{"id":5995,"date":"2026-04-05T01:28:48","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T01:28:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=5995"},"modified":"2026-04-05T01:28:48","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T01:28:48","slug":"god-sees-the-truth-but-waits-by-leo-tolstoy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=5995","title":{"rendered":"God Sees The Truth, But Waits by Leo Tolstoy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>God Sees The Truth, But Waits by <a href=\"https:\/\/quizlit.org\/name-that-year-book-quiz\">Leo Tolstoy<\/a> was published in 1872. The tale, about a man wrongly imprisoned for murder, takes the form of a parable of forgiveness.<\/p>\n<p><em>This post may contain affiliate links that earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.<\/em><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">God Sees The Truth, But Waits by Leo Tolstoy<\/h2>\n<div class=\"epyt-video-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"__youtube_prefs__ epyt-facade no-lazyload\"><button class=\"epyt-facade-play\"><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">God Sees The Truth, But Waits by Leo Tolstoy<\/h3>\n\n<p>In the city of Vlad\u00edmir there lived a young merchant, Aks\u00e9nov by name. He had two shops and a house.<\/p>\n<p>Aks\u00e9nov was a light-complexioned, curly-headed, fine-looking man and a very jolly fellow and good singer. In his youth Aks\u00e9nov had drunk much, and when he was drunk he used to become riotous, but when he married he gave up drinking, and that now happened very rarely with him.<\/p>\n<p>One day in the summer Aks\u00e9nov went to the N\u00edzhni-N\u00f3vgorod fair. As he bade his family good-bye, his wife said to him:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIv\u00e1n Dm\u00edtrievich, do not start to-day! I have had a bad dream about you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Aks\u00e9nov laughed, and said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAre you afraid that I might go on a spree at the fair?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His wife said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI do not know what I am afraid of, but I had a bad dream: I dreamed that you came to town, and when you took off your cap I saw that your head was all gray.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Aks\u00e9nov laughed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat means that I shall make some profit. If I strike a good bargain, you will see me bring you some costly presents.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And he bade his family farewell, and started.<\/p>\n<p>In the middle of his journey he met a merchant whom he knew, and they stopped together in a hostelry for the night. They drank their tea together, and lay down to sleep in two adjoining rooms. Aks\u00e9nov did not like to sleep long; he awoke in the middle of the night and, as it was easier to travel when it was cool, wakened his driver and told him to hitch the horses. Then he went to the \u201cblack\u201d hut, paid his bill, and went away.<\/p>\n<p>When he had gone about forty versts, he again stopped to feed the horses and to rest in the vestibule of a hostelry. At dinner-time he came out on the porch, and ordered the samov\u00e1r to be prepared for him. He took out his guitar and began to play. Suddenly a tr\u00f3yka with bells drove up to the hostelry, and from the cart leaped an officer with two soldiers, and he went up to Aks\u00e9nov, and asked him who he was and where he came from.<\/p>\n<p>Aks\u00e9nov told him everything as it was, and said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWould you not like to drink tea with me?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But the officer kept asking him questions:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere did you stay last night? Were you alone, or with a merchant? Did you see the merchant in the morning? Why did you leave so early in the morning?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Aks\u00e9nov wondered why they asked him about all that; he told them everything as it was, and said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy do you ask me this? I am not a thief, nor a robber. I am travelling on business of my own, and you have nothing to ask me about.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then the officer called the soldiers, and said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am the chief of the rural police, and I ask you this, because the merchant with whom you passed last night has been found with his throat cut. Show me your things, and you look through them!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>They entered the house, took his valise and bag, and opened them and began to look through them. Suddenly the chief took a knife out of the bag, and cried out:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhose knife is this?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Aks\u00e9nov looked, and saw that they had taken out a blood-stained knife from his bag, and he was frightened \u201cHow did the blood get on the knife?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Aks\u00e9nov wanted to answer, but could not pronounce a word.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2014I do not know\u2014I\u2014the knife\u2014is not mine!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then the chief said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the morning the merchant was found in his bed with his throat cut. No one but you could have done it. The house was locked from within, and there was no one in the house but you. Here is the bloody knife in your bag, and your face shows your guilt. Tell me, how did you kill him, and how much money did you rob him of?