The First Distiller

audiobook

The First Distiller

by graf Leo Tolstoy

EN·~31 minutes·1 chapter

Chapters

1 total
1

Transcriber's Note:

31:45

Description

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.

Collections

Browse all

Details

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.

About the author

graf Leo Tolstoy

graf Leo Tolstoy

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.

View all books

You may also like