ntarily a doubt arises, "on which side is truth,--on
the side of the thoughts which seem true and well-founded, or on the
side of the lives of others and myself?" I, too, was weighed down
by that same doubt when writing "The Kreutzer Sonata." I had not the
faintest presentiment that the train of thought I had started would lead
me whither it did. I was terrified by my own conclusion, and I was at
first disposed to reject it, but it was impossible not to hearken to the
voice of my reason and my conscience. And so, strange though they may
appear to many, opposed as they undoubtedly are to the trend and tenor
of our lives, and incompatible though they may prove with what I have
heretofore thought and uttered, I have no choice but to accept them.
"But man is weak," people will object. "His task should be regulated by
his strength."

This is tantamount to saying, "My hand is weak. I cannot draw a straight
line,--that is, a line which will be the shortest line between two given
points,--and so, in order to make it more easy for myself, I, intending
to draw a straight, will choose for my model a crooked line."

The weaker my hand, the greater the need that my model should be
perfect.

LEO TOLSTOI.

IVAN THE FOOL.

Copyright, 1891, by CHAS. L. WEBSTER & CO.

CHAPTER I

In a certain kingdom there lived a rich peasant, who had three
sons--Simeon (a soldier), Tarras-Briukhan (fat man), and Ivan (a
fool)--and one daughter, Milania, born dumb. Simeon went to war, to
serve the Czar; Tarras went to a city and became a merchant; and Ivan,
with his sister, remained at home to work on the farm.

For his valiant service in the army, Simeon received an estate with high
rank, and married a noble's daughter. Besides his large pay, he was in
receipt of a handsome income from his estate; yet he was unable to make
ends meet. What the husband saved, the wife wasted in extravagance. One
day Simeon went to the estate to collect his income, when the steward
informed him that there was no income, saying:

"We have neither horses, cows, fishing-nets, nor implements; it is
necessary first to buy everything, and then to look for income."

Simeon thereupon went to his father and said:

"You are rich, batiushka [little father], but you have given nothing
to me. Give me one-third of what you possess as my share, and I will
transfer it to my estate."

The old man replied: "You did not help to bring prosperity to our
household. F