Tolstoi for the young: Select tales from Tolstoi

VI

The brothers built themselves houses and began to live apart. Ivan finished his work in the fields, brewed some beer and invited his brothers to a feast. The brothers did not accept his invitation.

“We do not go to feast with peasants,” they said.

“You shall see in a moment.”

“You fools!” he said. “Why did you hurt Granny? If you are not so rough I’ll give you some more.”

“Shall I share it out?”

“I will give you something you have never seen in your lives,” he said.

“I will bring it in a moment,” Ivan said, and he took his seed-basket and ran into the wood.

“I don’t like your songs,” Ivan said.

“Do.”

“Do you know any better ones?”

The women laughed. “What a fool!” they said, and forgot all about him, when behold! Ivan returned, his basket full of something.

The women laughed and began to sing his praises, and when they had finished, they said, “Well, give us what you promised.”

The women began to play.

Ivan went into a barn, took up a sheaf, thrashed it, stood it up, and banged it on the floor, and said—

My slave bids you be a sheaf no more.
Every straw contained in you
Must turn into a soldier true.

Ivan treated the peasants and the peasant-women and drank himself until he got tipsy, and he went into the street and joined the dancers and singers. He approached the women, and bade them sing his praises.

Ivan took up a handful of gold and threw it to the women. Heavens! The women rushed to pick it up, the peasants after them, snatching it out of each others’ hands. One old woman was nearly killed in the fray.

Ivan laughed.

He scattered more gold. The whole village came up. Ivan emptied his basket. The people asked for more, but he said, “Not now; another time I’ll give you more. Now let us dance. You play some songs.”

And the sheaf burst asunder and turned into soldiers, and the drummers and buglers played at their head. Ivan asked the soldiers to play some songs, and led them into the street. The people were amazed.

When the soldiers had played their songs Ivan took them back into the barn, forbidding any one to follow. He turned the soldiers into a sheaf again and threw it on a pile of straw, then he went home and lay down to sleep in the stables.