2023-04-25_How_Much_Land_Does_a_Man_Need
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00:00:59.900 | "How Much Land Does a Man Need?"
00:01:02.640 | Written by Leo Tolstoy, 1886.
00:01:06.280 | An elder sister came to visit her younger sister
00:01:10.040 | in the country.
00:01:11.380 | The elder was married to a tradesman in town,
00:01:14.220 | the younger to a peasant in the village.
00:01:16.780 | As the sisters sat over their tea talking,
00:01:19.820 | the elder began to boast of the advantages of town life,
00:01:22.660 | saying how comfortably they lived there,
00:01:24.960 | how well they dressed,
00:01:26.300 | what fine clothes her children wore,
00:01:28.420 | what good things they ate and drank,
00:01:30.360 | and how she went to the theater,
00:01:31.760 | promenades, and entertainments.
00:01:34.400 | The younger sister was piqued,
00:01:36.200 | and in turn disparaged the life of a tradesman
00:01:38.980 | and stood up for that of a peasant.
00:01:40.640 | "I would not change my way of life for yours," said she.
00:01:43.880 | "We may live roughly,
00:01:45.080 | but at least we are free from anxiety.
00:01:47.580 | You live in better style than we do,
00:01:49.520 | but though you often earn more than you need,
00:01:52.180 | you are very likely to lose all you have.
00:01:54.760 | You know the proverb,
00:01:56.060 | 'Loss and gain are brothers twain.'
00:01:58.720 | It often happens that people who are wealthy one day
00:02:00.860 | are begging their bread the next.
00:02:02.600 | Our way is safer.
00:02:04.240 | Though a peasant's life is not a fat one,
00:02:06.500 | it is a long one.
00:02:07.900 | We shall never grow rich,
00:02:09.300 | but we shall always have enough to eat."
00:02:11.800 | The elder sister said sneeringly,
00:02:13.980 | "Enough, yes, if you'd like to share
00:02:16.140 | with the pigs and the calves.
00:02:17.940 | What do you know of elegance or manners?
00:02:20.420 | However much your good man may slave,
00:02:22.460 | you will die as you are living on a dung heap
00:02:25.360 | and your children the same."
00:02:27.260 | "Well, what of that?" replied the younger.
00:02:29.420 | "Of course our work is rough and coarse,
00:02:31.460 | but on the other hand, it is sure,
00:02:33.300 | and we need not bow to anyone.
00:02:35.760 | But you and your towns are surrounded by temptations.
00:02:39.140 | Today, all may be right,
00:02:40.780 | but tomorrow the evil one may tempt your husband
00:02:43.380 | with cards, wine, or women,
00:02:45.340 | and all will go to ruin.
00:02:47.380 | Don't such things happen often enough?"
00:02:49.820 | Pahom, the master of the house,
00:02:53.080 | was lying on the top of the oven,
00:02:55.380 | and he listened to the women's chatter.
00:02:57.880 | "It is perfectly true," thought he.
00:03:00.260 | "Busy as we are from childhood, tilling mother earth,
00:03:03.820 | we peasants have no time
00:03:05.320 | to let any nonsense settle in our heads.
00:03:08.100 | Our only trouble is that we haven't land enough.
00:03:10.940 | If I had plenty of land,
00:03:12.460 | I shouldn't fear the devil himself."
00:03:15.700 | The women finished their tea,
00:03:17.800 | chatted a while about dress,
00:03:19.380 | and then cleared away the tea things and lay down to sleep.
00:03:22.940 | But the devil had been sitting behind the oven
00:03:25.540 | and had heard all that was said.
00:03:27.840 | He was pleased that the peasant's wife
00:03:30.140 | had led her husband into boasting,
00:03:32.120 | and that he had said that if he had plenty of land,
00:03:36.080 | he would not fear the devil himself.
00:03:38.620 | "All right," thought the devil,
00:03:40.260 | "we'll have a tussle.
00:03:41.660 | I'll give you land enough,
00:03:43.360 | and by means of that land, I will get you into my power."
00:03:47.660 | Close to the village, there lived a lady,
00:03:50.360 | a small landowner who had an estate of about 300 acres.
00:03:54.360 | She had always lived on good terms with the peasants
00:03:57.060 | until she engaged as her steward, an old soldier,
00:04:01.080 | who took to burdening the people with fines.
00:04:04.000 | However careful Pahom tried to be,
00:04:06.120 | it happened again and again
00:04:07.320 | that now a horse of his got among the lady's oats,
00:04:10.040 | now a cow straight into her garden,
00:04:12.240 | now his calves found their way into her meadows,
00:04:15.240 | and he always had to pay a fine.
00:04:17.920 | Pahom paid, but grumbled,
00:04:20.400 | and going home in a temper was rough with his family.
00:04:23.240 | All through that summer,
00:04:24.440 | Pahom had much trouble because of this steward,
00:04:26.960 | and he was even glad when winter came
00:04:28.840 | and the cattle had to be stabled.
00:04:30.760 | Though he grudged the fodder
00:04:32.280 | when they could no longer graze on the pasture land,
00:04:34.240 | at least he was free from anxiety about them.
00:04:37.360 | In the winter, the news got about
00:04:38.760 | that the lady was going to sell her land,
00:04:40.720 | and that the keeper of the inn on the high road
00:04:42.720 | was bargaining for it.
00:04:44.220 | When the peasants heard this, they were very much alarmed.
00:04:46.760 | Well, thought they, if the innkeeper gets the land,
00:04:49.520 | he will worry us with fines worse than the lady's steward.
00:04:52.480 | We all depend on that estate.
00:04:54.840 | So the peasants went on behalf of their commune
00:04:57.920 | and asked the lady not to sell the land to the innkeeper,
00:05:00.960 | offering her a better price for it themselves.
