Evil Allures, but Good Endures

by Leo Tolstoy

The slaves praise their master for his kindness. One amongst them lays a wager that if he is provoked, their master will lose his temper and prove himself just as evil as any other master. When a trusted slave deliberately angers his master, he does an amazing thing. Tempted by anger, a good man upholds his virtue.

Genres: Classics, Short Stories, Russian Literature, Fiction, Russia

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1885

About the author

Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (Russian: Лев Николаевич Толстой; most appropriately used Liev Tolstoy; commonly Leo Tolstoy in Anglophone countries) was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist fiction. Many consider Tolstoy to have been one of the world's greatest novelists. Tolstoy is equally known for his complicated and paradoxical persona and for his extreme moralistic and ascetic views, which he adopted after a moral crisis and spiritual awakening in the 1870s, after which he also became noted as a moral thinker and social reformer.

His literal interpretation of the ethical teachings of Jesus, centering on the Sermon on the Mount, caused him in later life to become a fervent Christian anarchist and anarcho-pacifist. His ideas on nonviolent resistance, expressed in such works as The Kingdom of God Is Within You, were to have a profound impact on such pivotal twentieth-century figures as Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Reviews

[Vaishali · Rating 3 out of 5]

Patience, kindness, and friendship is actually the true master of all :)

[Steven van Doorn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short and sweet, based on the book of Job, but with a much more simple and direct story.

[Anand Chauhan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perfect little grandma story!

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great short story!

[| Shakshi | · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sounds like something out of a folklore to teach people that good always wins over evil.

[Rebecca Terry Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Forgiveness frees the offended and offender while punishing the Devil.

[Trayan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great

[Noelia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lo malo atrae, pero lo bueno perdura
Lo he leído en castellano con el título que se puede leer aquí arriba, me ha gustado, lo empecé a leer porque me gustó el título y la verdad es que el relato es educativo y moralizador.

[Space Panda · Rating 4 out of 5]

•Spanish: "Lo malo atrae, pero lo bueno perdura" es la traducción del cuento corto "Evil Allures, But Good Endures" (en inglés) y su versión rusa original "Вражье лепко, а божье крепко".

Esclavos y el Diablo.
Ni el mismo diablo puede quebrantar a una persona verdaderamente buena.

[spirited.pages · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was ok

[amal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sincerely hoping to learn from this one

[CH0MSKY H0NK · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tolstoy with another bullet

[Shaimaa أحمد · Rating 4 out of 5]

رااائعة