Description
“The Devil” is one of Leo Tolstoy’s most personal and haunting works, which he kept hidden even from his family for a long time. The story follows a young landowner, Eugene Irtenev, who seemingly has everything: a thriving estate, a high social standing, and a loving wife. However, a past affair with a peasant woman named Stepanida turns into an uncontrollable obsession that begins to consume his mind. This work is a profound exploration of the struggle between moral duty and animal instinct, showing how a man’s past can become his undoing.
This English-Russian bilingual book with parallel text is designed for fans of classic literature and language learners who enjoy reading in the original. Reading dual-language books is the best way to learn a lunguage. This edition features a sentence-by-sentence translation, making it easy to read in both print and digital formats. Six blank pages have been added to the end of each paper book. They are intended for your notes, writing down new words, or personal observations while reading.
This edition includes both alternative endings, allowing the reader to experience the full weight of the tragedy as Tolstoy envisioned it.
First published in the edition: “Posthumous Artistic Works of L. N. Tolstoy,” edited by V. G. Chertkov, vol. 1. Moscow, 1911.
Tolstoy dated the novella November 19, 1889. The entire novella was written in ten days. The second variant of the ending (the episode of Stepa-nida’s murder) dates to April – May 1890.
But even after writing the new ending of the novella, Tolstoy did not consider it finished, did not want to publish it, and hid the manuscript in the upholstery of an armchair in his study, fearing a burst of jealousy from his wife. (See: L. D. Opulskaya. L. N. Tolstoy. Materials for a Biography from 1886 to 1892, pp. 178–179).
The novella reflected Tolstoy’s personal experiences related to his infatuation in his youth with a Yasnaya Polyana peasant woman, Aksinya Bazykina, and at the age of 49, with a cook, Domna, against his feelings for whom he struggled.
The plot basis of the novella reflects real events from the life of a Tula judicial investigator, N. N. Friederichs, who, three months after marrying a noblewoman, killed a peasant woman, Stepanida Munitsyna, with whom he previously had a relationship, with a revolver shot. Later, two months later, he himself was found crushed by a train. Whether he died due to nearsightedness or intentionally remained unknown
In Tolstoy’s Diary, the novella was called “the story of Friederichs.”
EPIGRAPH | ЭПИГРАФ
“But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
А я говорю вам, что всякий, кто смотрит на женщину с вожделением, уже прелюбодействовал с нею в сердце своем.
And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
Если же правый глаз твой соблазняет тебя, вырви его и брось от себя, ибо лучше для тебя, чтобы погиб один из членов твоих, а не все тело твое было ввержено в геенну.
And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell” (Matthew V, 28, 29, 30).
И если правая твоя рука соблазняет тебя, отсеки ее и брось от себя, ибо лучше для тебя, чтобы погиб один из членов твоих, а не все тело твое было ввержено в геенну (Матфея V, 28, 29, 30).
I
A brilliant career awaited Eugene Irtenev. He had everything for it.
Евгения Иртенева ожидала блестящая карьера. Все у него было для этого.
A fine home upbringing, a brilliant completion of his course at the law faculty of Petersburg University, and connections through his recently deceased father with the very highest society, and even the beginning of service in a ministry under the patronage of the minister.
Прекрасное домашнее воспитание, блестящее окончание курса на юридическом факультете Петербургского университета, связи по недавно умершему отцу с самым высшим обществом и даже начало службы в министерстве под покровительством министра.
There was also a fortune, even a large fortune, but a do-ubtful one.
Было и состояние, даже большое состояние, но сомнительное.
The father lived abroad and in Petersburg, giving six thousand to each of his sons — Eugene and the elder, Andrey, who served in the Chevalier Guards — and he himself spent a great deal with their mother.
Отец жил за границей и в Петербурге, давая по шести тысяч сыновьям — Евгению и старшему, Андрею, служившему в кавалергардах, и сам проживал с мате-рью очень много.
Only in summer did he come for two months to the estate, but he did not occupy himself with the management, leaving everything to a bloated manager, who also did not look after the estate, but in whom he had full confidence.
Только летом он приезжал на два месяца в именье, но не занимался хозяйством, предоставляя все заевшемуся управляющему, тоже не занимавшемуся именьем, но к которому он имел полное доверие.
After the father’s death, when the brothers began to divide the property, it turned out that there were so many debts that the lawyer advised them to give up the inheritance altogether, keeping only the grandmother’s estate, which was valued at a hundred thousand.
После смерти отца, когда братья стали делиться, оказалось, что долгов было так много, что поверенный по делам советовал даже, оставив за собой именье баб-ки, которое ценили в сто тысяч, отказаться от наследства.
But a neighbor on the estate, a landowner who had dealings with the elder Irtenev — that is, who held a promissory note against him and had come to Petersburg for this purpose — said that despite the debts, matters could be set right and a large fortune still retained.
Но сосед по именью, помещик, имевший дела со стариком Иртеневым, то есть имевший вексель на не-го и приезжавший для этого в Петербург, говорил, что, несмотря на долги, дела можно поправить и удержать еще большое состояние.
It was only necessary to sell the timber and separate pieces of wasteland, and to keep the main gold mine — Semenovskoe, with its four thousand dessiatines of black earth, a sugar factory, and two hundred dessiatines of water-meadows, if one devoted oneself to the business and, settling in the country, managed it wisely and economically.
Стоило только продать лес, отдельные куски пустоши и удержать главное золотое дно — Семеновское с четырьмя тысячами десятин чернозема, сахарным заводом и двумястами десятин заливных лугов, если посвятить себя этому делу и, поселившись в деревне, умно и расчетливо хозяйничать.
And so Eugene, having gone to the estates in the spring (his father died during Lent) and examined everything, decided to resign, settle with his mother in the country, and take up farming in order to keep the main estate.
И вот Евгений, съездив весною (отец умер постом) в именья и осмотрев все, решил выйти в отставку, поселиться с матерью в деревне и заняться хозяйством с тем, чтобы удержать главное именье.
With his brother, with whom he was not particularly close, he made an arrangement: he bound himself to pay him four thousand annually or eighty thousand in a lump sum, for which the brother renounced his share of the inheritance.
С братом, с которым не был особенно дружен, он сделался так: обязался ему платить ежегодно четыре тысячи или единовременно восемьдесят тысяч, за которые брат отказывался от своей доли наследства.
This he did, and having settled with his mother in the large house, he took up the farming both fervently and cautiously.
Так он и сделал и, поселившись с матерью в большом доме, горячо и осторожно вместе с тем взялся за хозяйство.
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