This is a short story by Leo Tolstoy

This is a small tragedy, in terms of pages but a catastrophe for the family in question.

We read about a Polish family, which has to cope with the fate of the defeated or of the small people conquered by an empire, in this case a rather evil one: Russia.

Like in another Tolstoy story, here I learn about the cruelty of the Russian leaders: prisoners are lashed until they die.

This Polish family has to suffer a tragic fate. After both their children die in a kind of captivity, the parents decide to try to escape. The mother comes up with an interesting, if unfortunate plot:

The husband will write a good bye, suicide note and that will be found together with his coat, on the banks of the nearby river. The authorities will think he is drowned.

The Polish lady would ask for the remains of her children, which she would pretend to carry away to Poland. Instead, in the box, she would take away her husband, a prisoner of the Russians.

Everything goes according to plan, up to the final stages of the execution. A dog gives the Polish officer away and the Russians arrest him.

I was so sorry, but then life is unfair, full of injustice even if we have an All mighty God…
Or don’t ‘we?