# Mark the Rich explained — Russian Folktales > Chapter companion for Russian Folktales by A. N. Afanasyev. ## What happens A wealthy and ungracious merchant named Mark the Rich, after a dream that God Himself will be his guest, prepares a grand feast but drives away a poor beggar who is actually Christ in disguise. An old woman shelters the beggar, who prophesies that a newborn peasant boy will inherit all of Mark's domains. Mark attempts to kill the boy multiple times—first by abandoning him in a snowdrift, then by sending a letter ordering his poisoning—but each time the boy is saved, ultimately marrying Mark's daughter. When Mark tries to have the boy thrown into a burning cauldron, he himself falls in and dies. ## Themes in this chapter ### Fate and Divine Justice The prophecy that a poor peasant boy will inherit Mark's wealth is fulfilled despite Mark's repeated attempts to kill him, illustrating the inevitability of fate and divine retribution. ### Social Class and Hierarchy Mark's disdain for the poor and his refusal to let them near his feast highlight class divisions, while the eventual elevation of the peasant boy subverts the social order. ## Character check-ins ### Mark the Rich A wealthy, ungracious merchant who refuses charity to the poor and tries to kill a prophesied peasant boy. ### Christ Appears as a poor beggar and later as a wayfarer who alters Mark's letter to save the boy. ### The Old Woman A kind old woman who shelters the beggar and later reports the dream prophecy to Mark. ### The Boy The peasant child prophesied to inherit Mark's wealth; saved from multiple murder attempts and eventually marries Mark's daughter. ## Key lines > Make ready, Mark the Rich, and wait. God Himself will be thy Guest! Prepare yourself, Mark the Rich, and wait, because God Himself will visit you. _The dream that sets the plot in motion, foretelling a divine visitation._ > He shall be lord of all the domains of Mark the Rich! He will become the master of all of Mark the Rich's estates. _The prophecy spoken by the beggar (Christ) about the newborn peasant boy._ > Lie there and freeze; that’s the way to become master of Mark’s wealth! Stay there and freeze; that's how you'll become the owner of Mark's riches. _Mark's sarcastic and murderous thought as he abandons the baby in a snowdrift._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/russian_folktales_se/chapters/mark-the-rich - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/russian_folktales_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/russian_folktales_se/chapters