The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories · Chapter
The Empty Drum explained
Emelyán, a poor labourer, marries a beautiful and wise woman.
What happens
Emelyán, a poor labourer, marries a beautiful and wise woman. The King desires her and, on his servants' advice, sets Emelyán impossible tasks to kill him, hoping to take his wife. With his wife's magical help, Emelyán completes each task: first exhausting manual labor, then skilled work, then building a cathedral in a day, and finally creating a river with ships. Defeated, the King sends Emelyán on a quest to 'there, don't know where' to fetch 'that, don't know what.' Guided by his wife's grandmother, Emelyán follows a ball of thread to a distant city, where he discovers a drum—an object men obey more than their parents. He steals the empty drum, returns, and when the King rejects it, Emelyán smashes it by the river, fulfilling the prophecy and regaining his wife.
Themes in this chapter
Hypocrisy and Social Pretense
The King's outward nobility masks his corrupt desire to steal a subject's wife, using false legal pretexts (impossible tasks) to achieve his selfish ends.
Fate, Injustice, and Suffering
Emelyán faces unjust persecution from the King simply for having a beautiful wife. The story explores suffering inflicted by power and the eventual poetic justice.
Moral Philosophy and Virtue
Contrasts the virtuous, hardworking, and faithful Emelyán with the deceitful and lustful King. The wife's wisdom and the grandmother's guidance represent moral strength overcoming corruption.
Characters to notice
- Emelyán
The poor labourer protagonist. He is kind, obedient to his wife, and survives the King's impossible tasks through her magical aid, ultimately completing a quest for the mysterious drum.
- The Master
Emelyán's initial employer mentioned at the story's start, establishing his status as a labourer.
- The King
The antagonist who covets Emelyán's wife. He uses his power and servants to set impossible tasks to kill Emelyán and seize his wife, representing corrupt authority.
- The Stranger
Appears as the drummer in the distant city. Emelyán follows him and steals the empty drum, which is the object of his quest ('that, don't know what').
- The Old Devil
Likely referenced allegorically as the source of the King's corrupt desires and the manipulative servants, driving the conflict against the virtuous couple.
Key passages
“"One only has to work more and sleep less, and one can clothe and feed oneself anywhere."”
The wife advocates for a life of diligent work and frugality as the foundation for survival and happiness.
Establishes the wife's practical wisdom and work ethic, which becomes a magical principle.
“"When you see something men obey more than father or mother, that is it."”
The grandmother instructs Emelyán that the object he seeks is that which commands greater obedience than parental authority.
The cryptic clue defining 'that, don't know what' as a symbol of compelling, perhaps irrational, power (the drum).
“"If it is not the right thing it must be smashed... break it in pieces, and throw it into the water. Then you will get your wife back..."”
The grandmother's final instruction: if the King rejects the object, destroy it completely to achieve victory.
The key to breaking the King's spell and resolving the conflict, linking destruction to liberation.