ON TRUTH IN ART

_Preface to a Miscellany, “The Flower Garden,” for Children._

“O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. The good man out of his good treasure bringeth forth good things: and the evil man out of his evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. And I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” (Matt. xii, 34–37.)

In this book besides stories in which true occurrences are narrated there are also stories, traditions, proverbs, legends, fables, and fairy tales, that have been composed and written for man’s benefit.

We have chosen such as we consider to be in accord with Christ’s teaching, and therefore regard as good and truthful.

Many people, especially children, when reading a story, fairy-tale, legend, or fable, ask first of all: “Is it true?” and if they see that what is described could not have happened, they often say: “Oh, this is mere fancy, it isn’t true.”

Those who judge so, judge amiss.

Truth will be known not by him who knows only what has been, is, and really happens, but by him who recognizes what should be, according to the will of God.

He does not write the truth who describes only what has happened, and what this or that man has done, but he who shows what people do that is right, that is, in accord with God’s will, and what people do wrong, that is, contrary to God’s will.

Truth is a path. Christ said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.”

And so he will not know the truth who looks down at his feet, but he who discerns by the sun which way to go.

All verbal compositions are good and necessary not when they describe what has happened, but when they show what ought to be; not when they tell what people have done, but when they set a value on what is good and evil--when they show men the narrow path of God’s will, which leads to life.

And in order to show that path one must not describe merely what happens in the world. The world abides in evil and is full of offence. If one is to describe the world as it is, one will describe much evil and the truth will be lacking. In order that there may be truth in what one describes, it is necessary to write not about what is, but about what should be; to write not the truth of what is, but of the kingdom of God which is drawing nigh unto us, but is not as yet. That is why there are mountains of books in which we are told what really has happened or might have happened, yet they are all false if those who write them do not themselves know what is good and what is evil, and do not know and do not show the one path which leads to the kingdom of God. And there are fairy-tales, parables, fables, legends in which marvellous things are described which never happened, or ever could happen, and these legends, fairy-tales and fables are true because they show wherein the will of God has always been, and is, and will be: they show the truth of the kingdom of God.

There may be a book, and there are indeed many novels and stories, that describe how a man lives for his passions, suffers, torments others, endures danger and want, schemes, struggles with others, escapes from his poverty, and at last is united with the object of his love and becomes distinguished, rich, and happy. Such a book, even if everything described in it really happened, and though there were in it nothing improbable, would nevertheless be false and untrue, because a man who lives for himself and his passions, however beautiful his wife may be and however distinguished and rich he becomes, cannot be happy.

And there may be a legend of how Christ and his apostles walked on earth and went to a rich man, and the rich man would not receive him, and they went to a poor widow, and she received him. And then he commanded a barrel full of gold to roll to the rich man and sent a wolf to the poor widow to eat up her last calf, and it might prove a blessing for the widow, and be bad for the rich man.

Such a story is totally improbable, because nothing of what is described ever happened or could happen; but it may all be true because in it is shown what always should be--what is good and what is evil, and what a man should strive after in order to do the will of God.

No matter what wonders are described, or what animals may talk in human language, what flying carpets may carry people from place to place, the legends, parables, or fairy-tales will be true if there is in them the truth of the kingdom of God. And if that truth is lacking, then everything described, however well attested, will be false, because it lacks the truth of the kingdom of God. Christ himself spoke in parables, and his parables have remained eternally true. He only added, “Take heed, how ye hear.”

PART V[8]

WHAT IS TRUTH?

It was in 1890 that N. N. Gay painted the well-known picture of Tolstoy in his room at Yásnaya Polyána.

The picture which aroused most interest at Yásnaya that year, however, was not a portrait of Tolstoy, but Gay’s “What is Truth?” which had been exhibited in Petersburg early in the year and prohibited. After being exhibited privately, Gay brought it to show to Tolstoy, on whom it made a deep impression.

Already in January, when Gay had sent him a drawing of it, Tolstoy had written to him:

“I am always thinking about you and your picture. I am longing to hear how it is received. I am troubled over the figure of Pilate which, with that arm, seems wrong somehow. I don’t say it is, I only ask. If the connoisseurs say that that figure is correct, I shall be satisfied. About the rest I know, and have no need to ask anyone’s opinion.”

Though Tolstoy knew very well that Pilate’s arm was not well drawn, he was immensely pleased with the treatment of the subject and the thought and feeling expressed. Feinermann tells us:

“Leo Tolstoy, when he saw that painting, was so shaken and agitated that for days after he could hardly speak of anything else.

_After a painting by N. N. Gay, 1890_]

“‘I am in raptures,’ he said. ‘That’s a master! I confess that I myself only now understand the deep and true meaning of that short passage which always appeared to me, as it has to all the Bible commentators, unfinished and abrupt. Pilate asked, “What is Truth?” and then went out to the crowd without waiting for a reply. And everybody reads and understands it that way. But this picture gives a different interpretation. Pilate does not _ask_ what truth is, expecting a reply. No! in the form of a question he contemptuously _replies_! When Christ says that he has come into the world as a witness of Truth, Pilate with a laugh and a contemptuous gesture throws the words carelessly at him: “And what _is_ Truth? Truth is a relative thing; everybody takes it his own way!” and, evidently considering his retort decisive, he went out to the crowd. That is the light in which the moment is seized. It is new, it is profound, and how strongly and clearly the picture expresses it! That fat shaven neck of the Roman Governor, that half-turned, large, well-fed, sensual body, that out-stretched arm with its gesture of contempt--are all splendid--it is alive. It breathes and impresses itself on the memory for ever. And the face.... Together with all the dignity of that Roman figure there goes a slavish anxiety about himself: the mean trepidation of a petty soul. He is afraid he may be denounced at Rome.... And this smallness of soul is wonderfully caught by Gay, and notwithstanding the toga, and his height, and his majestic pose, Pilate appears so petty before the wornout sufferer who has undergone during the night arrest, judgment, and insults.... A wonderful picture! That is the way to paint!’

“Gay, touched and deeply moved by Tolstoy’s delight, embraced and kissed him, and said: ‘Do not praise it.... You will praise me so that I shall become proud. I am afraid of that.... I shan’t be able to paint!’”