Tolstoy, Leo: Twenty-three Tales. v1, 17 Oct 2016
 

Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) was a Russian writer regarded as one of the greatest authors of realist fiction.

His parents died during his infancy, and he was brought up by relatives. As a young man he drank and gambled heavily, and failed at university. In 1851 he joined the army and fought during the Crimean War, and began to write. In 1862, at age 34, he married Sophia (Sonya) Behrs, aged 18, who bore him 13 children, eight of whom survived childhood. Their early married life was happy, and she acted as his secretary, proofreader, and financial manager. In the 1870s he experienced spiritual conversion, and renounced many of his previous beliefs in favour of ascetic religious beliefs including pacifism. His marriage deteriorated, and shortly before his death at age 82 he absconded from the family home in the depths of winter, and died soon after of pneumonia.

The twenty-three tales were written between 1872 and 1903, and are presented in chronological order in the seven groups decribed in the translator's preface. The translator has given a glossary which I have slightly expanded.

The text was taken from Wiksisource. I have silently corrected typos, curled quotes, and made changes to spelling and hyphenation using oxforddictionaries.com.