Evil Allures, but Good Endures
Leo Tolstoy
Leo Tolstoy, was a Russian writer who is regarded as one of the greatest authors of all time. He is best known for the novels War and Peace (1869) and Anna Karenina (1877). This short story "Evil Allures, but Good Endures", is about the evil ways in which the devil tempts us to commit sins against the kindness of God, and how God’s love sustains forever.
The narrator introduces us to a few slaves who love their master for being very kind and gentle to them. The slaves speak about his greatness and the way he takes care of all their needs. The master is a gentleman who does not punish the slaves with difficult tasks. The Devil keeps listening to the praises about the master and feels jealous. So, he catches hold of one of the slaves named Aleb to fulfil his wish. He tempts Aleb to anger his master, so that his real face comes out.
The next day, Aleb tries to persuade the other slaves to join him. The slaves start praising the master and refuse to join him. At last they agree to bet with him. If Aleb manages to make their master angry, the other slaves were to give him their holiday garments and also to defend him against the master, and to set him free if he should be imprisoned. If he fails, he was to lose his holiday garment. Having arranged this bet, Aleb gets ready to make his master angry the next morning.
Aleb was a shepherd and the master brings a few visitors to see his ewes and lambs, and wishes to show them his finest ram. The ram had closely twisted horns and he treasured it so much. The master asks Aleb to catch the ram carefully, and hold him still for a moment. Aleb rushes in among the sheep and seized the left hind leg with one hand, so that it broke. The visitors and the slaves are shocked, and the Devil rejoices that Aleb had cleverly done his task. The master appears upset and angry but does not utter a word. After remaining silent for a while, the master lifts his eyes towards heaven, then smiles at Aleb. His anger has vanished and he says that Aleb had obeyed his master: the devil; and the master assures that he will obey his master: God. The master further angers the Devil by granting Aleb freedom without punishing him and offers him a holiday garment.
The kind master returns with his guests to the house, but the disappointed Devil, grinds his teeth and falls down from the tree. Thus, the master overcomes the Devil’s temptation and upholds his serene Godly virtues.
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