the members of the Behrs family into blacks (i.e. brown-eyed, such as Ljubov’ Aleksandrovna, SAT, her sister Tanja et al.) and whites (or blue-eyed, such as Andrej Evstaf’evich, SAT’s sister Liza et al.). He also makes a play on words with the surname Bers (Russian, or more commonly Behrs in English), originally a variant of the German word Bär [bear]. Later SAT would make a similar distinction among her own children. SAT’s siblings mentioned: Liza (Elizaveta [earlier]), Tanja (Tat’jana), Sasha (Aleksandr), Slavochka (Vjacheslav), Stëpa (Stepan), Petja (Pëtr), Volodja (Vladimir). See Editor’s Introduction (“Spiritual Searching, Evaluation of Self”).

139 The reference here is to LNT’s novel The Year 1905 (later known as War and Peace).

140 In this letter Mashen’ka refers to LNT’s sister Marija Nikolaevna Tolstaya.

141 Agaf’ja Mikhajlovna (1808–1896) — former serf, maid to LNT’s paternal grandmother Pelageja Nikolaevna Tolstaja.

143 A story which was possibly written by Sof’ja Dmitrievna Khvoshchinskaja (1824–1865), published under the pseudonym N in the journal Russkij vestnik, Nº 10 (1864), pp. 632–75.

144 A novel by the English writer Wilkie Collins (1824–1889), published in Russian translation in Russkij vestnik, Nº 10 (1864), pp. 676–727. Collins became a close friend to his mentor and collaborator, Charles Dickens.

147 Avdot’ja Ivanovna (Dushka) Bannikova (1852–?) — daughter of farm-worker Anna Petrovna.

148 Avdot’ja Nikolaevna (Dunjasha) Bannikova — maid, later the wife of Aleksandr Stepanovich Orekhov.

149 The novel The Year 1805 was scheduled to be printed in the February 1865 issue of Russkij vestnik (equivalent to the first twenty-eight chapters of the 1886 edition of War and Peace).

151 Aleksej Mikhajlovich Zhemchuzhnikov (1821–1908) — Russian lyric poet, satirist and humorist.

152 In the final version of War and Peace Ippolit tells a joke about a Moscow noblewoman and her maid (Part I, Chapter 5).

153 Voin — the name of the Novosil’tsovs’ estate 13 versts south-west of Mtsensk in Orël Gubernia (115 versts from Yasnaya Polyana), imprinted in the upper left-hand corner of the first page.

154 Pëtr Petrovich Novosil’tsov (1797–1869) — Privy Councillor, Deputy Governor of Moscow (1838–1851), Governor of Rjazan’ (1851–1858), and his son Ivan Petrovich Novosil’tsov (1827–1890) — equerry. Both were hunting partners of LNT’s.

155 Baron Aleksandr Antonovich Del’vig (1818–1882) and his wife Khionija Aleksandrovna, née Chapkina, a friend of LNT’s sister Marija Nikolaevna. Aleksandr Del’vig and his brother, poet Anton Del’vig, owned an estate in Chern’ Uezd, Tula Gubernia. Anton Del’vig was a friend to the celebrated Russian poet Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin (1799–1837).

159 Pavel Ivanovich Sukhotin and his wife Anna Petrovna Sukhotina, who lived on their Parintsevo estate close to Marija Nikolaevna Tolstaja’s Pokrovskoe estate.

160 In 1854 the writer Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev was living in exile on his Spasskoe-Lutovinovo estate next door to Marija Nikolaevna Tolstaja’s Pokrovskoe estate. They met in October 1854, a year before Turgenev’s acquaintance with LNT, and Turgenev was attracted to her. He used her as the prototype for the heroine of his story “Faust”. The romance abroad refers to the common-law marriage between Marija Nikolaevna Tolstaja with Swedish Viscount Hector de Kleen (1831–1873), whom she met in Switzerland and from whom she bore an extra-marital offspring, Elena (1863–1942; married name: Denisenko). In 1857 Marija Nikolaevna separated from her husband Valer’jan Petrovich Tolstoj, who betrayed her, but her husband did not grant her a formal divorce, and so her marriage to de Kleen was not legitimised.

161 The imprint of Novosil’tsovs’ Voin seal is visible in the corner. See also Letter Nº 23 above.

162 Shablykino — the estate of Nikolaj Vasil’evich Kireevskij (1797–1870) in Karachev Uezd, Orël Gubernia, where LNT was on his way to do some hunting.

