Too Dear Summary
A short Introduction
Too Dear! is a story written by Count Leo Tolstoy, a famous Russian writer, master of realistic fiction and is widely considered one of the world’s greatest novelists.
Summary
The king of Monaco ruled a tiny kingdom with a small population of about seven thousand. In that kingdom he was a real kinglet. He had a palace, courtiers, ministers, a bishop, generals and an army too. However, he had very limited sources of income to run his kingdom: a tax on tobacco, wine and spirits and a poll-tax. These sources were insufficient. So, he found a new source of special income; a gaming house where people played roulette. Whether they would win or lose, the Prince gained by it. He knew that gambling was a dirty business. But, he had to resort to it for the sustenance of his kingdom.
Once a man commits a murder. The king had never had to deal with the murder. The judges tried the case and awarded the death sentence to the criminal. However, the King runs into considerable trouble trying to carry out the sentence. Monaco had neither a guillotine nor an executioner, so they requested the government of France. France agreed to send the requirements for the sum of 16,000 francs. This would require imposing more tax on people. So the king requested help from the king of Italy who agreed to provide the requirements at the cost of 12000 francs. As the King couldn't afford the expenses, the death sentence was altered to imprisonment for life.
Life imprisonment however presented its own set of problems. There needed to be a guard to watch the criminal and provide him with food. At the end of a year the king noticed a new item of expenditure which was to keep the criminal. The cost came to be 600 francs, which would still require an increase of taxes. It was decided that the guard had to be dismissed, so that the prisoner would run away. However, he did not try to escape and continued to stay in the prison. When asked why he wouldn't run away he said that they had ruined his character by their sentence and that people would turn their backs on him. Besides, he had got out of the way of working. They had treated him very badly. So he did not want to run away.
It was then agreed to offer him a pension of 600 francs. He was ready to accept on condition that he would be paid regularly. He left the King’s dominions after receiving one third of his annuity. Later, he emigrated and settled just across the frontier. He bought a bit of land and started market gardening. He always went to receive his pension at the proper time. After receiving his money he would go to the gaming house and stake two or three francs. Sometimes he would win and at times lose. However, he lived peaceably.
Conclusion
In the concluding paragraph the narrator comments that it is good that the prisoner did not commit his crime in a country where they would not mind the expense to cut a man’s head off or to keep him in prison for life. Tolstoy seems to question the very conviction of the rulers and the system of law and governance instituted by them.
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