"Ivan the Fool" (also known as "Ivan the Fool and his Two Brothers") is an 1886 short story (in fact, a literary fairy tale) by Leo Tolstoy, published in 1886. The name "Ivan the Fool" alludes to a popular hero of Russian folklore. Synopsis It describes the struggles of three brothers and a sister, the offspring of a rich peasant, against the Old Devil: Simeon, a soldier Tarras-Briukhan or "Tarras the fat belly", a merchant Ivan, a fool Martha, a mute Simeon and Tarras leave the family farm. Simeon becomes a great soldier and marries a noble's daughter, but despite being granted an estate and high rank, runs out of money because of his spendthrift wife. He goes home and demands a third share of his father's wealth. His father is unwilling to do so, as Ivan and Martha are the ones who helped him prosper, but Ivan has no objection, and Simeon receives his share. Tarras becomes a rich merchant. However, his greed drives him to also insist on his share. His father objects, but Ivan again readily agrees to his brother's demands. The Old Devil is greatly displeased that, due to Ivan's generosity, there is no conflict between the brothers, so he assigns a little devil to each brother to cause trouble. Simeon's devil fills him with excessive courage, leading to a disaster on the battlefield. For his failure, Simeon is scheduled for execution, but escapes from prison and returns home. The devil assigned to Tarras inflames his greed; he spends all of his money and borrows more to buy goods. He cannot pay back the loans, so he too flees home. Neither brother treats Ivan with any respect. The third devil makes Ivan sick and sees to it that his plowing becomes much more difficult, but Ivan just works harder and overcomes the obstacles. Ivan discovers his little devil and is about to kill him, but the devil offers a wish in exchange for his life. Ivan wishes to be cured of his sickness. The devil heals him with a root. With that accomplished, Ivan lets the devil go, but by innocently blessing him in God's name causes the devil to disappear. Simeon's devil, his assigned work finished, plagues Ivan, but Ivan finds him too, and the same sort of thing happens. For sparing his life, the devil shows Ivan how to create soldiers from straw. Once