An excerpt from the original text.(complete · 1788 words)
icholas Rostóv meanwhile remained at his post, waiting for the wolf.
By the way the hunt approached and receded, by the cries of the dogs
whose notes were familiar to him, by the way the voices of the huntsmen
approached, receded, and rose, he realized what was happening at the
copse. He knew that young and old wolves were there, that the hounds had
separated into two packs, that somewhere a wolf was being chased, and
that something had gone wrong. He expected the wolf to come his way any
moment. He made thousands of different conjectures as to where and
from what side the beast would come and how he would set upon it. Hope
alternated with despair. Several times he addressed a prayer to God
that the wolf should come his way. He prayed with that passionate and
shamefaced feeling with which men pray at moments of great excitement
arising from trivial causes. “What would it be to Thee to do this for
me?” he said to God. “I know Thou art great, and that it is a sin to
ask this of Thee, but for God’s sake do let the old wolf come my way
and let Karáy spring at it—in sight of ‘Uncle’ who is watching
from over there—and seize it by the throat in a death grip!” A
thousand times during that half-hour Rostóv cast eager and restless
glances over the edge of the wood, with the two scraggy oaks rising
above the aspen undergrowth and the gully with its water-worn side and
“Uncle’s” cap just visible above the bush on his right.
“No, I shan’t have such luck,” thought Rostóv, “yet what
wouldn’t it be worth! It is not to be! Everywhere, at cards and in
war, I am always unlucky.” Memories of Austerlitz and of Dólokhov
flashed rapidly and clearly through his mind. “Only once in my life
to get an old wolf, I want only that!” thought he, straining eyes and
ears and looking to the left and then to the right and listening to the
slightest variation of note in the cries of the dogs.
Again he looked to the right and saw something running toward him across
the deserted field. “No, it can’t be!” thought Rostóv, taking a
deep breath, as a man does at the coming of something long hoped for.
The height of happiness was reached—and so simply, without warning, or
noise, or display, that Rostóv could not believe his eyes and remained
in doubt for over a second. The wolf ran forward and jumped heavily over
a gully that lay in her path. She was an old animal with a gray back and
big reddish belly. She ran without hurry, evidently feeling sure that no
one saw her. Rostóv, holding his breath, looked round at the borzois.
They stood or lay not seeing the wolf or understanding the situation.
Old Karáy had turned his head and was angrily searching for fleas,
baring his yellow teeth and snapping at his hind legs.
“Ulyulyulyu!” whispered Rostóv, pouting his lips. The borzois
jumped up, jerking the rings of the leashes and pricking their ears.
Karáy finished scratching his hindquarters and, cocking his ears, got
up with quivering tail from which tufts of matted hair hung down.
“Shall I loose them or not?” Nicholas asked himself as the wolf
approached him coming from the copse. Suddenly the wolf’s whole
physiognomy changed: she shuddered, seeing what she had probably never
seen before—human eyes fixed upon her—and turning her head a little
toward Rostóv, she paused.
“Back or forward? Eh, no matter, forward...” the wolf seemed to say
to herself, and she moved forward without again looking round and with a
quiet, long, easy yet resolute lope.
“Ulyulyu!” cried Nicholas, in a voice not his own, and of its own
accord his good horse darted headlong downhill, leaping over gullies
to head off the wolf, and the borzois passed it, running faster still.
Nicholas did not hear his own cry nor feel that he was galloping, nor
see the borzois, nor the ground over which he went: he saw only the
wolf, who, increasing her speed, bounded on in the same direction along
the hollow. The first to come into view was Mílka, with her black
markings and powerful quarters, gaining upon the wolf. Nearer and
nearer... now she was ahead of it; but the wolf turned its head to face
her, and instead of putting on speed as she usually did Mílka suddenly
raised her tail and stiffened her forelegs.
“Ulyulyulyulyu!” shouted Nicholas.
The reddish Lyubím rushed forward from behind Mílka, sprang
impetuously at the wolf, and seized it by its hindquarters, but
immediately jumped aside in terror. The wolf crouched, gnashed her
teeth, and again rose and bounded forward, followed at the distance of a
couple of feet by all the borzois, who did not get any closer to her.
“She’ll get away! No, it’s impossible!” thought Nicholas, still
shouting with a hoarse voice.
