Daily puzzle

Put The Death of Ivan Ilyich back in order

Seven beats from our edition of The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy, shuffled. Drag them, or use the arrows, until the story runs straight. No account, no streak to lose.

  1. The news of the death Colleagues learn Ivan Ilyich has died and immediately weigh the career and social consequences for themselves.
  2. A most ordinary life Tolstoy recounts Ivan Ilyich's pleasant rise through the legal service, his correct marriage, and his decorous routines.
  3. The fall While arranging curtains in his new flat, Ivan Ilyich knocks his side, a trivial accident that seeds a fatal illness.
  4. Decline and evasion The pain worsens; doctors speak in evasions, and his wife and friends treat his dying as a breach of decorum.
  5. Gerasim's comfort Only the peasant Gerasim tends him honestly and without disgust, easing his body and his loneliness.
  6. Three days of screaming Ivan Ilyich is plunged into terror and rage at the falsehood of his life, screaming as he resists the black sack of death.
  7. Light instead of death In his final moment he feels pity for his family, the fear dissolves, and where death had been there is light.