This image is the cover for the book The Empty Drum, Classics To Go

The Empty Drum, Classics To Go

"The Empty Drum" is a short story by Russian writer Leo Tolstoy. A man took a woman for his wife that the king of the country had an eye on. So the king decided to overwork the man till he died so he could then marry his wife. But each time the man completed his task on time. Even when the tasks were impossible like building a cathedral in a day or a river with ships in it by nightfall his wife assured him it would be done and it was as she said. But then the King came up with an extraordinary task. He asked the man to, "go there, don't know where and bring that, don't know what"...

Leo Tolstoy

Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (9 September [28 August] 1828 – 20. November 1910), usually referred to in English as Leo Tolstoy, was a Russian writer who is regarded as one of the greatest authors of all time.[2] He received multiple nominations for Nobel Prize in Literature every year from 1902 to 1906, and nominations for Nobel Peace Prize in 1901, 1902 and 1910, and his miss of the prize is a major Nobel prize controversy. (Wikipedia)