What Men Live by and Other Tales

This collection of four stories by Leo Tolstoy was published in 1885, a few years after his religious conversion to radical non-violent Christianity, and the stories reflect his concerns at that time. Includes "What Men Live By", "The Three Questions", "The Coffee House of Surat", and "How Much Land Does a Man Need?" From the title story: "And Simon and Matryona understood who it was that had lived with them, and whom they had clothed and fed. And they wept with awe and with joy. And the angel said: "I was alone in the field, naked. I had never known human needs, cold and hunger, till I became a man. I was famished, frozen, and did not know what to do. I saw, near the field I was in, a shrine built for God, and I went to it hoping to find shelter. But the shrine was locked, and I could not enter. So I sat down behind the shrine to shelter myself at least from the wind. Evening drew on. I was hungry, frozen, and in pain."