INTRODUCTION
The contents of the present volume illustrate Count Tolstoï's versatility to a remarkable degree. His stories for children are marked by the simplicity and sincerity that children demand. What could be more fascinating to a boy than his description of his dogs? And is there anything in literature, anywhere, more perfect in its absolute symmetry, its inherent pathos, and its unobtrusive moral than the story called in the original "God sees the Truth"?
The author himself, while he regards with scant consideration his earlier works, such as "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina," places this story in the highest rank as complying with the canons of art.
The "Stories for Children," which comprise a few taken from the "Novaya Azbuka" or New Primer, and not found in Vol. IV of the Moscow edition, are followed by the entertaining and suggestive account of the school which Count Tolstoï established for the children of his peasants shortly after the emancipation. His theory of freedom in the school reminds one of that set forth by the American educator, A. Bronson Alcott, and to a certain extent employed by him under very different conditions. It has in it the incontrovertible truth that children study best that which interests them, and that they may be led more successfully than driven into the paths of learning.