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Aks\u00e9nov swore that he had not done it; that he had not seen the merchant after drinking tea with him; that he had with him his own eight thousand; that the knife was not his. But his voice faltered, his face was pale, and he trembled from fear, as though he were guilty.<\/p>\n<p>The chief called in the soldiers, told them to bind him and to take him to the cart. When he was rolled into the cart with his legs tied, he made the sign of the cross and began to cry. They took away his money and things, and sent him to jail to the nearest town. They sent to Vlad\u00edmir to find out what kind of a man Aks\u00e9nov was, and all the merchants and inhabitants of Vlad\u00edmir testified to the fact that Aks\u00e9nov had drunk and caroused when he was young, but that he was a good man. Then they began to try him. He was tried for having killed the Ryaz\u00e1n merchant and having robbed him of twenty thousand roubles.<\/p>\n<p>The wife was grieving for her husband and did not know what to think. Her children were still young, and one was still at the breast. She took them all and went with them to the town where her husband was kept in prison. At first she was not admitted, but later she implored the authorities, and she was taken to her husband. When she saw him in prison garb and in chains, together with murderers, she fell to the ground and could not come to for a long time. Then she placed her children about her, sat down beside him, and began to tell him about house matters, and to ask him about everything which had happened. He told her everything. She said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat shall I do?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe must petition the Tsar. An innocent man cannot be allowed to perish.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His wife said that she had already petitioned the Tsar, but that the petition had not reached him. Aks\u00e9nov said nothing, and only lowered his head. Then his wife said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou remember the dream I had about your getting gray. Indeed, you have grown gray from sorrow. If you had only not started then!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And she looked over his hair, and said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIv\u00e1n, my darling, tell your wife the truth: did you not do it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Aks\u00e9nov said, \u201cAnd you, too, suspect me!\u201d and covered his face with his hands, and began to weep.<\/p>\n<p>Then a soldier came, and told his wife that she must leave with her children. And Aks\u00e9nov for the last time bade his family farewell.<\/p>\n<p>When his wife had left, Aks\u00e9nov thought about what they had been talking of. When he recalled that his wife had also suspected him and had asked him whether he had killed the merchant, he said to himself: \u201cEvidently none but God can know the truth, and He alone must be asked, and from Him alone can I expect mercy.\u201d And from that time on Aks\u00e9nov no longer handed in petitions and stopped hoping, but only prayed to God.<\/p>\n<p>Aks\u00e9nov was sentenced to be beaten with the knout, and to be sent to hard labour. And it was done.<\/p>\n<p>He was beaten with the knout, and later, when the knout sores healed over, he was driven with other convicts to Siberia.<\/p>\n\n<p>In Siberia, Aks\u00e9nov passed twenty-six years at hard labour. His hair turned white like snow, and his beard grew long, narrow, and gray. All his mirth went away. He stooped, began to walk softly, spoke little, never laughed, and frequently prayed to God.<\/p>\n<p>In the prison Aks\u00e9nov learned to make boots, and with the money which he earned he bought himself the \u201cLegends of the Holy Martyrs,\u201d and read them while it was light in the prison; on holidays he went to the prison church and read the Epistles, and sang in the choir,\u2014his voice was still good. The authorities were fond of Aks\u00e9nov for his gentleness, and his prison comrades respected him and called him \u201cgrandfather\u201d and \u201cGod\u2019s man.\u201d When there were any requests to be made of the authorities, his comrades always sent him to speak for them, and when the convicts had any disputes between themselves, they came to Aks\u00e9nov to settle them.<\/p>\n<p>No one wrote Aks\u00e9nov letters from his home, and he did not know whether his wife and children were alive, or not.<\/p>\n<p>Once they brought some new prisoners to the prison. In the evening the old prisoners gathered around the new men, and asked them from what town they came, or from what village, and for what acts they had been sent up. Aks\u00e9nov, too, sat down on the bed-boards near the new prisoners and, lowering his head, listened to what they were saying. One of the new prisoners was a tall, sound-looking old man of about sixty years of age, with a gray, clipped beard. He was telling them what he had been sent up for:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes, brothers, I have come here for no crime at all. I had unhitched a driver\u2019s horse from the sleigh. I was caught. They said, \u2018You stole it.\u2019 And I said, \u2018I only wanted to get home quickly, for I let the horse go. Besides, the driver is a friend of mine. I am telling you the truth.\u2019\u2014\u2019No,\u2019 they said, \u2018you have stolen it.\u2019 But they did not know what I had been stealing, or where I had been stealing. There were crimes for which I ought to have been sent up long ago, but they could not convict me, and now I am here contrary to the law. \u2018You are lying,\u2014you have been in Siberia, but you did not make a long visit there\u2014&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere do you come from?\u201d asked one of the prisoners.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am from the city of Vlad\u00edmir, a burgher of that place. My name is Mak\u00e1r, and by my father Sem\u00e9novich.