163 Aleksandrovka (Aleksandrovskij homestead, a.k.a. Protasovo) — a small estate owned by LNT adjoining Nikol’skoe-Vjazemskoe.

164 Varvara (Varja) and Elizaveta (Liza, Lizan’ka), daughters to LNT’s sister Marija Nikolaevna (Mashen’ka) Tolstaja.

165 SAT was staying with her children and their nanny in the empty bath-house on Marija Nikolaevna’s Pokrovskoe estate.

166 LNT had arrived at father-in-law Andrej Evstaf’evich’s (the court physician’s) home in the Moscow Kremlin along with SAT’s younger sister Tat’jana (Tanja). The purpose of his trip to Moscow was to enquire as to the possibility of publishing his novel as a separate volume with illustrations by SAT’s cousin Mikhail Bashilov (see Note 171 below).

167 LNT had brought a puppy with him at his father-in-law’s request — from the litter of their dog Dorka (see Letter Nº 4, Note 23).

168 Tanja Behrs was about to leave for Italy with LNT’s childhood friend Dmitrij Alekseevich D’jakov, who was taking his wife (Dar’ja Aleksandrovna D’jakova) there for medical treatment.

170 Mikhail Sergeevich Bashilov (1820–1870) — an artist and cousin of SAT’s, who did the first illustrations for War and Peace, according to LNT’s instructions.

171 Il’ja L’vovich (Iljusha) Tolstoj (1866–1933) — the Tolstoys’ third child — after Sergej (Serëzha) and Tat’jana (Tanja).

172 Natal’ja Petrovna (Natasha) Okhotnitskaja — see Letter Nº 19, Note 127.

173 In a letter from Tula dated 10 November 1866 (not included here), LNT had written that one of their carriage wheels had broken and that they had had to wait an hour and a half for repairs (PSS 83: 114).

174 Egor Mikhajlovich — manager of Marija Nikolaevna’s estate. LNT used him as a prototype for the foremaan Egor Mikhajlovich in Polikushka.

175 Khitrovo — the estate of the Barons Del’vig (see Letter Nº 23, Note 155).

176 Ljubov’ Antonovna (Ljubochka) Del’vig — sister to the poet Anton Antonovich Del’vig.

177 Englishwoman Jenny Tarsey served as a governess in the family of LNT’s friend, Tula landowner Evgenij Vladimirovich L’vov (1817–1896). Her sister Hannah Tarsey (ca1845–?) looked after the Tolstoys’ children from 1866 to 1872, then went with the Kuzminskijs to Kutais (in Georgia) to be governess to SAT’s sister Tanja’s children, until she married a local prince Dmitrij Georgievich Machutadze in 1874.

178 Grand Duchess Marija Fëdorovna (née Princess Marija Sofija Frederika Dagmara; 1847–1928) — wife of Tsarevich Aleksandr Aleksandrovich, the future Emperor Alexander III, who reigned from 1881 until his death in 1894.

179 Iosif Vasil’evich Varvarinskij (1811–1878) — a professor at the hospital therapeutic clinic of Moscow University.

181 Pëtr Alekseevich Severtsev (also spelt: Severtsov; 1844–1884) — later married to SAT’s cousin Ol’ga Vjacheslavovna Shidlovskaja (1849–1909).

182 Vasilij Vladimirovich Islen’ev (1824–1872) — a staff-captain, second cousin to SAT.

183 Dmitrij Dmitrievich Zajkovskij (1838–1867) — a medical doctor and docent of Moscow University and his sister Èmilija Dmitrievna Zajkovskaja (1846–1922). Their sister Ol’ga Dmitrievna Zajkovskaja (1844–1919) was a childhood friend of SAT’s.

185 Nikolaj Vasil’evich Sushkov (1796–1871) — a writer, and his wife Dar’ja Ivanovna Sushkova (née Tjutcheva; 1806–1879) — sister to the poet Fëdor Ivanovich Tjutchev, along with her niece Ekaterina Fëdorovna Tjutcheva. LNT was often a guest at the Sushkovs’ literary salons in the 1850s.

186 Princess Marija Aleksandrovna Meshcherskaja (née Countess Panina; 1830–1903) — wife of the Moscow school-district trustee Nikolaj Petrovich Meshcherskij, grandson to prominent historian Nikolaj Mikhajlovich Karamzin.

187 Probably one of the daughters of Senator Prince Aleksandr Karlovich Liven (1801–1880) and Ekaterina Nikitichna (née Pankratova; 1818–1867): either Anna Aleksandrovna (1840–1871), wife of the Tolstoys’ future Moscow neighbour Vasilij Aleksandrovich Olsuf’ev, or Elena Aleksandrovna (1842–1915), a Lady-in-waiting, who served as Headmistress of the Elizabeth Institute for Girls from the Nobility in Moscow in the 1880s and 1890s.

