Ivan the Fool

Chapter-by-chapter summary

Spoiler warning: this section covers the whole plot, including the ending.

Part 1: Three brothers and a mute sister (chapter 1)

A rich peasant has three grown sons and a daughter. Semyon is a soldier, Taras is a stout merchant, Ivan is called the Fool, and the sister, Malanya, cannot hear or speak. Semyon goes off to serve the king and Taras goes to town to trade, and each takes his share of the family property. Ivan tells them to take whatever they want. He keeps only an old mare and stays to work the land with his parents and sister. This matters because the whole tale rests on this contrast: the brothers chase status and wealth, while Ivan stays beside work he can do with his own hands.

Part 2: The Old Devil sends three imps (chapter 2)

The Old Devil wants the brothers to turn on one another, so he sends three imps, one for each son. Semyon's imp spoils the army's gunpowder and conjures straw soldiers for the enemy, and Semyon is disgraced. Taras's imp feeds his greed until he is buying goods on credit and drowning in debt. This matters because the devil never beats the clever brothers by force. Their own hunger for rank and money does the work, and the imps only give it a push.

Part 3: Ivan catches the imps (chapters 3–5)

Ivan's imp spits in his drink and hardens the soil, but Ivan keeps ploughing, and finally pulls the imp out of the furrow. To be freed, the imp hands over three magic roots, and one cures Ivan's stomach. The other imps then flood his hayfield, dull his scythe and block his tree-felling. Ivan out-works each of them, and each buys freedom with a gift: a rhyme that turns straw into soldiers, and a trick that turns oak leaves into gold. Meanwhile both brothers come home broke, and their wives will not sit at the table with Ivan. This matters because Ivan wins by plain, stubborn labour, not by cleverness.

Part 4: The feast and the brothers' kingdoms (chapters 6–7)

Ivan holds a feast, scatters gold among the villagers and makes straw soldiers to entertain them. His brothers then ask for help. Ivan makes Semyon an army, and Semyon conquers a kingdom. He gives Taras gold from leaves, and Taras grows rich in trade. But Ivan stops after seeing the harm: the soldiers have led to a death, and the gold has cost a family its cow. The brothers go off to rule as kings. This matters because Ivan treats power like a toy and puts it down as soon as it hurts someone.

Part 5: The princess and Ivan's kingdom (chapters 8–9)

Ivan's sick dog eats one of the roots and recovers. When the king's daughter falls ill, the king promises her hand to whoever can cure her. On the way, Ivan gives his last root to a beggar woman with a crippled arm. Even so, the princess recovers as he steps onto the palace threshold. Ivan marries her and becomes king, but he goes back to peasant work. His wise ministers leave, the fools stay, and everybody works and shares. When people complain, Ivan answers that even a king must eat. Meanwhile Semyon rules by conscription and Taras by taxes. This matters because Ivan's kingdom has no army, and no one needs one.

Part 6: The Old Devil attacks the brothers' kingdoms (chapter 10)

When the imps do not return, the Old Devil finds only holes in the ground and takes charge himself. He shows up before Semyon as a general, pushing mass conscription and new weapons. Semyon marches against the Indian king, who answers with a frightening new weapon, and Semyon loses his kingdom. He comes to Taras as a merchant and buys up goods and labour, until the king can neither eat well nor finish his palace. This matters because both brothers fall to the same kind of trap, which looks like progress and feeds their own appetites.

Part 7: The Devil in Ivan's land (chapters 11–12)

The Devil, again a general, tries to raise an army in Ivan's kingdom, but nobody wants to be a soldier. A neighbouring king invades, and the people meet his troops with food instead of weapons, so his army falls apart. Next the Devil poses as a fine gentleman and offers gold for labour, but the people use coins only for jewellery and toys. He refuses to work and refuses charity, so he has to eat at one house after another. Malanya checks everyone's palms for calluses, and the Devil has none. From a tower he lectures people about working with the head, then, weak with hunger, tumbles down the steps and vanishes into a hole in the ground. The tale ends with its rule: whoever has callused hands eats at the table, and everyone else eats the leftovers. This matters because the Devil is beaten by a community that does not want what he sells.

Characters

• Ivan the Fool. The youngest son, called a fool because he is simple, trusting and willing to work. He asks for nothing, gives away what he has and never fights back. His power comes from steady labour, and he treats magic gifts as toys.
• Semyon the Warrior. The soldier. He leaves to serve the king, wants rank and glory, and trusts armies to solve problems. His imp and then the Old Devil push him from war to war until he loses his kingdom.
• Taras the Belly. The stout merchant. He chases profit, buys on credit and later taxes his people. His greed makes him easy prey, first for his imp and then for the Devil dressed as a merchant.
• Malanya. Ivan's deaf-mute sister. She works quietly at home and in the fields. Near the end she is the one who exposes the Devil by checking whether guests have calluses on their hands.
• The Old Devil. The head of the devils. He wants the family to fall apart, sends imps, and when they fail, tries again as a general, a merchant and a gentleman. He is stopped by people who will not play his game.
• The three imps. Young devils, one for each brother. They ruin the clever two through ambition and greed, but Ivan catches all three with plain hard work, and each one buys its freedom with a gift.
• The princess. The king's daughter, who falls ill. Her father promises her hand to whoever cures her. She recovers as Ivan arrives and marries him, so Ivan becomes king, though he keeps living like a farmer.

Writing about this book

A short story with a fairy-tale shape is easy to retell, so a good assignment goes past the plot. Start with one clear question and let the story answer it. A few starting points:

• Why does Tolstoy make the hero a fool? Compare what the clever brothers gain with what they lose.
• The imps never use force. What do they use instead, and why does it work on Semyon and Taras but not on Ivan?
• Ivan gives up magic as soon as he sees harm. Is that weakness or wisdom?
• The ending says who eats at the table. Is that rule fair? Would it work in a school, a company or a country?
• Tolstoy wrote it in 1885 and published it in 1886. Which parts of the tale still feel current, such as armies, money, taxes and clever talk?

Pick one scene, such as the feast, the Indian war or the Devil's speech from the tower, and show with specific details how it supports your answer. Add what you honestly think, even if you disagree with Tolstoy, and say why. Your own reasoning is the part that makes the writing yours.