The volume opens with the story of a humble shoemaker named Simon who discovers an abandoned naked man in the freezing cold and brings him home against his wife's initial anger. This stranger, who turns out to be a fallen angel named Michael, learns three fundamental truths about humanity: what dwells in man, what is not given to man, and what men live by. Through Michael's journey and subsequent service to Simon, Tolstoy illustrates how human beings are sustained not by selfish care for their own survival, but by divine love.
Following this centerpiece, Tolstoy includes several other moral tales and parables that probe the depths of human nature. In a short narrative set in a Surat coffee-house, travelers of various religious creeds argue fiercely over whose faith is true, until a wise Chinese scholar compares their narrow sectarian pride to blind men arguing over the sun. Another famous story, How Much Land Does a Man Need?, follows a peasant named Pahom whose insatiable greed for land drives him to acquire increasingly large estates, culminating in a fatal bargain with the Bashkirs that costs him his life.
The collection also addresses the futility of human anxieties and the importance of living in the present moment. In a brief tale about a king seeking answers to life's most vital questions, a hermit demonstrates that the most important time is always the present, the most necessary person is whoever is currently beside you, and the highest duty is to do good to that person. Throughout these works, Tolstoy strips away social artifice and religious dogma to reveal a core message of universal brotherhood, compassion, and spiritual simplicity.