00:05:04.060 | The lady agreed to let them have it.
00:05:05.960 | Then the peasants tried to arrange for the commune
00:05:08.080 | to buy the whole estate,
00:05:09.360 | so that it might be held by all in common.
00:05:11.980 | They met twice to discuss it,
00:05:13.460 | but could not settle the matter.
00:05:15.160 | The evil ones sowed discord among them,
00:05:17.520 | and they could not agree.
00:05:19.200 | So they decided to buy the land individually,
00:05:21.840 | each according to his means,
00:05:23.440 | and the lady agreed to this plan as she had to the other.
00:05:27.040 | Presently, Pahom heard that a neighbor of his
00:05:29.260 | was buying 50 acres,
00:05:30.880 | and that the lady had consented to accept one half in cash
00:05:34.120 | and to wait a year for the other half.
00:05:36.320 | Pahom felt envious.
00:05:38.280 | Look at that, thought he.
00:05:40.120 | The land is all being sold, and I shall get none of it.
00:05:43.080 | So he spoke to his wife.
00:05:45.280 | Other people are buying, said he,
00:05:47.080 | and we must also buy 20 acres or so.
00:05:49.560 | Life is becoming impossible.
00:05:51.080 | That steward is simply crushing us with his fines.
00:05:54.500 | So they put their heads together
00:05:55.780 | and considered how they could manage to buy it.
00:05:58.280 | They had 100 rubles laid by.
00:06:01.080 | They sold a colt and one half of their bees,
00:06:03.940 | hired out one of their sons as a laborer,
00:06:06.160 | and took his wages in advance,
00:06:08.120 | borrowed the rest from a brother-in-law,
00:06:09.960 | and so scraped together half the purchase money.
00:06:12.960 | Having done this, Pahom chose out a farm of 40 acres,
00:06:16.600 | some of it wooded, and went to the lady to bargain for it.
00:06:19.800 | They came to an agreement,
00:06:20.880 | and he shook hands with her upon it
00:06:22.720 | and paid her a deposit in advance.
00:06:25.280 | Then they went to town and signed the deeds,
00:06:27.620 | he paying half the price down
00:06:29.760 | and undertaking to pay the remainder within two years.
00:06:33.060 | So now Pahom had land of his own.
00:06:35.440 | He borrowed seed and sowed it on the land he had bought.
00:06:39.220 | The harvest was a good one,
00:06:40.640 | and within a year he had managed to pay off his debts
00:06:42.940 | both to the lady and to his brother-in-law.
00:06:45.640 | So he became a landowner, plowing and sowing his own land,
00:06:49.980 | making hay on his own land,
00:06:51.960 | cutting his own trees,
00:06:53.240 | and feeding his cattle on his own pasture.
00:06:55.800 | When he went out to plow his fields,
00:06:57.720 | or to look at his growing corn, or at his grass meadows,
00:07:01.160 | his heart would fill with joy.
00:07:04.000 | The grass that grew and the flowers that bloomed there
00:07:06.480 | seemed to him unlike any that grew elsewhere.
00:07:10.240 | Formerly, when he had passed by that land,
00:07:12.440 | it had appeared the same as any other land,
00:07:14.640 | but now it seemed quite different.
00:07:16.820 | So Pahom was well-contented,
00:07:19.400 | and everything would have been right
00:07:21.460 | if the neighboring peasants would only not have trespassed
00:07:23.920 | on his cornfields and meadows.
00:07:25.920 | He appealed to them most civilly, but they still went on.
00:07:30.520 | Now the communal herdsmen would let the village cows
00:07:33.260 | stray into his meadows,
00:07:34.640 | then horses from the night pasture would get among his corn.
00:07:37.840 | Pahom turned them out again and again
00:07:40.360 | and forgave their owners.
00:07:42.000 | And for a long time, he forbore from prosecuting anyone.
00:07:46.100 | But at last he lost patience
00:07:48.600 | and complained to the district court.
00:07:50.960 | He knew it was the peasants' want of land
00:07:53.120 | and no evil intent on their part that caused the trouble.
00:07:56.160 | But he thought, "I cannot go on overlooking it,
00:07:58.800 | "or they will destroy all I have.
00:08:00.280 | "They must be taught a lesson."
00:08:02.460 | So he had them up, gave them one lesson, and then another,
00:08:06.680 | and two or three of the peasants were fined.
00:08:09.160 | After a time, Pahom's neighbors
00:08:10.880 | began to bear him a grudge for this
00:08:12.720 | and would now and then let their cattle
00:08:14.920 | on to his land on purpose.
00:08:17.200 | One peasant even got into Pahom's wood at night
00:08:19.520 | and cut down five young lime trees for their bark.
00:08:22.920 | Pahom, passing through the wood one day,
00:08:25.000 | noticed something white.
00:08:26.520 | He came nearer and saw the stripped trunks
00:08:28.880 | lying on the ground,
00:08:30.080 | and close by stood the stumps where the tree had been.
00:08:33.360 | Pahom was furious.
00:08:35.280 | "If he'd only cut one here and there,
00:08:36.920 | "it would have been bad enough," thought Pahom.
00:08:38.940 | "But the rascal has actually cut down a whole clump.
00:08:41.440 | "If I could only find out who did this, I would pay him out."
00:08:45.040 | He racked his brains as to who it could be.
00:08:47.300 | Finally, he decided, "It must be Simon.
00:08:49.920 | "No one else could have done it."
00:08:51.660 | So he went to Simon's homestead to have a look around,
00:08:54.880 | but he found nothing and only had an angry scene.
00:08:57.880 | However, he now felt more certain than ever
00:08:59.680 | that Simon had done it, and he lodged a complaint.
