Tolstoy on the Cossacks and the Chechens

Here's Tolstoy on Chechens, or rather one Chechen warrior in his novella The Cossacks:

 "With his hands folded under his sword, and his eyes nearly closed, he kept looking at the distant Tartar village. Taken separately his features were not beautiful, but anyone who saw his stately carriage and his dark-browed intelligent face would involuntarily say, 'What a fine fellow!'"

The novel was written after Tolstoy served in the Russian army.  The experience may have been part of his spiritual evolution--certainly he thought the Cossacks  and their supposedly simple life had much to be admired.  Certainly it gives glimpse at the reputation of Chechens, that contrasts with the bad-mouthing they're getting today in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon attack. 

For more on the Caucasus in the literary imagination, check this out in The New Yorker