Practice English-Conversation
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Once upon a time, there was a peasant called Heorhiy who lived happily alone. He had his own land, his own food and his own company, and if he got lonely, he sang himself a song. Life was hard, but he did not starve and he was happy.
Until one day, a rich man who lived in a manor house nearby came and knocked on his door.
‘Heorhiy Glibovych!’ said the rich man, smiling like a jewel. ‘The time has come to pay your family debt.’
Heorhiy did not understand. ‘What family debt? Neither my father nor my mother ever mentioned such a thing.’
The rich man let out a noise of surprise. ‘But Heorhiy, how can it be? For the story of your family’s debt has passed down through my house for generations. What shame,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘Not only did your forefather shirk his duty of payment, but your father shirked his duty of telling you of it.’
‘My forefathers were good men,’ said Heorhiy. ‘Now, if you don’t mind, my goat needs to be fed.’
He tried to close the door, but the rich man caught it with his foot. Suddenly, his eyebrows lowered, and his eyes shone darkly.
‘Heorhiy Glibovych,’ he said coolly. ‘I must remind you that you are in my debt.’
Heorhiy saw now that there were some men behind the rich man, holding large bats. They were thick men who had grown on milk and meat every day. Heorhiy let go of the door.
He did not even know this man’s name.
‘You see, your forefather, seven generations ago, stole an apple from my tree. Now, my forefather was a generous man, so he made an offer: if the thief worked in his fields for three weeks, then he would forget anything had ever happened. The man refused, and so my forefather made a different offer: the thief could be in debt to him – this was a very expensive apple, the kind that is used to make the finest wine, I should add. Your forefather agreed, and so the debt has been passed down from generation to generation, collecting interest every year.
‘I must admit, I am quite surprised you had not heard of it. I thought your family’s huge debt would be common news in the area around here.’
Of course, the rich man did not tell him the truth: that Heorhiy’s ancestor had been starving, that the master of the manor house had offered him an apple, and then asked for payment afterwards, and that, when he had proposed the debt to him, the poor farmer had said, ‘Write down whatever you like, but I will never pay for that apple.’
Heorhiy gulped, as if he could taste the apple on his tongue.
‘How much interest has collected?’ he said quietly.
The rich man casually said the number and Heorhiy felt his stomach tighten, like a starving man who has just found his goat killed.
‘Naturally, I am not a cruel man,’ said the master of the manor house. ‘I will make the same offer to you as my forefather did to yours. You may come and work off the debt. Based on the interest that will be… three years of work.’
Heorhiy’s heart sank. But what could he do? He had not a single coin to pay the man with, and if he died without paying the debt, it might go to the other people in the village.
He sighed. ‘I agree to your deal.’
‘Good.’ The rich man clicked his fingers.
The master’s men came in and quickly carried Heorhiy out of the building. He didn’t even have time to say goodbye to his goat before he was carried to the manor house.
For the next three years, Heorhiy worked hard, never shirking his duty or showing up late to work. He made the rich man a lot of money, and when the three years were coming to their end, the rich man thought, ‘I can’t lose this man. Unlike the other peasants, he works like his life depends on it. And I suppose it does. How can I keep him here longer…?’
The next day, the master came to Heorhiy and said, ‘Heorhiy Glibovych, I have a new task for you. Take these hares and graze them for me, so that they go fat and delicious. But if you lose them, you will be in serious trouble…’
Heorhiy was tired from his years of work, so all he could do was nod and take the hares. But when he took them to the field to graze, the hares ran away, disappearing like water pouring through his hands.
‘Oh no!’ he cried. ‘I have lost the master’s hares. I’m sure he chose those hares because he knew they would run away, and he’ll want to keep me working here longer… Argh, I would rather starve.’
Just then, an old man came wandering through the field, carrying a pack on his back. He was blind, so Heorhiy said hello to him, and the old man asked him why he sounded so sad
a sum of money that is owed or due
suffer or die or cause to suffer or die from hunger
of the sun or another source of light give out a bright light
avoid or neglect (a duty or responsibility)
all of the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively
of a person mad
a poor smallholder or agricultural labourer of low social status (chiefly in historical use or with reference to subsistence farming in poorer countries)
in a relaxed and informal way
cease to be visible
eat grass in a field