00:09:02.520 | Simon was summoned.
00:09:04.000 | The case was tried and retried,
00:09:06.120 | and at the end of it all, Simon was acquitted,
00:09:08.160 | there being no evidence against him.
00:09:10.200 | Pahom felt still more aggrieved
00:09:12.280 | and let his anger loose upon the elder and the judges.
00:09:15.320 | "You let thieves grease your palms," said he.
00:09:18.300 | "If you were honest folk yourselves,
00:09:19.960 | "you would not let a thief go free."
00:09:22.840 | So Pahom quarreled with the judges and with his neighbors.
00:09:26.780 | Threats to burn his building began to be uttered.
00:09:29.680 | So, though Pahom had more land,
00:09:31.960 | his place in the commune was much worse than before.
00:09:35.560 | About this time, a rumor got about
00:09:37.320 | that many people were moving to new parts.
00:09:39.720 | "There's no need for me to leave my land," thought Pahom.
00:09:42.860 | "But some of the others might leave our village,
00:09:44.800 | "and then there would be more room for us.
00:09:46.500 | "I would take over their land myself
00:09:48.060 | "and make my estate a bit bigger.
00:09:49.680 | "I could then live more at ease.
00:09:51.480 | "As it is, I am still too cramped to be comfortable."
00:09:54.960 | One day, Pahom was sitting at home
00:09:56.880 | when a peasant passing through the village
00:09:58.500 | happened to call in.
00:09:59.840 | He was allowed to stay the night and supper was given him.
00:10:02.960 | Pahom had a talk with this peasant
00:10:04.800 | and asked him where he came from.
00:10:07.480 | The stranger answered that he came from beyond the Volga,
00:10:10.460 | where he had been working.
00:10:12.080 | One word led to another, and the man went on to say
00:10:14.800 | that many people were settling in those parts.
00:10:17.400 | He told how some people from his village had settled there.
00:10:20.440 | They had joined the commune
00:10:21.720 | and had had 25 acres per man granted them.
00:10:25.440 | "The land was so good," he said,
00:10:27.240 | "that the rye sown on it grew as high as a horse
00:10:30.140 | "and so thick that five cuts of a sickle made a sheaf."
00:10:34.520 | One peasant, he said, had brought nothing with him
00:10:36.800 | but his bare hands, and now he had six horses
00:10:39.080 | and two cows of his own.
00:10:40.560 | Pahom's heart kindled with desire.
00:10:43.800 | He thought, "Why should I suffer in this narrow hole
00:10:46.740 | "if one can live so well elsewhere?
00:10:48.660 | "I will sell my land and my homestead here,
00:10:51.240 | "and with the money, I will start afresh over there
00:10:53.480 | "and get everything new.
00:10:54.860 | "In this crowded place, one is always having trouble,
00:10:57.660 | "but I must first go and find out all about it myself."
00:11:01.360 | Towards summer, he got ready and started.
00:11:03.560 | He went down the Volga on a steamer to Samara,
00:11:06.200 | then walked another 300 miles on foot,
00:11:08.600 | and at last reached the place.
00:11:11.040 | He was just as the stranger had said.
00:11:13.460 | The peasants had plenty of land,
00:11:15.520 | every man had 25 acres of communal land
00:11:18.240 | given him for his use,
00:11:19.640 | and anyone who had money could buy,
00:11:21.840 | besides, at two shillings an acre,
00:11:24.000 | as much good freehold land as he wanted.
00:11:27.040 | Having found out all he wished to know,
00:11:29.240 | Pahom returned home as autumn came on
00:11:31.640 | and began selling off his belongings.
00:11:33.880 | He sold his land at a profit,
00:11:35.740 | sold his homestead and all his cattle,
00:11:37.960 | and withdrew from membership of the commune.
00:11:40.560 | He only waited till the spring,
00:11:42.080 | and then started with his family for the new settlement.
00:11:45.040 | As soon as Pahom and his family arrived at their new abode,
00:11:48.160 | he applied for admission into the commune of a large village.
00:11:51.520 | He stood treat to the elders
00:11:53.000 | and obtained the necessary documents.
00:11:55.020 | Five shares of communal land were given him
00:11:57.100 | for his own and his son's use,
00:11:59.340 | that is to say 125 acres,
00:12:01.920 | not all together, but in different fields,
00:12:04.120 | besides the use of the communal pasture.
00:12:06.680 | Pahom put up the buildings he needed and bought cattle.
00:12:10.000 | Of the communal land alone,
00:12:11.440 | he had three times as much as at his former home,
00:12:14.680 | and the land was good corn land.
00:12:16.760 | He was 10 times better off than he had been.
00:12:19.160 | He had plenty of arable land and pasturage,
00:12:22.240 | and could keep as many head of cattle as he liked.
00:12:25.160 | At first, in the bustle of building and settling down,
00:12:28.200 | Pahom was pleased with it all,
00:12:30.120 | but when he got used to it,
00:12:31.080 | he began to think that even here he had not enough land.
00:12:34.700 | The first year, he sowed wheat
00:12:36.300 | on his share of the communal land and had a good crop.
00:12:39.660 | He wanted to go on sowing wheat,
00:12:41.460 | but had not enough communal land for the purpose,
00:12:44.260 | and what he already used was not available,
00:12:47.020 | for in those parts,
00:12:48.240 | weed is only sown on virgin soil or on fallow land.
00:12:52.300 | It is sown for one or two years,
00:12:54.080 | and then the land lies fallow
00:12:55.300 | till it is again overgrown with prairie grass.
00:12:58.140 | There were many who wanted such land,
00:12:59.860 | and there was not enough for all,
00:13:01.960 | so that people quarreled about it.
