Wen | Li Sida
Years later, tolstoy, who had already achieved fame, still vividly remembers the afternoon when he was 5 years old. That day, his favorite eldest brother, Nikolai, told him and his siblings a secret: a spell of happiness for all mankind was written on a small green stick and buried in the woods behind their house.
"As soon as people find this stick," Nikolai told him, "people will be happy, they will not get sick again, they will not be angry with others." At that time, everyone will become 'ant brothers'. ”
The adult Tolstoy did not forget this "ant brother" who brought happiness to all, even though he already knew that it was only conceived by Nikolai according to the "Bohemian Brotherhood". In his memoirs, he wrote with emotion how his children had surrounded two chairs, draped themselves in shawls, and sat down to snuggle together, imagining themselves to be "ant brothers" of love, kindness, and happiness.
Tolstoy and his brothers
Even compared to most modern Russians, Leo Tolstoy is a winner in life. As the son of a traditional Russian aristocratic family, Tolstoy owned more than 6,000 Russian mothers and 300 horses. In addition to his huge family fortune, he was a naturally fortunate "koi": in pursuit of glory, he participated in the Crimean War, which was known for its bloodshed, and fought on the front line of Sevastopol. In this battle, 13,000 of the 35,000 Russian officers and men stationed in Sevastopol were killed, but Tolstoy, who remained on duty at Fort 4, the fiercest allied attack, was unscathed and wrote several field reports based on his own combat experience. Because of the high patriotic enthusiasm and excellent writing shown in "Sevastopol in December 1854", Tolstoy became a new star in the entire Russian literary circle. At the end of 1855, Tolstoy returned from the front, and the entire Literary and Artistic Circles of St. Petersburg paid tribute to him like a hero who welcomed triumph.
Emerging in the star-studded literary scene and gaining the recognition of the cultural elite is a rare achievement for ordinary people, but it is only a small matter for Tolstoy, and he has more important things in St. Petersburg - to establish a good connection with his cousin Alessandrin An Tolstoya. The elder was a governess and female official of the daughter of Tsar Nicholas I, and was well-connected in the court. Although Tolstoy may not later admit it, the importance of capital outside of this ability to him is self-evident. In fact, it was through this relationship that Tolstoy had always had direct contact with several tsars, and could write petitions, complaints, or complaints to the supreme ruler of Russia, thus avoiding many troubles in the future.
Tolstoy on his 80th birthday, photographed by his wife Sophia
It was with these innate and acquired advantages that the entire 1860s was a period of rise for Tolstoy's career. In 1862, he married his wife, Sophia Biels, who was 16 years younger. After his new marriage, he began to write a long story, "War and Peace". After a few years of serialization, almost all russian literate people are intently reading the novel, looking forward to the final finale. When "War and Peace" ended, the fame of the big V, the freedom of family finances, the status of idols... All the achievements that the worldly man can dream of and chase, but cannot ask for, are like ripe fruits before Tolstoy, leaving him to choose. At this time, Tolstoy is not only a model of happiness in the eyes of others, but even he himself feels that he, who has zero capital outside of ability, can rely on his own efforts to reach the peak of life, "I am really happy to go home!" (Tolstoy's letter to a friend)
However, this was only a flash in the pan. Soon, the winner of life in the eyes of others, the protagonist of the opening, fell irrepressibly from the peak of happiness to the abyss, and his heart was full of unspeakable depression and pain. During the creation of War and Peace, he wrote to a friend groaning in pain: "I was depressed, I didn't write anything, I felt that writing was really like hard labor. And after the end, he did not have the slightest sense of accomplishment, but was depressed, and privately told his friend (Sergey Urusov) that he never wanted to live again, and that he had never felt so miserable in his life.
The causes of happiness are generally the same, but the roots of pain are not similar, what is it that plagues this outward count, so that when outsiders feel happy, his heart is full of pain and unpeace, and he even feels that he is so miserable that he wants to commit suicide? At this moment, no one knows the answer, his wife Sophia perceives Tolstoy's abnormality, but can not understand this inner distress, just hope that he can open a "new fan" series as soon as possible, and some friends feel that this is just a sensitive literary middle-aged moan, even Tolstoy, I am afraid that he does not understand what is restless in his body, and what is impulsive and torn in the depths of his soul.