“Karáy, ulyulyu!...” he shouted, looking round for the old borzoi
who was now his only hope. Karáy, with all the strength age had left
him, stretched himself to the utmost and, watching the wolf, galloped
heavily aside to intercept it. But the quickness of the wolf’s
lope and the borzoi’s slower pace made it plain that Karáy had
miscalculated. Nicholas could already see not far in front of him the
wood where the wolf would certainly escape should she reach it. But,
coming toward him, he saw hounds and a huntsman galloping almost
straight at the wolf. There was still hope. A long, yellowish
young borzoi, one Nicholas did not know, from another leash, rushed
impetuously at the wolf from in front and almost knocked her over. But
the wolf jumped up more quickly than anyone could have expected and,
gnashing her teeth, flew at the yellowish borzoi, which, with a piercing
yelp, fell with its head on the ground, bleeding from a gash in its
side.
“Karáy? Old fellow!...” wailed Nicholas.
Thanks to the delay caused by this crossing of the wolf’s path, the
old dog with its felted hair hanging from its thigh was within five
paces of it. As if aware of her danger, the wolf turned her eyes on
Karáy, tucked her tail yet further between her legs, and increased
her speed. But here Nicholas only saw that something happened to
Karáy—the borzoi was suddenly on the wolf, and they rolled together
down into a gully just in front of them.
That instant, when Nicholas saw the wolf struggling in the gully
with the dogs, while from under them could be seen her gray hair and
outstretched hind leg and her frightened choking head, with her ears
laid back (Karáy was pinning her by the throat), was the happiest
moment of his life. With his hand on his saddlebow, he was ready to
dismount and stab the wolf, when she suddenly thrust her head up from
among that mass of dogs, and then her forepaws were on the edge of the
gully. She clicked her teeth (Karáy no longer had her by the throat),
leaped with a movement of her hind legs out of the gully, and having
disengaged herself from the dogs, with tail tucked in again, went
forward. Karáy, his hair bristling, and probably bruised or wounded,
climbed with difficulty out of the gully.
“Oh my God! Why?” Nicholas cried in despair.
“Uncle’s” huntsman was galloping from the other side across the
wolf’s path and his borzois once more stopped the animal’s advance.
She was again hemmed in.
Nicholas and his attendant, with “Uncle” and his huntsman, were all
riding round the wolf, crying “ulyulyu!” shouting and preparing to
dismount each moment that the wolf crouched back, and starting forward
again every time she shook herself and moved toward the wood where she
would be safe.
Already, at the beginning of this chase, Daniel, hearing the ulyulyuing,
had rushed out from the wood. He saw Karáy seize the wolf, and checked
his horse, supposing the affair to be over. But when he saw that the
horsemen did not dismount and that the wolf shook herself and ran for
safety, Daniel set his chestnut galloping, not at the wolf but straight
toward the wood, just as Karáy had run to cut the animal off. As
a result of this, he galloped up to the wolf just when she had been
stopped a second time by “Uncle’s” borzois.
Daniel galloped up silently, holding a naked dagger in his left hand and
thrashing the laboring sides of his chestnut horse with his whip as if
it were a flail.
Nicholas neither saw nor heard Daniel until the chestnut, breathing
heavily, panted past him, and he heard the fall of a body and saw Daniel
lying on the wolf’s back among the dogs, trying to seize her by the
ears. It was evident to the dogs, the hunters, and to the wolf herself
that all was now over. The terrified wolf pressed back her ears and
tried to rise, but the borzois stuck to her. Daniel rose a little, took
a step, and with his whole weight, as if lying down to rest, fell on
the wolf, seizing her by the ears. Nicholas was about to stab her, but
Daniel whispered, “Don’t! We’ll gag her!” and, changing his
position, set his foot on the wolf’s neck. A stick was thrust between
her jaws and she was fastened with a leash, as if bridled, her legs were
bound together, and Daniel rolled her over once or twice from side to
side.
With happy, exhausted faces, they laid the old wolf, alive, on a shying
and snorting horse and, accompanied by the dogs yelping at her, took her
to the place where they were all to meet. The hounds had killed two of
the cubs and the borzois three. The huntsmen assembled with their booty
and their stories, and all came to look at the wolf, which, with her
broad-browed head hanging down and the bitten stick between her jaws,
gazed with great glassy eyes at this crowd of dogs and men surrounding
her. When she was touched, she jerked her bound legs and looked wildly
yet simply at everybody. Old Count Rostóv also rode up and touched the
wolf.
“Oh, what a formidable one!” said he. “A formidable one, eh?” he
asked Daniel, who was standing near.
“Yes, your excellency,” answered Daniel, quickly doffing his cap.
The count remembered the wolf he had let slip and his encounter with
Daniel.
“Ah, but you are a crusty fellow, friend!” said the count.
For sole reply Daniel gave him a shy, childlike, meek, and amiable
smile.
Master this chapter. Complete your experience
Purchase the complete book to access all chapters and support classic literature
As an Amazon Associate, we earn a small commission from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you.
Available in paperback, hardcover, and e-book formats
Let's Analyse the Pattern
The belief that meaningful achievements should be individual efforts, leading to failure and self-blame when complex problems require collective solutions.
