Soon the horse was flying over the snow at a great rate of speed. There was no road to be seen and the peasant was heading for the woods. "Look out!" yelled Bismarck. "You will throw me out!" But the peasant replied, "Nitchevo."
In a moment they were among the trees and were turning, now this way, now that, to avoid hitting them. The raw-boned horse had not lessened his speed in the least. Suddenly there was a crash. The sledge had skidded and struck a tree. The peasant and his passenger were thrown out headlong.
Bismarck was a man of fiery temper. When he had picked himself up, he rushed up to the peasant, who was trying to stop his bleeding nose, and yelled, "I will kill you." The mooshik did not seem at all frightened or troubled, and answered simply, "Nitchevo." He drew a piece of rope from the sledge and began to tie the broken parts together.
"I shall be late at the hunt," yelled the angry Bismarck.
"Nitchevo," replied the peasant.
While the sledge was being repaired, Bismarck noticed a small piece of iron broken from the runner and lying on the snow. He picked it up and put it in his pocket.
The mooshik soon had the sledge ready for them, and this time he reached the hunting lodge with his distinguished passenger without further accident or delay.
The Tsar and his companions laughed heartily at the story, as related by Bismarck, and then explained to the Prussian that by nitchevo the mooshik meant that nothing mattered, that they would get where they had started for, if they did not let accidents or circumstances turn them from it.
When Bismarck returned to the capital he had a ring made from the piece of iron, and on the inside of it he had inscribed the word nitchevo.
The Russian mooshik of to-day is the same in character and belief as the mooshik that replied "Nitchevo" to Bismarck. To Germany, to the Kaiser, to the world, the Russians, amid all their sorrows and troubles, are saying "Nitchevo." They will reach their goal at length, for they look upon the dangers and delays as nothing.