TOLSTOY’s MASTER AND MAN
This short story was written in 1895.
A master sets out on a winter evening to close a land deal.
His wife begs him to take the servant along for company. They keep losing and
finding back the route as blizzard blows and covers tracks and footprints.
Starting with his wife, many people along the way warn the master that it was
too cold and dark to travel at night. But he ignores all advice and braves the
risk in his greed to close the deal.
The horse, the master and his servant finally get stuck in
snow, and forced to spend the night under the sky. The master tries to run away
with the horse, leaving behind the servant, but after walking in circles
reaches the same place. He finds his servant frozen, and has an epiphany that a
worthy life is one spent in service of others. He climbs on top of the servant,
keeps him warm, spends the night in prone position and in doing so, dies in the
night. The servant lives ,but both the master and the horse succumb to cold.
Tolstoy meditates upon meaninglessness of a selfish life,
and the meaning of a true life. This one is a classic Tolstoy short story.
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