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diff --git a/old/51018-8.txt b/old/51018-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 23aaded..0000000 --- a/old/51018-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3061 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Three Days in the Village, by Leo Tolstoy - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Three Days in the Village - And Other Sketches. Written from 1909 to July 1910. - -Author: Leo Tolstoy - -Translator: Aylmer Maude - Louise Maude - -Release Date: January 23, 2016 [EBook #51018] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THREE DAYS IN THE VILLAGE *** - - - - -Produced by Carlos Colón, University of California and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net -(This file was produced from images generously made -available by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - - - SIXPENCE NET - - Cloth Bound, 1s. net - - - THREE DAYS - - IN THE - - VILLAGE - - AND OTHER SKETCHES - - - BY - - LEO TOLSTOY - - - These sketches are written - in the style of Tolstoy's - "Popular Stories and Legends," - and give the reader - various glimpses into modern - village life in Russia - - - THE FREE AGE PRESS - Publisher: C. W. DANIEL - 3 Amen Corner, London, E. C. - - - - - THREE DAYS IN THE VILLAGE - - _And Other Sketches_ - - - - - _No Rights Reserved_ - - - - - THREE DAYS IN - THE VILLAGE - - - _And Other Sketches_ - _Written from September 1909 to July 1910_ - - - BY - LEO TOLSTOY - - - _Translated by_ L. _and_ A. MAUDE - - - LONDON - THE FREE AGE PRESS - (C. W. DANIEL) - 3 AMEN CORNER, E. C. - 1910 - - - - - CONTENTS - - - PAGE - - THREE DAYS IN THE VILLAGE-- - - FIRST DAY--TRAMPS 7 - - SECOND DAY--THE LIVING AND THE DYING 20 - - THIRD DAY--TAXES 33 - - CONCLUSION--A DREAM 41 - - SINGING IN THE VILLAGE 55 - - TRAVELLER AND PEASANT 63 - - A TALK WITH A WAYFARER 75 - - FROM THE DIARY 79 - - - - - THREE DAYS IN THE VILLAGE - - - _FIRST DAY_ - - TRAMPS - -Something entirely new, unseen and unheard-of formerly, has lately -shown itself in our country districts. To our village, consisting of -eighty homesteads, from half a dozen to a dozen cold, hungry, tattered -tramps come every day, wanting a night's lodging. - -These people, ragged, half-naked, barefoot, often ill, and extremely -dirty, come into the village and go to the village policeman. That -they should not die in the street of hunger and exposure, he quarters -them on the inhabitants of the village, regarding only the peasants as -"inhabitants." He does not take them to the squire, who besides his own -ten rooms has ten other apartments: office, coachman's room, laundry, -servants' and upper-servants' hall and so on; nor does he take them to -the priest or deacon or shopkeeper, in whose houses, though not large, -there is still some spare room; but he takes them to the peasants, -whose whole family, wife, daughters-in-law, unmarried daughters, and -big and little children, all live in one room--sixteen, nineteen, or -twenty-three feet long. And the master of the hut takes the cold, -hungry, stinking, ragged, dirty man, and not merely gives him a night's -lodging, but feeds him as well. - -"When you sit down to table yourself," an old peasant householder told -me, "it's impossible not to invite him too, or your own soul accepts -nothing. So one feeds him and gives him a drink of tea." - -Those are the nightly visitors. But during the day, not two or three, -but ten or more such visitors call at each hut, and again it is: "Why, -it is impossible...," etc. - -And for almost every tramp the housewife cuts a slice of bread, thinner -or thicker according to the man's appearance--though she knows her rye -will not last till next harvest. - -"If you were to give to all who come, a loaf [the big peasant loaf of -black bread] would not last a day," some housewives said to me. "So -sometimes one hardens one's heart and refuses!" - -And this goes on every day, all over Russia. An enormous -yearly-increasing army of beggars, cripples, administrative exiles, -helpless old men, and above all unemployed workmen, lives--that is to -say, shelters itself from cold and wet--and is actually fed by the -hardest-worked and poorest class, the country peasants. - -We have Workhouses,[1] Foundlings' Hospitals, Boards of Public Relief, -and all sorts of philanthropic organisations in our towns; and in all -those institutions, in buildings with electric light, parquet floors, -neat servants, and various well-paid attendants, thousands of helpless -people of all sorts are sheltered. But however many such there may -be, they are but a drop in the ocean of the enormous (unnumbered, but -certainly enormous) population which now tramps destitute over Russia, -and is sheltered and fed apart from any institutions, solely by the -village peasants whose own Christian feelings induce them to bear this -heavy and gigantic tax. - - [1] Not in the English sense, for there is no Poor-Law system - entitling the destitute to demand maintenance. - -Just think what people who are not peasants would say, if--even once -a week--such a shivering, starving, dirty, lousy tramp were placed in -each of their bedrooms! But the peasants not only house them, but feed -them and give them tea, because "one's own soul accepts nothing unless -one has them to table." - -In the more remote parts of Sarátof, Tambóf, and other Provinces, the -peasants do not wait for the policeman to bring these tramps, but -always receive them and feed them of their own accord. - -And, as is the case with all really good deeds, the peasants do this -without knowing that they are doing a good deed; and yet it is not -merely a good deed "for one's soul," but is of enormous importance -for the whole of Russian society. It is of such importance for Russian -society because, but for this peasant population and the Christian -feeling that lives so strongly in it, it is difficult to imagine -what the fate would be, not only of these hundreds of thousands -of unfortunate, houseless tramps, but of all the well-to-do--and -especially of the wealthy who have their houses in the country. - -It is only necessary to see the state of privation and suffering to -which these homeless tramps have come or have been brought, and to -imagine the mental condition they must be in, and to realise that it -is only this help rendered to them by the peasants that