THE IRR1GA Tl ON A GE. 243 



TOLSTOI'S HOURS. 



Assigned the room on the ground floor immediately next his, and 

 Tolstoi passing through the writer's to get in and out, I naturally 

 saw him a good deal during the short stay. He was astir before I 

 was, and would be at work till 9:30 or 10 ere he came up for his 

 koffee and krullers" or the Russian equivalent. With these he 

 would dive down stairs into his studio again to reappear at 11 or 

 thereabouts for a morning walk. 



Those daily walks were and are the pleasantest souvenirs of the 

 visit. By midday the daily walk over a portion of the estate is 

 terminated winding up in time for reaching the big hall for break- 

 fast, which is ready about 12. Tolstoi confines himself to vegetable 

 dishes but for the ladies of the house go in also the three f ? s, so 

 I shared with them. My experience of travel in the three worlds 

 has taught me to "take what I can get" be it the roast monkey of 

 the straits settlements; the potted alligator of the Amazon; the con- 

 serve de crocodile of the Nile; the mule steak of Paris; or the 

 stewed slugs of Tibet. The common "beef -steak" of the Russian 

 poor is a thick slice of sour-smelling rye bread. I have often dined 

 off it alone, but prefer the meaty article. Russians, by the way, 

 have an excellent way of speedily rendering the toughest meat 

 tender. They run it through a sausage machine. 



Tolstoi appears at table in the same costume in which he walks 

 and works. His dress is neat and plain, pure wool, roomy a quaint 

 national costume which the garb of "fashion" never was. The 

 coat is the nicest-looking kind of semi-blouse I ever saw: with straps 

 round the waist and semi-military collar. It is not at all long, only 

 just passes body. I had one made like it (from memory) at Paris, 

 and named it the Tolstoi habit (coat). 



After the late breakfast Toltoi goes to his studio for a little more 

 work: then takes his siesta, or nap, and does not reappear till the 

 afternoon tea: then to work again: and comes up to dine at about 8 

 p. m. This over, I used sometimes to accompany him, at request, on 

 the piano for I possess the ventriloquial faculty of imitating the 

 violin. So provokingly similar is the imitation that the music of a 

 Stradivarius being apparently evoked from a walking stick worked 

 bo.v fashion through the fingers, has often convulsed a family 

 audience with laughter. "A ventriloquist Paganini v once remarked 

 a professor on the Ganges. About 10:30 or 11 the family retire for the 

 night Tolstoi in the studio for I believe his couch is in the same room. 



INTERVIEWING WITHOUT ASKING QUESTIONS. 



I never saw the interior of that room, and had no curiosity to do 

 so. I learnt all I wanted to know about Tolstoi without asking a 

 question Although my visit was never even suggestive of the vul- 

 garity of the interview, still, it is a point I would impress upon 

 professional interviewers" i. e., the desirability of interviewing 

 without a single question. This can be done by references or com- 

 ments calculated to elicit replies. 



