The study of biographical and creative communications of B. Zaitsev with predecessors and contem-poraries-writers expands reading of works, the creation of which clearly delineated the “trace” of this or that artist's words. Particular attention should be paid to the relationship of B. Zaitsev with his older contemporary, L. Tolstoy, whose work he highly valued. The projection of L. Tolstoy's work “War and Peace” on B. Zaitsev’s story “My night” reveals the deep subtext of the story. The reception of the code of Tolstoy’s novel in the story by B. Zaitsev is realized at the level of the system of images, conflict, motivation, acceptance of psychology, the use of allusions and reminiscences. The code of the novel “War and Peace” performs psychological (the description of the inner world of the hero, of his emotional state) plot-constructing (similar plot situations in the works of writers) and philosophical-conceptual (love as a blessing) function. The selected perspective of the research expands reading of the story, seeing new meanings connected with the area of formation and functioning of a literary text.