restrains -them from committing violence, which would be quite natural in their -position, upon those who possess in superfluity all the things these -unfortunates lack to keep themselves alive. - -So that it is not the philanthropic organisations, not the Government -with its police and all its juridical institutions, that protects -us, the well-to-do, from being attacked by those who wander, cold, -hungry, and homeless, after having sunk--or, for the most part, having -been brought--to the lowest depths of poverty and despair; but we are -protected, as well as fed and supported, by that same basic strength of -the Russian nation--the peasantry. - -Yes! Were it not that there is among Russia's vast peasant population -a deep religious consciousness of the brotherhood of all men, not -only would these homeless people, having reached the last stages of -despair, have long since destroyed the houses of the rich, in spite -of any police force (there are and must be so few of them in country -districts), but they would even have killed all who stood in their -way. So that we ought not to be horrified or surprised when we hear or -read of people being robbed, or killed that they may be robbed, but we -should understand and remember that if such things happen as seldom as -they do, we owe this to the unselfish help rendered by the peasants to -this unfortunate tramping population. - -Every day from ten to fifteen people come to our house to beg. Some -among them are regular beggars, who for some reason have chosen that -means of livelihood, and having clothed and shod themselves as best -they might, and having made sacks to hold what they collect, have -started out to tramp the country. Among them some are blind, and -some have lost a leg or an arm; and sometimes, though rarely, there -are women and children among them. But these are only a small part. -The majority of the beggars that come now are passers-by, without a -beggar's sack, mostly young, and not crippled. They are all in a most -pitiable state, barefoot, half-naked, emaciated, and shivering with -cold. You ask them, "Where are you going?" The answer is always the -same: "To look for work"; or, "Have been looking for work, but found -none, and am making my way home. There's no work; they are shutting -down everywhere." Many of these people are returning from exile. - -A few days ago I was barely awake when our servant, Ilyá Vasílyevitch, -told me: - -"There are five tramps waiting near the porch." - -"Take some money there is on the table, and give it them," said I. - -Ilyá Vasílyevitch took it, and, as is the custom, gave each of them -five copecks [five farthings]. About an hour passed. I went out into -the porch. A dreadfully tattered little man with a sickly face, swollen -eyelids, restless eyes, and boots all falling to pieces, began bowing, -and held out a certificate to me. - -"Have you received something?" - -"Your Excellency, what am I to do with five copecks?... Your -Excellency, put yourself in my place! Please, your Excellency, look -... please see!" and he shows me his clothing. "Where am I to go to, -your Excellency?" (it is "Excellency" after every word, though his face -expresses hatred). "What am I to do? Where am I to go?" - -I tell him that I give to all alike. He continues to entreat, and -demands that I should read his certificate. I refuse. He kneels down. I -ask him to leave me. - -"Very well! That means, it seems, that I must put an end to myself! -That's all that's left me to do.... Give me something, if only a -trifle!" - -I give him twenty copecks, and he goes away, evidently angry. - -There are a great many such peculiarly insistent beggars, who feel they -have a right to demand their share from the rich. They are literate -for the most part, and some of them are even well-read persons on whom -the Revolution has had an effect. These men, unlike the ordinary, -old-fashioned beggars, look on the rich, not as on people who wish -to save their souls by distributing alms, but as on highwaymen and -robbers who suck the blood of the working classes. It often happens -that a beggar of this sort does no work himself and carefully avoids -work, and yet considers himself, in the name of the workers, not merely -justified, but bound, to hate the robbers of the people--that is to -say, the rich--and to hate them from the depths of his heart; and if, -instead of demanding from them, he begs, that is only a pretence. - -There are a great number of these men, many of them drunkards, of whom -one feels inclined to say, "It's their own fault"; but there are also -a great many tramps of quite a different type: meek, humble, and very -pathetic, and it is terrible to think of their position. - -Here is a tall, good-looking man, with nothing on over his short, -tattered jacket. His boots are bad and trodden down. He has a good, -intelligent face. He takes off his cap and begs in the ordinary way. I -give him something, and he thanks me. I ask him where he comes from -and where he is going to. - -"From Petersburg, home to our village in Toúla Government." - -I ask him, "Why on foot?" - -"It's a long story," he answers, shrugging his shoulders. - -I ask him to tell it me. He relates it with evident truthfulness. - -"I had a good place in an office in Petersburg, and received thirty -roubles [three guineas] a month. Lived very comfortably. I have read -your books _War and Peace_ and _Anna Karénina_," says he, again smiling -a particularly pleasant smile. "Then my folks at home got the idea -of migrating to Siberia, to the Province of Tomsk." They wrote to -him asking whether he would agree to sell his share of land in the -old place. He agreed. His people left, but the land allotted them in -Siberia turned out worthless. They spent all they had, and came back. -Being now landless, they are living in hired lodgings in their former -village, and work for wages. It happened, just at the same time, that -he lost his place in Petersburg. It was not his doing. The firm he was -with became bankrupt, and dismissed its employees. "And just then, to -tell the truth, I came across a seamstress." He smiled again. "She -quite entangled me.... I used to help my people, and now see what a -smart chap I have become!... Ah well, God is not without mercy; maybe -I'll manage somehow!" - -He was evidently an intelligent, strong, active fellow, and only a -series of misfortunes had brought