Page:The Complete Works of Lyof N. Tolstoi - 11 (Crowell, 1899).djvu/564

540 others, we assure ourselves and others that it is so, but we love them only in words, while ourselves we love in reality. Others we forget to feed and put to bed, ourselves—never. Therefore, in order really to love others in deed, we must learn not to love ourselves in deed, learn to forget to feed ourselves and put ourselves to bed, exactly as we forget to do these things for others.

We say of an effeminate person, accustomed to lead a luxurious life, that he is a "good man" and "leads a good life." But such a person,—whether man or woman,—although he may possess the most amiable traits of character, meekness, good-nature, etc., cannot lead a good life, any more than a knife of the very best workmanship and steel can be sharp and cut well, without the process of sharpening, i.e. preparation. To be good and lead a good life means to give to others more than one takes from them. Whereas an effeminate man, accustomed to a luxurious life, cannot do this, first because he himself is always in want of much (and this, not on account of his selfishness, but because he is accustomed to luxury, and it is painful for him to be deprived of that to which he is accustomed); and secondly, because by consuming all that he receives from others he weakens himself and renders himself unfit to labor, and therefore unfit to serve others. An effeminate man who sleeps long upon a soft bed, eats and drinks abundance of fat, sweet food, is always dressed cleanly and suitably to the temperature, who has never accustomed himself to the effort of laborious work, can do very little.

We are so accustomed to our own lies and the lies of others, and it is so advantageous for us not to see through the lies of others, in order that they may not see through ours, that we are not in the least astonished at, and do not doubt the truth of, the assertion of the virtuousness, sometimes even the sanctity, of people who are leading a perfectly loose life.

A person, man or woman, sleeps on a spring bed with two mattresses, and two smooth, clean sheets, and feather pillows in pillow cases. At the bedside is a rug, that the feet may not get cold on stepping out of bed,