[344.] V. P. Gaideburov, from 1894 on, editor and publisher of Nediela.
[345.] In English in the original.
[346.] This intention was carried out by Tolstoi, at least in regard to Resurrection, which he gave to the publication Niva, edited by A. F. Marx, who paid twelve thousand roubles for the first printing. The money was used by Tolstoi in aid of the emigrating Dukhobors.
Originally, Tolstoi suggested selling the copyright of three of his novels, The Devil, Resurrection, and Father Sergius, to English and American papers on advantageous terms. Then he decided not to publish The Devil. At first he thought that he would not make a final revision of Resurrection and of Father Sergius, but would give them over to be printed straight away, just as they were written. But later he re-read Resurrection and little by little began to work on it with such absorption “as he had not experienced in a long time.” Later Tolstoi decided to give only Resurrection for the benefit of the Dukhobors and did not begin to work on Father Sergius.
[347.] Arvid Järnefelt. The well-known Finnish writer who held the same opinions as Tolstoi. After graduating from Helsingfors University, he prepared himself for the career of magistrate, but becoming acquainted with the writings of Tolstoi, he brusquely changed his life. He learnt the trade of cobbler and locksmith and later, at the end of the nineties, he bought a plot of land and began to till the soil, not ceasing his literary labours, however. He translated many works of Tolstoi into Finnish. The novels of Järnefelt are My Native Land, Children of the Earth and several stories which are translated into Russian. The acquaintance of Järnefelt with Tolstoi began with his sending his book called My Awakening to Tolstoi in 1895. It was in Finnish, and with it he sent a translation of one of his chapters: “Why I Did Not Undertake the Post of Judge.” This chapter, together with an accompanying letter by Järnefelt, Tolstoi included in his manuscript No. 4, Archives of L. N. Tolstoi.
Tolstoi’s letter to Järnefelt, mentioned in the Journal, is as follows:
“Although we have never seen each other, we know and love each other, and therefore I boldly turn to you with a request to do me a great service.
“The matter which I bring before you ought to remain unknown to any one except to us, and therefore speak to no one about this letter, but answer me (Station Kozlovka on the Moscow-Kursk Railway), where you are now, and whether you are ready to help me. I am writing thus briefly, because I have little hope that with the insufficient address, my letter will reach you.
“Leo Tolstoi.”
In explanation of this letter Järnefelt communicated the following to the editors: “I quickly answered Tolstoi’s question. I was convinced that he wanted to leave Yasnaya and to plan an escape. But when we met later in Moscow in 1899, Tolstoi immediately said: ‘Yes, yes, you understood me, but the temptation passed by me in time.’ And then glancing about him with a deep sigh of pain he said, ‘You will excuse me, Järnefelt, that I live as I do, but probably it is as it ought to be.’ And we did not speak any more about this matter.”
And so, in his letter to Järnefelt of December 16, 1898, i.e., still before this meeting with him, Tolstoi wrote: “If I should ever meet you, which I want to very much, I will then tell you what kind of help I expected from you. Now the temptation which forced me to seek help from you has passed.”
In his letter to V. G. Chertkov of July 21st of that year, i.e., three days after the above mentioned note in the Journal, Tolstoi wrote: “Read this to no one. I teach others, but do not know how to live myself. For how many years have I given myself the question, Is it fitting that I continue to live as I am living, or shall I go away?—and I cannot decide. I know that everything is decided by renouncing oneself and when I attain that then everything is clear. But they are rare moments.”