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Aks\u00e9nov raised his head, and asked:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSem\u00e9novich, have you not heard in Vlad\u00edmir about the family of Merchant Aks\u00e9nov? Are they alive?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes, I have heard about them! They are rich merchants, even though their father is in Siberia. He is as much a sinner as I, I think. And you, grandfather, what are you here for?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Aks\u00e9nov did not like to talk of his misfortune. He sighed, and said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor my sins have I passed twenty-six years at hard labour.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mak\u00e1r Sem\u00e9novich said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor what sins?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Aks\u00e9nov said, \u201cNo doubt, I deserved it,\u201d and did not wish to tell him any more; but the other prison people told the new man how Aks\u00e9nov had come to be in Siberia. They told him how on the road some one had killed a merchant and had put the knife into his bag, and he thus was sentenced though he was innocent.<\/p>\n<p>When Mak\u00e1r Sem\u00e9novich heard that, he looked at Aks\u00e9nov, clapped his knees with his hands, and said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat a marvel! What a marvel! But you have grown old, grandfather!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He was asked what he was marvelling at, and where he had seen Aks\u00e9nov, but Mak\u00e1r Sem\u00e9novich made no reply, and only said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is wonderful, boys, where we were fated to meet!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And these words made Aks\u00e9nov think that this man might know something about who had killed the merchant. He said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSem\u00e9novich, have you heard before this about that matter, or have we met before?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf course I have heard. The earth is full of rumours. That happened a long time ago: I have forgotten what I heard,\u201d said Mak\u00e1r Sem\u00e9novich.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaybe you have heard who killed the merchant?\u201d asked Aks\u00e9nov.<\/p>\n<p>Mak\u00e1r Sem\u00e9novich laughed and said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI suppose he was killed by the man in whose bag the knife was found. Even if somebody stuck that knife into that bag, he was not caught, so he is no thief. And how could the knife have been put in? Was not the bag under your head? You would have heard him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The moment Aks\u00e9nov heard these words, he thought that that was the man who had killed the merchant. He got up and walked away. All that night Aks\u00e9nov could not fall asleep. He felt sad, and had visions: now he saw his wife such as she had been when she bade him farewell for the last time, as he went to the fair. He saw her, as though she was alive, and he saw her face and eyes, and heard her speak to him and laugh. Then he saw his children such as they had been then,\u2014just as little,\u2014one of them in a fur coat, the other at the breast. And he thought of himself, such as he had been then,\u2014gay and young; he recalled how he had been sitting on the porch of the hostelry, where he was arrested, and had been playing the guitar, and how light his heart had been then. And he recalled the pillory, where he had been whipped, and the executioner, and the people all around, and the chains, and the prisoners, and his prison life of the last twenty-six years, and his old age. And such gloom came over him that he felt like laying hands on himself.<\/p>\n\n<p>\u201cAnd all that on account of that evil-doer!\u201d thought Aks\u00e9nov.<\/p>\n<p>And such a rage fell upon him against Mak\u00e1r Sem\u00e9novich, that he wanted to have his revenge upon him, even if he himself were to be ruined by it. He said his prayers all night long, but could not calm himself. In the daytime he did not walk over to Mak\u00e1r Sem\u00e9novich, and did not look at him.<\/p>\n<p>Thus two weeks passed. At night Aks\u00e9nov could not sleep, and he felt so sad that he did not know what to do with himself.<\/p>\n<p>Once, in the night, he walked all over the prison, and saw dirt falling from underneath one bedplace. He stopped to see what it was. Suddenly Mak\u00e1r Sem\u00e9novich jumped up from under the bed and looked at Aks\u00e9nov with a frightened face. Aks\u00e9nov wanted to pass on, so as not to see him; but Mak\u00e1r took him by his arm, and told him that he had dug a passage way under the wall, and that he each day carried the dirt away in his boot-legs and poured it out in the open, whenever they took the convicts out to work. He said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKeep quiet, old man,\u2014I will take you out, too. And if you tell, they will whip me, and I will not forgive you,\u2014I will kill you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When Aks\u00e9nov saw the one who had done him evil, he trembled in his rage, and pulled away his arm, and said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have no reason to get away from here, and there is no sense in killing me,\u2014you killed me long ago. And whether I will tell on you or not depends on what God will put into my soul.