God Sees the Truth but Waits
Tolstoy’s
short story 'God Sees the Truth, but Waits' first published in 1872 is
about
the
false conviction and imprisonment of a man for a murder he did not commit, and
it takes the form of a parable for forgiveness. This short story "God Sees the Truth, But
Waits" is a heart-touching tragic story which has been written by a
Russian writer Leo Tolstoy. This story is about a young merchant named Ivan
Dimitrich Aksionov who lived in Vladimir, a town of Russia. This story has
presented the imprisonment of this main character for murder which he hadn't
committed.
In the story, Aksionov was quite a handsome , fair-haired,
curly-heased fellow, full of fun, and very fond of singing. He had two shops
and a horse. Before marriage, he used to
drink much and even become riotous. After
marriage, he gave up much drinking expect now and then. He had a wife with
small kids. Once, during summer, Aksionov planned to go to Nizhny fair to sell
his goods. Before setting off, his wife told him about bad dream. She dreamt
that her husband had returned with gray hair from the town. Aksionov laughed to
her remark and told that that was the sign of luck. When he had travelled half
–way, he met a merchant whom he knew. They planned to live in a same inn for
the night. They had tea together and went to bed in adjoining room. As his
habit get up early morning and started his journey.
When
he had gone about twenty-five miles, he stopped for the horses to feed. He took
rest there and began to play his guitar. At the meantime, two soldiers and a
district officer came to him and questioned him about a merchant Ryazan whom he
had slept at night at same building. The officer asked, where did he sleep at
night, were there any people in an inn?
Why did he leave earlier? Did he see the merchant that morning? Aksionov surprised with these questions. He
described all that was happened last night. Aksionov asked the officer why he
asked these questions as if he had robbed the merchant. The officer said that
there was murderer of a merchant in an inn where Aksionov was also stayed. The
dead body of merchant had been found at an inn's room with his throat cut. The
officer searched in Aksionov's luggage
and found a blood-stained knife in his
luggage. Aksionov trembled with fear.
He
was charged for murdering the merchant and even robbing twenty-thousand roubles
from him. Aksionov was arrested and sent in prison. He was charged for
murdering the merchant and even robbing twenty-thousand roubles from him.
His
wife came there to meet him along with her small kids. She got permission to
meet her husband from the official after begging much. When she saw her husband
among the criminals and thieves in criminal's dress, she fainted for a long
time. Then she drew her children to her and sat down near him. She asked him
what was happened that day. He replied that what was happened and added that he
was not the convict. She reminded him
about the bad dream when he hadn't have started journey that day. She planned
to go on petition the Czar not to let an innocent man perish. He didn't reply,
but looked down cast. She gently touched
his hair and requested him to tell the truth. She again asked who the murderer
was.
Aksionov wept when his own wife
raised a suspicious question to him. Aksionov said good-bye to his family for
the last time. For him, God was the only one to expect for mercy. He was
tortured severely there. Aksionov was sent to a Siberian prison for twenty- six
years to work in the mines. His hair and beard turned white and grey. He walked
slowly, spoke very little and never laughed. He learnt to make boots and earned
money. He bought a book named "The Lives of the Saints". He used to
read the chapter in the dim light of the cell and every Sunday he used to read
and sing the chapter at the church.
His fellow prisoners respected
him and called him Grandfather or the Saint. Prisoners would go to him for
justice if there were fights in the prison. He spent his every single day in
God's devotion and on the way of truth.
One day, a gang of new prisoners came to the
prison. Among those prisoners, one was
Makar
Semyonich. He was a tall, strong man of about sixty with grey hair. He related
his story to others about his arrest in horse stealing case. He was also from
Vladimir. He didn't recognize Aksionov.
Aksionov asked him about a person whose
name is Aksionov who lived in vlasimir. Marker told that they are rich and their
father Mr. Aksionov was in Siberia as a sinner like themselves. Marker asked
about grandfather, but he didn't like to tell anything about himself. Other
prisoners told his case that he was accused of killing a merchant. A police
officer found a blood stained knife in his luggage. Since then he was passing
days in prison. Marker got exclaimed, after hearing the story. He asked grandpa
how he was so old. Aksionov wonder whether this man knew who had killed the
merchant, or heard who killed the merchant, or the Marker was the killer of the
merchant.
Aksionov couldn't get to sleep
that night after hearing Makar's words. He felt sure that Makar was the person
who killed the merchant. He kept on thinking about his family, his long time
sufferings and so on. After months of knowing each other, Aksionov discovered
that Makar is the one who killed the merchant from Ryazan. He was quite angry
with Makar but didn't speak a word about it.
One night, Aksionov discovered Makar digging a
tunnel under his sleeping shelf. Makar threatened him not to tell a word
otherwise he would kill him. Aksionov didn't bother about Makar's threatful
words. Next day, soldiers discovered the tunnel. The governor arrived to
question the prisoners but no one spoke a word about the tunnel. When Aksionov
was asked about the tunnel, he also denied saying about Semyonich.
That night Makar quietly came
to Aksionov. Makar begged for forgiveness. He confessed the truth and told that
he killed the merchant and wanted to kill Aksionov too but heard a noise
outside and hide the knife into his bag and escaped out of the window. Makar
knelt upon the ground and again asked for forgiveness. Aksionov told that there
was no worth of forgiveness because he suffered long, his life was in the end
stage, his wife was died, his children will not know him. Marker admitted confessing his crime to the
governor. Makar didn't rise, bent his head on the floor and wept for his
forgiveness. Aksionov even wept along with Makar. Aksionov felt his heart
lighter. He longed to stay in prison. When the order for his release came
Aksionov was already died in prison.
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