00:13:03.840 | Those who were better off wanted it for growing wheat,
00:13:06.180 | and those who were poor wanted it to let to dealers
00:13:09.040 | so that they might raise money to pay their taxes.
00:13:11.780 | Pahom wanted to sow more wheat,
00:13:13.720 | so he rented land from a dealer for a year.
00:13:16.100 | He sowed much wheat and had a fine crop,
00:13:18.640 | but the land was too far from the village.
00:13:20.840 | The wheat had to be carted more than 10 miles.
00:13:23.560 | After a time, Pahom noticed that some peasant dealers
00:13:27.140 | were living on separate farms and were growing wealthy,
00:13:30.280 | and he thought,
00:13:31.600 | "If I were to buy some freehold land
00:13:33.840 | and have a homestead on it,
00:13:35.400 | it would be a different thing altogether.
00:13:37.720 | Then it would all be nice and compact."
00:13:40.880 | The question of buying freehold land
00:13:42.860 | recurred to him again and again.
00:13:45.080 | He went on in the same way for three years,
00:13:47.980 | renting land and sowing wheat.
00:13:50.360 | The seasons turned out well and the crops were good,
00:13:52.840 | so that he began to lay money by.
00:13:54.880 | He might have gone on living contentedly,
00:13:57.080 | but he grew tired of having to rent
00:13:58.660 | other people's land every year
00:14:00.400 | and having to scramble for it.
00:14:02.480 | Wherever there was good land to be had,
00:14:04.060 | the peasants would rush for it,
00:14:05.400 | and it was taken up at once,
00:14:06.960 | so that unless you were sharp about it, you got none.
00:14:09.680 | It happened in the third year
00:14:11.360 | that he and a dealer together rented a piece of pasture land
00:14:14.320 | from some peasants,
00:14:15.320 | and they had already plowed it up
00:14:16.800 | when there was some dispute,
00:14:18.280 | and the peasants went to law about it,
00:14:20.000 | and things fell out so that the labor was all lost.
00:14:23.200 | "If it were my own land," thought Pahom,
00:14:25.700 | "I should be independent,
00:14:27.120 | "and there would not be all this unpleasantness."
00:14:30.080 | So Pahom began looking out for land which he could buy,
00:14:33.520 | and he came across a peasant who had bought 1,300 acres,
00:14:37.880 | but having got into difficulties,
00:14:40.120 | was willing to sell again cheap.
00:14:42.040 | Pahom bargained and haggled with him,
00:14:44.160 | and at last they settled the price at 1,500 rubles,
00:14:48.180 | part in cash and part to be paid later.
00:14:51.000 | They had all but clinched the matter
00:14:52.860 | when a passing dealer happened to stop at Pahom's one day
00:14:55.560 | to get a feed for his horse.
00:14:57.840 | He drank tea with Pahom, and they had a talk.
00:15:00.700 | The dealer said that he was just returning
00:15:02.620 | from the land of the Bashkirs, far away,
00:15:05.640 | where he had bought 13,000 acres of land,
00:15:08.620 | all for 1,000 rubles.
00:15:11.040 | Pahom questioned him further,
00:15:12.760 | and the tradesman said,
00:15:14.380 | "All one need do is to make friends with the chiefs.
00:15:18.080 | "I gave away about 100 rubles worth of dressing gowns
00:15:21.400 | "and carpets, besides a case of tea,
00:15:23.400 | "and I gave wine to those who would drink it,
00:15:25.320 | "and I got the land for less than two pence an acre."
00:15:28.080 | And he showed Pahom the title deed, saying,
00:15:30.480 | "The land lies near a river,
00:15:32.300 | "and the whole prairie is virgin soil."
00:15:35.520 | Pahom plied him with questions, and the tradesman said,
00:15:38.980 | "There is more land than you could cover
00:15:41.000 | "if you walked a year, and it all belongs to the Bashkirs.
00:15:45.760 | "They are as simple as sheep,
00:15:47.740 | "and land can be got almost for nothing."
00:15:51.300 | "There now," thought Pahom, "with my 1,000 rubles,
00:15:55.440 | "why should I get only 1,300 acres
00:15:58.000 | "and saddle myself with a debt besides?
00:16:00.600 | "If I take it out there,
00:16:01.880 | "I can get more than 10 times as much for the money."
00:16:05.540 | Pahom inquired how to get to the place,
00:16:07.700 | and as soon as the tradesman had left him,
00:16:09.820 | he prepared to go there himself.
00:16:12.100 | He left his wife to look after the homestead,
00:16:14.340 | and started on his journey, taking his man with him.
00:16:17.460 | They stopped at a town on their way,
00:16:19.020 | and bought a case of tea, some wine, and other presents,
00:16:21.580 | as the tradesman had advised.
00:16:23.860 | On and on they went,
00:16:25.820 | until they had gone more than 300 miles,
00:16:28.580 | and on the seventh day, they came to a place
00:16:30.500 | where the Bashkirs had pitched their tents.
00:16:32.820 | It was all just as the tradesman had said.
00:16:35.460 | "The people lived on the steps,
00:16:37.320 | "by a river, in felt-covered tents.
00:16:39.860 | "They neither tilled the ground, nor ate bread.
00:16:43.120 | "Their cattle and horses grazed in herds on the step.
00:16:46.360 | "The colts were tethered behind the tents,
00:16:48.180 | "and the mares were driven to them twice a day.
00:16:50.760 | "The mares were milked, and from the milk,
00:16:52.780 | "cumus was made.
00:16:54.260 | "It was the women who prepared cumus,
00:16:55.940 | "and they also made cheese.
00:16:57.760 | "As far as the men were concerned,
00:16:59.260 | "drinking cumus and tea, eating mutton,
00:17:01.620 | "and playing on their pipes was all they cared about.
