THE PHENOMENON OF COLLECTING WISDOM IN L. N. TOLSTOY’S BOOK “READING CIRCLE” (1905): THE APHORISTIC LEGACY OF SAADI

The article is devoted to the concept of collecting wisdom, which was consistently embodied in the work of Leo Tolstoy “Reading Circle” (1905), in which the “thoughts of wise people”, collected by the Russian writer from diverse and multilingual sources, found a place. The main purpose of the study is to clarify the ideological and thematic grounds on which L. Tolstoy carried out the selection of quotations from the works of one of the luminaries of Persian classical literature - Saadi Shirazi (the beginning of the 13 cen. - 1292). The article shows that the phenomenon of collecting the wisdom of the world itself has a long history in a number of ancient and medieval literary traditions of the East, including in Persian literature during the period of its highest development (10-15 cent.). For this purpose, the article provides a brief analysis of works based on the legend of Iskander (Alexander the Great), in the plot of which the motive of wandering in search of hidden knowledge is gradually formed as a semantic key to the narrative. The idea of using accumulated knowledge in the name of human perfection and for the benefit of all society, inherent in the work of Saadi, a religious mentor and secular moralist, permeates his entire concept of education. It was its humanistic vector and universal meaning that predetermined L. Tolstoy’s choice of Saadi’s aphorisms for the “Reading Circle”. Saadi’s aphoristic wisdom attracted the Russian writer, since his own book was conceived and written to help a person on the path of self-education in the spirit of love for God and Human, true Faith and moral purity.