The complete works of Count Tolstoy . cal labour in the ocean of labourabsorbed by me, — the same astonishing and unexpectedanswer was received. It turned out that I needed only to make physicallabour a habitual condition of my life, in order that themajority of my false and expensive habits and needs dur-ing my physical idleness should without the least efforton my part naturally fall away from me. To say nothingof my habit of changing day into night and vice versa,and not to mention the bed, the garments, the conven-tional cleanliness, which with the physical labour aresimply impossible and
The complete works of Count Tolstoy . cal labour in the ocean of labourabsorbed by me, — the same astonishing and unexpectedanswer was received. It turned out that I needed only to make physicallabour a habitual condition of my life, in order that themajority of my false and expensive habits and needs dur-ing my physical idleness should without the least efforton my part naturally fall away from me. To say nothingof my habit of changing day into night and vice versa,and not to mention the bed, the garments, the conven-tional cleanliness, which with the physical labour aresimply impossible and embarrassing, the food, the need ofthe quality of the food, was completely changed. Insteadof sweet, fat, refined, complicated, seasoned food, for whichI had had a hankering before, I began to feel the need ofthe simplest kind of food, which I enjoyed most, such ascabbage soup, porridge, black bread, unsweetened tea. luodfiJ 1??1?/?11* i JJEN ? ,, .lid urned participa- Physical Labour rhotogyavure from Painting hy /. /.. Kyepin. WHAT SHALL WE DO THEN? 301 Thus, not to speak of the simple example of thoselabouring men with whom I came into contact and whowere contented with little, the needs themselves imper-ceptibly changed in consequence of the hfe of labour, sothat my drop of physical labour, in proportion as I becameaccustomed to it and acquired the methods of work, be-came more perceptible; in proportion as my labour becamemore fruitful, my demands of other peoples labour be-came less and less, and life naturally, without effort andwithout privations, approached that simple life of whichI could not even have dreamed without fulfilling the lawof labour. It turned out that my most expensive demandson life, namely, the demands of vanity and of diversionfrom ennui, were directly due to an idle hfe. With physical labour there was no room for vanity,and there was no need of diversions, since my time waspleasantly occupied, and, after fatigue, a simple rest atthe tea, over a boo
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