Why This Matters
Connect literature to life
This chapter teaches how to identify when success requires coordinated effort rather than individual excellence, and how to build the alliances that turn hopes into reality.
Practice This Today
This week, notice when you're struggling alone with something that might need team effort—at work, at home, in your community—and practice asking 'Who else has stakes in this outcome?' instead of 'Why can't I handle this myself?'
Now let's explore the literary elements.
Key Quotes & Analysis
"What would it be to Thee to do this for me? I know Thou art great, and that it is a sin to ask this of Thee, but for God's sake do let the old wolf come my way!"
Context: Nicholas prays desperately while waiting for the wolf to appear
This reveals how Nicholas feels powerless and relies on luck rather than skill. His shame about the prayer shows he knows it's trivial, but his desperation makes him do it anyway. It captures that very human tendency to bargain with fate when we feel out of control.
In Today's Words:
I know this is stupid to ask for, but please just let this one thing go my way for once.
"Hope alternated with despair."
Context: Describing Nicholas's emotional state while waiting
This simple phrase captures the exhausting cycle of anxiety when we're waiting for something important. It shows how our minds torture us by swinging between optimism and pessimism when we can't control the outcome.
In Today's Words:
One minute he thought it would work out, the next minute he was sure he was screwed.
"He made thousands of different conjectures as to where and from what side the beast would come and how he would set upon it."
Context: Nicholas imagining different scenarios while waiting
This shows how anxiety makes us overthink and try to control every possible outcome. Nicholas is mentally rehearsing scenarios instead of staying present and ready. It's the paralysis of too much planning when action is what's needed.
In Today's Words:
He kept running through every possible way this could go down, trying to have a plan for everything.
Thematic Threads
Identity
In This Chapter
Nicholas defines himself through his hunting prowess and past failures, seeking redemption through individual achievement
Development
Evolved from his military service and gambling losses—he's been building an identity around personal inadequacy
In Your Life:
You might catch yourself defining your worth by tasks you handle alone rather than problems you help solve.
Class
In This Chapter
The hunt reveals class dynamics—Nicholas as master depends on Daniel's working-class expertise for actual success
Development
Continues Tolstoy's exploration of how aristocratic privilege often masks dependence on others' skills
In Your Life:
You might notice how your job title or position obscures how much you rely on others' knowledge and labor.
Personal Growth
In This Chapter
Nicholas learns that his 'bad luck' isn't personal failing but misunderstanding how success actually works
Development
Major development—he's moving from self-blame to systems thinking
In Your Life:
You might realize that your 'failures' are often about tackling team problems with individual strategies.
Human Relationships
In This Chapter
The successful hunt requires trust, coordination, and recognizing others' expertise—Daniel's crucial intervention saves the day
Development
Shows how meaningful relationships involve mutual dependence and shared achievement
In Your Life:
You might see how your best successes involved others stepping up when you needed them most.
Social Expectations
In This Chapter
Nicholas feels pressure to succeed as the master of the hunt, but real success comes from accepting help
Development
Challenges the aristocratic ideal of individual superiority and self-sufficiency
In Your Life:
You might recognize pressure to appear self-sufficient when asking for help would be more effective.
You now have the context. Time to form your own thoughts.
Discussion Questions
- 1
Why is Nicholas so anxious about the wolf coming his way, and what does his desperation reveal about his past experiences?
analysis • surface - 2
How does the hunt demonstrate the difference between individual effort and collective achievement?
analysis • medium - 3
Where do you see people in your life trying to solve problems alone that really require team effort?
application • medium - 4
Think of a time when you felt like 'luck never goes your way.' How might reframing it as needing the right support system change your approach?
application • deep - 5
What does Nicholas's experience teach us about the relationship between personal insecurity and our need to prove ourselves?
reflection • deep
Critical Thinking Exercise
Map Your Support Ecosystem
Think of a current challenge you're facing alone. Draw or list the 'hunt' - who could be your Daniel, your experienced dogs, your other hunters? Map out everyone who might have skills, resources, or shared stakes in your success. Don't limit yourself to obvious choices.
Consider:
- •Consider people with different types of expertise, not just similar backgrounds
- •Think about who benefits if you succeed, even indirectly
- •Include people who've solved similar problems before, even in different contexts
Journaling Prompt
Write about a time when you exhausted yourself trying to handle something alone that later got solved through collaboration. What would you do differently now?
Coming Up Next...
Chapter 138: The Hunt and Hidden Rivalries
With the wolf captured and the hunt successful, the group gathers to celebrate their victory. But the real test may be what happens when the adrenaline fades and they return to the everyday world of social expectations and family obligations.