188 mixed-up fairy godmother — an approximation of LNT’s pet name [krëstnaja putanitsa] for his sister-in-law Tanja’s wealthy godmother, who gave Tanja money to go abroad for treatment.

189 Prince Pëtr Andreevich Vjazemskij (1792–1878) — a soldier in the War of 1812 (against Napoleon’s invading troops), one of the prototypes for Pierre Bezukhov in War and Peace.

190 Passenger rail service between Moscow and Tula commenced in the mid-1860’s.

191 Nanny Tat’jana Filippovna had come down with cancer and could no longer take care of children; she lived at the Pirogovo estate.

192 Rumjantsev Museum — associated with the Rumjantsev Library (see Letter Nº 20, Note 137).

193 Throughout the book this term (when italicised) is used the European sense of a secondary school aimed at preparing pupils for university entrance, much like a secondary-level ‘college’ in Britain or Canada.

194 Varvara Stepanovna (Varin’ka) Perfil’eva (?–1890) — see Letter Nº 16, Note 94.

195 Princess Elena Sergeevna Gorchakova (1824–1897) — third cousin to LNT, a writer and headmistress of a Moscow gymnasium.

196 Aleksandr Pavlovich Rastsvetov (1823–1902) — an assistant at the medical faculty clinic at Moscow University; from 1868 he served as a professor of operative surgery.

199 Aleksandr Grigor’evich Michurin — son of a serf musician and music teacher to the Tolstoys.

200 Pëtr Andreevich Behrs (1849–1910) — younger brother to SAT; later he would serve as special commissioner for the governor of Moscow and superintendent of police at Klin (the home town of the composer Tchaikovsky).

201 Aleksandr Mikhajlovich (Sasha) Kuzminskij (1845–1917) — SAT’s second cousin; in 1867 he married her younger sister Tat’jana Andreevna (Tanja) Behrs.

202 Mikhail Mikhajlovich Bibikov (1848–1918) — son of Mikhail Illarionovich Bibikov (1818–1881) and Sof’ja Nikitichna Bibikova (née Murav’ëva; 1828–1892), the daughter of Decembrist rebellion organiser Nikita Mikhajlovich Murav’ëv (1795–1843).

203 On 16 June 1867 LNT wrote his wife while en route: “I forgot to tell you something very important: send Nikolka every day to keep watch at the beehive, and tell him to report how much swarming there has been and when, and tell the elder to watch, too” (PSS, 83: 138).

204 SAT’s sisters Elizaveta (Liza) and Tat’jana (Tanja) were not at home at the time; Tat’jana was at Yasnaya Polyana, while Elizaveta was with her father at the palace at Petrovsky Park.

205 Aleksandr Nikolaevich Bibikov (1827–1886) — the Tolstoys’ neighbour, owner of the Teljatinki estate located 3 versts from Yasnaya Polyana.

207 Pëtr Ivanovich Bartenev (1829–1912) — historian, bibliographer, editor of Russkij arkhiv. He was doing the proofreading for the edition of War and Peace that was being prepared for printing at Ris’ printshop.

208 the exhibit — an ethnographic exhibit organised by the Imperial Society of Lovers of Natural Science.

209 Prince Romual’d Konstantinovich Gedrojts (1842–1899) — a Polish noble, married (as of 1867) to Varvara Fëdorovna Brevern, a friend of the Tolstoys.

210 Dr. Grigorij Antonovich Zakhar’in (1829–1895) — a doctor at the therapeutic clinic of Moscow University.

211 Jurij Fëdorovich Samarin (1819–1876) — a Slavophile writer and social activist.

213 our lovers — referring to SAT’s sister Tat’jana and her fiancé Aleksandr Mikhajlovich Kuzminskij.

214 Borodino (stress on last syllable) — a village in Mozhajsk Uezd, Moscow Gubernia, near the scene of a famous battle between the Russians and the French which took place on 26 August 1812. LNT wanted to view the battlefield for his description of this event in War and Peace.

215 Stepan Andreevich (Stëpa) Behrs (1855–1910) — SAT’s brother (the sixth of eight children in the family).

216 Ol’ga Dmitrievna Anikeeva (née Princess Gorchakova; 1834–1869) — LNT’s second cousin, once removed; a landowner in the settlement of Krasnovidovo, Mozhajsk Uezd, Moscow Gubernia.

