In the city of Vladímir there lived a young merchant, Aksénov by name. He had two shops and a house. Aksénov was a light-complexioned, curly-headed, fine-looking man and a very jolly fellow and good singer. In his youth Aksénov 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. One day in the summer Aksénov went to the Nízhni-Nóvgorod fair. As he bade his family good-bye, his wife said to him: "Iván Dmítrievich, do not start to-day! I have had a bad dream about you." Aksénov laughed, and said: "Are you afraid that I might go on a spree at the fair?" His wife said: "I 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." Aksénov laughed. "That means that I shall make some profit. If I strike a good bargain, you will see me bring you some costly presents." And he bade his family farewell, and started. 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. Aksénov 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 "black" hut, paid his bill, and went away. [Illustration: "'Whose knife is this?'" _Photogravure from Painting by A. Kivshénko_] 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 samovár to be prepared for him. He took out his guitar and began to play. Suddenly a tróyka with bells drove up to the hostelry, and from the cart leaped an officer with two soldiers, and he went up to Aksénov, and asked him who he was and where he came from. Aksénov told him everything as it was, and said: "Would you not like to drink tea with me?" But the officer kept asking him questions: "Where 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?" Aksénov wondered why they asked him about all that; he told them everything as it was, and said: "Why 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." Then the officer called the soldiers, and said: "I 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!" 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: "Whose knife is this?"