Predystoriya "Dorogi po krayu lesa", o yunykh godakh ottsa Aleksandra. V zavolzhskikh lesakh, kuda bezhali ot ugneteniya i nespravedlivosti yuzhnykh knyazhestv, tozhe kipyat strasti; staraya vera, iskazivshis', daet urodlivye vskhody, i poroy kazhetsya, chto vsyudu potemki Molodoy svyashchennik otpravlyaetsya prosveshchat' etot kray bozhestvennym slovom i okazyvaetsya pered vechnym vyborom... O lyubvi i nenavisti, o bozhestvennom i d'yavol'skom, o chelovecheskom v obychnoy zhizni - i ob umenii proshchat' tekh, pred kem vinovat...