“When are you going to America?” they would ask.
“Soon,” Ivan would answer.
“Take us with you!” they would cry in chorus.
“It is no place for cowards,” Ivan would answer. “It is a long way, and only brave men can make the journey.”
“Are you brave?” the baker screamed one day as he went by.
“I am brave enough to want liberty!” cried Ivan angrily. “I am brave enough to want—”
“Be careful! Be careful!” interrupted the smith. “A long tongue has given many a man a train journey that he never expected.”
That night Ivan and Anna counted the rubles in the earthenware pot. The giant looked down at his wife with a gloomy face, but she smiled and patted his hand.
“It is slow work,” he said.
“We must be patient,” she answered. “You have the Dream.”