00:17:04.200 | "They were all stout and merry,
00:17:06.000 | "and all the summer long,
00:17:07.320 | "they never thought of doing any work.
00:17:09.380 | "They were quite ignorant, and knew no Russian,
00:17:11.880 | "but were good-natured enough.
00:17:13.860 | "As soon as they saw up a home,
00:17:15.260 | "they came out of their tents,
00:17:16.380 | "and gathered round their visitor.
00:17:18.140 | "An interpreter was found,
00:17:19.340 | "and Pahom told them he had come about some land.
00:17:22.160 | "The Bashkirs seemed very glad.
00:17:24.280 | "They took Pahom, and led him into one of the best tents,
00:17:28.340 | "where they made him sit on some down cushions
00:17:31.100 | "placed on a carpet while they sat round him.
00:17:33.720 | "They gave him tea and cumus,
00:17:35.640 | "and had a sheep killed, and gave him mutton to eat.
00:17:38.360 | "Pahom took presents out of his cart,
00:17:40.940 | "and distributed them among the Bashkirs,
00:17:42.820 | "and divided among them the tea.
00:17:45.220 | "The Bashkirs were delighted.
00:17:47.160 | "They talked a great deal among themselves,
00:17:48.900 | "and then told the interpreter to translate.
00:17:51.440 | "'They wish to tell you,' said the interpreter,
00:17:53.480 | "'that they like you, and that it is our custom
00:17:55.780 | "'to do all we can to please a guest,
00:17:57.720 | "'and to repay him for his gifts.
00:17:59.900 | "'You have given us presents.
00:18:01.400 | "'Now tell us which of the things we possess
00:18:03.780 | "'please you best, that we may present them to you.'
00:18:07.520 | "'What pleases me best here,' answered Pahom,
00:18:10.460 | "'is your land.
00:18:11.820 | "'Our land is crowded, and the soil is exhausted,
00:18:15.320 | "'but you have plenty of land, and it is good land.
00:18:18.220 | "'I never saw the like of it,' the interpreter translated.
00:18:22.200 | "The Bashkirs talked among themselves for a while.
00:18:25.020 | "Pahom could not understand what they were saying,
00:18:27.200 | "but saw that they were much amused,
00:18:28.900 | "and that they shouted and laughed.
00:18:31.060 | "Then they were silent, and looked at Pahom
00:18:33.940 | "while the interpreter said,
00:18:35.980 | "'They wish me to tell you that in return for your presents,
00:18:39.640 | "'they will gladly give you as much land as you want.
00:18:43.020 | "'You have only to point it out with your hand,
00:18:45.260 | "'and it is yours.'
00:18:47.760 | "The Bashkirs talked again for a while,
00:18:50.520 | "and began to dispute.
00:18:52.360 | "Pahom asked what they were disputing about,
00:18:54.720 | "and the interpreter told him that some of them
00:18:56.920 | "thought they ought to ask their chief about the land,
00:18:59.080 | "and not act in his absence,
00:19:01.100 | "while others thought there was no need
00:19:02.960 | "to wait for his return.
00:19:04.880 | "While the Bashkirs were disputing,
00:19:06.800 | "a man in a large fox fur cap appeared on the scene.
00:19:10.540 | "They all became silent and rose to their feet.
00:19:13.180 | "The interpreter said, 'This is our chief himself.'
00:19:16.600 | "Pahom immediately fetched the best dressing gown
00:19:19.480 | "and five pounds of tea, and offered these to the chief.
00:19:23.160 | "The chief accepted them,
00:19:24.320 | "and seated himself in the place of honor.
00:19:26.980 | "The Bashkirs at once began telling him something.
00:19:29.900 | "The chief listened for a while,
00:19:31.320 | "then made a sign with his head for them to be silent,
00:19:33.880 | "and addressing himself to Pahom said in Russian,
00:19:37.120 | "'Well, let it be so.
00:19:39.060 | "'Choose whatever piece of land you like.
00:19:41.280 | "'We have plenty of it.'
00:19:43.460 | "'How can I take as much as I like?' thought Pahom.
00:19:46.500 | "'I must get a deed to make it secure,
00:19:48.460 | "'or else they may say, it is yours,
00:19:50.580 | "'and afterwards may take it away again.'
00:19:53.360 | "'Thank you for your kind words,' he said aloud.
00:19:55.900 | "'You have much land, and I only want a little,
00:19:58.420 | "'but I should like to be sure which bit is mine.
00:20:00.740 | "'Could it not be measured and made over to me?
00:20:03.160 | "'Life and death are in God's hands.
00:20:05.380 | "'You good people give it to me,
00:20:06.780 | "'but your children might wish to take it away again.'
00:20:09.800 | "'You are quite right,' said the chief.
00:20:11.600 | "'We will make it over to you.'
00:20:13.680 | "'I heard that a dealer had been here,' continued Pahom,
00:20:16.980 | "'and that you gave him a little land too,
00:20:19.020 | "'and signed title deeds to that effect.
00:20:21.320 | "'I should like to have it done in the same way.'
00:20:23.860 | "The chief understood.
00:20:25.280 | "'Yes,' replied he, 'that can be done quite easily.
00:20:28.160 | "'We have a scribe, and we will go to town with you
00:20:30.320 | "'and have the deed properly sealed.'
00:20:32.200 | "'And what will be the price?' asked Pahom.
00:20:35.040 | "'Our price is always the same, 1,000 rubles a day.'
00:20:39.480 | "Pahom did not understand.
00:20:41.680 | "'A day?
00:20:42.520 | "'What measure is that?
00:20:43.640 | "'How many acres would that be?'