217 LNT was carrying a letter to Princess Sof’ja Vasil’evna Volkonskaja (née Princess Urusova; 1809–1884), Mother Superior Sergija of the Spaso-Borodinskij Convent, founded in 1828 by Margarita Mikhajlovna Tuchkova (née Naryshkina), widow of Major–General Aleksandr Alekseevich Tuchkov (1778–1812), who had fallen at the Battle of Borodino.

218 Fëdor Fëdorovich Ris — owner of a printing-house in Moscow, where the first two editions of War and Peace were printed, and later Anna Karenina and LNT’s Readers [Knigi dlja chtenija] (1875).

219 SAT described this statement as “irony”, saying he was always ill in the city.

223 LNT was on his way to Samara for koumiss (fermented mare’s milk) treatments.

224 Ljubov’ Petrovna Il’ina (née Puzyreva; 1811–1885) — a Tula landowner, wife of Major Ivan Ivanovich Il’in (1799–1865), who had served there. The family lived in the Kremlin palace in the same building as the Behrs family.

225 Prince Sergej Vladimirovich Golitsyn (1823–1879) — brother of LNT’s Sevastopol’ comrade Prince Aleksandr Vladimirovich Golitsyn (1826–1864).

226 Baron Vladimir Mikhajlovich Mengden (1826–1910) — an Imperial government official for Polish affairs, later a member of the State Council.

228 Ivan Sergeevich Fonvizin (1822–1889) — Governor of Moscow (1868–1879), a comrade of LNT’s brother Nikolaj at Moscow University.

229 General Stepan Vasil’evich Perfil’ev, his wife Anastasija Sergeevna Perfil’eva (née Lanskaja; 1813–1891), their son Vasilij Stepanovich Perfil’ev (see Letter Nº 16, Note 94).

230 Aleksandr Mikhajlovich Sukhotin (1827–1905) — staff cavalry captain, Tula landowner; brother to Sergej Mikhajlovich Sukhotin (see Letter Nº 13, Note 81).

231 Countess Aleksandra Andreevna Tolstaja (1817–1904) — LNT’s great aunt and close friend; a lady-in-waiting during the reigns of four Emperors: Nicholas I (1825–55), Alexander II (1855–81), Alexander III (1881–94), Nicholas II (1894–1917). She was also known by the French name Alexandrine.

232 Prince Nikolaj Ivanovich Trubetskoj (1797–1874) — Actual Privy Councillor, Ober-Hofmeister, Member of the State Council, Senator, Chairman of the Moscow Board of Trustees.

233 Ivan Grigor’evich Solovëv (1819–1881) — bookseller, LNT’s book distributor.

235 Livadija (Livadiya) — the Tsar’s royal estate and summer palace near Yalta in the Crimea. In February 1945 it was the site of the Yalta Conference, bringing together Sir Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin to discuss the ongoing Second World War and especially the post-war development of Europe. The letter in question has been lost.

236 Dar’ja Aleksandrovna (Dasha) Kuzminskaja (1868–1873) — eldest daughter to SAT’s sister Tat’jana Andreevna (Tanja).

239 Ellen Wood (published as Mrs. Henry Wood; née Price; 1814–1887) — English author, widely known abroad. Three of her works are to be found in the Yasnaya Polyana library: East Lynne (1861), Oswald Cray (1864), The Red Court Farm (1868).

240 Lev L’vovich (Lëva, Lëvushka) Tolstoj (1869–1945) — the Tolstoys’ fourth child (after Sergej, Tat’jana and Il’ja).

241 Tat’jana Andreevna Ergol’skaja and Pelageja Il’inichna Jushkova, who were living at Yasnaya Polyana. See Letter Nº 5, Notes 33 and 39.

242 Vasilij Stepanovich (Vasin’ka) Perfil’ev — see Letter Nº 16, Note 94.

247 Pavel Mikhajlovich Leont’ev (1822–1875) — professor of classic philology at Moscow University.

248 The village of Karalyk in Samara Gubernia where LNT went for koumiss treatment in the summer of 1862.

249 Genrikh Genrikhovich Dikgof (1833–1911) — senior pastor at the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Moscow, later a bishop in the Evangelical Lutheran church.

250 The pastor’s mother, Elizaveta Dikgof (née von Strahlborn, 1803–1873) — widow to Karl-Genrikh Vil’gel’m Dikgof (1803–1862), Chief Superintendent of the Moscow Evangelical-Lutheran district and Senior Pastor of the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Moscow.

