A Grain as Big as a Hen's Egg (Tolstoy)
Division into chapters is editorial.
The mysterious grain discovered and identified
Children playing in a ravine discovered a peculiar object shaped like a grain of corn with a groove down the middle, but enormous in size - as large as a hen's egg. A passing merchant noticed this curiosity and bought it from the children for a penny.
He took the mysterious object to town and sold it to the King as an unusual curiosity. Intrigued by this strange find, the King summoned his wise men and commanded them to determine what the object was.
The wise men pondered extensively but could not solve the mystery. One day, while the object lay on a windowsill, a hen flew in and pecked at it until she made a hole, revealing that it was indeed a grain of corn.
The search begins: the first old peasant
Amazed by the grain's enormous size, the King ordered his learned men to discover when and where such corn had grown. After searching their books without success, the scholars returned with their admission:
We can give you no answer. There is nothing about it in our books. You will have to ask the peasants; perhaps some of them may have heard from their fathers.
Following their advice, the King ordered his servants to bring the oldest peasant they could find. They located such a man and brought him before the throne. He was ancient and frail, ashy pale and toothless, barely able to walk with the help of two crutches.
The fathers testimony about past abundance
The old peasant could hardly see or hear, but after examining the grain with his hands, he declared he had never sown or reaped such corn. He explained that in his time, grain was always small as it is now, but suggested the King ask his father, who might have knowledge of such grain. The King sent for the old man's father, who arrived walking with only one crutch.
Though hard of hearing, the father could still see well and hear better than his son. He examined the grain carefully but denied ever growing or buying such corn. He revealed that in his time, money was not yet in use - everyone grew their own grain and shared when needed. He acknowledged that their grain was larger and yielded more flour than present-day grain, but nothing like this enormous specimen. He too suggested asking his father.
The grandfather who lived in the golden age
The King sent for this oldest ancestor, and remarkably, they found him too. Unlike his descendants, he entered walking easily without crutches, with clear eyes, good hearing, and spoke distinctly.
When shown the grain, the grandfather immediately recognized it, remarking that it had been long since he saw such fine grain. He bit off a piece, tasted it, and confirmed it was the very same kind he remembered.
Corn like this used to grow everywhere in my time. I lived on corn like this in my young days, and fed others on it. It was grain like this that we used to sow and reap and thrash.
When the King asked if he had bought such grain, the grandfather smiled and explained that in his time, no one ever thought of buying or selling bread, and they knew nothing of money. Each man had enough corn of his own.
The explanation of human and agricultural decline
The King pressed further, asking about the grandfather's fields. The old man revealed a profound truth about land ownership:
My field was God's earth. Wherever I ploughed, there was my field. Land was free. It was a thing no man called his own. Labour was the only thing men called their own.
Finally, the King posed his most important questions: why did the earth bear such grain then but ceased to do so now, and why did each generation become more physically diminished - the grandson walking with two crutches, the son with one, while the grandfather walked with none and remained vigorous. The grandfather provided the moral lesson that explained everything:
These things are so, because men have ceased to live by their own labour, and have taken to depending on the labour of others.