00:20:45.740 | "'We do not know how to reckon it out,' said the chief.
00:20:48.240 | "'We sell it by the day.
00:20:49.760 | "'As much as you can go round on your feet in a day is yours,
00:20:53.220 | "'and the price is 1,000 rubles a day.'
00:20:56.360 | "Pahom was surprised.
00:20:59.160 | "'But in a day you can get round
00:21:00.480 | "'a large tract of land,' he said.
00:21:02.680 | "The chief laughed.
00:21:04.040 | "'It will all be yours,' said he.
00:21:06.000 | "'But there is one condition.
00:21:07.600 | "'If you don't return on the same day
00:21:09.440 | "'to the spot whence you started, your money is lost.'
00:21:12.960 | "But how am I to mark the way that I have gone?
00:21:16.600 | "Why, we shall go to any spot you like and stay there.
00:21:19.860 | "You must start from that spot and make your round,
00:21:22.760 | "taking a spade with you.
00:21:24.540 | "Wherever you think necessary, make a mark.
00:21:27.020 | "At every turning, dig a hole and pile up the turf.
00:21:30.200 | "Then afterwards, we will go round
00:21:32.060 | "with a plow from hole to hole.
00:21:34.360 | "You may make as large a circuit as you please,
00:21:36.660 | "but before the sun sets,
00:21:37.880 | "you must return to the place you started from.
00:21:40.620 | "All the land you cover will be yours.'
00:21:43.400 | "Pahom was delighted.
00:21:46.300 | "It was decided to start early next morning.
00:21:48.840 | "They talked a while, and after drinking some more koumiss
00:21:51.280 | "and eating some more mutton, they had tea again,
00:21:53.880 | "and then the night came on.
00:21:55.580 | "They gave Pahom a feather bed to sleep on,
00:21:57.800 | "and the Bashkirs dispersed for the night,
00:22:00.040 | "promising to assemble the next morning at daybreak
00:22:02.640 | "and ride out before sunrise to the appointed spot.
00:22:06.240 | "Pahom lay on the feather bed, but could not sleep.
00:22:09.060 | "He kept thinking about the land.
00:22:11.420 | "What a large tract I will mark off, thought he.
00:22:14.360 | "I can easily do 35 miles in a day.
00:22:17.120 | "The days are long now, and within a circuit of 35 miles,
00:22:20.340 | "what a lot of land there will be.
00:22:22.060 | "I will sell the poorer land, or let it to peasants,
00:22:25.160 | "but I'll pick out the best and farm it.
00:22:27.180 | "I will buy two ox teams and hire two more laborers.
00:22:30.440 | "About 150 acres shall be plow land,
00:22:33.120 | "and I will pasture cattle on the rest.
00:22:35.800 | "Pahom lay awake all night,
00:22:38.000 | "and dozed off only just before dawn.
00:22:41.000 | "Hardly were his eyes closed when he had a dream.
00:22:43.880 | "He thought he was lying in that same tent,
00:22:45.840 | "and heard somebody chuckling outside.
00:22:48.720 | "He wondered who it could be, and rose and went out,
00:22:51.220 | "and he saw the Bashkir chief sitting in front of the tent,
00:22:53.500 | "holding his side and rolling about with laughter.
00:22:56.260 | "Going near to the chief, Pahom asked,
00:22:58.120 | "what are you laughing at?
00:22:59.440 | "But he saw that it was no longer the chief,
00:23:01.140 | "but the dealer who had recently stopped at his house
00:23:03.280 | "and had told him about the land.
00:23:05.080 | "Just as Pahom was going to ask,
00:23:06.880 | "have you been here long?
00:23:08.040 | "He saw that it was not the dealer,
00:23:09.340 | "but the peasant who had come up from the Volga
00:23:11.080 | "long ago to Pahom's old home.
00:23:12.960 | "Then he saw that it was not the peasant either,
00:23:14.560 | "but the devil himself with hoofs and horns,
00:23:17.040 | "sitting there and chuckling.
00:23:18.320 | "And before him lay a man barefoot,
00:23:20.160 | "prostrate on the ground with only trousers and a shirt on.
00:23:23.080 | "And Pahom dreamed that he looked more attentively
00:23:25.280 | "to see what sort of man it was lying there,
00:23:27.520 | "and he saw that the man was dead, and that it was himself.
00:23:31.720 | "He awoke, horror struck.
00:23:34.220 | "What things one does dream, thought he.
00:23:37.400 | "Looking round, he saw through the open door
00:23:39.320 | "that the dawn was breaking.
00:23:40.960 | "It's time to wake them up, thought he.
00:23:42.960 | "We ought to be starting.
00:23:44.560 | "He got up, roused his man, who was sleeping in his cart,
00:23:48.040 | "bade him harness, and went to call the Bashkirs.
00:23:51.640 | "It's time to go to the step to measure the land, he said.
00:23:54.920 | "The Bashkirs rose and assembled, and the chief came too.
00:23:58.400 | "Then they began drinking koumiss again
00:24:00.240 | "and offered Pahom some tea, but he would not wait.
00:24:03.080 | "If we are to go, let us go.
00:24:04.360 | "It is high time, said he.
00:24:06.540 | "The Bashkirs got ready, and they all started,
00:24:08.860 | "some mounted on horses and some in carts.
00:24:11.980 | "Pahom drove in his own small cart with his servant,
00:24:14.780 | "and took a spade with him.
00:24:16.720 | "When they reached the step,
00:24:17.860 | "the morning red was beginning to kindle.
00:24:20.180 | "They ascended a hillock,
00:24:21.660 | "called by the Bashkirs a shikan,
00:24:24.400 | "and dismounting from their carts and their horses,
00:24:26.740 | "gathered in one spot.