him to his present condition. - -Take another: his legs swathed in strips of rag; girdled with a rope; -his clothing quite threadbare and full of small holes, evidently -not torn, but worn-out to the last degree; his face, with its high -cheek-bones, pleasant, intelligent, and sober. I give him the customary -five copecks, and he thanks me and we start a conversation. He has been -an administrative exile in Vyátka. It was bad enough there, but it is -worse here. He is going to Ryazán, where he used to live. I ask him -what he has been. "A newspaper man. I took the papers round." - -"For what were you exiled?" - -"For selling forbidden literature." - -We began talking about the Revolution. I told him my opinion, that the -evil was all in ourselves; and that such an enormous power as that of -the Government cannot be destroyed by force. "Evil outside ourselves -will only be destroyed when we have destroyed it within us," said I. - -"That is so, but not for a long time." - -"It depends on us." - -"I have read your book on Revolution." - -"It is not mine, but I agree with it." - -"I wished to ask you for some of your books." - -"I should be very pleased.... Only I'm afraid they may get you into -trouble. I'll give you the most harmless." - -"Oh, I don't care! I am no longer afraid of anything.... Prison is -better for me than this! I am not afraid of prison.... I even long for -it sometimes," he said sadly. - -"What a pity it is that so much strength is wasted uselessly!" said I. -"How people like you destroy your own lives!... Well, and what do you -mean to do now?" - -"I?" he said, looking intently into my face. - -At first, while we talked about past events and general topics, he had -answered me boldly and cheerfully; but as soon as our conversation -referred to himself personally and he noticed my sympathy, he turned -away, hid his eyes with his sleeve, and I noticed that the back of his -head was shaking. - -And how many such people there are! - -They are pitiable and pathetic, and they, too, stand on the threshold -beyond which a state of despair begins that makes even a kindly man -ready to go all lengths. - -"Stable as our civilisation may seem to us," says Henry George, -"disintegrating forces are already developing within it. Not in deserts -and forests, but in city slums and on the highways, the barbarians are -being bred who will do for our civilisation what the Huns and Vandals -did for the civilisation of former ages." - -Yes! What Henry George foretold some twenty years ago, is happening -now before our eyes, and in Russia most glaringly--thanks to the -amazing blindness of our Government, which carefully undermines the -foundations on which alone any and every social order stands or can -stand. - -We have the Vandals foretold by Henry George quite ready among us in -Russia. And, strange as it may seem to say so, these Vandals, these -doomed men, are specially dreadful here among our deeply religious -population. These Vandals are specially dreadful here, because we have -not the restraining principles of convention, propriety, and public -opinion, that are so strongly developed among the European nations. We -have either real, deep, religious feeling, or--as in Sténka Rázin and -Pougatchéf--a total absence of any restraining principle: and, dreadful -to say, this army of Sténkas and Pougatchéfs is growing greater and -greater, thanks to the Pougatchéf-like conduct of our Government -in these later days, with its horrors of police violence, insane -banishments, imprisonments, exiles, fortresses, and daily executions. - -Such actions release the Sténka Rázins from the last remnants of moral -restraint. "If the learned gentlefolk act like that, God Himself -permits us to do so," say and think they. - -I often receive letters from that class of men, chiefly exiles. They -know I have written something about not resisting evil by violence, and -for the greater part they retort ungrammatically, though with great -fervour, that what the Government and the rich are doing to the poor, -can and must be answered only in one way: "Revenge, revenge, revenge!" - -Yes! The blindness of our Government is amazing. It does not and will -not see that all it does to disarm its enemies merely increases their -number and energy. Yes! These people are terrible, terrible for the -Government and for the rich, and for those who live among the rich. - -But besides the feeling of terror these people inspire, there is also -another feeling, much more imperative than that of fear, and one we -cannot help experiencing towards those who, by a series of accidents, -have fallen into this terrible condition of vagrancy. That feeling is -one of shame and sympathy. - -And it is not fear, so much as shame and pity, that should oblige us, -who are not in that condition, to respond in one way or other to this -new and terrible phenomenon in Russian life.[2] - - [2] One of the most depressing features of L. N. Tolstoy's - environment is the large number of unemployed and beggars - from the adjacent highway. They wait outside the house for - hours every day for the coming of Leo Nikolayevich. The - consciousness of his inability to render them substantial aid - weighs heavily upon him, as does also the fact that, owing - to insurmountable obstacles, he cannot even feed them, and - allow them to sleep in the house in which he himself lives. - These unfortunates surround Leo Nikolayevich at the steps, - and besiege him with their importunate requests, just at the - time when he seeks the fresh air and is most in need of mental - rest and solitude after long-continued and strenuous mental - labour. In view of this fact, the idea has occurred to some - of Leo Nikolayevich's friends, of establishing in the village - of Yásnaya Polyána a lodging- and eating-house for tramps, - the use of which by the latter would save L. N. unnecessary - trouble. The establishment of such premises--L. N. has viewed - the idea very favourably--would at least afford some temporary - relief to the wandering poor who are in dire need. At the - same time the peasantry of Yásnaya Polyána would be relieved - of the too heavy burden of supporting the passing unemployed - described by Tolstoy in his article. Lastly, it would afford - Tolstoy, in his declining years, considerable mental relief, - which it would seem that he has more than deserved by his - incessant labours on behalf of