What Men Live By (Tolstoy)
Short summary
Russia, winter. Poor shoemaker Simon went to collect money owed to him but came home empty-handed and drunk. Near a shrine, he found a naked stranger freezing. Despite his fear, Simon gave the man his coat and brought him home.
His wife Matryona was angry that Simon brought a stranger instead of sheepskins for winter.
When she saw the man's suffering, her heart softened. She fed him, and he smiled for the first time. The stranger, Michael, stayed with them and became an excellent shoemaker.
He rarely spoke and smiled only three times in six years. A wealthy gentleman ordered boots that should last a year. Michael made slippers instead. The gentleman died that day, and the slippers were needed for his corpse. Michael smiled the second time. A woman brought twin girls, one lame, to order shoes. She had adopted them after their parents died. Michael smiled the third time and revealed himself as an angel.
I have learnt that all men live not by care for themselves but by love.
He had disobeyed God by refusing to take a mother's soul. God punished him to live as a man and learn three truths: what dwells in man (love, shown by Matryona's compassion), what is not given to man (knowledge of his own fate, shown by the gentleman's death), and what men live by (love for others, shown by the woman adopting orphans). Michael was forgiven and returned to heaven.
Detailed summary by chapters
Chapter titles are editorial.
Biblical epigraphs on love and brotherhood
The story opened with six biblical quotations from 1 John about love, emphasizing that love comes from God, that those who love know God, and that love for one's brother is essential for truly loving God.
Chapter 1. Simon the shoemaker finds a naked stranger
Simon was a poor shoemaker who lived with his wife and children in a peasant's hut, earning barely enough to feed his family. He had saved three roubles and was owed five more by customers, planning to buy sheepskins for a winter coat. One morning he set out to collect his debts and purchase the materials.
His attempts to collect money failed - one peasant's wife promised to pay next week, another swore he had no money and paid only twenty kopecks. The leather dealer refused to sell on credit. Disappointed, Simon spent the twenty kopecks on vodka and started home empty-handed, talking to himself about his troubles.
Near a roadside shrine, Simon saw something white. Approaching closer, he discovered a naked man sitting motionless against the shrine. Terror seized Simon - he feared the man was dead or that approaching him would bring trouble. He hurried past, but his conscience troubled him.
What are you doing, Simon? The man may be dying of want, and you slip past afraid. Have you grown so rich as to be afraid of robbers? Ah, Simon, shame on you!
Chapter 2. Simon brings Michael home; Matryónas kindness
Simon returned to the stranger and found him to be a young, fit man with no bruises, evidently freezing and frightened. The man seemed too faint to lift his eyes. When he finally looked at Simon, that one look was enough to make Simon fond of him. Simon immediately gave the stranger his coat and felt boots, helping him dress and offering his walking stick.
The stranger said he was not from these parts and could not explain how he came to be by the shrine. When asked if someone had ill-treated him, he replied that God had punished him. Simon invited him home, though he worried about his wife's reaction to bringing home a naked stranger while returning without the promised sheepskins.
Chapter 3. Michael stays with Simons family
At home, Matryóna was furious when she saw Simon return coatless with a stranger wearing his jacket. She accused him of drinking away their money and refused to feed them. Simon tried to explain, showing her the three-rouble note, but Matryóna's anger only increased. She demanded her jacket back and threatened to leave.
However, when Simon asked if she had no love of God, Matryóna looked at the stranger sitting motionless with his head drooping and eyes closed as if in pain. Her heart suddenly softened. She brought out their last piece of bread and some kvass, setting the table for supper.
Matryóna, have you no love of God? ...suddenly her heart softened towards him. She came back from the door, and going to the oven she got out the supper.
Chapter 4. Michael learns to make shoes
When the stranger smiled at Matryóna's kindness, his face lit up and his brows were no longer bent. After supper, Matryóna gave him Simon's old shirt and trousers. The stranger, who said his name was Michael, lay down in the loft while the couple discussed their situation - they had given away their last bread and had none for tomorrow.
The next morning, Simon offered Michael work, teaching him to twist yarn, wax thread, and sew. Michael learned everything instantly, mastering in three days what should have taken much longer. He worked without stopping, ate little, and rarely spoke or smiled, always looking upwards when not working.
Chapter 5. Michael becomes a skilled craftsman
As time passed, Michael's fame spread throughout the district. People said no one sewed boots as neatly and strongly as Simon's workman Michael. Customers came from far and wide, and Simon's business prospered. The family began to live well, no longer struggling with poverty as they had before Michael's arrival.
