
Transcriber's Note:
In a sun‑lit field a weary peasant pauses his ploughing to nibble a piece of bread, only to discover it vanished without a trace. A mischievous imp, hidden in the brush, has slipped the crust away, hoping the farmer’s frustration will drive him to invoke the Devil. The farmer’s good‑natured resignation and the imp’s snide commentary set a playful tone that mixes folk simplicity with sly supernatural meddling.
Meanwhile, deep in the underworld a bureaucratic devilry unfolds: the Chief of Devils presides over a cluttered council of imps and a diligent secretary who tally souls like inventory. From officials to tradesmen, each imp boasts of captured numbers, while the Peasants’ Devil remains conspicuously under‑reported. The stage is set for a comic clash between earthly toil and infernal paperwork, promising a witty exploration of greed, patience, and the absurdities of both heaven and hell.
Language
en
Duration
~31 minutes (30K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Bryan Ness, Jana Srna and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Release date
2008-09-20
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1828–1910
Best known for War and Peace and Anna Karenina, this giant of Russian literature wrote with unusual emotional clarity about family life, history, faith, and the search for a meaningful life.
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by graf Leo Tolstoy

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by graf Leo Tolstoy