28 November–4 December 1853

Rose readily. Wished to set to work on Boyhood , but not having the previous notebooks found it inconvenient, and I have decided on nothing new so far. Arranged my papers and letters. Dined at home, read ' Fatherland Notes. After dinner talked and played chess with the unendurable Clifer ; read, and with my bad cold still no better, went to bed. Rule against laziness : order in one’s life and order in mental and physical occupations. There are two desires the fulfilment of which can give real happiness to man — to be useful, and to have a quiet conscience. Vanity results from, and is increased by, moral disorder in a man’s soul. Formerly I only instinctively perceived and had a premonition of the need of order in everything ; but I have only now understood it. The phases of the moon are caused by the angle at which it reflects the rays of the sun. Mumad or Mumkhad is a place to which the inhabi- tants of Turkestan go on religious pilgrimages. Schlosser divides the history of Russia into five periods: (1) from 862 to 1116 — from its foundation to Sviatopdlk — Russia being born ; (2) from Sviatopdlk to Batu — Russia divided ; (3) from Batu to John III — Russia oppressed ; (4) from John III to Peter — Russia Victorious ; (5) from Peter to our times — Russia flourish- ing. I like this division. The greater part of the lands of the Zapordzhian Cossacks in the province of Ekaterinosldv, that were confiscated in the second half of the eighteenth century, were given to the Mennonites. Instead of Novoselitsa — Josephstadt. Have decided, when I have finished Boyhood , to write short stories, sufficiently brief for me to plan them at one stroke, and on sufficiently serious and useful subjects not A leading Russian monthly magazine. to weary or disgust me. Besides that, I will in the evenings form and write down the plan of a long novel and sketch some scenes of it.

Rose early but could not begin anything. My story The Cossacks both pleases and displeases me. Read The History of the Russian State till dinner, and after dinner Olifer, in the presence of a servant and of the copyist, said I should be sure to squander my estate. This rudeness and stupidity upset me. Have promised myself not to go to dinner with that exceedingly anti- pathetic man till Alexeev’s return, and definitely to avoid intercourse with him. Was weak enough after dinner hastily to get ready and to go shooting, and I got my feet wet, which is not at all good for the cold which I still have. I have a great defect : an inability to describe simply and easily in a story the circumstances which connect the poetic scenes. Have been undecided which of four ideas to choose for a story : (1) The Diary of an Officer in the Caucasus , (2) A Cossack Poem , (3) An Hungarian Girl , (4) The Lost Man. All four ideas are good. Will begin with what seems the simplest, easiest, and the one that came first — The Diary of an Officer in the Caucasus . •

All these days I have been much disturbed about my cold, which has still not passed and in spite of which I have twice gone shooting with Stiegelmann. In consequence I have written nothing and, trying to distract myself, have read The History of Russia without thinking or stopping. To-day I wrote a letter to Osip. Akrshevski has still not returned my notebooks. Not far from the village of Tarumov, beyond Kizlyar, there is a mound called Chakka where the Nogays find ancient weapons and accoutrements. Filchant is a town in ruins, in the same place. A cannon sunk into the ground is said to be there too. To study history, maps for each fifty or even for each twenty- five years are necessary. Charles Bonaparte had five sons : (i) Joseph, who was King of Naples and Spain ; (2) Napoleon, Emperor of France ; (3) Lucien, Member of the Senate and an exile ; (4) Louis, King of Holland, married to Hortense Beau- harnais, was father of Louis-Napoleon, Emperor of the French ; (5) Jerome, King of Westphalia, a Marshal, Governor of the Hotel des Invalides, and father of Jerome Napoleon, heir to the throne. Having finished The History of Russia, I am inclined to look it through again and note down the most remarkable events.