Ilyas
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Ilyas ( Russian Ильяс ) is a short story that Lev Tolstoy wrote in the Crimea in the early spring of 1885 and that was published by Posrednik in late summer 1886 . In 1982 the text in the 4th reader of the 10th volume Powesti und Erzählungen 1872–1886 came out in the 22-volume Tolstoy edition in the publishing house for artistic literature in Moscow .
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In the Ufa governorate : The Bashkire Iljas inherited only seven horses, two cows and twenty sheep from his father. But because he worked diligently from morning to night with his wife Shamschemagi, he grew wealthy over the years and even became rich. Ilyas ran a hospitable house - no trace of stinginess. Both the couple's two sons and daughter married quite young. One son surrendered to the drink and died after a tavern fight. Ilyas had to pay the inheritance to the other, who had married abroad. A plague decimated Ilyas' flock of sheep. Ilyas sold his property piece by piece and finally had no roof over his head. The neighbor Muchamedschach, by no means a particularly wealthy man, took in the two unfortunates. After all, the neighbor had occasionally enjoyed Ilya's hospitality. Ilyas and Shamschemagi soon proved to be useful, almost indispensable workers in the court of Muchamedschach.
Once a relative of Muchamedschach came to visit and watched them both; In his curiosity, wanted to hear about her past happiness and present misfortune. After some hesitation, Ilyas replied: “For fifty years we have both searched for happiness and not found it; But now, when we no longer have to call anything our own and have to earn our bread as workers with strangers, we have found it and do not wish for anything better ... Only now, in the bitterest poverty, we are happy ... Happiness is not in wealth, but in satisfaction. "
German-language editions
- Ilyas. German by Arthur Luther . Pp. 158-163 in: Gisela Drohla (Ed.): Leo N. Tolstoj. All the stories. Fifth volume. Insel, Frankfurt am Main 1961 (2nd edition of the edition in eight volumes 1982)
Web links
- The text
- Ilyass in Leo Tolstoy: folk tales, fairy tales and sketches online in the Gutenberg-DE project (published by Josef Habbel, translator: Hanny Brentano )
- Wikisource Ильяс (Толстой) (Russian)
- online at RVB.ru (Russian)
- online at tolstoy-lit.ru (Russian)
- Entry in the list of works of folk tales (1872–1887)
- Entry at fantlab.ru (Russian)
- Lidija Opulskaja : Comments on RVB.ru (Russian)