The Forged Coupon
![]() Greedy Children by Nikolai Nevrev (1830-1904) | |
Author | Leo Tolstoy |
---|---|
Original title | Фальшивый купон (Fal'shivyi kupon) |
Translator | Charles Theodore Hagberg Wright |
Language | Russian |
Genre | Fiction |
Publication date | 1911 (posthumously) |
Publication place | Russia |
The Forged Coupon (Russian: Фальшивый купон, Fal'shivyi kupon) is a novella in two parts by Leo Tolstoy. Though he first conceived of the story in the late 1890s, he did not begin writing it until 1902. After struggling for several years, he finally completed the story in 1904; however, it was not published until some of Tolstoy's shorter works were collected and anthologized after his death in 1910.[1]
Synopsis
The story is divided into two parts. In Part I, schoolboy Mitya is in desperate need of money to repay a debt, but his father angrily denies him assistance. Dejected, under the instigation of a friend Makhin, Mitya simply changes a 2.50 rouble bond coupon to read 12.50 roubles, but this one evil deed sets off a chain of events that affects the lives of dozens of others, when his one falsehood indirectly causes a man to murder a woman at the end of Part I, and then seek redemption through religion in Part II.
Having written the novella in his dying years, after his excommunication, Tolstoy relishes the chance to unveil the "pseudo-piety and hypocrisy of organized religion." Yet, he maintains an unwavering belief in man's capacity to find truth, so the story remains hopeful, especially in Part II, which shows that good works can affect another as in a domino effect, just as evil does in Part I.[2] The novella has also been translated with the title "The Counterfeit Note" and "The Forged Banknote."[3]
Adaptations
Robert Bresson used Part I as the basis for his last film, L'Argent (1983), transposing the action from early nineteenth century tsarist Russia to capitalistic, present-day France.[4] Bresson merges the characters of Ivan Mirinov and Stepán into "Yvon Targe", thus providing the ensemble cast with a concise protagonist and focusing more specifically in his story. Because Part II is completely omitted, there is no redeeming the many characters and their crimes that lead up to murder in Part I. The film Frozen Land (Finnish: Paha maa) is a 2005 critically acclaimed dark Finnish film drama directed and written by Aku Louhimies that is based on Part I and set in contemporary Finland.
See also
Leo Tolstoy bibliography
References
- ^ R. F. Christian, Tolstoy's Diaries Volume II 1895-1910 (1985) Athlone Press, p. 452. December 13, 1897, Tolstoy lists The Forged Coupon as one of thirteen "subjects which can be, and deserve to be worked up properly." p. 473, Dec. 20, 1899, Tolstoy thought about the story and thought "Perhaps I'll write it."
- ^ R. F. Christian, Tolstoy's Letters Volume II 1880—1910 (1978) Charles Scribner's Sons, p. 733. In the index, under "Tolstoy, Lev Nikolayevich, works:" there is the index entry "False Coupon, The, 515, 639—640"
- ^ Kent Jones, L'Argent London (1999) BFI Publishing, p. 24
- ^ Moravia, A. (1998). L'Argent. In J. Quandt (Ed.), Robert Bresson. Toronto: Cinematheque Ontario Monographs, p. 408
External links
Read the full text of The Forged Coupon at Project Gutenberg.org
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- Childhood (1852)
- Boyhood (1854)
- Youth (1856)
- The Cossacks (1863)
- War and Peace (1869)
- Anna Karenina (1878)
- Resurrection (1899)
- Hadji Murat (1912)
- A Landowner's Morning (1856)
- Two Hussars (1856)
- Family Happiness (1859)
- Polikúshka (1860)
- The Death of Ivan Ilyich (1886)
- Walk in the Light While There is Light (1888)
- The Kreutzer Sonata (1889)
- The Devil (1889)
- Master and Man (1895)
- Father Sergius (1898)
- The Forged Coupon (1904)
- "The Raid" (1852)
- "The Cutting of the Forest" (1855)
- "Sevastopol Sketches" (1855)
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- "The Porcelain Doll" (1863)
- "God Sees the Truth, But Waits" (1872)
- "The Prisoner of the Caucasus" (1872)
- "The Bear Hunt" (1872)
- "What Men Live By" (1881)
- "Diary of a Lunatic" (1884)
- "Quench the Spark" (1885)
- "An Old Acquaintance" (1885)
- "Where Love Is, God Is" (1885)
- "Ivan the Fool" (1885)
- "Evil Allures, But Good Endures" (1885)
- "Wisdom of Children" (1885)
- "The Three Hermits" (1886)
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- "How Much Land Does a Man Need?" (1886)
- "The Grain" (1886)
- "Repentance" (1886)
- "Croesus and Fate" (1886)
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- "Three Questions" (1903)
- "Alyosha the Pot" (1905)
- "After the Ball" (1911)
- The Power of Darkness (1886)
- The First Distiller (1886)
- The Light Shines in the Darkness (1890)
- The Fruits of Enlightenment (1891)
- The Living Corpse (1900)
- The Cause of It All (1910)
- A History of Yesterday (1851)
- Confession (1882)
- The Gospel in Brief (1883)
- What I Believe (1884)
- What Is to Be Done? (1886)
- The Kingdom of God Is Within You (1894)
- What Is Art? (1897)
- "A Letter to a Hindu" (1908)
- The Inevitable Revolution (1909)
- A Calendar of Wisdom (1910)
- The Decembrists (1884)
- "Posthumous Notes of the Hermit Fëdor Kuzmich" (1905)
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- The Last Station (1990 novel)
- 2009 film)
- Story of One Appointment (2018 film)
- A Couple (2022 film)
- Tolstoy Farm
- Tolstoj quadrangle
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- The Triumph of the Farmer or Industry and Parasitism (1888)
- Vladimir Chertkov
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