The collection includes works by Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy (1828-1910), written by him in adulthood: the novel "Family Happiness", the novellas Albert, the Death of Ivan Ilyich, Polikushka, the Devil, the Fake Coupon, the Canvas Meter; the short stories "Marker's Notes" and "After the Ball"; the fairy tale "Assyrian King Esarhadon"; the parable "Three a son." The writer looks at different life situations from the height of his years and experience. The first love that happens by chance. A wasted talent. Transformation of feelings and relationships between people in marriage. Pathological passion, gambling and alcohol that destroy a person. Some works have the character of a parable. Tolstoy's characters realize that by harming another person, they are ruining themselves. That evil begets evil, and good begets good. Before they die, they reflect on the years they have lived and ask themselves: were they happy?