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Truth and Justice Andres and Pearu • Truth and Justice Andres and Pearu A.H. Tammsaare Translated from the Estonian by Inna Feldbach and Alan Peter Trei Haute Culture Books First edition - May 2014 Copy of the limited physical edition Edited by Jamie Schwartz and Trey Sager Certified by the Publisher, Luis de Miranda Cover design by Linda Ayres ©Haute Culture Books / Kreell AB www.hauteculturebooks.com Kreell AB / Kungsklippan 9 11225 Stockholm - Sweden If you are reading this novel in its digital version, this e-book is offered to you by Haute Culture Books®. You can share the e-book version freely, as long as you do not sell it. For any commercial use of this English translation, please contact our Rights and Permissions Department. To help us bring literary masterpieces to more readers around the world, become a Book Angel and pre-order our exclusive limited paper editions. www.hauteculturebooks.com [email protected] • Foreword A. H. TAMMSAARE AND HIS TRUTH AND JUSTICE he five volumes of Truth and Justice comprise the major work of Anton Hansen Tammsaare (1878–1940), Estonia’s T most eminent classic literary author. You now hold in your hands the first and most renowned volume of the pental- ogy. Volume I has been translated into many languages, including German, French, and Russian, but this edition represents its first English publication. So it seems appropriate to provide here, for the English-language reader, an overview of the most essential aspects of Tammsaare’s life and work. Tammsaare is not just an author, but a national icon. In Estonia, two museums and two monuments are dedicated to him, one of which was inaugurated during the author’s lifetime. A park in the center of Estonia’s capital city bears his name, as do streets in towns across the country. There is a school named for him, as well as a the- atre and a business center. Tammsaare’s portrait adorned postage stamps and even currency used from 1992–2011. A national poll resulted in Tammsaare’s inclusion on a list of 20th century Estonia’s greatest minds. 1 2 A.H. Tammsaare How did this author become such a phenomenon? No doubt he lived through a very unique time in Estonia’s history, a time that, one might say, demanded outstanding citizens emerge onto the national stage. Tammsaare was born in 1878, during the height of Estonia’s nationalist movement, and he entered his prime just as the sovereign Republic of Estonia was born. His death in March 1940 heralded the end of an epoch: during the same year, Estonia was annexed to the Soviet Union and lost the independence it had maintained for 50 years. Tammsaare’s funeral was burned into the national memory, for it seemed as if the Republic was buried along with him. The author’s birth and death can be seen as bookends to some of the country’s best years. The history of Estonia goes back millennia, but Estonians have only had an independent state for a short time. Christianity arrived from Europe in the 13th century and Estonians would likely have accepted the faith gradually if the Christian flag had not led the conquest of Estonia’s territory by alien nations. Estonians battled fiercely against the invaders during a period now known as “The Ancient Fight for Freedom,” but the small country finally ran out of resources and succumbed to German crusaders in 1227. The Estonian people then became lower class laborers in their own country, entering a social structure that endured for nearly 700 years. For centuries, the Estonians lived as serfs, owned by who- ever acquired the land on which they lived. In 1710, the territory of Estonia was absorbed into Russia’s czarist empire, but the Baltic Germans who owned the land retained essential feudal rights and enjoyed the so-called “Baltic Special Order.” Miraculously, through this dark time of oppression, when the Estonian people suffered un- ending humiliation and degradation, they still retained their own language, traditions, and a very rich folklore heritage. Truth and Justice 3 In the mid-19th century, a powerful movement known as “The National Awakening” began to take shape, and its leaders extolled the value of the Estonian language and culture. During the second half of the 19th century, Estonian literature was born and began to grow and flourish. Paradoxically, this cultural shift was fueled by the Christian faith. The translation of Lutheran hymnals, The Bible (1739), and other sacred literature into the Estonian language compelled common people to learn to read and taught them the significance of education so they aspired to higher goals. Though Estonians are not considered fervent in religious matters, the nation has deep roots in the Lutheran tradition. This should be borne in mind while reading Truth and Justice. The aftermath of “The National Awakening” affected Tammsaare. In