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| Source: alebepu.keep.pl |
The first time I read it, I felt sad because I thought it wasn't a happy ending. As I re-read it every now and then, I realized that it's not a happy ending the way we want movies to end, but it is really a beautiful story with a happy ending.
I tried to summarize the first part for easier reading but most of the second-half are verbatim from the original version.
Here's a condensed version of God Sees the Truth But Waits by Leo Tolstoy.
There was once a merchant named Ivan Dmitrich Aksionov. One summer, he went to a trade fair. But before he left and bade his wife goodbye, his wife shared a bad dream he had the previous night. The wife said she dreamt about Aksionov that when he returned and removed his cap, she saw that his hair was all grey. Aksionov just laughed it off and left anyway.
Half-way on his journey, he made a stopover to rest. He saw a merchant acquaintance, they had tea together and they decided to stay in the same inn for the night in adjoining rooms.
The next day, he woke up early to continue his journey. While on a stopover, police officers arrived questioning him what he did the previous night and who he was with. Apparently, the merchant acquaintance he was with the previous day was found dead with his throat cut. When the officers searched Aksionov's bag, they found a blood-stained knife. Aksionov got frightened since he had no idea how a knife got into his bag. The officer said since the merchant's room was locked from inside and since no one else was there and the knife was found in Aksionov's bag, he certainly seems to be the suspect. Aksionov swore he didn't do it but his voice trembled with fear and made him seem guilty.
During the trial, he was declared guilty for murder and theft.
When his wife visited him in prison, his wife reminded Aksionov about her bad dream. She also demanded Aksionov to tell her the truth if he did the crime.
Aksionov began to weep as even his wife suspected him. He told himself - "It seems that only God can know the truth; it is to Him alone we must appeal, and from Him alone expect mercy."
Aksionov never appealed his case, gave up all hope, and only prayed to God.
For twenty-six years Aksionov lived as a convict in Siberia. His hair turned white as snow and his beard grew long and grey. He spoke little, and never laughed, but he often prayed.
While in prison, Aksionov learned how to make boots and earned a little money. He was able to buy a book, The Lives of the Saints. He also became active in church services. He was well-loved and well-respected in prison for his humility. When there are quarrels among prisoners, he mediated.
One day, a new batch of convicts arrived. During the night, the new convicts shared their stories. One of them named Makar Semyonich shared that he took a horse and was convicted of stealing. He tried to explain that the driver was his personal friend anyway but the officers wouldn't hear of it. Then he continued - I once really did something wrong, and ought by rights to have come here long ago, but that time I was not found out. Now I have been sent here for nothing at all...
The Semyonich asked Aksionov how he got to Siberia. Aksionov doesn't like to talk about his story but his companions told the newcomers how Aksionov came to be in Siberia. How someone killed a merchant and had put the knife in Aksionov's bag, and thus, was unjustly condemned.
When Semyonich heard this, he looked at Aksionov, slapped his own knee, and exclaimed, "Well, this is wonderful! But how old you've grown, Gran'dad!" These words made Aksionov wonder whether this man knew who had killed the merchant.
Aksionov asked Semyonich if he knew who killed the merchant to which Semyonich replied "It must have been him in whose bag the knife was found! If some one else hid the knife there, 'He's not a thief till he's caught,' as the saying is. How could any one put a knife into your bag while it was under your head? It would surely have woke you up."
When Aksionov heard these words, he felt sure this was the man who had killed the merchant. He felt so angry towards Semyonich that he longed for vengeance. He kept repeating prayers all night, but could get no peace.
One night as he was walking about the prison he noticed some earth that came rolling out from under one of the shelves on which the prisoners slept. He stopped to see what it was. Suddenly Semyonich crept out from under the shelf, and looked up at Aksionov with frightened face. Aksionov tried to pass without looking at him, but Semyonich seized his hand and told him that he had dug a hole under the wall, getting rid of the earth by putting it into his high-boots, and emptying it out every day on the road when the prisoners were driven to their work.
"Just you keep quiet, old man, and you shall get out too. If you blab, they'll flog the life out of me, but I will kill you first."
Aksionov trembled with anger as he looked at his enemy. He drew his hand away, saying, "I have no wish to escape, and you have no need to kill me; you killed me long ago! As to telling of you--I may do so or not, as God shall direct."
Next day, when the convicts were led out to work, the convoy soldiers noticed that one or other of the prisoners emptied some earth out of his boots. The prison was searched and the tunnel found. The Governor came and questioned all the prisoners to find out who had dug the hole. They all denied any knowledge of it. Those who knew would not betray Semyonich, knowing he would be flogged almost to death. At last the Governor turned to Aksionov whom he knew to be a just man, and said:
"You are a truthful old man; tell me, before God, who dug the hole?"
Semyonich stood as if he were quite unconcerned, looking at the Governor and not so much as glancing at Aksionov. Aksionov's lips and hands trembled, and for a long time he could not utter a word. He thought, "Why should I screen him who ruined my life? Let him pay for what I have suffered. But if I tell, they will probably flog the life out of him, and maybe I suspect him wrongly. And, after all, what good would it be to me?"
"Well, old man," repeated the Governor, "tell me the truth: who has been digging under the wall?"
Aksionov glanced at Semyonich, and said, "I cannot say, your honour. It is not God's will that I should tell! Do what you like with me; I am your hands."
However much the Governor tried, Aksionov would say no more, and so the matter had to be left. That night, when Aksionov was lying on his bed and just beginning to doze, someone came quietly and sat down on his bed. He peered through the darkness and recognised Semyonich.
"What more do you want of me?" asked Aksionov. "Why have you come here?"
Semyonich was silent. So Aksionov sat up and said, "What do you want? Go away, or I will call the guard!"
Semyonich bent close over Aksionov, and whispered, "Ivan Dmitrich, forgive me!"
"What for?" asked Aksionov.
"It was I who killed the merchant and hid the knife among your things. I meant to kill you too, but I heard a noise outside, so I hid the knife in your bag and escaped out of the window."
Aksionov was silent, and did not know what to say. Semyonich slid off the bed-shelf and knelt upon the ground. "Ivan Dmitrich," said he, "forgive me! For the love of God, forgive me! I will confess that it was I who killed the merchant, and you will be released and can go to your home."
"It is easy for you to talk," said Aksionov, "but I have suffered for you these twenty-six years. Where could I go to now?... My wife is dead, and my children have forgotten me. I have nowhere to go..."
Semyonich did not rise, but beat his head on the floor. "Ivan Dmitrich, forgive me!" he cried. "When they flogged me with the knot it was not so hard to bear as it is to see you now ... yet you had pity on me, and did not tell. For Christ's sake forgive me, wretch that I am!" And he began to sob.
When Aksionov heard him sobbing he, too, began to weep. "God will forgive you!" said he. "Maybe I am a hundred times worse than you." And at these words his heart grew light, and the longing for home left him. He no longer had any desire to leave the prison, but only hoped for his last hour to come.
In spite of what Aksionov had said, Makar Semyonich confessed, his guilt. But when the order for his release came, Aksionov was already dead.
********
My key takeaway? Sometimes, we put too much effort in securing people's approval, or defending oneself if misjudged, or just simply proving you are right for the sake of disproving others. But the thing is, at the end of the day, it doesn't matter what others think of us because ultimately, it's just between us and God.
It's a great consolation that God always sees the truth but at the same time, it's also a scary thought since He sees us 24/7, inside and out! And the thing is, we are 100% behaved only when we're asleep! Maybe we should sleep more! Wahaha... Please help us to be good, God. :)
