Leo Tolstoy Archive
Written: 1888
Source: Translated by Nathan Haskell Dole
Transcription/Markup: Andy Carloff
Online Source: RevoltLib.com; 2021
An old woman and her granddaughter lived in a village. They were very poor and had nothing to eat. Easter Sunday came. The people were full of rejoicing. All made their purchases for the great feast, but the old woman and her granddaughter had nothing to make merry with. They shed tears, and began to pray God to help them.
Then the old woman remembered that long ago, in the time of the Frenchman^ the peasants used to hide their money in the ground. And the old woman said to her granddaughter :
" Granddaughter, take your shovel and go over to the site of the old village, ask God's help, and dig into the ground ; perhaps God will send us something."
And the granddaughter said to herself: "It is impos- sible that I should find anything. Still, I will do as grandma 2 bade me."
She took the shovel and went. After she had dug a hole, she began to think :
" I have dug long enough ; I am going home now."
She was just going to take out the shovel when she heard it knock against something. She leaned over, and saw a large jug. She shook it ; something jingled. She threw down her shovel, and ran to her grandma, crying, " Babushka, I have found a treasure !"
"They opened the jug and found it full of silver coins. And the grandmother and granddaughter were able to have an Easter feast, and they bought a cow, and thanked God because He had heard their prayer.
1 The French invasion of Russia, under Napoleon, 1812.
2 Babushka.