distressed mankind. Perhaps - among those who read the present sketches some will be found - who, prompted by the impulses animating the author, may desire - to render some material help towards the practical realisation - of the projected undertaking. - - Contributions may be sent to the following address: V. - Tchertkoff, Editor of the Free Age Press, Christchurch, Hants, - Eng. - - - _SECOND DAY_ - - THE LIVING AND THE DYING - -As I sat at my work, Ilyá Vasílyevitch entered softly and, evidently -reluctant to disturb me at my work, told me that some wayfarers and a -woman had been waiting a long time to see me. - -"Here," I said, "please take this, and give it them." - -"The woman has come about some business." - -I told him to ask her to wait a while, and continued my work. By the -time I came out, I had quite forgotten about her, till I saw a young -peasant woman with a long, thin face, and clad very poorly and too -lightly for the weather, appear from behind a corner of the house. - -"What do you want? What is the matter?" - -"I've come to see you, your Honour." - -"Yes ... what about? What is the matter?" - -"To see you, your Honour." - -"Well, what is it?" - -"He's been taken wrongfully.... I'm left with three children." - -"Who's been taken, and where to?" - -"My husband ... sent off to Krapívny." - -"Why? What for?" - -"For a soldier, you know. But it's wrong--because, you see, he's the -breadwinner! We can't get on without him.... Be a father to us, sir!" - -"But how is it? Is he the only man in the family?" - -"Just so ... the only man!" - -"Then how is it they have taken him, if he's the only man?" - -"Who can tell why they've done it?... Here am I, left alone with the -children! There's nothing for me but to die.... Only I'm sorry for the -children! My last hope is in your kindness, because, you see, it was -not right!" - -I wrote down the name of her village, and her name and surname, and -told her I would see about it and let her know. - -"Help me, if it's only ever so little!... The children are hungry, and, -God's my witness, I haven't so much as a crust. The baby is worst of -all ... there's no milk in my breasts. If only the Lord would take him!" - -"Haven't you a cow?" I asked. - -"A cow? Oh, no!... Why, we're all starving!" said she, crying, and -trembling all over in her tattered coat. - -I let her go, and prepared for my customary walk. It turned out that -the doctor, who lives with us, was going to visit a patient in the -village the soldier's wife had come from, and another patient in the -village where the District Police Station is situated, so I joined him, -and we drove off together. - -I went into the Police Station, while the doctor attended to his -business in that village. - -The District Elder was not in, nor the clerk, but only the clerk's -assistant--a clever lad whom I knew. I asked him about the woman's -husband, and why, being the only man in the family, he had been taken -as a conscript. - -The clerk's assistant looked up the particulars, and replied that the -woman's husband was not the only man in the family: he had a brother. - -"Then why did she say he was the only one?" - -"She lied! They always do," replied he, with a smile. - -I made some inquiries about other matters I had to attend to, and then -the doctor returned from visiting his patient, and we drove towards the -village in which the soldier's wife lived. But before we were out of -the first village, a girl of about twelve came quickly across the road -towards us. - -"I suppose you're wanted?" I said to the doctor. - -"No, it's your Honour I want," said the girl to me. - -"What is it?" - -"I've come to your Honour, as mother is dead, and we are left -orphans--five of us. Help us!... Think of our needs!" - -"Where do you come from?" - -The girl pointed to a brick house, not badly built. - -"From here ... that is our house. Come and see for yourself!" - -I got out of the sledge, and went towards the house. A woman came out -and asked me in. She was the orphans' aunt. I entered a large, clean -room; all the children were there, four of them: besides the eldest -girl--two boys, a girl, and another boy of about two. Their aunt told -me all about the family's circumstances. Two years ago the father had -been killed in a mine. The widow tried to get compensation, but failed. -She was left with four children; the fifth was born after her husband's -death. She struggled on alone as best she could, hiring a labourer at -first to work her land. But without her husband things went worse and -worse. First they had to sell their cow, then the horse, and at last -only two sheep were left. Still they managed to live somehow; but two -months ago the woman herself fell ill and died, leaving five children, -the eldest twelve years old. - -"They must get along as best they can. I try to help them, but can't do -much. I can't think what's to become of them! I wish they'd die!... If -one could only get them into some Orphanage--or at least some of them!" - -The eldest girl evidently understood and took in the whole of my -conversation with her aunt. - -"If at least one could get little Nicky placed somewhere! It's awful; -one can't leave him for a moment," said she, pointing to the sturdy -little two-year old urchin, who with his little sister was merrily -laughing at something or other, and evidently did not at all share his -aunt's wish. - -I promised to take steps to get one or more of the children into an -Orphanage. The eldest girl thanked me, and asked when she should come -for an answer. The eyes of all the children, even of Nicky, were fixed -on me, as on some fairy being capable of doing anything for them. - -Before I had reached the sledge, after leaving the house, I met an old -man. He bowed, and at once began speaking about these same orphans. - -"What misery!" he said; "it's pitiful to see them. And the eldest -little girlie, how she looks after them--just like a mother! Wonderful -how the Lord helps her! It's a mercy the neighbours don't forsake them, -or they'd simply die of hunger, the dear little things!... They are the -sort of people it does no harm to help," he added, evidently advising -me to do so. - -I took leave of the old man, the aunt, and the little girl, and drove -with the doctor to the woman who had been to see me that morning. - -At the first house we came to, I inquired where she lived. It happened -to be the house