The Repentant Sinner is a short story by Russian author Leo Tolstoy first published in 1886. The story details the difficulties of a repentant sinner's attempts to enter Heaven. The story opens with the imminent death of a 70-year-old sinner. The man has never done a good deed in his life, and only with his last words did he address God and ask for forgiveness. When the man dies his soul comes before the gates of Heaven, but they are locked. The man knocks and knocks at the gates, but to no avail...