Leo Tolstoy - The Cause of it All: “The best stories don't come from "good vs. bad" but "good vs. good.”

By Leo Tolstoy

Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was born on September 9th 1828 into Russian nobility but abandoned his title and through his interpretation of the ethical teachings of Jesus became a fervent Christian anarchist and pacifist. His writings on non-violence were to have a profound impact on Gandhi and Martin Luther King. His reputation for many people is based on the epic, in length and scope, of his novel ‘War & Peace’. For that alone Tolstoy would be widely considered to be one of the greatest novelists of all time. But such was the breadth of his talents that he was consummate at short stories, essays and plays. Here we publish ‘The Cause of it All’ one of those classic plays.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Copyright Group
• Release date: Oct 25, 2013
• ISBN: 9781783945139

Leo Tolstoy

Leo Tolstoy grew up in Russia, raised by a elderly aunt and educated by French tutors while studying at Kazen University before giving up on his education and volunteering for military duty. When writing his greatest works, War and Peace and Anna Karenina, Tolstoy drew upon his diaries for material. At eighty-two, while away from home, he suffered from declining health and died in Astapovo, Riazan in 1910.

Book preview

The Cause of it All by Leo Tolstoy

Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was born on September 9th 1828 into Russian nobility but abandoned his title and through his interpretation of the ethical teachings of Jesus became a fervent Christian anarchist and pacifist.  His writings on non-violence were to have a profound impact on Gandhi and Martin Luther King. His reputation for many people is based on the epic, in length and scope, of his novel ‘War & Peace’.  For that alone Tolstoy would be widely considered to be one of the greatest novelists of all time.  But such was the breadth of his talents that he was consummate at short stories, essays and plays.  Here we publish ‘The Cause of it All’ one of those classic plays.

Leo Tolstoy died acclaimed and admired throughout the world on November 20th 1910.

Table of Contents

Characters

Act 1

Act 2

Leo Tolstoy – A Short Biography

Characters

AKULINA. An old woman of seventy, brisk, dignified, old-fashioned.

MICHAEL. Her son, thirty-five years old, passionate, self-satisfied, vain and strong.

MARTHA. Her daughter-in-law, a grumbler, speaks much and rapidly.

PARASHKA. Ten years old, daughter of Martha and Michael.

TARAS. The village elder's assistant, speaks slowly and gives himself airs.

A TRAMP. Forty years old, restless, thin, speaks impressively; when drunk is particularly free and easy.

IGNAT. Forty years old, a buffoon, merry and stupid.

ACT I

[Autumn. A peasant's hut, with a small room partitioned off.

Akulina sits spinning; Martha the housewife is kneading bread; little ParAshka is rocking a cradle.]

MARTHA. Oh dear, my heart feels heavy! I know it means trouble; there's nothing to keep him there. It will again be like the other day, when he went to town to sell the