Leo Tolstoy’s merchant story, told by my class teacher, illustrates the very sad true story of a villager we are all reading in news today…

By Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem, MD

Over the past three days, we are all reading in the papers, a very sad and gut-wrenching story of how a miserably poor and completely innocent villager Suresh, was wrongly accused of murdering his wife and was forced to spend two years in jail, until thankfully, a benevolent lawyer came to his rescue, in the guise of the proverbial Good Samaritan and got him released on bail.

But despite this much deserved relief, the innocent man had to bear not only the hardship of two years of life as a prisoner but also bear the heavy cross of being labelled a shameful murderer, for five long years.

He had to bear the pain of his own two young children firmly believing that he had cruelly murdered their mother and therefore calling him  a heartless brute.

Yes, according to the man’s own statement, every time he was allowed to speak to them on phone from the prison, they used to question him about why he had done something so cruel. What could be more painful, for the three of them? And, now that the truth is finally out, the wrongly accused man may soon be exonerated of the crime he never committed. But, can our legal system, which is giving him the justice he deserves, give him back what those five long years have robbed from him, for no fault of his? It appears that while he was in jail for two years, he was made to work as a cook and prepare food for all his fellow inmates, a job he used to do, only while shedding tears over his sad fate.

Can our social justice  system wipe away his pain and anguish? Will all those responsible for his agony, give him something in return, sufficient enough to take away his hurt, even if they are brought to justice or atone for their sins? I think not. It is just impossible.

Here, I am reminded of an incident from my childhood which I feel very aptly highlights how justice delayed, is indeed justice denied and how imperfect and inadequate our legal system is, irrespective of where it is in this world.

It is rightly said that the law is not a surgeon’s knife that can cut with precision, but it is only an axe that can at best, hack away, with roughness!

Years ago, in the year 1968, when I was a student of the ninth standard in the St. Philomena’s High School here in our city, I was very touched by a story our class teacher, Mr. Albert Venny, told us, to make a point. No, he was not teaching us English, because he was our science teacher and all he taught us formally in that capacity, was science and nothing else.

But that day, he taught us something more valuable than any topic, from any stream of science. And, he did it because he caught one of my classmates doing something wrong and then telling a lie to implicate another for what he had himself done.

Actually, our teacher was not so upset with the petty wrong that his student had done, but he was very saddened that one of his students could have gone to the extent of blaming another, completely innocent classmate. That is why perhaps, he decided to tell us a story with a strong moral message, which he felt would leave us all impressed enough to be truthful, all through our lives.

And, he did it with such determination and resolve that he spent a whole class period of forty-five minutes, stressing on the importance of being truthful and honest, instead of teaching us science on that day.

And, looking back on what he told us years ago, I feel he chose the right parable to succeed in his endeavour, to impress our young minds. I say this because the impact that his one class has had on me, over all my years, has not left me to this day! And, what he told us that day was a story called, God Sees the Truth, But Waits, written by the famed Russian writer, Leo Tolstoy (Sept. 9, 1828 – Nov. 7, 1910).

While some view Tolstoy as the most outstanding embodiment of literature, others see him as the incarnation of the world’s conscience, but for almost all who knew him or read his works, he was not just one of the greatest writers who ever lived, but a living symbol of the search for life’s meaning.

Although Tolstoy being a very well-known writer, needs no introduction to most of you who are reading this article, I am reproducing a summary of his short story here, to illustrate how appropriately and closely it matches the very sad true story we are all reading in the news today. Those who have not read it would do well to read it now and those who have already read it would do well to read it once again, for its very touching profoundness!

In the Russian town of Vladimir, Ivan Dmitritch Aksyonov lives as a successful and prosperous merchant with his wife and young children. One summer, as he sets off for Nizhny Fair to sell his goods, Aksyonov’s wife warns him not to go, for she has had a nightmare in which he returned with grey hair.

Aksyonov laughs off her concern and interprets the dream as a sign of luck. Halfway to his destination, he encounters a fellow merchant, whom he befriends. The two stop for the night at an inn, where they have tea together and sleep in adjoining rooms.

To avoid the summer heat and tackle a long day, Aksyonov rises before dawn and sets off with his horses and coachman while the air is still cool. After twenty-five miles, while he stops to feed his horses, two soldiers, accompanied by an official, arrive and question him about his relationship with the merchant he met the previous night, before revealing to him that the merchant was found dead, with his throat slit.

Since the two rooms were next to each other, it seems only natural that Aksyonov might know something. Aksyonov trembles in fear when the official searches his belongings and retrieves a bloodstained knife from his clothes. The men arrest Aksyonov and after a summary trial he is imprisoned.

His wife visits him in jail and faints at the sight of him dressed as a criminal. He says they must petition the czar, to which she says she has already tried but to no avail. She then softly asks him if he did not indeed commit the murder?

Aksyonov, while pleading innocence, weeps miserably, feeling deeply pained that she too has doubts about his innocence. He puts his faith in God and accepts his sentencing and ceremonial flogging. He is then sent to work in the mines in Siberia and is given the task of making leather shoes                                                           for the miners.

Over twenty-six long years in Siberia, Aksyonov transforms into a pious old man. His hair turns white, his beard grows long, he walks with difficulty, and he never laughs. He prays often and, among other prisoners, he develops a reputation as a meek and fair man and they treat him as their spiritual guide.

One day, a newly arrived inmate named Makar Semyonich, who is about the same age as Aksyonov and from the same hometown, gives an account of what brought him to Siberia. He was suspected of stealing a horse, when in reality he had only borrowed it. Nevertheless, he was unjustly convicted and imprisoned. But the man confides in Aksyonov and tells him that the sad irony of life is that he had gotten away with doing something much worse, earlier in his life, while he was now being punished for a petty crime, he never committed.

Aksyonov suspects that this was the man who was responsible for framing him. He questions Semyonich, who cryptically responds in a way that confirms his suspicion. Aksyonov remembers everything he has lost and is plunged into misery and he longs for a way to get revenge but resolves to stay away from the man or even look in his direction.

After two weeks, unable to sleep, he strolls the prison when he discovers Semyonich digging a tunnel to escape from there. Soldiers discover the tunnel the next day. The governor arrives to question prisoners, none of whom admit to knowing anything about the tunnel.

After wrestling with his desire for vengeance, Aksyonov declines to say what he knows about Semyonich’s involvement in digging the tunnel. That night, Semyonich is overcome with remorse over Aksyonov’s goodness and confesses his guilt to him. He falls to his knees and begs for forgiveness, promising to confess to the crimes so that Aksyonov will go free.

To this, the old man replies that his life is already over and he has nowhere to go. At the sight of Semyonich’s tears, Aksyonov weeps himself and he feels a lightness enter his body. He no longer desires to go home or leave the prison and he only wants to die in peace.

Semyonich confesses to the governor and when the officials arrive at Aksyonov’s cell the next day to acquit and release him, they find him lying dead!

e-mail: kjnmysore@rediffmail.com