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  [ Transcriber's Notes:

    Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as
    possible, including any non-standard spelling.

    Italic text has been marked with _underscores_.
  ]




  WHERE LOVE IS
  THERE GOD IS ALSO

  BY
  LYOF N. TOLSTOI

  TRANSLATED FROM THE RUSSIAN
  BY
  NATHAN HASKELL DOLE

  NEW YORK
  THOMAS Y. CROWELL COMPANY
  PUBLISHERS


  Copyright, 1887,
  By Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.




WHERE LOVE IS THERE GOD IS ALSO


In the city lived the shoemaker, Martuin Avdyeitch. He lived in a
basement, in a little room with one window. The window looked out on the
street. Through the window he used to watch the people passing by;
although only their feet could be seen, yet by the boots, Martuin
Avdyeitch recognized the people. Martuin Avdyeitch had lived long in one
place, and had many acquaintances. Few pairs of boots in his district
had not been in his hands once and again. Some he would half-sole, some
he would patch, some he would stitch around, and occasionally he would
also put on new uppers. And through the window he often recognized his
work.

Avdyeitch had plenty to do, because he was a faithful workman, used good
material, did not make exorbitant charges, and kept his word. If it was
possible for him to finish an order by a certain time, he would accept
it; otherwise, he would not deceive you,--he would tell you so
beforehand. And all knew Avdyeitch, and he was never out of work.

Avdyeitch had always been a good man; but as he grew old, he began to
think more about his soul, and get nearer to God. Martuin's wife had
died when he was still living with his master. His wife left him a boy
three years old. None of their other children had lived. All the eldest
had died in childhood. Martuin at first intended to send his little son
to his sister in the village, but afterward he felt sorry for him; he
thought to himself:--

"It will be hard for my Kapitoshka to live in a strange family. I shall
keep him with me."

And Avdyeitch left his master, and went into lodgings with his little
son. But God gave Avdyeitch no luck with his children. As Kapitoshka
grew older, he began to help his father, and would have been a delight
to him, but a sickness fell on him, he went to bed, suffered a week, and
died. Martuin buried his son, and fell into despair. So deep was this
despair that he began to complain of God. Martuin fell into such a
melancholy state, that more than once he prayed to God for death, and
reproached God because He had not taken him who was an old man, instead
of his beloved only son. Avdyeitch also ceased to go to church.

And once a little old man from the same district came from Troitsa(1) to
see Avdyeitch; for seven years he had been wandering about. Avdyeitch
talked with him, and began to complain about his sorrows.

  (1) Trinity, a famous monastery, pilgrimage to which is reckoned a
  virtue. Avdyeitch calls this _zemlyak-starichok_, _Bozhi chelovyek_,
  God's man.--Ed.

"I have no desire to live any longer," he said, "I only wish I was dead.
That is all I pray God for. I am a man without anything to hope for
now."

And the little old man said to him:--

"You don't talk right, Martuin, we must not judge God's doings. The
world moves, not by our skill, but by God's will. God decreed for your
son to die,--for you--to live. So it is for the best. And you are in
despair, because you wish to live for your own happiness."

"But what shall one live for?" asked Martuin.

And the little old man said:--

"We must live for God, Martuin. He gives you life, and for His sake you
must live. When you begin to live for Him, you will not grieve over
anything, and all will seem easy to you."

Martuin kept silent for a moment, and then said, "But how can one live
for God?"

And the little old man said:--

"Christ has taught us how to live for God. You know how to read? Buy a
Testament, and read it; there you will learn how to live for God.
Everything is explained there."

And these words kindled a fire in Avdyeitch's heart. And he went that
very same day, bought a New Testament in large print, and began to read.

At first Avdyeitch intended to read only on holidays; but as he began to
read, it so cheered his soul that he used to read every day. At times he
would become so absorbed in reading, that all the kerosene in the lamp
would burn out, and still he could not tear himself away. And so
Avdyeitch used to read every evening.

And the more he read, the clearer he understood what God wanted of him,
and how one should live for God; and his heart kept growing easier and
easier. Formerly, when he lay down to sleep, he used to sigh and groan,
and always thought of his Kapitoshka; and now his only exclamation
was:--

"Glory to Thee! glory to Thee, Lord! Thy will be done."

And from that time Avdyeitch's whole life was changed. In other days he,
too, used to drop into a public-house(2) as a holiday amusement, to
drink a cup of tea; and he was not averse to a little brandy, either. He
would take a drink with some acquaintance, and leave the saloon, not
intoxicated, exactly, yet in a happy frame of mind, and inclined to talk
nonsense, and shout, and use abusive language at a person. Now he left
off that sort of thing. His life became quiet and joyful. In the morning
he would sit down to work, finish his allotted task, then take the
little lamp from the hook, put it on the table, get his book from the
shelf, open it, and sit down to read