Tolstoy for the Young

By Leo Tolstoi

Leo Tolstoy was a Russian writer who is considered to be one of the greatest authors of all time.  Tolstoy’s novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina are among the most popular works of realist fiction.  This edition of Tolstoy for the Young includes a table of contents. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Charles River Editors
• Release date: Mar 22, 2018
• ISBN: 9781531280840

Leo Tolstoi

Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) is the author of War and Peace, Anna Karenina, The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Family Happiness, and other classics of Russian literature.

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TOLSTOY FOR THE YOUNG

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Leo Tolstoy

KYPROS PRESS

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Copyright © 2016 by Leo Tolstoy

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Tolstoy for the Young

EMELIAN AND THE EMPTY DRUM

THE GREAT BEAR

THE GODSON

TOLSTOY FOR THE YOUNG

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Translated by R.S. Townsend

EMELIAN AND THE EMPTY DRUM

Emelian was a labourer and worked for a master. He was walking through a field one day on his way to work, when a frog hopped in front of him and he just missed crushing it by stepping across. Suddenly some one called to him from behind. He turned, and there stood a beautiful maiden, who said to him, Why don’t you marry, Emelian?

How can I, dear maiden? I possess nothing but the clothes I stand up in, and who would have a husband like that?

Marry me, the maiden said.

Emelian looked at her in admiration.

I would with pleasure, he said, but how should we live?

What a thing to trouble about, indeed! the maiden said. One has only to work the more and sleep the less and one can always be clothed and fed.

Very well; let us marry, then, Emelian said. Where shall we live?

In the town.

Emelian and the maiden went to the town. She took him to a little house on the very edge and they married and set up housekeeping.

One day the King went for a drive beyond the town, and when passing Emelian’s gate, Emelian’s wife came out to look at him. When the King saw her he marvelled.

What a beauty! he thought. He stopped the carriage and called her to him.

Who are you? he asked.

Emelian the peasant’s wife.

How came a beauty like you to marry a peasant? he asked. You should have been a queen.

Thank you for your kind words, she said; a peasant husband is good enough for me.

The King talked to her a while and went on his way. When he returned to the palace Emelian’s wife did not go out of his head for a moment. The whole night he could not sleep and kept on thinking how he could take her away from Emelian, but no possible way occurred to him. He summoned his servants and asked them to think of a way.

And the servants said to him, "Get Emelian to come and be a labourer in the palace. We