Tolstoy was a great writer from Russia who played a pivotal role in the propagation of Bolshevism after Lenin and Marx. His works have been translated in most of the languages of the world.
Seven or eight generations ago, one of his grandfathers was the gatekeeper during the time of King Peter. One day the king was busy in some important task. He was devising a plan for the betterment of his people. He ordered Tolstoy not to allow anyone to enter the castle that day. He was afraid that if someone came in, his attention would be diverted and he would not be able to prepare his plan adequately.
As soon as the king left, however, a prince arrived and wanted to enter the castle. Tolstoy spread his hands across saying, “You cannot enter because the king has specifically ordered that no one should be allowed to enter.”
At that time, Russian law was not as fairly respected. Lords, dukes and members of the imperial household were thought to have a lot of rights. According to the prevalent tradition, no one could stop the prince from entering the castle.
When the gatekeeper stopped him, the prince said, “Don’t you know who I am?”
The gatekeeper said, “Of course, I know who you are. You are the grand Duke.”
The prince said, “Do you realize that I am permitted to enter whenever I want to?”
The gatekeeper said, “Of course, I do.”
Hearing this, the prince stepped forward to enter, but the gatekeeper stopped him again saying the king has directed that no one should be allowed today to enter.
The prince became angry. He picked up a whip and started beating the gatekeeper. After some beating, the prince thought that the gatekeeper would have come to his senses, so the prince again tried to enter the castle. Tolstoy again blocked the entrance, pleading that it was the king’s order not to let anyone enter. The prince again started beating the gatekeeper. The gatekeeper accepted the beating humbly. The prince tried to enter for the third time but the gatekeeper again spread his hands across saying that the king has ordered not to allow anyone to enter. The prince started beating the gatekeeper.
Per chance, when the prince beat the gatekeeper the first time, the noise reached the king, and the king started viewing the scene from upstairs. When the prince was beating him the third time, the king called out, “Tolstoy, come here.”
When Tolstoy went to the king, the prince also went along in great fury, and said, “The gatekeeper has insulted me today.”
The king asked, “What happened?”
The prince said, “I wanted to come in, but your gatekeeper would not let me come in.”
The king, as though he knew nothing of what had happened, said, “Tolstoy, why did you stop the prince from coming in?”
Tolstoy said, “It was your order that no one should be allowed to come in.”
The king looked at the prince, and asked, “Did he tell you that I had ordered that no one should be allowed in?”
The prince said, “Yes, he told me, but no one can stop a prince from entering the castle.”
The king said, “I know that no one but the king can stop a prince from entering. Despite being a prince you have desecrated the law while Tolstoy being a gatekeeper realized the sanctity of the law. And despite the fact that he had told you that it was my order, you beat him. Now your punishment is to be beaten by the gatekeeper as you have beaten him.”
Then the king ordered Tolstoy to stand up and beat the prince. According to the Russian law, no civilian could beat a soldier. The prince said, “I am a soldier and he is a civilian. He cannot beat me.”
The king said, “Captain Tolstoy, I order you to beat him up.”
He picked up the whip to beat him. The prince said, “I am a general of the Tsar and no non-general can beat a general.”
The king said, “General Tolstoy, I order you to beat this prince.”
Then the prince referred to the Russian constitution that a non-lord could not beat a lord.
The king said, “Count Tolstoy, rise and beat the prince.”
So he raised Tolstoy to the level of a count from a gatekeeper and had the prince punished by him.