The last story that George Saunders explores in A Swim in a Pond in the Rain is Alyosha the Pot, by Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910), first published in 1911. It's a disarmingly simple story.

Aloysha is a peasant lad, given his nickname because he broke a pot when on an errand, and the boys never stopped teasing him about it.

He's an unprepossessing boy, skinny, lop-eared (his ears stuck out like wings) and with a big nose. He's none too bright, and anyway he has so many chores at home he doesn't have much time for study.

Six years old and he was already watching after the sheep and the cow in the pasture with his baby sister, and a little older he was looking after the horses day and night. By the time he was twelve he was ploughing and driving the wagon. (p.349)

Alyosha is an innocent fool. Everyone from his father to his eventual employer, a merchant, exploits him yet he remains meek, biddable, and always in a good mood. Indeed, when he first fails to impress the merchant when he is taken there to replace his elder brother who got drafted, it is his cheerful obedience that seals the deal.

'I thought I was going to get a man to take Simon's place,' said the merchant, looking up and down, 'and what's this snot-nose supposed to be? What good is he to me?'

'He can do anything—he can hitch up a team and go get stuff and he works like crazy. He just looks puny but you can't wear him out.'

'Well, looks like I'll have to find out.'

'And the main thing is, he'll never give you any back talk.; He'd rather work than eat.'

So Alyosha began to live at the merchant's. (p.350)

In a story only six pages long, it is not until half way through that there is any departure from this tale of drudgery, abuse and exploitation. Alyosha's father takes all his wages and abuses him when he wears out his boots and the cost of the replacements is taken out of his pay. There is just a hint of hope when Alyosha, often late for his meagre dinner, has his meal kept hot for him by the cook, and also when he is given small tips during the holidays and is able to save up for a red knitted jacket which, when he put on he couldn't keep a straight face he was so happy.

Yet, perhaps because of Tolstoy's preoccupation with religion, Alyosha prays.

He didn't know a single prayer. His mother had taught him some but he'd forgotten them all, but he still prayed, mornings and evenings, prayed with his hands, and crossed himself. (p.351)

Ustinya, the cook, is an orphan, and she works just like Alyosha does. She becomes fond of him, and mends his trousers, and leaves him buttered cereal in the pot. And in his second of drudgery he finds out, to his amazement, that besides those connections between people based on someone needing something from somebody else, there are also very special connections.

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2021/06/25/alyosha-the-pot-by-leo-tolstoy-translated-by... ( )