There we see Tolstoy, as always, ardently devoting his attention to some great subject--which happens, this time, to be dramatic art. So keen is he, that his mind is full of it whatever else he may be doing; and so vivid is his imagination that the characters of the plays perform for him whether he is standing up or lying down. How real a grip he obtained of the subject with very little theatre-going, was shown seventeen years later, when he wrote one of the most powerful dramas ever produced, and followed it up by an excellent comedy: both pieces being so good that they are constantly revived in Russian theatres, besides having achieved success in other countries. At the point we have reached there was no break in the manner of Tolstoy's life. He continued to live quietly at Yásnaya, and to concern himself chiefly with literature, and also with the management of his estates and the welfare of his family. Children continued to be born in rapid succession, and with the increasing family his means also increased. But we have come to the middle of that tranquil period of sixteen years which succeeded his marriage, and here, while--as one would say of another man--he was indefatigably studying the drama; or while--as one is inclined to say of him--he was resting and recuperating before undertaking his next great work, it is convenient to close this chapter. CHIEF AUTHORITIES FOR CHAPTER IX Birukof. Fet. Behrs. Bitovt. _Yasnaya Polyana_, P. A. Sergeyenko: _Niva_, No. 34, 1908. _L. N. Tolstoy_; _Monografiya Andreevitcha_: Petersburg, 1905. For much information in this chapter as well as elsewhere I am indebted to Tolstoy himself, to the Countess S. A. Tolstoy, to his sister, and particularly to his daughter, Mary Lvovna, Princess Obolensky. Information concerning the execution of the soldier is given in _Pravo_ for 1903. Prince D. D. Obolensky's _Vospominaniya_ appeared in _Roussky Arhiv_, 1896. See also, _Graf L. N. Tolstoy_, _Vospominaniya S. P. Arbouzova_: Moscow, 1908. Arbouzof was in Tolstoy's service twenty-two years. He gives his master an excellent character; and though very inaccurate, his naive chatter is readable, and throws light on Tolstoy's character. CHAPTER X NEARING THE CRISIS