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    Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy (Illustrated)
    Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy (Illustrated)
    Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy (Illustrated)
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    Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy (Illustrated)

    By Leo Tolstoy

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    This eBook features the unabridged text of ‘Death of Ivan Ilych’ from the bestselling edition of ‘The Complete Works of Leo Tolstoy’.

    Having established their name as the leading publisher of classic literature and art, Delphi Classics produce publications that are individually crafted with superior formatting, while introducing many rare texts for the first time in digital print. The Delphi Classics edition of Tolstoy includes original annotations and illustrations relating to the life and works of the author, as well as individual tables of contents, allowing you to navigate eBooks quickly and easily.

    eBook features:
    * The complete unabridged text of ‘Death of Ivan Ilych’
    * Beautifully illustrated with images related to Tolstoy’s works
    * Individual contents table, allowing easy navigation around the eBook
    * Excellent formatting of the textPlease visit www.delphiclassics.com to learn more about our wide range of titles
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPublishdrive
    Release dateJul 17, 2017
    ISBN9781786566386
    Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy (Illustrated)
    Author

    Leo Tolstoy

    Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) is the author of War and Peace, Anna Karenina, The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Family Happiness, and other classics of Russian literature.

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      Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy (Illustrated) - Leo Tolstoy

      VOLUMES

      Parts Edition Contents

      The Novels and Novellas

      1, Childhood

      2, Boyhood

      3, Youth

      4, Family Happiness

      5, Cossacks

      6, War and Peace

      7, Anna Karenina

      8, Death of Ivan Ilych

      9, Kreutzer Sonata

      10, Resurrection

      11, Forged Coupon

      12, Hadji Murad

      The Unfinished Novels

      13, Decembrists

      14, A Morning of a Landed Proprietor

      The Short Stories

      15, The Short Stories of Leo Tolstoy

      The Plays

      16, Power of Darkness

      17, First Distiller

      18, Fruits of Culture

      19, Redemption

      20, Cause of It All

      21, Light Shines in Darkness

      22, Live Corpse

      Selected Non-Fiction

      23, A Confession

      24, Kingdom of God Is Within You

      25, What Then Must We Do?

      26, On the Significance of Science and Art

      27, Bethink Yourselves!

      28, Moscow Census

      29, Tolstoy on Shakespeare

      30, Tolstoy’s Journal

      The Criticism

      31, The Criticism

      The Biographies

      32, Reminiscences of Tolstoy by Count Ilya Tolstoy

      33, Autobiography of Countess Tolstoy by Sophie Andreevna Tolstoy

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      Death of Ivan Ilych

      Translated by Louise and Aylmer Maude

      First published in 1886, this novella was written shortly after Tolstoy’s religious conversion in the late 1870s.  It tells the story Ivan Ilyich Golovin, who is a highly regarded official of the Court of Justice, as well as an intelligent, lively and agreeable man.  However, as the story progresses, Ivan becomes more and more introspective and emotional, while suffering an agonising illness.

      Leo Tolstoy and his wife Sofia Tolstaya

      DEATH OF IVAN ILYCH

      CONTENTS

      I

      II

      III

      IV

      V

      VI

      VII

      VIII

      IX

      X

      XI

      XII

      I

      During an interval in the Melvinski trial in the large building of the Law Courts the members and public prosecutor met in Ivan Egorovich Shebek’s private room, where the conversation turned on the celebrated Krasovski case. Fedor Vasilievich warmly maintained that it was not subject to their jurisdiction, Ivan Egorovich maintained the contrary, while Peter Ivanovich, not having entered into the discussion at the start, took no part in it but looked through the Gazette which had just been handed in.

      Gentlemen, he said, Ivan Ilych has died!

      You don’t say so!

      Here, read it yourself, replied Peter Ivanovich, handing Fedor Vasilievich the paper still damp from the press. Surrounded by a black border were the words: Praskovya Fedorovna Golovina, with profound sorrow, informs relatives and friends of the demise of her beloved husband Ivan Ilych Golovin, Member of the Court of Justice, which occurred on February the 4th of this year 1882. The funeral will take place on Friday at one o’clock in the afternoon.

