Chertkova's Personal Copy & Comments

Front cover of "A cycle of Readings", Vol 1

*  Front cover of "A cycle of Readings", Vol 1

Cycle of Readings, compiled by Leo Tolstoy over many years, was a source of great inspiration to him and his followers. These readings were obtained by Leo Tolstoy from a broad range of sources and were intended for reading on a daily basis. Indeed, Leo Tolstoy  kept  *A Cycle of Readings by his bedside and asked friends and family around him to read from it almost to the very end of his life.

 

*  Leo Tolstoy "A CALENDAR of WISDOM " - Daily Thoughts to Nourish the Soul" tr. by Peter Sekirin, Scribner 1997.  

 

 

Anna Chertkova comments

Scanned copy of last page of "A Cycle of Readings"

nna (Galya) Chertkova, wife of Vladimir Chertkov, possessed a copy of A Cycle of Readings and as she read from it, made various marks and annotations. Of particular interest are her comments which appear on the inside back cover of Volume 1 of a two volume edition.   

 

Transcription of Anna Chertkova's text:

On the Brink of a New Year -- 1918     
The year is over ... how gloomy, how lonely it was...
Standing on the edge, I feel as if the past,
As if all that was lovely has left
Us far behind...
Yet what new sorrows, what new trials
 Await us all at the next turn?
 Who can tell what grave and searing afflictions,
 What ignominy the future carries in its dark womb?
 Perhaps death... or scorn or profanation
 Of everything that once was sacred to you --
 Still, no need to falter or to fear --  go ahead!
Remember: only he who looks for the truth
 Will find freedom. Only he who is found by God.

"Translated freely by Benjamin Sher."

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