The Causasian Captive

Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy (1828-1910) - a Russian writer and philosopher, author of world-famous works ("War and Peace", "Anna Karenina", "Resurrection"). He was born in Yasnaya Polyana into a wealthy aristocratic family. L.N. Tolstoy became an orphan at an early age. In 1837, he moved to Moscow with his sister and three brothers, where a distant relative T.A. Yergolskaya took care of their upbringing. In 1851, he enlisted in the military service in the Caucasus, where he wrote extensively. In 1852, L.N. Tolstoy sent the manuscript of "Childhood" to the popular magazine "Sovremennik" at that time. The magazine's editor N.A. Nekrasov already highly valued the young author's creativity. After the end of the Crimean War, L.N. Tolstoy moved to Saint Petersburg and immediately joined the circle of "Sovremennik". In 1872, L.N. Tolstoy wrote the novella "The Causasian Captive", which tells about a Russian officer in captivity among mountaineers. Partly, the work is based on a real story that happened to the writer in the Caucasus. Together with his Chechen friend Sado, he moved far away from the detachment accompanying the convoy and barely avoided captivity. The sentry of the Grozny fortress noticed in time that they were being pursued by mountaineers and raised the alarm among the Cossacks. The hero of the novella, officer Zhilin, is taken captive. He has a complicated relationship with the inhabitants of the aul, and only a kind girl, Dina, becomes his friend. Truthfully describing the details of Zhilin's captivity, Tolstoy shows that war is evil, condemning interethnic discord and mutual hatred.