A Lost Opportunity

by Leo Tolstoy

English-language translations of Упустишь огонь — не потушишь (Upustishʹ ogonʹ — ne potushishʹ) include:

• "A Lost Opportunity" in Ivan the Fool (1891) translated by Adolphus Norraikow
• "Neglect a Fire, and 'twill Overmaster Thee!" in Tales from Tolstoi (1901) translated by R. Nisbet Bain
• "A Spark Neglected Burns the House" in Twenty-three Tales (1906) translated by Louise and Aylmer Maude
• "Neglect the Fire and You Cannot Put It Down" in The Complete Works of Count Tolstoy (1904) translated by Leo Wiener
• "If You Neglect the Fire, You Don't Put It Out" in Iván Ilyitch and Other Stories (1887) translated by Nathan Haskell Dole