Рассказ Леонида Николаевича Андреева (1871—1919), впервые опубликованный в газете "Курьер" (1899, 25 декабря, No 356) с посвящением Александре Михайловне Велигорской (1881-1906), которая стала в 1902 году женой писателя. Отдельным изданием вышел в 1904 году.
Leonid Nikolayevich Andreyev (Russian: Леонид Николаевич Андреев; 1871-1919) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who led the Expressionist movement in the national literature. He was active between the revolution of 1905 and the Communist revolution which finally overthrew the Tsarist government. His first story published was About a Poor Student, a narrative based upon his own experiences. It was not, however, until Gorky discovered him by stories appearing in the Moscow Courier and elsewhere that Andreyevs literary career really began. His first collection of stories appeared in 1901, and sold a quarter-million copies in short time. He was hailed as a new star in Russia, where his name soon became a byword. He published his short story, In the Fog in 1902. Although he started out in the Russian vein he soon startled his readers by his eccentricities, which grew even faster than his fame. His two best known stories may be The Red Laugh (1904) and The Seven Who Were Hanged (1908). His dramas include the Symbolist plays The Life of Man (1906), Tsar Hunger (1907), Black Masks (1908), Anathema (1909) and He Who Gets Slapped (1915).
Понравилась главная идея автора, что, соприкоснувшись с чем-то возвышенным, с искусством любая, даже самая огрубевшая, жестокая (Сашка) или потерявшая смысл в жизни, душа (его отец) может обрести гармонию, умиротворение и покой. Как жаль, что это не вечно.