251 Stepan Andreevich (Stëpa) Behrs (SAT’s brother), who was accompanying LNT.

252 Possibly a reference either to Gen. Nikolaj Vladimirovich Mezentsov (?–1878), chief of the gendarmerie or to Lt-Gen. Pëtr Ivanovich Mezentsov (1824–1897), who headed the Moscow Cadet Corps.

253 Jakov Viktorovich Puare (1825–1877) — owner of an athletics facility in Moscow.

254 Starting on page 4 of the letter are to be found instructions for setting up the game, written in an unknown hand.

257 In his letter to SAT of 15 June 1871, Afanasij Fet (see Letter Nº 7, Note 51) advised her: “You need to use all your power to stop him (Lev Nikolaevich) from overworking himself the way he is doing. He should rest.” (S. A. Tolstaya, Letters to L. N. Tolstoy [Pis’ma k L. N. Tolstomu], 1936, p. 96).

258 Sergej Semënovich Urusov (1827–1897) was a close friend of LNT’s, who served with him in the Sevastopol’ conflict. In his letter to SAT he also expressed concern over LNT’s poor health (ibid., p. 96), attributing it at least in part to his intensive study of Ancient Greek, which he undertook during 1870–71.

259 Elizaveta Valer’janovna (Liza) Obolenskaja (see Letter Nº 6, Note 43) and her husband Prince Leonid Dmitrievich Obolenskij (1844–1888).

261 In this ‘last letter’, dated 18 June 1871, LNT complained: “The most painful thing of all about me is that because of my ill health, I feel only 1/10 of what I should. I have no mental, especially poetic, delights. I see everything as dead, for the same reason that I have not liked many people. And I now I myself see only what there is; I can understand, I can imagine; but I cannot penetrate with love, as I used to. If there is any poetic disposition at all, it is acidic and gushy, [it makes me] want to cry” (PSS, 83: 179).

262 Marija L’vovna (Masha) Tolstaja (1871–1906) — the Tolstoys’ fifth child (after Sergej, Tat’jana, Il’ja and Lev).

263 On 18 June 1871 Aleksandr Mikhajlovich (Sasha) Kuzminskij (husband to SAT’s sister Tat’jana Andreevna) left for his new government posting in Kutais.

264 Prince Leonid Dmitrievich Obolenskij (1844–1888), husband to Marija Nikolaevna Tolstaja’s daughter Elizaveta Valer’janovna (Liza); the other “girl” referred to here is Elizaveta’s sister Varvara Valer’janovna (Varja).

265 Marija Afanas’evna Arbuzova (1818–post 1900) — nanny to the Tolstoys’ older children.

266 Ivan Vasil’evich Suvorov (1824–1912), who went with him to Samara for koumiss.

267 Kostin’ka — an acquaintance of LNT’s from Murom, who was also taking koumiss treatments.

268 Baron Nikolaj Rodrigovich Bistrom — son of Rodrig Grigor’evich Bistrom (1810–1886), who was a nobleman from Kurljand Gubernia, from whom LNT bought land in Samara Gubernia in 1878.

269 Arkadij Dmitrievich Stolypin (1822–1899) — general; father of the future Russian Prime Minister (1906–11) Pëtr Arkad’evich Stolypin (1862–1911); comrade to LNT during the defence of Sevastopol.

270 SAT’s brother Aleksandr Andreevich (Sasha) Behrs; the letter has not been preserved.

272 Tat’jana Andreevna (i.e. SAT’s sister Tanja) was planning to join her husband in Kutais.

273 Baron Fëdor Ivanovich Offenberg (1839–1872) — owner of the Aljab’evo estate 4 versts from Nikol’skoe-Vjazemskoe.

274 Elizaveta Valer’janova (Liza) Obolenskaja, who was living at Yasnaya Polyana at the time.

276 On 8–9 July 1871 LNT wrote to his wife: “Only a week before I leave, i.e. starting on the 24th, stop writing, and write me on the 25th, say, to Nizhnij [Novgorod], General Delivery, and then on the 27th and 28th to Moscow, General Delivery” (PSS, 83: 195–96).

279 Stepanida Trifonovna Ivanova (?–1886) — the Behrs’ elderly housekeeper, who later cooked for the Kuzminskijs.

280 The reference here is to the Tolstoys’ fourth child, Lev L’vovich (Lëva, Lëlja), and to LNT’s niece Varvara Valer’janovna (Varja).

281 Vera Aleksandrovna (Verochka) Kuzminskaja (1871–ca1940) — the third child of Tat’jana Andreevna (Tanja) Kuzminskaja and Aleksandr Mikhajlovich Kuzminskij.

