Once there lived a young merchant named Ivan Dmitri Aksenov with

his family in the land of Vladimir, who in his younger days lived life to
the fullest by experiencing all the material things world has to offer.
Until he got married.

One summer, he planned to go to Nizhny fair but his wife warned him
that she had a bad dream of her husband-- she dreamt about Ivan that
he returned from the town with hair of grey. Ivan laughed as if he
doesn't care and went on the fair.

He travelled half way and met a merchant, whom he spent the night
drinking tea with and shared an adjoining room in the inn. Since
Aksenov is not used of sleeping for long hours he decided to wake up
and continued his journey.

Along the way of his journey, two soldiers in a troika stopped him, and
began asking questions, for the merchant he met halfway on his travel
was found dead. Since all evidences of the crime are pointing Aksenov
guilty he was imprisoned.

Learning the sad fate of Aksenov, his wife remembered her dream
about Aksenov and was worried and even considered the thought of
her husband being guilty. The thought made Aksenov even sadder.

26 years in prison made Aksenov a well grounded and God-fearing

man. In spite the fact that his family has completely forgotten him, he
still serves as a Grandpa to the other prisoners. Then came a new
prisoner named Makar Semyonich.

After months of knowing each other, Aksenov discovered that Makar is

the one who killed the merchant whom he was told he murdered. He
was furious with what he found out but didn't speak or uttered a word
about it.

Until one night, Aksenov heard some earth rolling under where the
prisoners were sleeping. He went out and saw Makar. Makar told him
not to tell a word about what he had witnessed or else he will kill him.

When they were led out to work, a soldier noticed a prisoner took of
some earth off his boots. The soldier searched for escaping plans and
found the tunnel. Then, they asked each of them who knew about this
but they denied for they knew they will be killed before the one who
did it as Makar warned them. Finally, the governor asked Ivan for he
knew he was a just man. But then Ivan said it wasn't his right or his
will but God's to tell such name.

Night fell and Makar went to Ivan. He thanked him and felt sorry for
what he had done to him a long time ago that made Ivan suffer for all
this years. He sobbed as well as Ivan and said that the Lord will forgive
you. Makar said that he will confess to the governor so that Ivan would
be sent free--back to his home.

Ivan did not want to go out of prison for he has no family neither home
to back to; rather, he waited for his last hour to come.
In spite of what they've talked about, Makar Semyonich confessed his
guilt. But when the order for Ivan Dmitri Aksenov's release came, he
was already dead.

It is important not to neglect the last two words of the title: "But
Waits."

An important element of the story is that the truth comes out, but only
after waiting a long time. The reader knows from the very beginning
that Aksionov is innocent; a clever reader also figures out fairly early
that Makar Semyonich must be the real villain. Justice, however, is not
arrived at until the very end of the story, when--years later after the
crime--Makar confesses and Aksionov dies a contented man.

we can see how Ivan was led to a very pious living because of wrong
that God will eventually bring justice to every situation accusation. God
gave Ivan two paths to choose -either the path of revolt: fretting and
fuming under miserable circumstances or complete surrender to God.
Fortunately Ivan took the latter step. I can say that Ivan was more
happy in the prison than in the outside world because-

His wife suspected him. His children forgot him. So he couldn't have
lived happily with such a family. Though he was surrounded by
criminals they respected him and believed that he was wrongly
accused.

As he was a merchant he would have been bent upon the thoughts of

making himself rich and not upon the thoughts of God. But in prison he
had internal peace.

Makar realized his mistake and became a good man only because of
Ivan.

Thus we can see that God made him choose the path of salvation and
internal peace.

God always sees the truth in whatever we do, in whatever we think. So

we got the meaning of the 1st part of the title. The debatable part is
the "But waits." For me, God waited for the time that Aksionov will
know who really killed the merchant. When he knew that Makar did it,
God watched Aksionov on what this man will do. What will be his
decision, either to seek revenge or forgive? Aksionov's decision of
forgiving Makar truly made the big difference in this story. Think about
if Aksionov did the opposing thing, sleeked revenge and ruined Makar's
life, and then he is not so different with Makar. My point is God gave
Aksionov this struggle; all of us are given a "struggle". It is up to us
what path to take, either a path that makes our earthly decisions or a
path that takes us to fully surrender to Him because we believe in His
plans for us.

God gives justice and truth on how it should be fairly given. However
the time is not definite, since our sins have different degrees and it will
just be forgotten on a span of time depending on how heavy your sins
are. For the side of aksionov it means that justice is not given right
away, on the other hand it must be earned. For a young and innocent
man like Aksionov he was rewarded of the highest degree of faith and
reliance to God.

"God Sees the Truth, But Waits"

Is a short story by Russian author Leo Tolstoy first published in 1872.
The story, about a man sent to prison for a murder he didn't commit,
takes the form of a parable of forgiveness. English translations were
also published under titles "The Confessed Crime" and "Exiled to
Siberia". The concept of the story of a man wrongfully accused of
murder and banished to Siberia also appears in one of Tolstoy's
previous works, War and Peace, during a philosophical discussion
between two characters that relate the story and argue how the
protagonist of their story deals with injustice and fate.

God Sees the Truth but Waits is a masterpiece written by Leo Tolstoy.
The story is about a rich merchant named Ivan Dimitrich Aksionov. Ivan
was traveling to the Nizhny Fair and was accused of killing a fellow
merchant whom he met while traveling. He was sentenced guilty and
was sent to prison. At first he tried several petitions but all of them
failed. He then realized that only God knows the truth and He is the
only one who could help him regain his freedom. He then dropped all
petitions and prayed, he continued to be like this for twenty-six years.
He was greatly respected by other convicts and called him
Grandfather. One faithful day he met a new prisoner named Makar. He
soon discovered that Makar was the one who framed him for killing his
fellow merchant and was the true murderer. Aksionov also discovered
that Makar was digging a hole in prison to escape; this hole was also
discovered by the governor. Even if Makar is Aksionov enemy he still
didnt told the governor who dug the hole. The following night Makar
went to Aksionov and confessed to him that he is the one who killed
the merchant and was going to tell the governor in order for Aksionov
to be released. Aksionov refused but Makar still told the governor that
he is the one who killed the merchant. It took some time to issue the
release order of Aksionov but by the time it was issued Aksionov was
already dead.

For me the title is very fitting for the story but you have to understand
and analyze the story properly first before realizing why the title is
God Sees the Truth but Waits. The title is like that because God knows
that Aksionov is innocent but He still let Aksionov be imprisoned for
twenty-six years before giving him freedom. The storyline is great and
it will as the story goes on you will get more and more interested on
how the story will end. It also shows that no matter how bad a person
may look that person could still change and have a new life. The story
focuses on how Aksionov will deal with his enemy. Even if Makar was
his enemy he still tried to protect him from getting punishment
because of the hole Makar dug. Maybe because of this or Makars
conscience made Makar confess to the authorities that he is really the
one who killed the merchant not Aksionov. In my personal opinion God
used Makar to test wether Aksionov faith in Him is strong. Aksionov
proved till the very end of his life that he is faithful to God.

This masterpiece is a very inspiring story. It also has several morals

that could help guide future generations of students. It could also help
other law breakers to turn away from their sins. Most of all it could help
all of us become closer to God.

Performance
 Task
in English

Submitted by: Trisha F. Toremotcha

Chrislyn V. Baynosa
Section: St. Peter Fourier
CHS-B