The Kreutzer Sonata and Other Stories
will burn with greater fierceness in Ivan’s household before long.”
Ivan, on hearing these words, instantly returned to the court, and
going up to the judges said: “Oh! just judges, he threatens to burn my
house and all it contains.”
A messenger was immediately sent in search of Gavryl, who was soon
found and again brought into the presence of the judges.
“Is it true,” they asked, “that you said you would burn Ivan’s house
and all it contained?”
Gavryl replied: “I did not say anything of the kind. You may give me as
many lashes as you please—that is, if you have the power to do so. It
seems to me that I alone have to suffer for the truth, while he,”
pointing to Ivan, “is allowed to do and say what he pleases.” Gavryl
wished to say something more, but his lips trembled, and the words
refused to come; so in silence he turned his face toward the wall.
The sight of so much suffering moved even the judges to pity, and,
becoming alarmed at Gavryl’s continued silence, they said, “He may do
both his neighbor and himself some frightful injury.”
“See here, my brothers,” said one feeble old judge, looking at Ivan and
Gavryl as he spoke, “I think you had better try to arrange this matter
peaceably. You, brother Gavryl, did wrong to strike a woman who was in
delicate health. It was a lucky thing for you that God had mercy on you
and that the woman did not die, for if she had I know not what dire
misfortune might have overtaken you! It will not do either of you any
good to go on living as you are at present. Go, Gavryl, and make
friends with Ivan; I am sure he will forgive you, and we will set aside
the verdict just given.”
The secretary on hearing this said: “It is impossible to do this on the
present case. According to Article 117 this matter has gone too far to
be settled peaceably now, as the verdict has been rendered and must be
enforced.”
But the judges would not listen to the secretary, saying to him: “You
talk altogether too much. You must remember that the first thing is to
fulfill God’s command to ‘Love thy neighbor as thyself,’ and all will
be well with you.”
Thus with kind words the judges tried to reconcile the two peasants.
Their words fell on stony ground, however, for Gavryl would not listen
to them.
“I am fifty years old,” said Gavryl, “and have a son married, and never
from my birth has the lash been applied to my back; but now this bear
Ivan has secured a verdict against me which condemns me to receive
twenty lashes, and I am forced to bow to this decision and suffer the
shame of a public beating. Well, he will have cause to remember this.”
At this Gavryl’s voice trembled and he stopped speaking, and turning
his back on the judges took his departure.
It was about ten versts’ distance from the court to the homes of the
neighbors, and this Ivan travelled late. The women had already gone out
for the cattle. He unharnessed his horse and put everything in its
place, and then went into the _izba_ (room), but found no one there.
The men had not yet returned from their work in the field and the women
had gone to look for the cattle, so that all about the place was quiet.
Going into the room, Ivan seated himself on a wooden bench and soon
became lost in thought. He remembered how, when Gavryl first heard the
sentence which had been passed upon him, he grew very pale, and turned
his face to the wall, all the while remaining silent.
Ivan’s heart ached when he thought of the disgrace which he had been
the means of bringing upon Gavryl, and he wondered how he would feel if
the same sentence had been passed upon him. His thoughts were
interrupted by the coughing of his father, who was lying on the oven.
The old man, on seeing Ivan, came down off the oven, and slowly
approaching his son seated himself on the bench beside him, looking at
him as though ashamed. He continued to cough as he leaned on the table
and said, “Well, did they sentence him?”
“Yes, they sentenced him to receive twenty lashes,” replied Ivan.
On hearing this the old man sorrowfully shook his head, and said: “This
is very bad, Ivan, and what is the meaning of it all? It is indeed very
bad, but not so bad for Gavryl as for yourself. Well, suppose his
sentence _is_ carried out, and he gets the twenty lashes, what will it
benefit you?”
“He will not again strike a woman,” Ivan replied.
“What is it he will not do? He does not do anything worse than what you
are constantly doing!”
This conversation enraged Ivan, and he shouted: “Well, what did he do?
He beat a woman nearly to death, and even now he threatens to burn my
house! Must I bow to him for all this?”
The old man sighed deeply as he said: “You, Ivan, are strong and free
to go wherever you please, while I have been lying for years on the
oven. You think that you know everything and that I do not know
anything. No! you are still a child, and as such you cannot see that a
kind of madness controls your actions and blinds your sight. The sins
of others are ever before you, while you resolutely keep your own
behind your back. I know that what Gavryl did was wrong, but if he
alone should do wrong there would be no evil in the world. Do you think
that all the evil in the world is the work of one man alone? No! it
requires two persons to work much evil in the world. You see only the
bad in Gavryl’s character, but you are blind to the evil that is in
your own nature. If he alone were bad and you good, then there would be
no wrong.”
