Summary
Aksionov interprets Semyonich’s peculiar responses as a sure sign that Semyonich was the man who killed the merchant. Aksionov stands and walks away. He lies awake all night, plagued by a terrible unhappiness. Images rise in his mind of his wife the day he left for the fair. He remembers her eyes, her mouth, her voice, her laugh; he remembers his children; he remembers how young and merry he once was. He sees himself playing guitar the moment before the officials arrived; he recalls how carefree he was. Then he sees his flogging, the chains, convicts, the years of prison, his premature old age. Aksionov feels so wretched he is ready to kill himself.
Aksionov thinks of how his misery is all because of Semyonich. He longs for vengeance, even if he should die for exacting it. He prays through the night but finds no peace. In the day, he goes nowhere near Semyonich and doesn’t look at him. Two weeks pass with Aksionov in this miserable state.
One night, while walking through the prison, Aksionov notices soil tumble out from under one of the shelves the prisoners sleep on. Semyonich creeps out from under the shelf and looks at Aksionov with fear. Aksionov tries to keep going but Semyonich grabs Aksionov’s hand and tells him he dug a hole under the wall. He has been moving the earth by smuggling it out in his high boots and emptying it on the road when he and the other prisoners are driven to work.
To keep Aksionov quiet, Semyonich says that Aksionov can escape too, and that if Aksionov tells the guards, they will flog Semyonich, but he will kill Aksionov first. Aksionov trembles in anger. He says he doesn’t wish to escape, and that Semyonich has no need to kill him because he already killed him long ago. Whether he tells on Semyonich, Aksionov says, depends on what God directs him to do.
The next day, the convoy soldiers notice someone has emptied earth from his boots. The prison is searched and the tunnel is found. The governor questions the prisoners, all of whom deny any knowledge of the hole. The prisoners who do know choose not to betray Semyonich, knowing he would be whipped almost to death. The governor knows Aksionov to be a just man and so goes to him last to ask about the hole. Semyonich stands unconcerned, looking at the governor but not Aksionov.
Aksionov’s hands and lips tremble. He questions why he should let Semyonich suffer; perhaps his suspicion of him is not warranted. Regardless, Aksionov doesn’t know what good it would be to him to inflict vengeance on Semyonich. The governor asks again and Aksionov glances at Semyonich before saying that he cannot say who dug the hole; it is not God’s will for him to tell. He says to do what he likes with him; he is in the governor’s hands. The governor questions him more but ultimately has to leave the matter unresolved.
That night Aksionov is lying in bed, about to drift off, when someone sits with him. Through the darkness he sees Semyonich. Aksionov asks what more Semyonich wants of him. Semyonich is silent. Aksionov demands to know what he wants. He says to go away, threatening to call the guard. Semyonich bends close and whispers, asking Aksionov to forgive him for killing the merchant and planting the knife among Aksionov’s possessions. Semyonich says he planned to kill Aksionov too but heard a noise outside and so hid the knife and escaped out the window.
Aksionov is silent, unsure of what to say. Semyonich slides off the bed shelf and kneels on the ground. He asks again that Aksionov forgive him, for the love of God. Semyonich says he will confess that he killed the merchant, and Aksionov will be released and can return home. Aksionov says it is easy for Semyonich to talk like this when Aksionov is the one who suffered the past twenty-six years. Aksionov asks where he can go now that his wife is dead and his children have forgotten him; he has nowhere to go.
Semyonich beats his head on the floor and repeats his demand for Aksionov to forgive him. Semyonich says being flogged with the knot was easier to bear than it is to see Aksionov. Semyonich says Aksionov had pity on him and didn’t tell. He asks again, for Christ’s sake, that Aksionov forgive him.
Hearing Semyonich sob, Aksionov begins to weep. Aksionov says that God will forgive Semyonich, and that maybe Aksionov himself is one hundred times worse than Semyonich. Having said it, Aksionov’s heart grows light and the longing for home leaves him. He is alleviated of any desire to leave the prison, hoping only for death. Despite Aksionov’s inability to forgive Semyonich, Semyonich confesses to the crime. When the order comes for Aksionov to be released, Aksionov is already dead.
Analysis
Although he has spent the past twenty-six years learning to accept his fate and put his faith in God’s justice, Aksionov spends the night haunted by images of his former life. Being face to face with the man who framed him dredges up the resentment and confusion that have lingered under the surface of Aksionov’s meek demeanor.
Aksionov grows so miserable he would like to die. Praying no longer helps him, and he is drawn to thoughts of vengeance. But he refuses even to look at Semyonich, around whom he is forced to live. The opportunity for vengeance arrives when Aksionov discovers that Semyonich has been digging an escape tunnel. Semyonich offers Aksionov a chance to escape while simultaneously threatening to kill Aksionov should he tell the authorities about the tunnel.
Although Aksionov has the perfect opportunity to inflict punishment on Semyonich, he replies that he will act based on what God directs him to do. Even though Aksionov hasn’t said anything, soldiers discover the tunnel the next day. Aksionov wrestles with what benefit he would receive from subjecting Semyonich to punishment, and decides to hold his tongue, even though he knows it may mean more punishment for himself.
That night Semyonich confesses to Aksionov and begs his forgiveness in a scene that sees the latent introduction of the story’s most central theme. Aksionov’s selflessness has made Semyonich reckon with his own guilt and he grovels for Aksionov’s forgiveness, saying he will admit to the crime and Aksionov will be freed. But Aksionov has no life to return to, and so sees no reason to agree to the deal.
Semyonich’s weeping inspires Aksionov to cry himself. Aksionov returns to his faith in God, saying that God will forgive Semyonich—something Aksionov has had to believe for himself. Aksionov’s suggestion that he himself may be one hundred times worse than Semyonich speaks to how Aksionov has developed such a strong faith in God and taken on the guilt of his unjust condemnation to such an extent that he believes he must be guilty of something of which he is not yet aware.
Having relinquished his resentment for Semyonich and released his tears, Aksionov has a moment of transcendence, losing all desire for his former life and hoping only that he may die. The relief he feels speaks to how true forgiveness leads to emotional freedom for not only the forgiven person but the person granting forgiveness; Aksionov is freed of the burden of having to resent Semyonich. Although Aksionov told Semyonich he had no life to return to, Semyonich confesses to the crime. However, Aksionov has already received his wish for death by the time the officials arrange his release.