Chapter 6. The rich gentlemans order and unexpected death
One winter day, a carriage with three horses and bells stopped at their hut. A wealthy gentleman entered - red-faced, burly, with a neck like a bull's, filling the room with his presence. He brought expensive German leather worth twenty roubles and demanded boots that would last a full year without losing shape or coming unsewn, threatening prison if they failed.
While taking measurements, the gentleman noticed Michael and told him to remember to make boots that would last a year. Michael was not looking at the gentleman but gazing into the corner behind him, as if seeing someone there. Suddenly Michael smiled, and his face became brighter. The gentleman angrily demanded to know why Michael was grinning, then left after striking his head on the door lintel.
Simon asked Michael to cut the leather carefully, but was horrified to discover that Michael had cut the expensive leather not for high boots but for soft slippers. Before Simon could fully rebuke him, the gentleman's servant arrived with news that his master had died suddenly in his carriage before reaching home. The slippers Michael had made were exactly what was needed for the corpse.
Chapter 7. Michaels mysterious nature
Two more years passed, and Michael continued living with Simon's family. He had smiled only twice in all those years - once when Matryóna first showed him kindness, and again when the rich gentleman visited. Simon was pleased with his workman but feared Michael might leave, never asking about his origins or questioning his mysterious nature.
Michael never looked out into the street, but one day when a boy mentioned seeing a lady with two little girls approaching, one of whom was lame, Michael suddenly dropped his work and pressed against the window, staring intently at something outside.
Chapter 8. A woman brings twin daughters for shoes
A well-dressed woman entered with two little girls in fur coats. The girls were nearly identical except that one was lame in her left leg. The woman wanted spring shoes made for both children. Simon noticed Michael staring at the girls as if he had known them before, which puzzled him greatly.
When Matryóna asked if the woman was their mother, she explained that she was not related to them but had adopted them. She revealed that she had lost her own child but was not as fond of him as she was of these girls.
They are not your children and yet you are so fond of them? How can I help being fond of them? I fed them both at my own breasts... I was not so fond of him as I now am of them.
Chapter 9. The tragic story of the twin orphans
The woman told their story: six years ago, both parents died in one week. The father was killed by a falling tree while woodcutting, and the mother died shortly after giving birth to the twins. The woman, who was nursing her own baby at the time, took in the orphaned girls. The mother had died alone, and in her death throes had rolled onto one child, crushing her leg.
The adoptive mother had nursed all three children - her own son and the two girls - at her breast. God had given her abundant milk to feed them all. However, her own child died before age two, while the twin girls thrived. She reflected on how one cannot live without God, and how these children had become the joy of her life.
One may live without father or mother, but one cannot live without God.
As she finished speaking, the entire hut was suddenly illuminated as if by summer lightning. Everyone looked toward Michael's corner and saw him sitting with hands folded, gazing upward and smiling radiantly.
Chapter 10. Michael reveals he is an angel
After the woman left with the girls, Michael rose, put down his work, and removed his apron. Bowing low to Simon and Matryóna, he bid them farewell, saying God had forgiven him. Light shone from Michael as he explained that he had smiled three times because God had sent him to learn three truths.
Light shines from me because I have been punished, but now God has pardoned me. And I smiled three times, because God sent me to learn three truths, and I have learnt them.
Michael revealed he was an angel who had disobeyed God. He was sent to take a woman's soul, but when she pleaded to live long enough to care for her newborn twins, he took pity and returned to heaven without her soul. God then commanded him to learn three truths before he could return.
Learn What dwells in man, What is not given to man, and What men live by. When thou hast learnt these things, thou shalt return to heaven.
Chapter 11. The angel explains Gods three truths
Michael explained that he learned the first truth when Matryóna showed kindness - that love dwells in man. The second truth came when he saw the angel of death behind the rich gentleman, learning that man cannot know his own needs. The third truth was revealed through the woman's love for the orphaned twins - that men live by love, not by care for themselves.
God does not wish men to live apart... but he wishes them to live united, and therefore reveals to each of them what is necessary for all.
Chapter 12. Michaels return to heaven
The angel's body became clothed in light so bright that eyes could not look upon him. He sang praise to God, causing the hut to tremble. Wings appeared on his shoulders as he rose into heaven. When Simon recovered, the hut stood as before, with only his family present.
He who has love, is in God, and God is in him, for God is love.