The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories · Chapter
A Grain as Big as a Hen’s Egg explained
A giant grain of corn is discovered and presented to a King.
What happens
A giant grain of corn is discovered and presented to a King. His wise men cannot explain it. The King questions three generations of an old peasant family. The oldest grandfather explains that in his youth, such grain grew everywhere because people lived by their own labor on free land, without money or private property, and did not covet what others produced. He contrasts this with the present, where dependence on others' labor has led to physical and moral decline.
Themes in this chapter
Generational Change and Nostalgia
The physical and moral decline across three generations symbolizes a fall from a golden age. The oldest grandfather embodies a lost era of health and virtue.
Moral Philosophy and Virtue
The grandfather's closing speech presents a moral thesis: living by one's own labor and not coveting others' produce is God's law, and deviation from it causes societal and physical decay.
Characters to notice
- The King
Seeks to understand the origin of the giant grain by questioning the wise men and three generations of peasants.
- The Oldest Grandfather
The third peasant summoned. He is healthy, clear-eyed, and explains the past era of communal labor, free land, and self-sufficiency that produced the giant grain.
- The Grandfather's Son
The second peasant summoned. He walks with one crutch, is hard of hearing, and recalls his father speaking of larger grain, but not as large as the specimen.
- The Great-Grandson
The first peasant summoned. He is very old, bent, nearly blind and deaf, walks with two crutches, and has no knowledge of the giant grain.
Key passages
“"In my time," he answered, "no one ever thought of such a sin as buying or selling bread; and we knew nothing of money. Each man had corn enough of his own."”
The grandfather states that in his era, commerce involving basic sustenance like bread was considered sinful, and the concept of money was unknown, as everyone had sufficient grain from their own labor.
Highlights the past's economic and moral system based on self-sufficiency and sharing, not trade.
“"My field was God’s earth. Wherever I ploughed, there was my field. Land was free. It was a thing no man called his own. Labour was the only thing men called their own."”
The grandfather explains that land was not owned privately but was a free common resource; a person's claim to a field came only from the labor of working it.
Expresses an ideal of usufruct rights and critiques the concept of private land ownership.
“"These things are so, because men have ceased to live by their own labour, and have taken to depending on the labour of others. In the old time, men lived according to God’s law. They had what was their own, and coveted not what others had produced."”
He concludes that the physical decline of the younger generations and the disappearance of the giant grain are direct results of abandoning self-reliant labor for dependence on others, which violates divine law by fostering covetousness.
The story's central moral: interdependence and desire for others' goods lead to degeneration.