Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - III. Tolstoi on the Famine
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has been proofread at least once.
(diff)
(history)
Denna sida har korrekturlästs minst en gång.
(skillnad)
(historik)
“Strange to say, as soon as we turn from the task of solving
questions of the outward life, as soon as we forget the forty
millions, the price of bread in America, &c., in order to consider
the problem that is true and proper to man, the question of the
inner life, all the preceding matters are solved in the best
manner. All the starving millions would thus be fed in a
satisfactory way. On the other hand, the activity of the
Government, having only an external object, the feeding of forty
millions, is met, as we have seen, by insurmountable obstacles.
“No other activity can avoid these impediments in the way of
Government action . . . and attain to great results that
are inaccessible to Government action, than that which has an
inward object—the salvation of the soul—and which always
consists of sacrifice. It is this that, in the face of
starvation, impels a peasant woman in a famine-stricken
village, when she hears beneath her window the words “For
Christ’s sake” (commonly used by beggars), to hesitate before
causing discontent, to take her single loaf of bread, as I have
seen more than once, put it on the board, cut off a piece as large
as the palm of her hand, and give it, making the sign of the
cross at the time.
“For this inward activity, the first obstacle—the impossibility
of determining the degree of the need—does not exist. The
orphans of heaven ask for alms; the woman knows they have
no resources and gives. What is impossible to an official, who
is concerned with lists and documents, is easy to those who live
among the needy and have in view only a small number whom
they can help.
“The second obstacle—the enormous number of the poor-exists
as little as the first. There are always poor people, and
the whole question is, what portion of my powers can I
devote to them? The woman who gives alms does not need to
calculate how many millions of poor there are in Russia, what
is the price of American flour, &c. There is a single question
for her: how to use her knife on the loaf so as to cut off a
smaller or larger slice. Small or big, she gives it, knowing that
if all helped according to their ability every one would have a
piece of bread, no matter how great the number of the poor.
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
