Page:Tolstoy - Tales from Tolstoi.djvu/297

Rh "In my day, corn like this grew everywhere. In my day I lived on corn like this, and my family with me. This grain and no other have I sown and reaped and thrashed."

And the King said: "Tell me, old grandfather, wert thou wont to buy this corn or grow it in thine own field?"

The old man smiled. "In my days," said he, "such a sin as buying or selling corn never entered into the mind of man. Of money they knew nothing; everyone could have as much corn as his heart desired."

"But tell me, grandfather," said the King, " where didst thou sow such corn, and where was thy field?"

And the grandfather answered and said: "My field was God's wide world. Wherever my ploughshare fared, there was my field. The soil was free to all, quite free. Folks never said 'This land is mine!' A man's handiwork was all that he called his own."

Then said the King: "There are yet two things that I would fain ask of thee. The first is this: why has such grain ceased to grow now, though it used to grow formerly? The second thing is this: why does thy grandson go on two crutches, thy son but on one, while as to thee, thou art altogether light of foot, and thine eyes sparkle, and thy teeth are sound and strong, and thy speech plain, and pleasant to hearken unto. Tell me, grandfather, what is the meaning of these two things, and why do we not see such things now?"

And the patriarch said: "These two things no longer happen because folks have ceased to live by 247