of a widow I know very well; she lives on the alms she -begs, and she has a particularly importunate and pertinacious way of -extorting them. As usual, she at once began to beg. She said she was -just now in special need of help to enable her to rear a calf. - -"She's eating me and the old woman out of house and home. Come in and -see her." - -"And how is the old woman?" - -"What about the old woman?... She's hanging on...." - -I promised to come and see, not so much the calf as the old woman, and -again inquired where the soldier's wife lived. The widow pointed to the -next hut but one, and hastened to add that no doubt they were poor, but -her brother-in-law "does drink dreadfully!" - -Following her instructions, I went to the next house but one. - -Miserable as are the huts of all the poor in our villages, it is long -since I saw one so dilapidated as that. Not only the whole roof, but -the walls were so crooked that the windows were aslant. - -Inside, it was no better than outside. The brick oven took up one-third -of the black, dirty little hut, which to my surprise was full of -people. I thought I should find the widow alone with her children; -but here was a sister-in-law (a young woman with children) and an old -mother-in-law. The soldier's wife herself had just returned from her -visit to me, and was warming herself on the top of the oven. While she -was getting down, her mother-in-law began telling me of their life. -Her two sons had lived together at first, and they all managed to feed -themselves. - -"But who remain together nowadays? All separate," the garrulous old -woman went on. "The wives began quarrelling, so the brothers separated, -and life became still harder. We had little land, and only managed to -live by their wage-labour; and now they have taken Peter as a soldier! -So where is she to turn to with her children? She's living with us now, -but we can't manage to feed them all! We can't think what we are to do. -They say he may be got back." - -The soldier's wife, having climbed down from the oven, continued -to implore me to take steps to get her husband back. I told her it -was impossible, and asked what property her husband had left behind -with his brother, to keep her and the children. There was none. He -had handed over his land to his brother, that he might feed her and -the children. They had had three sheep; but two had been sold to pay -the expenses of getting her husband off, and there was only some old -rubbish left, she said, besides a sheep and two fowls. That was all she -had. Her mother-in-law confirmed her words. - -I asked the soldier's wife where she had come from. She came from -Sergíevskoe. Sergíevskoe is a large, well-to-do village some thirty -miles off. I asked if her parents were alive. She said they were -alive, and living comfortably. - -"Why should you not go to them?" I asked. - -"I thought of that myself, but am afraid they won't have the four of -us." - -"Perhaps they will. Why not write to them? Shall I write for you?" - -The woman agreed, and I noted down her parents' address. - -While I was talking to the woman, the eldest child--a fat-bellied -girl--came up to her mother, and, pulling at her sleeve, began asking -for something, probably food. The woman went on talking to me, and paid -no attention to the girl, who again pulled and muttered something. - -"There's no getting rid of you!" exclaimed the woman, and with a swing -of her arm struck her on the head. The girl burst into a howl. - -Having finished my business there, I left the hut and went back to the -widow. - -She was outside her house, waiting for me, and again asked me to come -and look at her calf. I went in, and in the passage there really was a -calf. The widow asked me to look at it. I did so, feeling that she was -so engrossed in her calf that she could not imagine that anyone could -help being interested in seeing it. - -Having looked at the calf, I stepped inside, and asked: - -"Where is the old woman?" - -"The old woman?" the widow repeated, evidently surprised that after -having seen the calf, I could still be interested in the old woman. -"Why, on the top of the oven! Where else should she be?" - -I went up to the oven, and greeted the old woman. - -"Oh! ... oh!" answered a hoarse, feeble voice. "Who is it?" - -I told her, and asked how she was getting on. - -"What's my life worth?" - -"Are you in pain?" - -"Everything aches! Oh! ... oh!" - -"The doctor is here with me; shall I call him in?" - -"Doctor!... Oh! ... oh! What do I want with your doctor?... My doctor -is up there.... Oh! ... oh!" - -"She's old, you know," said the widow. - -"Not older than I am," replied I. - -"Not older? Much older! People say she is ninety," said the widow. "All -her hair has come out. I cut it all off the other day." - -"Why did you do that?" - -"Why, it had nearly all come out, so I cut it off!" - -"Oh! ... oh!" moaned the old woman; "oh! God has forgotten me! He does -not take my soul. If the Lord won't take it, it can't go of itself! -Oh! ... oh! It must be for my sins! ... I've nothing to moisten my -throat.... If only I had a drop of tea to drink before I die.... Oh! -... oh!" - -The doctor entered the hut, and I said goodbye and went out into the -street. - -We got into the sledge, and drove to a small neighbouring village to -see the doctor's last patient, who had sent for him the day before. We -went into the hut together. - -The room was small, but clean; in the middle of it a cradle hung -from the ceiling, and a woman stood rocking it energetically. At the -table sat a girl of about eight, who gazed at us with surprised and -frightened eyes. - -"Where is he?" the doctor asked. - -"On the oven," replied the woman, not ceasing to rock the cradle. - -The doctor climbed up, and, leaning over the patient, did something to -him. - -I drew nearer, and asked about the sick man's condition. - -The doctor gave me no answer. I climbed up, too, and gazing through the -darkness gradually began to discern the hairy head of the man on the -oven-top. Heavy, stifling air hung about the sick man, who lay on his -back. The doctor was holding his left hand to feel the pulse. - -"Is he very bad?" I asked. - -Without answering me, the doctor turned to the woman. - -"Light a lamp," he said. - -She called the girl, told her to rock the cradle, and went and lit a -lamp and handed it to the doctor. I got down, so as not to be in