The old man, after a pause, continued: “Who tore Gavryl’s beard? Who
destroyed his heaps of rye? Who dragged him into court?—and yet you try
to put all the blame on his shoulders. You are behaving very badly
yourself, and for that reason you are wrong. I did not act in such a
manner, and certainly I never taught you to do so. I lived in peace
with Gavryl’s father all the time we were neighbors. We were always the
best of friends. If he was without flour his wife would come to me and
say, ‘_Diadia Frol_ [Grandfather], we need flour.’ I would then say:
‘My good woman, go to the warehouse and take as much as you want.’ If
he had no one to care for his horses I would say, ‘Go, _Ivanushka_
[diminutive of Ivan], and help him to care for them.’ If I required
anything I would go to him and say, ‘Grandfather Gordey, I need this or
that,’ and he would always reply, ‘Take just whatever you want.’ By
this means we passed an easy and peaceful life. But what is your life
compared with it? As the soldiers fought at Plevna, so are you and
Gavryl fighting all the time, only that your battles are far more
disgraceful than that fought at Plevna.”
The old man went on: “And you call this living! and what a sin it all
is! You are a peasant, and the head of the house; therefore, the
responsibility of the trouble rests with you. What an example you set
your wife and children by constantly quarrelling with your neighbor!
Only a short time since your little boy, Taraska, was cursing his aunt
Arina, and his mother only laughed at it, saying, ‘What a bright child
he is!’ Is that right? You are to blame for all this. You should think
of the salvation of your soul. Is that the way to do it? You say one
unkind word to me and I will reply with two. You will give me one slap
in the face, and I will retaliate with two slaps. No, my son; Christ
did not teach us foolish people to act in such a way. If any one should
say an unkind word to you it is better not to answer at all; but if you
_do_ reply do it kindly, and his conscience will accuse him, and he
will regret his unkindness to you. This is the way Christ taught us to
live. He tells us that if a person smite us on the one cheek we should
offer unto him the other. That is Christ’s command to us, and we should
follow it. You should therefore subdue your pride. Am I not right?”
Ivan remained silent, but his father’s words had sunk deep into his
heart.
The old man coughed and continued: “Do you think Christ thought us
wicked? Did he not die that we might be saved? Now you think only of
this earthly life. Are you better or worse for thinking alone of it?
Are you better or worse for having begun that Plevna battle? Think of
your expense at court and the time lost in going back and forth, and
what have you gained? Your sons have reached manhood, and are able now
to work for you. You are therefore at liberty to enjoy life and be
happy. With the assistance of your children you could reach a high
state of prosperity. But now your property instead of increasing is
gradually growing less, and why? It is the result of your pride. When
it becomes necessary for you and your boys to go to the field to work,
your enemy instead summons you to appear at court or before some kind
of judicial person. If you do not plow at the proper time and sow at
the proper time mother earth will not yield up her products, and you
and your children will be left destitute. Why did your oats fail this
year? When did you sow them? Were you not quarrelling with your
neighbor instead of attending to your work? You have just now returned
from the town, where you have been the means of having your neighbor
humiliated. You have succeeded in getting him sentenced, but in the end
the punishment will fall on your own shoulders. Oh! my child, it would
be better for you to attend to your work on the farm and train your
boys to become good farmers and honest men. If any one offend you
forgive him for Christ’s sake, and then prosperity will smile on your
work and a light and happy feeling will fill your heart.”
Ivan still remained silent.
The old father in a pleading voice continued: “Take an old man’s
advice. Go and harness your horse, drive back to the court, and
withdraw all these complaints against your neighbor. To-morrow go to
him, offer to make peace in Christ’s name, and invite him to your
house. It will be a holy day (the birth of the Virgin Mary). Get out
the samovar and have some vodka, and over both forgive and forget each
other’s sins, promising not to transgress in the future, and advise
your women and children to do the same.”
Ivan heaved a deep sigh but felt easier in his heart, as he thought:
“The old man speaks the truth;” yet he was in doubt as to how he would
put his father’s advice into practice.
The old man, surmising his uncertainty, said to Ivan: “Go, Ivanushka;
do not delay. Extinguish the fire in the beginning, before it grows
large, for then it may be impossible.”
Ivan’s father wished to say more to him, but was prevented by the
arrival of the women, who came into the room chattering like so many
magpies. They had already heard of Gavryl’s sentence, and of how he
threatened to set fire to Ivan’s house. They found out all about it,
and in telling it to their neighbors added their own versions of the
story, with the usual exaggeration. Meeting in the pasture-ground, they
proceeded to quarrel with Gavryl’s women. They related how the latter’s
daughter-in-law had threatened to secure the influence of the manager
of a certain noble’s estate in behalf of his friend Gavryl; also that
the school-teacher was writing a petition to the Czar himself against
Ivan, explaining in detail his theft of the perchbolt and partial
destruction of Gavryl’s garden—declaring that half of Ivan’s land was
to be given to them.
Ivan listened calmly to their stories, but his anger was soon aroused
once more, when he abandoned his intention of making peace with Gavryl.
As Ivan was always busy about the household, he did not stop to speak
to the wrangling women, but immediately left the room, directing his
steps toward the barn. Before getting through with his work the sun had
set and the boys had returned from their plowing. Ivan met them and
asked about their work, helping them to put things in order and leaving