284 Egor Aleksandrovich Timrot (1831–1908) — a lawyer in Samara, LNT’s neighbour next door to his Samara farmstead.

286 The deed is to the land in Samara Gubernia acquired by LNT, validated in Samara on 9 September 1871.

287 Timofej Mikhajlovich Fokanov (1822–1891) — a Yasnaya Polyana peasant who served as foreman of LNT’s Samara farmstead.

288 LNT had left for Orenburg with his nephew Nikolaj Valer’janovich Tolstoj (1850–1879), eldest son of Marija Nikolaevna, to buy some horses. They took the train from Moscow to Nizhnij Novgorod, then went by steamer down the Volga.

290 LNT was travelling down the Volga on a steamer of the Samolët shipping line.

291 One of the sons of the wealthy Orenburg merchant Mikhail Stepanovich Deev (1792–1856).

292 Sharik — a horse which had been shipped to Yasnaya Polyana from the Kirghiz steppes.

293 Nikolaj Andreevich Kryzhanovskij (1818–1888) — an acquaintance of LNT’s from the Sevastopol’ campaign, who served as Governor-General of Orenburg from 1865 to 1881.

294 From 1841 to 1847 LNT lived in Kazan’ with his guardian-aunt Pelageja Il’inichna Jushkova (see Letter Nº 5, Note 14). He was a student at Kazan’ University, and had a youthful romance with Zinaida Modestovna Molostvova (1828–1897).

295 Sof’ja Robertovna (Sofesh) Vojtkevich (1844–1880) — married (in 1877) to Dmitrij Alekseevich D’jakov.

296 Jules Rey (ca1850–?) — Swiss tutor to the Tolstoys’ older sons; lived at Yasnaya Polyana June 1875 to January 1878.

297 At the time LNT was working on Part V of Anna Karenina, which was published in Russkij vestnik, Nº 12 (1876).

298 Concerning her trip to Petersburg in January 1877, SAT wrote in a letter to her husband (not included here): “I went to consult about my health with Dr. S. P. Botkin. I was ill for a long time after giving birth to a stillborn girl Varvara, as a result of my sufferings from whooping-cough and peritonitis” (Letters to L. N. Tolstoy [Pis’ma k L. N. Tolstomu], p. 139). She stayed with her mother, Ljubov’ Aleksandrovna Behrs. Dr. Sergej Petrovich Botkin (1832–1889) was a professor of therapeutics at St. Petersburg’s Medical-Surgical Academy.

299 Vladimir Konstantinovich Istomin (1848–1914) — a former regimental chum of SAT’s brother; a writer and publisher with Moskovskie vedomosti.

300 Nikolaevsky Express — an overnight train between Moscow and St. Petersburg.

301 The reference is to LNT’s brother Sergej Nikolaevich Tolstoj and SAT’s uncle Konstantin Aleksandrovich Islavin (1827–1903) — at the time, secretary of the journal Russkij vestnik, which printed all but the last instalment of Anna Karenina (up to April 1877).

303 Nikolaj Nikolaevich Strakhov (1828–1896) — librarian with the St. Petersburg Public Library, also a philosopher and critic, who became closely acquainted with the Tolstoys (he was often a summer guest at Yasnaya Polyana), and LNT’s chief editorial consultant. See my editions The Tolstoys’ correspondence with N. N. Strakhov (2000) and Leo Tolstoy & Nikolaj Strakhov: Complete correspondence, 2 vols. (2003).

304 Sergej Petrovich Botkin (1832–1889) — a famous physician and professor of therapeutics at Moscow’s Medical-Surgical Academy, whom SAT consulted.

305 SAT’s brother Pëtr Andreevich Behrs with his wife Ol’ga Dmitrievna Postnikova and daughter Evgenija Petrovna Behrs.

308 Praskov’ja Fëdorovna (Polina) Perfil’eva (née Tolstaja; 1831–1887) — LNT’s second cousin, twice removed.

309 Countess Aleksandra Andreevna (Alexandrine) Tolstaja — see Letter Nº 37, Note 231.

310 In the December 1876 issue of Russkij vestnik were published Chapters 20–29 (Part V) of Anna Karenina. The newspaper Golos (Nº 13, 1877) ran the following review: “The latest issue of Russkij vestnik gives us only 50 pages of text of Anna Karenina — but what a literary treasure these page are […] In terms of psychological insight, Count L. Tolstoy has, at the present moment, not a single equal in any foreign literature, and the only writer in ours that could be compared with him is possibly Dostoevsky.” The journal Novoe vremja (Nº 303, 1 January 1877) said that “apart from the new chapters of Anna Karenina, one cannot point to anything worthy of being considered an exceptional work [of literature]”.

