1885
Russian Literature – Children Books – Russian Poetry – Leo Tolstoy – The Two Old Men – Contents
< < <
. II . > > >
THE TWO OLD MEN
Therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, for the Father seeketh such to worship him. (John iv. 19-23.)
I.
Two old men got ready to go to old Jerusalem to pray to God. One of them was a rich peasant; his name was Efím Tarásych Shevelév. The other was not a well-to-do man, and his name was Eliséy Bodróv.
Efím was a steady man: he did not drink liquor, nor smoke tobacco, nor take snuff, had never cursed in his life, and was a stern, firm old man. He had served two terms as an elder, and had gone out of his office without a deficit. He had a large family,—two sons and a married grandson,—and all lived together. As to looks he was a sound, bearded, erect man, and only in his seventh decade did a gray streak appear in his beard.
Eliséy was neither wealthy nor poor; in former days he used to work out as a carpenter, but in his old age he stayed at home and kept bees. One son was away earning money, and another was living at home. Eliséy was a good-natured and merry man. He liked to drink liquor and take snuff, and sing songs; but he was a peaceable man, and lived in friendship with his home folk and with the neighbours. In appearance he was an undersized, swarthy man, with a curly beard and, like his saint, Prophet Elisha, his whole head was bald.
The old men had long ago made the vow and agreed to go together, but Tarásych had had no time before: he had so much business on hand. The moment one thing came to an end, another began; now he had to get his grandson married, now he was expecting his younger son back from the army, and now he had to build him a new hut.
On a holiday the two old men once met, and they sat down on logs.
“Well,” said Eliséy, “when are we going to carry out our vow?”
Efím frowned.
“We shall have to wait,” he said, “for this is a hard year for me. I have started to build a house,—I thought I could do it with one hundred, but it is going on now in the third. And still it is not done. We shall have to let it go till summer. In the summer, God willing, we shall go by all means.”
“According to my understanding,” said Eliséy, “there is no sense in delaying. We ought to go at once. Spring is the best time.”
“The time is all right, but the work is begun, so how can I drop it?”
“Have you nobody to attend to it? Your son will do it.”
“Do it? My eldest is not reliable,—he drinks.”
“When we die, friend, they will get along without us. Let your son learn it!”
“That is so, but still I want to see things done under my eyes.”
“Oh, dear man! You can never attend to everything. The other day the women in my house were washing and cleaning up for the holidays. This and that had to be done, and everything could not be looked after. My eldest daughter-in-law, a clever woman, said: ‘It is a lucky thing the holidays come without waiting for us, for else, no matter how much we might work, we should never get done.’”
Tarásych fell to musing.
“I have spent a great deal of money on this building,” he said, “and I can’t start out on the pilgrimage with empty hands. One hundred roubles are not a trifling matter.”
Eliséy laughed.
“Don’t sin, friend!” he said. “You have ten times as much as I, and yet you talk about money. Only say when we shall start. I have no money, but that will be all right.”
Tarásych smiled.
“What a rich man you are!” he said. “Where shall you get the money from?”
“I will scratch around in the house and will get together some there; and if that is not enough, I will let my neighbour have ten hives. He has been asking me for them.”
“You will have a fine swarm! You will be worrying about it.”
“Worrying? No, my friend! I have never worried about anything in life but sins. There is nothing more precious than the soul.”
“That is so; but still, it is not good if things do not run right at home.”
“If things do not run right in our soul, it is worse. We have made a vow, so let us go! Truly, let us go!”
< < <
. II . > > >
Russian Literature – Children Books – Russian Poetry – Leo Tolstoy – The Two Old Men – Contents
Copyright holders – Public Domain Book
| If you liked this site, subscribe , put likes, write comments! Share on social networks Check out Our Latest Posts |
© 2023 Akirill.com – All Rights Reserved
AKirill, Learn, apprenez, translation, traduction, livres bilingues, bilingual books 