
by Leo Tolstoy
It happened in the 'seventies in winter, on the day after St. Nicholas's Day. There was a fete in the parish and the innkeeper, Vasili Andreevich Brekhunov, a Second Guild merchant, being a church elder had to go to church, and had also to entertain his relatives and friends at home. But when the last of them had gone he at once began to prepare to drive over to see a neighboring proprietor about a grove which he had been bargaining over for a long time. He was now in a hurry to start, lest buyers from the town might forestall him in making a profitable purchase. . . . It was a moment that would ultimately cost someone his life, and for reasons that will surprise you. Listen carefully: read and learn.
Count **Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy** (Russian: **Лев Николаевич Толстой**, 9 September 1828 – 20 November 1910), usually referred to in English as **Leo Tolstoy**, was a Russian writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential authors of all time. Tolstoy's notable works include the novels *War and Peace* (1869) and *Anna Karenina* (1878), often cited as pinnacles of realist fiction, and two of the greatest books of all time.

by Leo Tolstoy
It happened in the 'seventies in winter, on the day after St. Nicholas's Day. There was a fete in the parish and the innkeeper, Vasili Andreevich Brekhunov, a Second Guild merchant, being a church elder had to go to church, and had also to entertain his relatives and friends at home. But when the last of them had gone he at once began to prepare to drive over to see a neighboring proprietor about a grove which he had been bargaining over for a long time. He was now in a hurry to start, lest buyers from the town might forestall him in making a profitable purchase. . . . It was a moment that would ultimately cost someone his life, and for reasons that will surprise you. Listen carefully: read and learn.
Count **Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy** (Russian: **Лев Николаевич Толстой**, 9 September 1828 – 20 November 1910), usually referred to in English as **Leo Tolstoy**, was a Russian writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential authors of all time. Tolstoy's notable works include the novels *War and Peace* (1869) and *Anna Karenina* (1878), often cited as pinnacles of realist fiction, and two of the greatest books of all time.