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part05+-第16部分

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Revisiting Moscow after an absence of thirty…five years; the most



surprising thing to me was that there had been so little change。



With the exception of the new gallery of Russian art; and the



bazaar opposite the sacred gate of the Kremlin; things seemed as



I had left them just after the accession of Alexander II。 There



were the same unkempt streets; the same peasantry clad in



sheepskins; the same troops of beggars; sturdy and dirty; the



same squalid crowds crossing themselves before the images at the



street corners; the same throngs of worshipers knocking their



heads against the pavements of churches; and above all loomed;



now as then; the tower of Ivan and the domes of St。 Basil;



gloomy; gaudy; and barbaric。 Only one change had taken place



which interested me: for the first time in the history of Russia;



a man of world…wide fame in literature and thought was abiding



thereCount Leo Tolstoi。







On the evening of my arrival I went with my secretary to his



weekly reception。 As we entered his house on the outskirts of the



city; two servants in evening dress came forward; removed our fur



coats; and opened the doors into the reception…room of the



master。 Then came a surprise。 His living…room seemed the cabin of



a Russian peasant。 It was wainscoted almost rudely and furnished



very simply; and there approached us a tall; gaunt Russian;



unmistakably born to command; yet clad as a peasant; his hair



thrown back over his ears on either side; his flowing blouse kept



together by a leathern girdle; his high jack…boots completing the



costume。 This was Tolstoi。







Nothing could be more kindly than his greeting。 While his dress



was that of a peasant; his bearing was the very opposite; for;



instead of the depressed; demure; hangdog expression of the



average muzhik; his manner; though cordial; was dignified and



impressive。 Having given us a hearty welcome; he made us



acquainted with various other guests。 It was a singular



assemblage。 There were foreigners in evening dress; Moscow



professors in any dress they liked; and a certain number of



youth; evidently disciples; who; though clearly not of the



peasant class; wore the peasant costume。 I observed these with



interest but certainly as long as they were under the spell of



the master they communicated nothing worth preserving; they



seemed to show 〃the contortions of the sibyl without the



inspiration。〃







The professors were much more engaging。 The University of Moscow



has in its teaching body several strong men; and some of these



were present。 One of them; whose department was philosophy;



especially interested and encouraged me by assurances that the



movement of Russian philosophy is 〃back to Kant。〃 In the strange



welter of whims and dreams which one finds in Russia; this was to



me an unexpected evidence of healthful thought。







Naturally; I soon asked to be presented to the lady of the house;



and the count escorted us through a series of rooms to a salon



furnished much like any handsome apartment in Paris or St。



Petersburg; where the countess; with other ladies; all in full



evening dress; received us cordially。 This sudden transition from



the peasant cabin of the master to these sumptuous rooms of the



mistress was startling; it seemed like scene…shifting at a



theater。







After some friendly talk; all returned to the rooms of the master



of the house; where tea was served at a long table from the



bubbling brazen urnthe samovar; and though there were some



twenty or thirty guests; nothing could be more informal。 All was



simple; kindly; and unrestrained。







My first question was upon the condition of the people。 Our



American legation had corresponded with Count Tolstoi and his



family as to distributing a portion of the famine fund sent from



the United States; hence this subject naturally arose at the



outset。 He said that the condition of the peasants was still very



bad; that they had very generally eaten their draught…animals;



burned portions of their buildings to keep life in their bodies;



and reduced themselves to hopeless want。 On my suggesting that



the new commercial treaty with Germany might help matters; he



thought that it would have but little effect; since only a small



portion of the total product of Russian agriculture is consumed



abroad。 This led him to speak of some Americans and Englishmen



who had visited the famine…stricken districts; and; while he



referred kindly to them all; he seemed especially attracted by



the Quaker John Bellows of Gloucester; England; the author of the



wonderful little French dictionary。 This led him to say that he



sympathized with the Quakers in everything save their belief in



property; that in this they were utterly illogical; that property



presupposes force to protect it。 I remarked that most American



Quakers knew nothing of such force; that none of them had ever



seen an American soldier; save during our Civil War; and that



probably not one in hundreds of them had ever seen a soldier at



all。 He answered; 〃But you forget the policeman。〃 He evidently



put policemen and soldiers in the same categoryas using force



to protect property; and therefore to be alike abhorred。







I found that to his disbelief in any right of ownership literary



property formed no exception。 He told me that; in his view; he



had no right to receive money for the permission to print a book。



To this I naturally answered that by carrying out this doctrine



he would simply lavish large sums upon publishers in every



country of Europe and America; many of them rich and some of them



piratical; and that in my opinion he would do a much better thing



by taking the full value of his copyrights and bestowing the



proceeds upon the peasantry starving about him。 To which he



answered that it was a question of duty。 To this I agreed; but



remarked that beneath this lay the question what this duty really



was。 It was a pleasure to learn from another source that the



countess took a different view of it; and that she had in some



way secured the proceeds of his copyrights for their very large



and interesting family。 Light was thus thrown on Tolstoi's



remark; made afterward; that women are not so self…sacrificing as



men; that a man would sometimes sacrifice his family for an idea;



but that a woman would not。







He then went on to express an interest in the Shakers; and



especially in Frederick Evans。 He had evidently formed an idea of



them very unlike the reality; in fact; the Shaker his imagination



had developed was as different from a Lebanon Shaker as an eagle



from a duck; and his notion of their influence on American



society was comical。







He spoke at some length regarding religion in Russia; evidently



believing that its present dominant form is soon to pass away。 I



asked him how then he could account for the fact that while in



other countries women are greatly in the majority at church



services; in every Russian church the majority are men; and that



during the thirty…five years since my last visit to Moscow this



tendency had apparently increased。 He answered; 〃All this is on



the surface; there is much deeper thought below; and the great



want of Russia is liberty to utter it。〃 He then gave some



examples to show this; among them the case of a gentleman and



lady in St。 Petersburg; whose children had been taken from them



and given to Princess ; their grandmother; because the latter



is of the Orthodox Church and the former are not。 I answered that



I had seen the children; that their grandmother had told me that



their mother was a screaming atheist with nihilistic tendencies;



who had left her husband and was bringing up the children in a



scandalous way;teaching them to abjure God and curse the Czar;



that their father had thought it his duty to give all his



property away and work as a laborer; that therefore shethe



grandmotherhad secured an order from the Emperor empowering her



to take charge of the children; that I had seen the children at



their grandmother's house; and that they had seemed very happy。



Tolstoi insisted that this statement by the grandmother was



simply made to cover the fact that the children were taken from



the mother because her belief was not of the orthodox pattern。 My



opinion is that Tolstoi was mistaken; at least as to the father;



and that the father had been led to give away his property and



work with his hands in obedience to the ideas so eloquently



advocated by Tolstoi himself。 Unlike his master; this gentleman



appears not to have had the advantage of a wife who mitigated his



ideas。







Tolstoi also referred to the difficulties which translators had



found in securing publishers for his most recent book〃The



Kingdom of God。〃 On my assuring him that American publishers of



high standing would certainly be glad to take it; he said that he



had supposed the ideas in it so contrary to opinions dominant in



America as to prevent its publication there。







Returning to the subject of religion in Russia; he referred to



some curious incongruities; as; for example; the portrait of



Socrates forming part of a religious picture in the Annunciation



Church at the Kremlin。 He said that evidently some monk; who had



dipped into Plato; had thus placed Socrates among the precursors



of Christ。 I cited the reason assigned by Melanchtho
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