Where Love Is, There God Is Also, By Leo Tolstoy

An old shoemaker, whose family had all departed, felt sorry for himself and wished to die. But a friend chided him, insisting if one lived for God, everything in life became easy.

So the shoemaker applied himself to the Gospels and found himself irresistably drawn to reading more and more. One night, near bedtime, the shoemaker hears God tell him, "I am coming to visit you."

The shoemaker doesn't believe it, at first. But three visitors to his home soon prove otherwise.

Several sources offer the story online. Just type the title and author into your browser.

Another Famous Tolstoy

Many people have heard of Leo Tolstoy (War and Peace), but not everyone knows that his cousin, Alexis Tolstoy, wrote vampires stories. I can’t find any of them online and his book, Vampires: Stories of the Supernatural, is out of print, but it is for sale on various sites that sell used books.

That book contains three stories: The Vampire, Family of a Vourdalak (dramatized by Boris Karloff in the movie, Black Sabbath, 1963), The Reunion After Three Hundred Years, and Amena. No favorites for me here; all four are exceptionally well-written.

The novella Vampire (1841) opens with young man, Runevsky, attending a ball. One guest comments about the number oupyrs (vampires) present at the event and points them out to Runevsky. Of course, Runevsky falls in love with the granddaughter, Dasha, of one of the purported vampires and begins to court her. Strange things happen to him when he visits the family. When they tell fortunes by reading random passages from books, Dasha reads the chilling, “And the grandmother will suck her granddaughter’s blood.” Then Runevsky spends the night in a room that contains an old-fashioned portrait of a deceased relative, who naturally resembles Dasha. Known as the first modern Russian vampire story, The Vampire also weaves elements of Greek mythology and contains interesting dream states.

The short story Family of a Vourdalak is the story of a Russian patriarch that leaves home to fight a band of bandits. He tells his family if returns after sunset on a particular day not to let him inside, for he will be a vourdalak (vampire). Since he arrives immediately at sunset, the family is uncertain what to do and allow him entrance. Wrong decision.

In The Reunion After Three Hundred Years, a duchess, after a carriage accident, becomes the guest at a macabre reunion of guests. Amena is set during the Christian persecutions. A man, destined to be martyred for his faith with his companions, is sidetracked by a seductively mysterious woman.

I first read this book at my local library, so perhaps yours has it, too. Definitely worth the price if you buy.

Denise M. Baran-Unland

How Much Land Does a Man Need?

What if someone offered you all the longed-for possessions you could grab in a day? What would you choose?

Leo Tolstoy examines this concept in his short story, "How Much Land Does a Man Need?" An uncontented landowner is offered as much choice property as he can stake in a day. The man is ecstatic, but the result isn't quite what he expected.

Intersting ending. Several sites feature it online.