his -way. He took the lamp, and continued to examine the patient. - -The little girl, staring at us, did not rock the cradle strongly -enough, and the baby began to cry piercingly and piteously. The mother, -having handed the lamp to the doctor, pushed the girl angrily aside and -again began to rock the cradle. - -I returned to the doctor, and again asked how the patient was. The -doctor, still occupied with the patient, softly whispered one word. - -I did not hear, and asked again. - -"The death-agony," he repeated, purposely using a non-Russian word, and -got down and placed the lamp on the table. - -The baby did not cease crying in a piteous and angry voice. - -"What's that? Is he dead?" said the woman, as if she had understood the -foreign word the doctor had used. - -"Not yet, but there is no hope!" replied he. - -"Then I must send for the priest," said the woman in a dissatisfied -voice, rocking the screaming baby more and more violently. - -"If only my husband was at home!... But now, who can I send? They've -all gone to the forest for firewood." - -"I can do nothing more here," said the doctor; and we went away. - -I heard afterwards that the woman found someone to send for the priest, -who had just time to administer the Sacrament to the dying man. - -We drove home in silence, both, I think, experiencing the same feeling. - -"What was the matter with him?" I asked at length. - -"Inflammation of the lungs. I did not expect it to end so quickly. He -had a very strong constitution, but the conditions were deadly. With -105 degrees of fever, he went and sat outside the hut, where there were -only 20 degrees." - -Again we drove on in silence for a long time. - -"I noticed no bedding or pillow on the oven," said I. - -"Nothing!" replied the doctor. And, evidently knowing what I was -thinking about, he went on: - -"Yesterday I was at Kroutoe to see a woman who has had a baby. To -examine her properly, as was necessary, she should have been placed so -that she could lie stretched out full length; but there was no place in -the whole hut where that could be done." - -Again we were silent, and again we probably both had the same thoughts. -We reached home in silence. At the porch stood a fine pair of horses, -harnessed tandem to a carpet-upholstered sledge. The handsome coachman -was dressed in a sheepskin coat, and wore a thick fur cap. They -belonged to my son, who had driven over from his estate. - - * * * * * - -And here we are sitting at the dinner-table, laid for ten persons. One -of the places is empty. It is my little granddaughter's. She is not -quite well to-day, and is having her dinner in her room with her nurse. -A specially hygienic dinner has been prepared for her: beef-tea and -sago. - -At our big dinner of four courses, with two kinds of wine, served by -two footmen, and eaten at a table decorated with flowers, this is the -kind of talk that goes on: - -"Where do these splendid roses come from?" asks my son. - -My wife tells him that a lady, who will not divulge her name, sends -them from Petersburg. - -"Roses like these cost three shillings each," says my son, and goes on -to relate how at some concert or play such roses were showered on a -performer till they covered the stage. The conversation passes on to -music, and then to a man who is a very good judge and patron of music. - -"By the by, how is he?" - -"Oh, he is always ailing. He is again going to Italy. He always spends -the winter there, and his health improves wonderfully." - -"But the journey is very trying and tedious." - -"Oh no! Not if one takes the express--it is only thirty-nine hours." - -"All the same, it is very dull." - -"Wait a bit! We shall fly before long!" - - - _THIRD DAY_ - - TAXES - -Besides my ordinary visitors and applicants, there are to-day some -special ones. The first is a childless old peasant who is ending his -life in great poverty. The second is a poor woman with a crowd of -children. The third is, I believe, a well-to-do peasant. - -All three have come from our village, and all have come about the -same business. The taxes are being collected before the New Year, -and the old man's samovár, the woman's only sheep, and one of the -well-to-do peasant's cows, have been noted down for seizure in case of -non-payment. They all ask me to defend them or assist them, or to do -both. - -The well-to-do peasant, a tall, handsome, elderly man, is the first to -speak. He tells me that the Village Elder came, noted down the cow, -and demands twenty-seven roubles. This levy is for the obligatory -Grain Reserve Fund, and ought not, the peasant thinks, to be collected -at this time of year. I know nothing about it, and tell him that I -will inquire in the District Government Office, and will let him know -whether the payment of the tax can be postponed or not. - -The second to speak is the old man whose samovár has been noted. The -small, thin, weakly, poorly clad man relates, with pathetic grief and -bewilderment, how they came, took his samovár, and demanded three -roubles and seventy copecks of him, which he has not got and can't get. - -I ask him what the tax is for. - -"Some kind of Government tax.... Who can tell what it is? Where am -I and my old woman to get the money? As it is, we hardly manage to -live!... What kind of laws are these? Have pity on our old age, and -help us somehow!" - -I promise to inquire, and to do what I can, and I turn to the woman. -She is thin and worn-out. I know her, and know that her husband is a -drunkard, and that she has five children. - -"They have seized my sheep! They come and say: 'Pay the money!' 'My -husband is away, working,' I say. 