Summary
Summary of Master and Man
Key ideas
Key idea 1
The snow takes wealth out of reach
A prosperous Russian merchant and his poor laborer set out by sleigh to close a profitable deal. When a blizzard gathers around them, their journey becomes a test of something larger than business. With two men, one horse and one sleigh, there is little room to escape what matters.
Tolstoy places a man who measures himself by his possessions in a world where possessions may no longer help. The winter landscape brings his questions about money, ambition and a life spent on oneself into immediate danger.
Key idea 2
Vasili mistakes gain for goodness
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Key idea 3
Nikita brings care rather than ambition
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Key idea 4
A warm house cannot hold Vasili
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Key idea 5
The storm defeats command and money
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Key idea 6
The same cold reveals different lives
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Key idea 7
Living for others becomes the measure
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Key idea 8
What remains when possessions fall away
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The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
Read the rest freeWho it’s for
For readers who love a short, tense story with a moral at its center, and anyone curious about Tolstoy’s exploration of money, ambition and caring for others.
What this book is
Master and Man is a novella by Leo Tolstoy, published in 1895. It was written in the years after his religious crisis, when he was asking hard questions about money, ambition and the meaning of a life spent on oneself. The story is short and simple on its surface. A prosperous Russian merchant and his poor laborer set out by sleigh on a winter day to close a profitable deal, and a blizzard closes in around them.
You get a story with two men, one horse and one sleigh, and almost no room to hide. Tolstoy knew the Russian countryside and its peasants well, and he draws both with plain, exact detail. What the book gives you is a close look at a man who has always measured himself by what he owns, and at what happens when the snow takes that measure away. Let us begin with the merchant himself, and the deal he cannot bear to lose.
In this summary
- 1A merchant who wants moreFree
- 2Nikita the laborer joins the trip
- 3The road disappears in the snow
- 4Out again and lost in the storm
- 5Two ways of facing the cold
- 6What the story is about and how it works
Key point 1 of 6
A merchant who wants more
The story opens in a Russian village called Kresty, on a winter day in the 1800s, just after a church feast. Vasili Andreevich Brekhunov is a merchant, a man of some standing, and he serves as the church elder. He is proud of this. He is forty-odd, strong and energetic, and he has built his life around trade and gain.
That morning he is in a hurry. A landowner in a nearby village is selling a grove of trees, and Vasili means to buy it before another dealer gets there. He knows the price should be low if he moves fast and bargains hard. Other buyers are interested, and he fears being beaten to it.
Tolstoy shows us how Vasili thinks. He does not see himself as greedy. He sees himself as capable, as a man who gets things done and provides for his household. He is used to being obeyed and used to being right.
Vasili also has a habit of tricking those who work for him. He pays his laborers with goods and credit more than with coin, and he counts every ruble carefully against them. Early in the story we see that this is how he treats his peasants, and that he feels no guilt about it. This is the man we will be shut in with for the rest of the book.
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Check yourself
Why does Vasili leave the shelter offered in Grishkino?
Right. “His pride and his hunger for the deal pull him back out.”Not quite. “His pride and his hunger for the deal pull him back out.”
What gives Nikita a strength that Vasili lacks?
Right. “He is a tired, cold, ordinary man, but his habit of living without grasping gives him a strength that Vasili lacks.”Not quite. “He is a tired, cold, ordinary man, but his habit of living without grasping gives him a strength that Vasili lacks.”
What central contrast does the storm test?
Right. “The central theme is the gap between living for yourself and living for others.”Not quite. “The central theme is the gap between living for yourself and living for others.”
Who’s who
- Vasili Andreevich Brekhunov
- A prosperous merchant and church elder, he takes his laborer Nikita on a winter journey to secure a profitable purchase.
- Nikita
- A patient peasant laborer employed by Vasili, he drives the sleigh and tends their horse with quiet care.
- Mukhorty
- The bay gelding pulling Vasili and Nikita's sleigh, he receives gentler treatment from Nikita than from his impatient master.
- Vasili's wife
- Vasili's wife remains at home in Kresty and sees her husband and Nikita off in uncertain weather.
- The peasant family at Grishkino
- These villagers welcome Vasili and Nikita with tea and offer shelter when the travelers reach Grishkino during the storm.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 20,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 1 h 20 min
- Listening time2 h 10 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 13 other languages
Questions about Master and Man
What is Master and Man about?
It tells of a rich merchant and his poor laborer who drive by sleigh through a Russian blizzard to close a land deal. The storm tests the merchant's values and shows how differently the two men face danger.
When was Master and Man written?
Tolstoy published it in 1895, after his religious turn in the late 1870s and 1880s. It is a work of fiction, though it draws on ordinary rural Russian life that he knew well.
Who are Vasili and Nikita in Master and Man?
Vasili Andreevich Brekhunov is a prosperous merchant who treats money as the measure of life. Nikita is his long-serving, poorly paid peasant laborer, patient and humble, who drives the sleigh.
Is Master and Man hard to read?
No. It is a short novella with a simple plot, two main characters and clear, direct prose. It is a good first Tolstoy.
What is the main message of Master and Man?
Tolstoy suggests that a life spent gathering wealth and status is empty, and that real meaning comes from caring for others. The story shows this through action in a crisis, not through lectures.
