Voice of Thunder (Lincoln)

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The Voice of Thunder is the name of a story given to an incident[1] in the life of Leo Tolstoy, best summarized as follows:

Traveling in a wild region of the Caucasus, the Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy was befriended by a devout Circassian chief who wanted to hear about the world outside his mountains. After Tolstoy went on at length about the historic leaders of Europe, the chief insisted: "But you have not told us about the greatest general and ruler of the world. We want to know something about him. He was a hero. He spoke with a voice of thunder, he laughed like the sunrise, his deeds were strong as the rock and sweet as the fragrance of roses.

"He was so great that he even forgave the crimes of his greatest enemies and shook brotherly hands with those who had plotted against his life. His name was Lincoln and the country in which he lived is called America. Tell us of that man."

Tolstoy is said to have been astonished that this chief of a tribe that lived in such a secluded region could have even heard of Abraham Lincoln.

The story was originally part of an interview Tolstoy gave printed in the New York World newspaper in 1908[2]