'Pay up!' say they. But where am I to -find it? I only had one sheep, and they are taking it!" And she begins -to cry. - -I promise to find out, and to help her if I can. First, I go to the -Village Elder, to find out what the taxes are, and why they are -collecting them so rigorously. - -In the village street, two other petitioners stop me. Their husbands -are away at work. One asks me to buy some of her home-woven linen, and -offers it for two roubles. "Because they have seized my hens! I had -just reared them, and live by selling the eggs. Do buy it; it is good -linen! I would not let it go for three roubles if I were not in great -need!" - -I send her away, promising to consider matters when I return--perhaps I -may be able to arrange about the tax. - -Before I reach the Elder's house, a woman comes to meet me: a -quick-eyed, black-eyed ex-pupil of mine--Ólga, now already an old -woman. She is in the same plight: they have seized her calf. - -I come to the Elder. He is a strong, intelligent-looking peasant, with -a grizzly beard. He comes out into the street to me. I ask him what -taxes are being collected, and why so rigorously. He replies that he -has had very strict orders to get in all arrears before the New Year. - -"Have you had orders to confiscate samovárs and cattle?" - -"Of course!" replies the Village Elder, shrugging his shoulders. "The -taxes must be paid.... Take Abakoúmof now, for instance," said he, -referring to the well-to-do peasant whose cow had been taken in payment -of some Grain Reserve Fund. "His son is an isvóstchik: they have three -horses. Why shouldn't he pay? He's always trying to get out of it." - -"Well, suppose it so in his case," say I; "but how about those who are -really poor?" And I name the old man whose samovár they are taking. - -"Yes; they really are poor, and have nothing to pay with. But just as -if such things get considered up there!" - -I name the woman whose sheep was taken. The Elder is sorry for her too, -but, as if excusing himself, explains that he must obey orders. - -I inquire how long he has been an Elder, and what pay he gets. - -"How much do I get?" he says, replying not to the question I ask, but -to the question in my mind, which he guesses namely, why he takes part -in such proceedings. "Well, I do want to resign! We get thirty roubles -a month, but are obliged to do things that are wrong." - -"Well, and will they really confiscate the samovárs and sheep and -fowls?" I ask. - -"Why, of course! We are bound to take them, and the District Government -will arrange for their sale." - -"And will the things be sold?" - -"The folk will manage to pay up somehow." - -I go to the woman who came to me about her sheep. Her hut is tiny, and -in the passage outside is her only sheep, which is to go to support the -Imperial Budget. Seeing me, she, a nervous woman worn out by want and -overwork, begins to talk excitedly and rapidly, as peasant women do. - -"See how I live! They're taking my last sheep, and I myself and -these brats are barely alive!" She points up at the bunks and the -oven-top, where her children are. "Come down!... Now then, don't be -frightened!... There now, how's one to keep oneself and them naked -brats?" - -The brats, almost literally naked, with nothing on but tattered -shirts--not even any trousers--climb down from the oven and surround -their mother. - -The same day I go to the District Office, to make inquiries about this -way of exacting taxation, which is new to me. - -The District Elder is not in. He will be back soon. In the Office -several persons are standing behind the grating, also waiting to see -him. - -I ask them who they are, and what they have come about. Two of them -have come to get passports, in order to be able to go out to work at -a distance. They have brought money to pay for the passports. Another -has come to get a copy of the District Court's decision rejecting -his petition that the homestead--where he has lived and worked for -twenty-three years, and which has belonged to his uncle, who adopted -him,--now that his uncle and aunt are dead, should not be taken from -him by his uncle's granddaughter. She, being the direct heiress, -and taking advantage of the law of the 9th November, is selling the -freehold of the land and homestead on which the petitioner lived. His -petition has been rejected, but he cannot believe that this is the law, -and wants to appeal to some higher Court--though he does not know -what Court. I explain that there is such a law, and this provokes -disapproval, amounting to perplexity and incredulity, among all those -who are present. - -Hardly have I finished talking with this man, when a tall peasant with -a stern, severe face asks me for an explanation of his affairs. The -business he has come about is this: he and his fellow villagers have, -from time immemorial, been getting iron ore from their land; and now a -decree has been published prohibiting this. "Not dig on one's own land? -What laws are these? We only live by digging the iron! We have been -trying for more than a month, and can't get anything settled. We don't -know what to think of it; they'll ruin us completely, and that will be -the end of the matter!" - -I can say nothing comforting to this man, and turn to the Elder--who -has just come back--to inquire about the vigorous measures which are -being taken to exact payment of arrears of taxation in our village. I -ask under what clauses of the Act the taxes are being levied. The Elder -tells me that there are seven different kinds of rates and taxes, the -arrears of all of which are now being collected from the peasants: -(1) the Imperial Taxes, (2) the Local Government Taxes, (3) the Insurance -Taxes, (4) the arrears of Former Grain Reserve Funds, (5) New Grain -Reserve Funds in lieu of contributions in kind, (6) Communal and -District Taxes, and (7) Village Taxes. - -The District Elder tells me, as the Village Elder had done, that the -taxes were being collected with special rigour by order of the higher -authorities. He admits that it is no easy task to collect the taxes -from the poor, but he shows less sympathy than the Village Elder did. -He does not venture to censure the authorities; and, above all, he has -hardly any doubt of the usefulness of his office, or of the rightness -of taking part in such activity. - -"One can't, after all, encourage...." - -Soon after, I had occasion to talk about these things with a Zémsky -Natchálnik.