The question comes from the listener
In the account, the chief asks Tolstoy about Lincoln. That reversal makes the scene memorable: the expected storyteller discovers what his audience already wants to know.
Story · A CLOSER LOOK
“Tell us of Lincoln”
ABOUT THIS STORY
Herman Bernstein’s 1909 account of a conversation with Tolstoy tells of a gathering in the Caucasus. After hearing about other great figures, a local chief wanted to hear about Lincoln.
The striking part of the reported scene is the distance Lincoln’s name had traveled: the interest came from people far from the American political world in which he had lived. The page preserves the encounter as Bernstein’s published account.
Reported in 1909 · Caucasus
How it unfolded.
“Tell us of Lincoln”
A reported encounter far from America gives Lincoln an unexpected reach.
A CLOSER LOOK
The story behind it.
A reported encounter far from America gives Lincoln an unexpected reach.
A published recollection
The story reaches us through a newspaper interview published after Lincoln’s lifetime, rather than a contemporary record of the original gathering.
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Herman Bernstein’s 1909 account of Tolstoy on Lincoln (opens in a new tab)Source for “Tell us of Lincoln”: Herman Bernstein’s 1909 account of Tolstoy on Lincoln.
Sources for this closer look
Herman Bernstein’s 1909 account of Tolstoy on Lincoln (opens in a new tab)Explore the original.
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Footnotes
1. How the account reaches us
Herman Bernstein reported the Tolstoy conversation in 1909. This page attributes the encounter to that account; an independent record of the gathering has not been located.
Sources & credits
Introductions are grounded in the sources below. Collection notes and reading prompts provide an editorial starting point; personal opinions are identified in the collection’s content.
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