* In the town of Vladimir lived a merchant called Ivan Dmitrich Aksionov in addition to his family.
* One summer, Aksionov planned to go to the Nizhny Fair to sell all his products however was dropped in his better half who informed him to go another day because she had a bad dream about him where he took off his cap and his hair was rather gray.
* Aksionov did not hearken his spouse’s plea and advanced to his journey.
* When he had reached the halfway point, he fulfilled a fellow merchant who he knew and they remained at the same inn for the night, drinking tea together and oversleeping adjacent rooms.
* As it was not his practice to sleep late and wanting to leave before it ended up being too warm, he left the inn before dawn.
Rising Action:
* When he had actually set about 25 miles, he stopped at another inn to rest, have a samovar be warmed and for his horses to be fed also.
* All of a sudden, a troika increased to the inn, followed by 2 soldiers who came to him and asked him who he was, where he came from, where he remained the night and if he was alone or with a fellow-merchant.
* Aksionov found out from the police-officer of the district that the other merchant was found with his throat cut.
* The soldiers searched his things and found a blood-stained knife in his bag.
* Aksionov was too nervous to address the police-officer’s concerns of why he had the knife in his bag so they assumed that it was regret and he was taken into their custody and gave the closest town to be locked up.
* Enquiries were done to investigate his character which discovered him to be an excellent man however when the trial came on, he was charged with killing the merchant from Ryazan and robbing him of twenty thousand rubles.
* His spouse was able to visit him in prison with their children however in the end was likewise among individuals who believed him of doing the crime.
* Aksionov, feeling that nobody believed him, quit all hope and relied on God and trusted Him with everything.
* For 26 years, he lived as a found guilty in Siberia where his hair became white and his beard grew long, thin and gray.
* The jail authorities like him for his meekness and they together with his fellow-prisoners respected him enough to be given the title of “Grandpa” and “The Saint”.
* One day, a fresh gang of convicts came to the prison and one of them was Makar Semyonich.
* After overhearing several conversations, Aksionov was convinced that Semyonich is the man who committed the murder for which he was accused of, causing him to feel anger so great that he longed for vengeance. He prayed and prayed but found no peace from it.
* One night, as he was walking about the prison he found out that Semyonich was creating a tunnel with the help of the other prisoners under the shelf by stuffing the earth into their high-boots.
* The tunnel was found out by the prison officials and was investigated by the guards and the Governor. All the prisoners who knew would not betray Semyonich for they knew that he would be flogged almost to death.
Climax
* The Governor, knowing that Aksionov was a just and fair man, turned to him and asked him who dug the hole but Aksionov, even though he wanted revenge against Semyonich, spoke out that it is not his place to speak about the tunnel.
Falling Action
* That night, Makar, moved by Aksionov’s protection of him, went near him and begged for his forgiveness and revealed the truth to him.
* Aksionov forgave Semyonich and while doing so felt his heart grow lighter and the feeling of longing to go home left him.
* Makar then told the truth of the murder to the officials but when the order for his release came, Aksionov was already dead.