00:24:28.640 | "The chief came up to Pahom
00:24:30.380 | "and stretched out his arm towards the plain.
00:24:32.800 | "See, said he, all this,
00:24:35.140 | "as far as your eye can reach, is ours.
00:24:37.740 | "You may have any part of it you like."
00:24:40.780 | Pahom's eyes glistened.
00:24:43.460 | It was all virgin soil, as flat as the palm of your hand,
00:24:47.220 | as black as the seat of a poppy,
00:24:49.140 | and in the hollows,
00:24:50.180 | different kinds of grasses grew breast high.
00:24:53.760 | The chief took off his fox fur cap,
00:24:56.380 | placed it on the ground, and said,
00:24:58.160 | "This will be the mark.
00:24:59.380 | "Start from here and return here again.
00:25:02.000 | "All the land you go round shall be yours."
00:25:05.100 | Pahom took out his money and put it on the cap.
00:25:07.900 | Then he took off his outer coat,
00:25:09.740 | remaining in his sleeveless undercoat.
00:25:12.340 | He unfastened his girdle
00:25:13.820 | and tied it tight below his stomach,
00:25:15.820 | put a little bag of bread into the breast of his coat,
00:25:18.300 | and tying a flask of water to his girdle,
00:25:20.460 | he drew up the tops of his boots,
00:25:22.240 | took the spade from his man, and stood ready to start.
00:25:26.200 | He considered for some moments which way he had better go.
00:25:29.260 | It was tempting everywhere.
00:25:31.540 | No matter, he concluded,
00:25:33.040 | I will go towards the rising sun.
00:25:35.380 | He turned his face to the east, stretched himself,
00:25:38.700 | and waited for the sun to appear above the rim.
00:25:41.980 | I must lose no time, he thought,
00:25:44.020 | and it is easier walking while it is still cool.
00:25:47.780 | The sun's rays had hardly flashed above the horizon
00:25:50.420 | before Pahom, carrying the spade over his shoulder,
00:25:53.460 | went down into the steppe.
00:25:55.660 | Pahom started walking neither slowly nor quickly.
00:25:59.140 | After having gone 1,000 yards, he stopped,
00:26:01.440 | dug a hole, and placed pieces of turf one on another
00:26:04.940 | to make it more visible.
00:26:06.500 | Then he went on, and now that he had walked off
00:26:08.540 | his stiffness, he quickened his pace.
00:26:10.540 | After a while, he dug another hole.
00:26:12.860 | Pahom looked back.
00:26:14.420 | The hillock could be distinctly seen in the sunlight
00:26:17.340 | with the people on it
00:26:18.420 | and the glittering tires of the cartwheels.
00:26:20.980 | At a rough guess, Pahom concluded
00:26:22.580 | that he had walked three miles.
00:26:24.740 | It was growing warmer.
00:26:26.260 | He took off his undercoat, flung it across his shoulder,
00:26:28.800 | and went on again.
00:26:30.300 | It had grown quite warm now.
00:26:32.040 | He looked at the sun.
00:26:33.460 | It was time to think of breakfast.
00:26:35.640 | The first shift is done, but there are four in a day,
00:26:38.400 | and it is too soon yet to turn.
00:26:40.300 | But I will just take off my boots, said he to himself.
00:26:43.700 | He sat down, took off his boots,
00:26:45.460 | stuck them into his girdle, and went on.
00:26:47.600 | It was easier walking now.
00:26:49.540 | I will go on for another three miles, thought he,
00:26:52.180 | and then turn to the left.
00:26:53.800 | The spot is so fine that it would be a pity to lose it.
00:26:56.580 | The further one goes, the better the land seems.
00:26:59.660 | He went straight on for a while,
00:27:01.580 | and when he looked around, the hillock was scarcely visible,
00:27:04.420 | and the people on it looked like black ants,
00:27:06.860 | and he could just see something glistening there in the sun.
00:27:10.940 | Ah, thought Pahom.
00:27:12.580 | I've gone far enough in this direction.
00:27:14.260 | It is time to turn.
00:27:15.460 | Besides, I'm in a regular sweat and very thirsty.
00:27:18.540 | He stopped, dug a large hole, and heaped up pieces of turf.
00:27:22.660 | Next, he untied his flask, had a drink,
00:27:25.180 | and then turned sharply to the left.
00:27:27.540 | He went on and on.
00:27:29.700 | The grass was high, and it was very hot.
00:27:32.300 | Pahom began to grow tired.
00:27:34.400 | He looked at the sun and saw that it was noon.
00:27:36.980 | Well, he thought, I must have a rest.
00:27:39.860 | He sat down and ate some bread and drank some water,
00:27:42.800 | but he did not lie down,
00:27:44.220 | thinking that if he did, he might fall asleep.
00:27:47.020 | After sitting a little while, he went on again.
00:27:49.540 | At first, he walked easily.
00:27:51.060 | The food had strengthened him,
00:27:52.980 | but it had become terribly hot, and he felt sleepy.
00:27:57.760 | Still, he went on, thinking,
00:27:59.220 | an hour to suffer, a lifetime to live.
00:28:01.820 | He went a long way in this direction also,
00:28:03.860 | and was about to turn to the left again
00:28:05.420 | when he perceived a damp hollow.
00:28:07.500 | Be a pity to leave that out, he thought.
00:28:09.620 | Flax would do well there.
00:28:11.380 | So he went on past the hollow and dug a hole
00:28:13.840 | on the other side of it before he turned the corner.
00:28:16.620 | Pahom looked towards the hillock.
00:28:19.260 | The heat made the air hazy.
00:28:21.340 | It seemed to be quivering, and through the haze,
00:28:23.820 | the people on the hillock could scarcely be seen.