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On the following day, when the convicts were taken out to work, the soldiers noticed that Mak\u00e1r Sem\u00e9novich was pouring out the dirt, and so they began to search in the prison, and found the hole. The chief came to the prison and began to ask all who had dug the hole. Everybody denied it. Those who knew had not seen Mak\u00e1r[Pg 80] Sem\u00e9novich, because they knew that for this act he would be whipped half-dead. Then the chief turned to Aks\u00e9nov. He knew that Aks\u00e9nov was a just man, and said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOld man, you are a truthful man, tell me before God who has done that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mak\u00e1r Sem\u00e9novich stood as though nothing had happened and looked at the chief, and did not glance at Aks\u00e9nov. Aks\u00e9nov\u2019s arms and lips trembled, and he could not utter a word for long time. He thought: \u201cIf I protect him, why should I forgive him, since he has ruined me? Let him suffer for my torments! And if I tell on him, they will indeed whip him to death. And suppose that I have a wrong suspicion against him. Will that make it easier for me?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The chief said once more:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWell, old man, speak, tell the truth! Who has been digging it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Aks\u00e9nov looked at Mak\u00e1r Sem\u00e9novich, and said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI cannot tell, your Honour. God orders me not to tell. And I will not tell. Do with me as you please,\u2014you have the power.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>No matter how much the chief tried, Aks\u00e9nov would not say anything more. And so they did not find out who had done the digging.<\/p>\n<p>On the following night, as Aks\u00e9nov lay down on the bed-boards and was just falling asleep, he heard somebody come up to him and sit down at his feet. He looked in the darkness and recognized Mak\u00e1r. Aks\u00e9nov said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat more do you want of me? What are you doing here?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mak\u00e1r Sem\u00e9novich was silent. Aks\u00e9nov raised himself, and said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat do you want? Go away, or I will call the soldier.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mak\u00e1r bent down close to Aks\u00e9nov, and said to him in a whisper:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIv\u00e1n Dm\u00edtrievich, forgive me!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Aks\u00e9nov said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor what shall I forgive you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was I who killed the merchant and put the knife into your bag. I wanted to kill you, too, but they made a noise in the yard, so I put the knife into your bag and climbed through the window.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Aks\u00e9nov was silent and did not know what to say. Mak\u00e1r Sem\u00e9novich slipped down from the bed, made a low obeisance, and said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIv\u00e1n Dm\u00edtrievich, forgive me, forgive me for God\u2019s sake! I will declare that it was I who killed the merchant,\u2014you will be forgiven. You will return home.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Aks\u00e9nov said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is easy for you to speak so, but see how I have suffered! Where shall I go now? My wife has died, my children have forgotten me. I have no place to go to\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mak\u00e1r Sem\u00e9novich did not get up from the floor. He struck his head against the earth, and said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIv\u00e1n Dm\u00edtrievich, forgive me! When they whipped me with the knout I felt better than now that I am looking at you. You pitied me, and did not tell on me. Forgive me, for Christ\u2019s sake! Forgive me, the accursed evil-doer!\u201d And he burst out into tears.<\/p>\n<p>When Aks\u00e9nov heard Mak\u00e1r Sem\u00e9novich crying, he began to weep himself, and said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGod will forgive you. Maybe I am a hundred times worse than you!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And suddenly a load fell off from his soul. And he no longer pined for his home, and did not wish to leave the prison, but only thought of his last hour.<\/p>\n<p>Mak\u00e1r Sem\u00e9novich did not listen to Aks\u00e9nov, but declared his guilt. When the decision came for Aks\u00e9nov to leave,\u2014he was dead.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Best Leo Tolstoy Books to Read<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/4eM3BfM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/4eM3PUa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3XVbQ2S\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/4cHVG19\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a><br \/>\nClick on the image to Buy a Copy<\/p>\n<p>If you enjoyed God Sees The Truth, But Waits by Leo Tolstoy, check out <a href=\"https:\/\/quizlit.org\/a-prisoner-in-the-caucasus-by-leo-tolstoy\">A Prisoner in the Caucasus by Leo Tolstoy<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Narrated by Chris Kempton,  courtesy of Librivox<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>God Sees The Truth, But Waits by Leo Tolstoy was published in 1872. The tale, about a man wrongly imprisoned for murder, takes the form of a parable of forgiveness. This post may contain affiliate links that earn us a commission at no extra cost to you. God Sees The Truth, But Waits by Leo [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":5996,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bookreviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5995"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5995"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5995\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}