311 The Tolstoys’ five children to date: Sergej (Serëzha), Tat’jana (Tanja), Il’ja (Iljusha), Lev (Lëlja) and Marija (Masha).

312 Vladimir Ivanovich Rozhdestvenskij — a seminarian, tutor to the Tolstoys’ older children.

313 Besides Rozhdestvenskij, three tutors were present at Yasnaya Polyana: M. Jules Rey, Mlle Gachet (a Swiss governess who joined the Tolstoy household in 1876) and Miss Annie Phillips (who had a brief romance with Mr. Rey).

315 Konstantin Aleksandrovich (Kostin’ka) Islavin — see Letter Nº 47, Note 4.

316 Nikolaj Alekseevich Ljubimov — see Letter Nº 15, Note 87. The editor of Russkij vestnik, Mikhail Katkov, did not want to publish Part VIII of Anna Karenina in the form envisaged by LNT because of the author’s disapproval (as expressed in this part) of the movement of Russian volunteers aiding the Serbs. LNT refused to compromise by changing the text and decided not to publish the last part of Anna Karenina in Russkij vestnik.

317 An excerpt from the prayer of Saint Ephrem the Syrian: “Grant unto me, Thy servant, a spirit of chastity (integrity), humility, patience and love”.

318 On the advice of Nikolaj Nikolaevich Strakhov, LNT printed Part VIII of Anna Karenina as a separate booklet, which in printing terms could only take place if the manuscript were at least 10 printer’s sheets in length.

319 The Optina Pustyn’ Monastery, located in Kozel’ Uezd, Kaluga Gubernia, has been visited by many Russian writers, including Nikolaj Gogol’, Fëdor Dostoevsky, Vladimir Solovëv and Lev Tolstoy. Concerning LNT’s trips to Optina Pustyn’, see My Life, III.21, III.80, V.39, VII.18; also S. A. Tolstaya, “Chetyre poseshchenija L. N. Tolstogo monastyrja Optina Pustyn’” [Four visits by L. N. Tolstoy to the Optina Pustyn’ Monastery] (1913).

320 Prince Dmitrij Aleksandrovich Obolenskij (1822–1881) — Actual Privy Councillor, Member of the State Council.

321 Aleksandr Mikhajlovich (Sasha) Kuzminskij, husband to SAT’s younger sister Tat’jana Andreevna.

322 Aleksandr Ivanovich Levashev (1807–1893), a wealthy landowner in Krapivna Uezd, Tula Gubernia.

323 ‘nest’ — referring to a room at the Hotel Viktoria, where L. N.’s sister Marija Nikolaevna often stayed with her children.

324 In connection with his historical investigation into the period of the Decembrist rebellion in 1825, LNT borrowed two books from Istomin: Russkaja starina [Russian antiquity] and Russkij arkhiv [The Russian archive].

325 Pëtr Nikolaevich Svistunov (1803–1889) and Aleksandr Petrovich Beljaev (1803–1885).

326 Mikhail Illarionovich Bibikov (1818–1881), son of First Lieutenant Illarion Mikhajlovich Bibikov (1793–1860), who on the day of the Decembrists’ uprising (14 December 1825) was in the company of the Emperor; he tried to persuade the rebellious troops of the Marine Guard to disperse, but was wounded by the soldiers.

327 Sof’ja Nikitichna Bibikova (née Murav’ëva; 1829–1892) — daughter to Decembrist Nikita Mikhajlovich Murav’ëv (1795–1843), born in exile in Siberia. She eventually married Mikhail Illarionovich Bibikov.

328 Marija Dmitrievna Kolokol’tsova (née D’jakova; 1850–1903) — daughter to LNT’s friend, Dmitrij Alekseevich D’jakov.

329 Vladimir Aleksandrovich Islavin — SAT’s uncle (see Letter Nº 5, Note 31).

331 LNT was on his way to Petersburg through Moscow to draw up the deed to the Samarian plots of land which he had acquired from Baron Nikolaj Rodrigovich Bistrom (see Letter Nº 42, Note 268), as well as to gather materials from the Decembrists era for a novel he had in mind. In a note sent to his wife from Tula on 3 or 4 March 1878 he informed her that the train to Moscow would be delayed several hours.

