What do people live by?
How much land does a person need?
Three questions
Emilienne and the Empty Book
Asarhaddon, king of Assyria
A seed the size of an egg
Girls who are wiser than adults
candlelight

Author's chronology
Commentary on the work

What do people live by?

Michael, an angel who disobeyed God's command and fell into the human world, does not understand the human mind.
While living in the world with the warm help of Simon, a shoemaker, he observes people experiencing poverty, suffering, and love, and comes to realize three truths: "People live not by their own strength, but by love."
This is a moving and eternal story of salvation, in which Tolstoy poured his lifelong religious struggles into his work.

How much land does a person need?

The story of Pahom, a farmer who is greedy for land and wants to take more and more of it.
“All the land you return to from running from morning until sunset is yours,” he said, and he ran endlessly, but in the end, all he took was a piece of dirt the size of a coffin.
It is a symbolic masterpiece of Russian realism that shows the vanity of human beings brought about by endless greed.

Three questions

A king's story asking what are the most important 'time', 'people', and 'work' in life.
Tolstoy answers, “The most important time is now, the most important person is the person next to you, and the most important thing is to do good to him.”
It is a philosophical fable that penetrates the essence of life, and is wisdom that is still valid for us today.

Emilienne and the Empty Book

Emilien, a foolish and lazy farmer, acquires unexpected wealth by obtaining a magical 'empty drum'.
But through greed and complacency, we lose everything.

This is a folk fable that teaches us that there is no magic that can replace the hard work of life, and that sincerity and moderation are the keys to true happiness.

Asarhaddon, king of Assyria

King Asarhaddon, who boasted of great power, is judged by God for a moment of arrogance.
Having lost everything, he finally realizes the meaning of human equality and mercy through suffering.
The true power of kingship, as Tolstoy speaks of it, is ‘the power to rule with love.’

A seed the size of an egg

Even as the farmers deceive and fight among themselves, one old man awakens the value of honesty by revealing the truth about the 'egg-sized seed'.
The story shows that 'honesty is the root that sustains humanity' and presents the essence of a small but fragrant fable.

Girls who are wiser than adults

A story about three wise girls who use their wits to solve adult problems.
This is a fairy tale-like short story that praises the 'wisdom of purity', that judgments from a pure heart are wiser than the complex reasoning of the world.

candlelight

The story of Mikheev, who put into practice God's teaching not to repay evil with evil.
This work invites reflection on the dark side of human nature and shows how true forgiveness can be a candle that illuminates the soul.

"What Men Live By" is a moral mirror that penetrates the human soul.
Through these eight stories, Tolstoy says, “Faith is not belief, but action.”
People cannot live with wealth or power, they can only live with love.
This collection of short stories is a literature of salvation that stares straight into the darkness within human nature, yet ultimately ends in love.
This powerful sentence left by Tolstoy still asks questions of us living today.
“What do you live by?”