21st Century Bogatyr: Alexei and Mruczek Learn to Read

What plans that the mysterious traveling Yid might have for him were surely beyond Alexei’s imagination. As soon as the Baal Shem Tov was beyond the threshold of the cottage, Alexei began to question if the stranger had ever even been there. The entire incident - a strange Jew inspiring visions, pressing money on him, and eliciting promises of blind loyalty on his part - was frankly surreal. The visitor might have been a spirit or a demon. Alexei might have essentially created the encounter in a dream.

The money that the Yid gave Alexei, however, was positive proof that the visitor had been of flesh and blood. When Alexei added the money that he had received from the Baal Shem Tov to his inheritance cash, he assuredly thought himself quite wealthy, for a young peasant. By the next day Alexei gave up on the internal debate about what all this strangeness meant, and set off to spend that money.

Alexei went to the shoemaker and arranged for a very nice pair of boots to be made to fit his feet. Until then, he had always worn cast off shoes that, at best, sort of fit. From there, he went to the tailor and was measured for a suit, a totally new experience for Alexei. Alexei purchased a new hat and coat from a furrier. At the tavern, Alexei bought a pricey bottle of vodka, as well as a pouch of imported tobacco. On the way home, he bought a pregnant sow, in anticipation of tasty suckling pigs. Alexei overpaid for each of these luxuries.

That evening, Alexei assured that his new sow was comfortable in a pen and then drank himself into a stupor. Mruczek watched with dismay that she would not be receiving any tidbits that evening. She satisfied her hunger with a rat from the rafters instead. Beggars can't be choosers.

Although Alexei had spent quite a bit of money outfitting himself, the clothes and the boots were indeed comfortable. Alexei carried himself with broader confidence and a bit of swagger when walking through the village. He nodded to the men he encountered along the way, with a sense of equality if not superiority. He looked at peasant girls directly, with admiration, imagining how they each might look underneath their clothes. Any shyness and insecurity of youth on Alexei’s part had been quite banished.

Days had passed for Alexei as such without concerns of any significance, particularly any concerns about the Baal Shem Tov and the contractual agreements. Therefore, when there was a knock on the cottage door, Alexei was surprised to see a new stranger standing on his threshold and unprepared for what was to unfold.

The man at the door was immaculately dressed in the latest European style which was beginning to be popular in the urban centers of the Russian Empire. He was clean shaven and wearing spectacles. The man would have looked modern and dapper even in Saint Petersburg. He absolutely looked out of place in the primitive village where Alexei’s cottage stood. “You are Alexei, I presume. I have been sent to educate you,” this stranger said. Alexei opened his door, welcomed the man in, and offered him a cup of tea.

Alexei also offered his guest some tobacco, which was readily accepted. They both sat at the table, smoking pipes while waiting for the water to heat for the samovar and their tea.

While they smoked and waited, the guest introduced himself as Sergey and informed Alexei that he had been traveling for days by train, coach, and on foot. Sergey explained that an odd Yid with a peddler’s sack came to his house in Saint Petersburg and hired him. He was paid a year's salary in advance, and instructed to come without delay to this remote village for the sole purpose of educating Alexei.

Nowadays, schooling is nearly universal and literacy is the norm. In those days, that was not true. Most of the common people lived their lives without ever learning to read. Alexei was of peasant stock and was as unschooled as most. He was a bit intimidated by the thought of learning something as esoteric as reading. But, what could Alexei do but acquiesce, as this was part of the BaalShemTov’s plan for him?

Without delay, Sergey began teaching Alexei the Russian Aleph Beis. Before long, the ah, beh, veh of the mysterious Cyrillic curling script began to develop order and started making sense in the bright young peasant's mind. Sergey was a good teacher and Alexei was a quick learner.

Many a day, and late into the night by candlelight, Alexei studied. Mruczek would look on, between meals and catnaps, she also learned to read a bit, which is a very rare accomplishment for a cat. While Sergey was a resident of the cottage, both the peasant lad and the cat absorbed an education. For Mruczek, Sergey was also another source for snacks.

Alexei was reading a book one evening with Mruczek reading over his shoulder. The Baal Shem Tov entered the cottage, without so much as knocking on the door first.

The Baal Shem Tov spoke to Alexei, without any formalities or customary niceties. “We need to be on our way, post haste. There is no time for delay. Hitch the horses to the wagon. I have an important meeting early tomorrow and we have many, many versts to travel before sunrise.”

Alexei set right to the task at hand. Mruczek climbed into the wagon and found herself a spot on the floorboards. The Baal Shem Tov was already sitting in the wagon, wrapped in a wool tallis, waiting as patiently as possible, considering the urgency of the matter, for Alexei to get the wagon rolling down the road. The Baal Shem Tov reached down to give Mruczek a scratch and a knip. Mruczek, for her part, tugged on the fringes of the Baal Shem Tov’s tallis, before settling in for a nap.