00:28:26.700 | Ah, thought Pahom, I have made the sides too long.
00:28:29.820 | I must make this one shorter.
00:28:31.700 | And he went along the third side, stepping faster.
00:28:34.540 | He looked at the sun.
00:28:36.020 | It was nearly halfway to the horizon,
00:28:38.180 | and he had not yet done two miles
00:28:40.380 | of the third side of the square.
00:28:42.060 | He was still 10 miles from the goal.
00:28:44.540 | No, he thought, though it will make my land lopsided,
00:28:47.740 | I must hurry back in a straight line now.
00:28:49.840 | I might go too far, and as it is,
00:28:51.660 | I have a great deal of land.
00:28:53.580 | So Pahom hurriedly dug a hole
00:28:55.900 | and turned straight towards the hillock.
00:28:59.220 | Pahom went straight towards the hillock,
00:29:01.060 | but now he walked with difficulty.
00:29:03.940 | He was done up with the heat.
00:29:05.620 | His bare feet were cut and bruised,
00:29:08.580 | and his legs began to fail.
00:29:10.620 | He longed to rest, but it was impossible
00:29:14.380 | if he meant to get back before sunset.
00:29:16.340 | The sun waits for no man,
00:29:17.500 | and it was sinking lower and lower.
00:29:19.420 | Oh dear, he thought, if only I have not blundered
00:29:22.100 | trying for too much.
00:29:23.220 | What if I'm too late?
00:29:24.860 | He looked towards the hillock and at the sun.
00:29:27.300 | He was still far from his goal,
00:29:29.080 | and the sun was already nearing the rim.
00:29:31.580 | Pahom walked on and on.
00:29:34.620 | It was very hard walking, but he went quicker and quicker.
00:29:37.660 | He pressed on, but he was still far from the place.
00:29:40.460 | He began running, threw away his coat, his boots,
00:29:43.280 | his flask, and his cap, and kept only the spade,
00:29:46.080 | which he used as a support.
00:29:47.880 | What shall I do, he thought again?
00:29:49.500 | I have grasped too much and ruined the whole affair.
00:29:52.260 | I can't get there before the sun sets.
00:29:54.420 | And this fear made him still more breathless.
00:29:56.700 | Pahom went on running.
00:29:57.860 | His soaking shirt and trousers stuck to him,
00:30:00.180 | and his mouth was parched.
00:30:01.740 | His breast was working like a blacksmith's bellows.
00:30:04.580 | His heart was beating like a hammer,
00:30:06.460 | and his legs were giving way
00:30:07.780 | as if they did not belong to him.
00:30:09.620 | Pahom was seized with terror,
00:30:11.300 | lest he should die of the strain.
00:30:13.720 | Though afraid of death, he could not stop.
00:30:15.900 | After having run all that way,
00:30:17.380 | they will call me a fool if I stop now, thought he.
00:30:19.940 | And he ran on and on, and drew near,
00:30:22.780 | and heard the Bashkirs yelling and shouting to him,
00:30:25.340 | and their cries inflamed his heart still more.
00:30:27.940 | He gathered his last strength and ran on.
00:30:30.800 | The sun was close to the rim,
00:30:32.420 | and cloaked in mist looked large and red as blood.
00:30:36.660 | Now, yes, now it was about to set.
00:30:39.820 | The sun was quite low, but he was also quite near his aim.
00:30:42.940 | Pahom could already see the people on the hillock
00:30:45.000 | waving their arms to hurry him up.
00:30:46.820 | He could see the fox fur cap on the ground,
00:30:49.220 | and the money on it,
00:30:50.260 | and the chief sitting on the ground holding his sides.
00:30:53.180 | And Pahom remembered his dream.
00:30:55.500 | "There's plenty of land," thought he.
00:30:57.460 | "But will God let me live on it?
00:30:59.100 | "I've lost my life, I've lost my life.
00:31:00.880 | "I shall never reach that spot."
00:31:03.300 | Pahom looked at the sun, which had reached the earth.
00:31:06.460 | One side of it had already disappeared.
00:31:09.140 | With all his remaining strength, he rushed on,
00:31:12.220 | bending his body forward so that his legs
00:31:14.480 | could hardly follow fast enough to keep him from falling.
00:31:17.620 | Just as he reached the hillock, it suddenly grew dark.
00:31:20.980 | He looked up.
00:31:22.380 | The sun had already set.
00:31:24.820 | He gave a cry.
00:31:26.380 | "All my labor has been in vain," thought he.
00:31:29.420 | And it was about to stop.
00:31:31.380 | But he heard the Bashkirs still shouting,
00:31:33.460 | and remember that, though to him from below
00:31:35.340 | the sun seemed to have set,
00:31:36.980 | they on the hillock could still see it.
00:31:39.220 | He took a long breath and ran up the hillock.
00:31:42.660 | It was still light there.
00:31:43.940 | He reached the top and saw the cap.
00:31:46.100 | Before it sat the chief laughing and holding his sides.
00:31:49.260 | Again, Pahom remembered his dream and he uttered a cry.
00:31:52.340 | His legs gave way beneath him and he fell forward
00:31:55.020 | and reached the cap with his hands.
00:31:57.360 | "Ah, what a fine fellow," exclaimed the chief.
00:32:00.740 | "He has gained much land."
00:32:02.480 | Pahom's servant came running up and tried to raise him,
00:32:07.620 | but he saw that blood was flowing from his mouth.
00:32:10.660 | Pahom was dead.
00:32:13.180 | The Bashkirs clicked their tongues to show their pity.
00:32:15.880 | His servant picked up the spade and dug a grave
00:32:19.860 | long enough for Pahom to lie in and buried him in it.
00:32:24.300 | Six feet from his head to his heels was all he needed.
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