the 1880s, Czar Alexander III promoted an aggressive Russification agenda in Estonia and the entire Baltic territory. Tammsaare was forced to acquire his education mostly in Russian. However, his teachers, who came of age during “The National Awakening” and shared the convictions of the movement, instilled nationalist ideals in their students. The ultimate result of Russification was a prevalent anti-impe- rialist sentiment among Estonians that created suitable ground for liberal and socialist ideas to take root within the country. A new national movement, born at the beginning of the 20th century, led the country to independent statehood in 1918. During that same period, urbanization and industrial development began to gather momentum, though the Estonian economy would remain primarily agrarian (supported by a large peasantry) for quite some time. In 1940, there were nearly 140,000 farms in Estonia, each averaging 57 acres. The deportation of farmers and the forced creation of col- lective farms during the later Soviet occupation would thoroughly 4 A.H. Tammsaare destroy private property and traditional country life. Tammsaare’s work could be considered a monument to a lost era of thriving farm culture. The future author, Anton Hansen was born on a farm. For the boy, the patterns of life reflected the customs and routines of a farming family. Unsurprisingly, Anton Hansen took his pseudonym from his birthplace in central Estonia (the Northern Tammsaare). Anton was the fourth-born in a family with 12 children, two of whom died in infancy. His father, Peeter Hansen, was a very industrious and earnest man. He built furniture and made house- hold items with his own hands; he constructed new buildings on the farm and even made all the footwear for his family. Peeter was among the most educated men in the neighborhood, for he could read and write, and he took pleasure in discussing worldly matters with other men of his village. While teaching them practical skills, Peeter also endeavored to shape the spiritual worldview of his chil- dren. He passed on to them his ethical standards and underscored the importance of independent thinking. Tammsaare’s mother, Ann Hansen ran the household and took care of the animals, as well as her numerous children. Ann had a gentle nature. In her spare moments, she played with the children and taught them to sing and play the zither. She read newspapers and simple stories to her children when they were quite young and taught them how to read and discuss what they were reading. The Northern Tammsaare was not a prosperous farm. Its fields were stony and its grasslands marshy, but it was still a great thing for an Estonian farmer to own his farm. Serfdom had been abol- ished (1816–1819) and Peeter belonged to a generation of men who could buy land into the permanent possession of their families and become true masters. This was a highly valued position for men of Truth and Justice 5 the time, as it allowed them to work for the sake of their children, instead of toiling for foreign landlords. The Hansen children were raised to be industrious. The youngest tended cattle and little Anton was a herder. We can only imagine what the young boy might have felt as he stood in the large empty pasture with only birdsong, insects, and animals for company. For a boy with philosophical inclinations, nature offered a rich world of contemplation. In one of his later articles, the author notes that reflection on the life of an insect leads a man to ponder the most profound questions of existence. In primary school, young Anton was one of the brightest stu- dents. One of his teachers at the Väike-Maarja parish school, Jakob Tamm—a poet who embraced the spirit of “The National Awakening”—encouraged the boy to write poetry. In an interview, Tammsaare said, “Jakob Tamm always insisted on the clarity of ex- pression and the simplicity and naturalness of his students’ written compositions. All my life I have tried to satisfy these requirements.” Tammsaare excelled in his studies and was recommended for further education, but he worked on his father’s farm for several more years before his parents could afford to send him to second- ary school. By this time, he was too old for the public school. So, at the beginning of 1898, Tammsaare traveled to Tartu, the cradle of Estonian culture, on top of a local farmer’s cartload. In Tartu, a private secondary school owned by Hugo Treffner admitted the 20-year-old. Hugo Treffner’s school occupies a legendary place in Estonia’s cul- tural history, as it was attended by many important cultural figures of the time. The Principal, Hugo Treffner, was himself an influential individual. Known by the nickname “Estonian Hugo,” Treffner was an active and powerful man, remembered by his contemporaries 6 A.H.
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