      Ivan Ilych had been a colleague of the gentlemen present and was liked by them all. He had been ill for some weeks with an illness said to be incurable. His post had been kept open for him, but there had been conjectures that in case of his death Alexeev might receive his appointment, and that either Vinnikov or Shtabel would succeed Alexeev. So on receiving the news of Ivan Ilych’s death the first thought of each of the gentlemen in that private room was of the changes and promotions it might occasion among themselves or their acquaintances.

      I shall be sure to get Shtabel’s place or Vinnikov’s, thought Fedor Vasilievich. I was promised that long ago, and the promotion means an extra eight hundred rubles a year for me besides the allowance.

      Now I must apply for my brother-in-law’s transfer from Kaluga, thought Peter Ivanovich. My wife will be very glad, and then she won’t be able to say that I never do anything for her relations. I thought he would never leave his bed again, said Peter Ivanovich aloud. It’s very sad. But what really was the matter with him?

      The doctors couldn’t say — at least they could, but each of them said something different. When last I saw him I though he was getting better.

      And I haven’t been to see him since the holidays. I always meant to go. Had he any property?

      I think his wife had a little — but something quite trifling.

      We shall have to go to see her, but they live so terribly far away.

      Far away from you, you mean. Everything’s far away from your place.

      You see, he never can forgive my living on the other side of the river, said Peter Ivanovich, smiling at Shebek. Then, still talking of the distances between different parts of the city, they returned to the Court.

      Besides considerations as to the possible transfers and promotions likely to result from Ivan Ilych’s death, the mere fact of the death of a near acquaintance aroused, as usual, in all who heard of it the complacent feeling that, it is he who is dead and not I.

      Each one thought or felt, Well, he’s dead but I’m alive! But the more intimate of Ivan Ilych’s acquaintances, his so-called friends, could not help thinking also that they would now have to fulfill the very tiresome demands of propriety by attending the funeral service and paying a visit of condolence to the widow.

      Fedor Vasilievich and Peter Ivanovich had been his nearest acquaintances. Peter Ivanovich had studied law with Ivan Ilych and had considered himself to be under obligations to him. Having told his wife at dinner-time of Ivan Ilych’s death, and of his conjecture that it might be possible to get her brother transferred to their circuit, Peter Ivanovich sacrificed his usual nap, put on his evening clothes and drove to Ivan Ilych’s house.

      At the entrance stood a carriage and two cabs. Leaning against the wall in the hall downstairs near the cloakstand was a coffin-lid covered with cloth of gold, ornamented with gold cord and tassels, that had been polished up with metal powder. Two ladies in black were taking off their fur cloaks. Peter Ivanovich recognized one of them as Ivan Ilych’s sister, but the other was a stranger to him. His colleague Schwartz was just coming downstairs, but on seeing Peter Ivanovich enter he stopped and winked at him, as if to say: Ivan Ilych has made a mess of things — not like you and me.

      Schwartz’s face with his Piccadilly whiskers, and his slim figure in evening dress, had as usual an air of elegant solemnity which contrasted with the playfulness of his character and had a special piquancy here, or so it seemed to Peter Ivanovich.

      Peter Ivanovich allowed the ladies to precede him and slowly followed them upstairs. Schwartz did not come down but remained where he was, and Peter Ivanovich understood that he wanted to arrange where they should play bridge that evening. The ladies went upstairs to the widow’s room, and Schwartz with seriously compressed lips but a playful look in his eyes, indicated by a twist of his eyebrows the room to the right where the body lay.

      Peter Ivanovich, like everyone else on such occasions, entered feeling uncertain what he would have to do. All he knew was that at such times it is always safe to cross oneself. But he was not quite sure whether one should make obseisances while doing so. He therefore adopted a middle course. On entering the room he began crossing himself and made a slight movement resembling a bow. At the same time, as far as the motion of his head and arm allowed, he surveyed the room. Two young men — apparently nephews, one of whom was a high-school pupil — were

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