332 my little one — Andrej L’vovich (Andrjusha) Tolstoj (1877–1916), the Tolstoys’ sixth surviving child, after Sergej (Serëzha), Tat’jana (Tanja), Il’ja (Iljusha), Lev (Lëva, Lëlja) and Marija (Masha) — plus three that did not survive: Pëtr (Petja; 1873–1873), Nikolaj (Kolja; 1874–1875), and (Varja; 1875-1875).

333 Vladimir Sergeevich Solovëv (1853–1900) — a prominent Russian philosopher, poet and translator, son of a famous historian, Sergej Mikhajlovich Solovëv (1820–1879). Tolstoy was hoping to attend his public lectures in Petersburg in early 1878.

334 Jules Nief (real name: Vicomte de Montels; ca1843–?) — French tutor to the older Tolstoy boys, replacing Jules Rey; he lived at Yasnaya Polyana from January 1878 to October 1879.

335 Lent in 1878 lasted from 27 February to 15 April according to the Russian Orthodox (Julian) calendar.

336 Amalija Fëdorovna Funk — German language tutor to the Tolstoy children, who came to Yasnaya Polyana from Tula.

337 Evgenij Kurdjumov — a gymnasium pupil from Tula, who came to tutor the Tolstoys’ sons.

338 Vasilij Ivanovich Alekseev (1848–1919) — maths teacher for the Tolstoy children.

339 Evgenija Ivanovna Pushchina (1838–1900) — a lady LNT stopped to see in Tula. There he met with her sister-in-law (husband’s brother’s wife), Anastasija Kondrat’evna Pushchina (née Ryleeva; 1820–1890), daughter to a Decembrist named Kondratij Fëdorovich Ryleev (1795–1826).

340 Countess Aleksandra Andreevna (Alexandrine) Tolstaja — see Letter Nº 37, Note 231.

342 Countess Praskov’ja Vasil’evna Tolstaja (née Barykova; 1796–1879) — mother to Aleksandra Andreevna Tolstaja, wife to Andrej Andreevich Tolstoj (1771–1844), whose brother was LNT’s grandfather Il’ja Andreevich Tolstoj (1757–1820).

344 Her Ladyship — an approximate English equivalent of Eë Sijatel’stvo.

345 On 12 June 1878 LNT, accompanied by his sons Il’ja and Lev, their tutor Jules Nief and servant Sergej Petrovich Arbuzov (see Letter Nº 4, Note 4), set off from Yasnaya Polyana for his Samara farmstead.

346 Dmitrij Fëdorovich Ermolov — chamberlain from Simbirsk; graduated from Tsarskoe Selo Lycée in 1874.

347 While stopped at a way-station, LNT lost his wallet with all the money (around 300 roubles) he had taken for the trip.

348 Nikolaj Mikhajlovich Nagornov (1845–1896) — husband to LNT’s niece Varvara Valer’janovna (Varja) Tolstaja. He was responsible for keeping track of LNT’s accounts, including book sales. For LNT’s letter to him dated 14 June 1878, see PSS, 62: 433.

349 Aleksandr Grigor’evich Novoselov (1834–1887) — headmaster of the Tula gymnasium where on 14 June 1878 the Tolstoys’ eldest son Sergej L’vovich (Serëzha) sat his Latin examination.

350 Geschwister — the German word for ‘siblings’. The reference is to SAT’s sister Tat’jana (Tanja) and brother Stepan (Stëpa), who were visiting Yasnaya Polyana at the time.

351 Andrjusha, Masha — the Tolstoys’ sixth and fifth (surviving) children Andrej and Marija, respectively.

354 Strakhov was on his way to see poet Afanasij Afanas’evich Fet (see Letter Nº 7, Note 51) at his Vorob’ëvka estate in Kursk Gubernia.

355 Baron Anton Aleksandrovich (Antosha) Del’vig (1861–1919) — son of Tula landowners (friends of the Tolstoys); a future regional politician.

356 Aleksandr Grigor’evich Michurin (music teacher) — see Letter 33, Note 199.

358 Ivan Grigor’evich Solovëv (1819–1881) — Moscow bookseller, commissioned by the Tolstoys in connection with the sale of War and Peace.

359 The boys Il’ja (Iljushka) and Lev (Lëlja) also wrote letters to their mother on the same sheet of paper.

360 Mukhamet Romanych Rakhmetullin — a Bashkir who traditionally made koumiss for LNT.

361 Aleksej Alekseevich Bibikov (1837–1914) — manager of LNT’s Samara farmstead.

362 SAT commented on this statement: “I got upset at his mention of God, since it completely shut out all earthly concerns” (PSS, 83: 263).