The Willow (Tolstoy)
Division into chapters is editorial.
The peasant plants willow cuttings for a hedge
During Easter week, a peasant ventured out to check if the ground had fully thawed after winter. He walked into his garden and tested the soil with a stick, finding it soft and ready for planting. Continuing into the nearby woods, he observed that the catkins were already swelling on the willow trees, indicating the arrival of spring. Seeing this natural abundance, the peasant conceived a practical plan for his property.
I will fence my garden with willows; they will grow up and will make a good hedge!
With this goal in mind, he took his axe and cut down a dozen willows. He sharpened them at the end and stuck them firmly into the ground around his garden.
Survival of the fittest: only one willow endures
All the willows sent up sprouts with leaves, and underground let out just such sprouts for roots; and some of them took hold of the ground and grew, and others did not.
By fall, the peasant was pleased to see that six of his willows had successfully taken root and were growing well. However, the following spring brought new challenges when sheep killed two of the surviving willows by gnawing at them, leaving only four. The next spring proved even more devastating as the sheep nibbled at the remaining trees again. One willow was completely ruined and died, while another was severely damaged but managed to recover, take proper root, and eventually grow into a full tree.
As spring arrived, bees buzzed actively in the surviving willow tree. During swarming season, swarms were often placed on the willow, and peasants would brush them into hives. The tree became a gathering place where men and women frequently ate and slept under its shade, while children climbed on it and broke off rods for their games and needs.
The willows mature years serving the community
The peasant that had set out the willow was long dead, and still it grew.
The original peasant's eldest son twice cut down the willow's branches to use them for firewood, but the resilient tree kept growing.
They trimmed it all around, and cut it down to a stump, but in the spring it again sent out twigs, thinner ones than before, but twice as many as ever.
Eventually, the eldest son quit farming entirely, and the village was abandoned. However, the willow continued to grow in the open field. When other peasants came to the area, they chopped at the willow for their own needs, but still it persisted and grew.
Other peasants came there, and chopped the willow, but still it grew. The lightning struck it; but it sent forth side branches, and it grew and blossomed.
A peasant once wanted to cut down the ancient tree to use it for a block, but he abandoned the idea when he discovered it was too rotten. The willow leaned sideways and held on with only one side, yet it continued to grow and blossom. Every year, bees still came to gather pollen from its flowers, maintaining the cycle of life that had sustained the tree for decades.
The old trees decline and destruction by fire
One day early in spring, a group of boys gathered under the willow to watch the horses. When they felt cold, they decided to start a fire to warm themselves. They collected stubbles, wormwood, and sticks for fuel. One of the boys climbed up the willow and broke off many twigs to add to their fire.
They put it all in the hollow of the willow and set fire to it. The tree began to hiss and its sap to boil, and the smoke rose and the tree burned.
The fire consumed the tree from within, smudging its entire inside. The young shoots dried up and withered, and the blossoms died. After the children drove the horses home, the scorched willow stood alone in the field. A black raven flew by and perched on the dying tree.
So you are dead, old smudge! You ought to have died long ago!