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God Sees the Truth but Waits by Leo Tolstoy
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God Sees the Truth but Waits by Leo Tolstoy
This heart-touching short story, "God Sees the Truth but Waits," is written by Leo N. Tolstoy and was first published in 1872. It is based on the false conviction and imprisonment of the main character, Ivan Dimitrich Aksionov, in Vladimir, a town in Russia. He has been imprisoned for a crime of murder and theft that he hadn't committed.
This story has presented the life of this main character, who is charged with murder and theft that he did not commit. He becomes the victim of his fate and spends his entire life in a Siberian prison. It has presented the setting of a town called Vladimir, Russia. Next, the prison of Siberia has been presented.
This story is based on various major themes, such as guilt, forgiveness, faith, conflict, freedom, and acceptance.
The best theme of the story is the concept of forgiveness. The story has taught a very serious lesson to all the readers: forgiveness is the best form of revenge. Here, innocent Aksionov, the main character, has shown his forgiveness for the main criminal, Makar Semyonich, at the end of the story.
This short story, "God Sees the Truth But Waits," is quite a heart-touching and tragic story. It is about a young merchant named Ivan Dimitrich Aksionov who lived in Vladimir, a town in Russia. Aksionov was quite a handsome man who had two shops and a house in a town called Vladimir. He was such a jovial person and fond of singing. Before his marriage, he used to drink a lot and even become riotous. He engaged himself in fights. After marriage, he gave up much drinking. He had a wife with small children.
Once, during the summer, he planned to go to the Nizhny fair to sell his goods. Before setting off, his wife stopped and informed him about a nightmare that she had dreamt of. She told him about her nightmare. According to her, she had seen her husband returning to his town with grey hair. Aksionov didn't care about her words. He laughed and even interpreted the dream as a sign of luck.
While Aksionov was on his way, he met a merchant from Ryazan. He drank and spent the night with him at an inn. Both slept in adjoining rooms.
He set off with his horses and coachman the next day, before dawn, when the air was cool. He stopped to feed his horses after he had gone about 25 miles. While drinking samovar, he started playing his guitar. A bit later, two soldiers and a district officer came to him. They asked him a lot of questions. They asked him questions related to the merchant with whom Aksionov had spent his last night. They informed Aksionov about that merchant's murder in the inn. According to them, the dead body of the merchant had been found in an inn's room with his throat cut. They took Aksionov to the inn's room, searched his luggage, and found a blood-stained knife in his luggage. Aksionov trembled with fear to see that knife in his luggage. He was charged with murdering the merchant and even robbing twenty thousand roubles. Later, Aksionov was arrested and sent to prison.
His wife came to meet him along with her small kids. She begged a lot in front of the officials and finally got permission to meet her husband. When she saw her husband among the criminals and thieves in the criminal's dress, she nearly fainted. She informed Aksionov about the rejection of the petition by the Czar. Aksionov began to weep when his wife raised a suspicious question for him. Aksionov said goodbye to his family for the last time. For Aksionov, God was the only one to expect mercy.
Later, he was tortured severely in prison. Aksionov was sent to a Siberian prison for twenty-six years to work in the coal mines. He was completely transformed in prison. He seemed changed by his appearance. He became grey and white. He became quite different in his personality. His manner of walking and talking changed. He walked quite slowly, spoke very little, and never laughed. He learned to make boots and started earning money. With his collection, he bought a book named "The Lives of the Saints." He started reading that book most of the time. He spent much time reading chapters of the book in the dim light of the cell. He participated in the church function every Sunday. He read and sang the chapters of the book at the church. All his fellow prisoners respected him and addressed him with respected names such as "Grandfather" or "The Saint." Most prisoners would go to him for justice if there were fights or other cases in the prison. He spent every single day in God's devotion and on the way to truth.
Once, a gang of new prisoners came to the prison. Among those prisoners, there was one whose name was Makar Semyonich. Makar was old but a tall, strong man with grey hair. He was about sixty years old. He started telling his story to other prisoners about his arrest in the horse-stealing case. He was also from Aksionov's place, Vladimir. When he knew about Aksionov's story, he started laughing shamelessly, looking at Aksionov. Aksionov didn't like his acts. He felt terribly unhappy to hear Makar's pinching and suspicious words. He kept on thinking about Makar's words. He couldn't get to sleep that night.
He kept on thinking about a variety of things. He thought much and saw the place where he was flogged, the executioner, the people standing around, the chains, the convicts, all the twenty-six years of his prison life, his premature age, his family, his long-term sufferings, etc. He even thought of killing himself. As time passed, Aksionov discovered that Makar was the one who killed the merchant from Ryazan. He became quite angry with Makar but didn't say a word about it. He didn't get much peace thinking about Makar.
One night, Aksionov discovered Makar doing an illegal act in prison. Makar was digging a tunnel under his sleeping shelf. When Makar saw Aksionov, he threatened him not to tell a word to others; otherwise, he would kill him. Aksionov didn't feel bothered by Makar's threatening words. He behaved quite boldly with Makar. The next day, when soldiers discovered the tunnel, the governor of the prison arrived and questioned the prisoners. No one spoke a word about the tunnel or the digger. When the governor asked the truthful Aksionov about the tunnel, he also denied saying anything about Makar Semyonich.
That very night, Makar Semyonich came to Aksionov's cell stealthily. Realising Aksionov's kindness, Makar begged for forgiveness for all his bad deeds. He confessed to his crime and even about the fact of a hidden knife. He also admitted his intention of killing Aksionov that night. Aksionov remained silent and kept on listening to his words. Makar tried his best in front of Aksionov. He kneeled on the ground and asked for forgiveness again. He also admitted to confessing his crime to the governor. Makar didn't rise; he bent his head on the floor and kept on weeping for his forgiveness. Later, Aksionov even started weeping along with Makar. Aksionov felt his heart lighter. He let his forgiveness come in the name of God. He wished to stay and die in prison. Finally, when Makar confessed his crime in front of the governor and the order for Aksionov's release came, Aksionov was already dead in his cell.
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