Page:Tolstoy - Tales from Tolstoi.djvu/295

Rh the muzhiks if they, perchance, have heard from their elders where and when such grain was wont to be grown."

And the King sent and commanded that the eldest of the muzhik elders should be brought before him. And they sought out the eldest elder and brought him to the King.

The old man came, all livid and toothless, hobbling painfully along with a crutch under each arm. The King showed him the grain. The old man could scarce see it; but after much poring over it with his eyes and much fumbling at it with his fingers, he half gathered and half guessed what it really was. And the King said to him,

"Dost thou know, oh aged man! where grain like this doth grow? Hast thou ever sown such grain in thy field, or bought of such grain in thy day?"

The old man stood there dumb and silent. His ears were hard of hearing, and his mind slow to understand. At last he made answer to the King.

"Nay!" said he, "I have never sown such grain in my field, nor reaped, nor purchased such in my time. The corn we have bought has always been small of grain. But ask my dad; he, peradventure, may have heard where such grain used to grow."

So the King sent and commanded that the old man's father should be brought before him.

And they found the elder's father and brought him to the King. And the old, old man came on a single crutch. And the King bade them show him the grain of corn. The old man could still see very well. He had no need to look at the grain twice. 245