At length Ivan the peasant's son came to an unknown country, and rode
through it for thirty days and thirty nights, until at length he
arrived at the Chinese Empire. There he dismounted, and turned his
good steed out into the open fields, while he went into the city and
bought himself a bladder, drew it over his head, and went round the
Tsar's palace. Then the folks asked him whence he came, and what kind
of man he was, and what were his father and mother's names. But Ivan
only replied to their questions, "I don't know." So they all took him
for a fool, and went and told the Chinese Tsar about him. Then the
Tsar ordered Ivan to be called, and asked where he came from and what
was his name; but he only answered as before, "I don't know." So the
Tsar ordered him to be driven out of the Court. But it happened that
there was a gardener in the crowd, who begged the Tsar to give the
fool over to him that he might employ him in gardening. The Tsar
consented, and the man took Ivan into the garden, and set him to weed
the beds whilst he went his way.
Then Ivan lay down under a tree and fell fast asleep. In the night he
awoke, and broke down all the trees in the garden. Early the next
morning the gardener came and looked round, and was terrified at what
he beheld: so he went to Ivan the peasant's son and fell to abusing
him, and asked him who had destroyed all the trees. But Ivan only
replied, "I don't know." The gardener was afraid to tell this to the
Tsar; but the Tsar's daughter looked out of her window and beheld with
amazement the devastation, and asked who had done it all. The gardener
replied that fool Know-nothing had destroyed the noble trees; but
entreated her not to tell her father, promising to put the garden
into a better condition than it was before.
Ivan did not sleep the next night, but went and drew water from the
well, and watered the broken trees; and early in the morning they
began to rise and grow; and when the sun rose they were all covered
with leaves, and were even finer than ever. When the gardener came
into the garden he was amazed at the change; but he did not again ask
Know-nothing any questions, as he never returned an answer. And when
the Tsar's daughter awoke, she rose from her bed, and looking out into
the garden, she saw it in a better state than before; then, sending
for the gardener, she asked him how it had all happened in so short a
time. But the man answered that he could not himself understand it,
and the Tsar's daughter began to think Know-nothing was in truth
wonderfully wise and clever. From that moment she loved him more than
herself, and sent him food from her own table.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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