Thanks to Stefan Zweig, who wrote a book on living thoughts of Leo Tolstoy (1828 – 1910) I had the chance to read and reread quite a number of tales written from time to time by Tolstoy. It is said that the great wise man had the ability to weave a tale to suit the period he lived. This one, out of many, is rewritten.
Wanderers were traveling along the road. Then it happened that they got off the track, and the path they had to walk was no longer smooth. It led through swamps, bushes and thorns blocking the path. And it grew worse.
Then wanderers broke up into two groups. One group decided to press on in the usual direction. They told themselves and others that they had never strayed from the right direction. They were sure to arrive at the goal of their journey.
The second group decided the previous direction was wrong, and now they must hunt for the right road. But to hunt for it, they must keep on going as fast as possible in every direction.
In this manner the wanderers divided themselves according to two opinions. One group decided to press ahead. The other decided to go in another direction. There was but one man who agreed with neither opinion.
What did he say to others?
He said before they choose another direction, or begin to hurry in all directions expecting to find the right road, they must stand still and think over the situation. Then after thinking it over, undertake one course or the other. But the travelers were so excited of their wanderings. They wanted to console themselves that they did not get lost. Instead they felt they had only briefly got off the road. They also felt they could find the way.
Both groups generally received the man’s opinion with displeasure. They scolded him and showed their displeasure through gestures. “This advice of yours,” they said, “is a part of weakness and laziness.”
Now in all, there were three types of humans. One person and two other groups divided into different opinions. The one man who had separated from the two groups or from the majority declared that progress in the wrong direction certainly would bring them to the destiny, but farther from their goal. He said that the only way of reaching the goal was to read their course from the sun and stars, and then to follow that course. To do that, they must stop not to stand still, but to find the right path and then to go consistently forward.
| Some short stories by Leo Tolstoy |
| *The Raid (1853) *Sevastopol Stories (1855–56) *Ivan the Fool: A Lost Opportunity (1863) *Polikushka (1863) *The Prisoner in the Caucasus (1872) *Strider: The Story of a Horse (1864, 1886) *How Much Land Does a Man Need? (1886) *Master and Man (1895) * Father Sergius |
To do so one must first stop and think. However much he said this no one listened to him. As such the first group of travelers marched on in the direction they had been going. The second group went aimlessly from one side to another. But neither came to their common goal. In fact they never got out of the thickets and thorns, and were straying about.
Are we not going in various directions without a goal? seems to be the question Leo Tolstoy asks when he says following words:
“A precisely similar fate was mine when I tried to express any doubt that the way which had led us into the dark forest. My belief is it is probably we have got off the right road, and that we ought therefore to interrupt our wanderings, which evidently are leading astray. Above all we should ask ourselves whether judging by the universal and eternal basics of revealed truth, we are going in the direction we intended.
Furthermore Tolstoy says:
“Nobody said we are not mistaken in our direction. Nobody said we are not wandering aimlessly. Not a soul said, ‘we may have gone astray’. Instead they all flew into a rage, and pretended to be deeply hurt and hastened with a loud outcry to drown a lonely voice.” What did they say?
“We are weary and tired enough, and here comes a man to preach idleness and non action. Some even said ‘inaction’.
They said: “Don’t listen to him. Go forward. Follow us.” Both parties yelled and went in all directions aimlessly.
It looks as if the tale ends abruptly. The reader is made to stop and rethink of his role as a wanderer.
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