[3] He had very little compassion for the hard lot of -the poverty-stricken folk whom he scarcely ever saw, and just as -little doubt of the morality and lawfulness of his activity. In his -conversation with me he admitted that, on the whole, it would be -pleasanter not to serve at all; but he considered himself a useful -functionary, because other men in his place would do even worse things. -"And once one is living in the country, why not take the salary, small -as it is, of a Zémsky Natchálnik?" - - [3] A Zémsky Natchálnik is a salaried official placed in - authority in a district. He is often selected from among the - local gentry, and wields very considerable authority. - -The views of a Governor on the collection of taxes necessary to meet -the needs of those who are occupied in arranging for the nation's -welfare, were entirely free from any considerations as to samovárs, -sheep, homespun linen, or calves taken from the poorest inhabitants of -the villages; and he had not the slightest doubt as to the usefulness -of his activity. - -And finally, the Ministers and those who are busy managing the liquor -traffic, those who are occupied in teaching men to kill one another, -and those who are engaged in condemning people to exile, to prison, -to penal servitude, or to the gallows--all the Ministers and their -assistants are quite convinced that samovárs and sheep and linen and -calves taken from beggars, are put to their best use in producing vódka -(which poisons the people), weapons for killing men, the erection of -gaols and lock-ups, and, among other things, in paying to them and to -their assistants the salaries they require to furnish drawing-rooms, to -buy dresses for their wives, and for journeys and amusements which they -undertake as relaxations after fulfilling their arduous labours for the -welfare of the coarse and ungrateful masses. - - - _CONCLUSION_ - - A DREAM - -A few nights ago I dreamt so significant a dream that several times -during the following day I asked myself, "What has happened to-day that -is so specially important?" And then I remembered that the specially -important thing was what I had seen, or rather heard, in my dream. - -It was a speech that struck me greatly, spoken by one who, as often -happens in dreams, was a combination of two men: my old friend, now -dead, Vladímir Orlóf, with grey curls on each side of his bald head, -and Nicholas Andréyevitch, a copyist who lived with my brother. - -The speech was evoked by the conversation of a rich lady, the hostess, -with a landowner who was visiting her house. The lady had recounted how -the peasants on a neighbouring estate had burnt the landlord's house -and several sheds which sheltered century-old cherry trees and duchesse -pears. Her visitor, the landowner, related how the peasants had cut -down some oaks in his forest, and had even carted away a stack of hay. - -"Neither arson nor robbery is considered a crime nowadays. The -immorality of our people is terrible: they have all become thieves!" -said someone. - -And in answer to those words, that man, combined of two, spoke as -follows: - -"The peasants have stolen oaks and hay, and are thieves, and the most -immoral class," he began, addressing no one in particular. "Now, in -the Caucasus, a chieftain used to raid the Aouls and carry off all the -horses of the inhabitants. But one of them found means to get back from -the chieftain's herds at least one of the horses that had been stolen -from him. Was that man a thief, because he got back one of the many -horses stolen from him? And is it not the same with the trees, the -grass, the hay, and all the rest of the things you say the peasants -have stolen from you? The earth is the Lord's, and common to all; and -if the peasants have taken what was grown on the common land of which -they have been deprived, they have not stolen, but have only resumed -possession of a small part of what has been stolen from them. - -"I know you consider land to be the property of the landlord, and -therefore call the restoration to themselves of its produce by the -peasants--robbery; but, you know, that is not true! The land never was, -and never can be, anyone's property. If a man has more of it than he -requires, while others have none, then he who possesses the surplus -land possesses not land but men; and men cannot be the property of -other men. - -"Because a dozen mischievous lads have burnt some cherry tree sheds, -and have cut down some trees, you say the peasants are thieves, and the -most immoral class!... - -"How can your tongue frame such words! They have stolen ten oaks from -you. Stolen! 'To prison with them!' - -"Why, if they had taken not your oaks alone but everything that is in -this house, they would only have taken what is theirs: made by them -and their brothers, but certainly not by you! 'Stolen oaks!' But for -ages you have been stealing from them, not oaks but their lives, and -the lives of their children, their womenfolk and their old men--who -withered away before their time--only because they were deprived of the -land God gave to them in common with all men, and they were obliged to -work for you. - -"Only think of the life those millions of men have lived and are -living, and of how you live! Only consider what they do, supplying you -with all the comforts of life, and of what you do for them, depriving -them of everything--even of the possibility of supporting themselves -and their families! All you live on--everything in this room, -everything in this house, and in all your splendid cities, all your -palaces, all your mad, literally mad, luxuries--has been made, and is -still continually being made, by them. - -"And they know this. They know that these parks of yours, and your -race-horses, motor cars, palaces, dainty dishes and finery, and all the -nastiness and stupidity you call 'science' and 'art'--are purchased -with the lives of their brothers and sisters. They know and cannot help -knowing this. Then think what feelings these people would have towards -you, if they were like you! - -"One would suppose that, knowing all you inflict on them, they could -not but hate you from the bottom of their souls, and could not help -wishing to revenge themselves on you. And you know there are tens of -millions of them, and only some thousands of you. But what do they -do?... Why, instead of crushing you as useless and harmful reptiles, -they continue to repay your evil with good, and live their laborious -and reasonable, though hard life, patiently biding the day when you -will become conscious of your sin and will amend your ways. But -instead of that, what do you do? From the height of your refined, -self-confident immorality, you deign to stoop to those 'depraved, -coarse people.' You enlighten them, and play the benefactor to them; -that is to say, with the means supplied to you by their labour, you -inoculate them with your depravity, and blame, correct, and best of all -'punish' them, as unreasoning or vicious infants bite the breasts that -feed them. - -"Yes, look at yourselves, and consider what you are and what they are! -Realise that they alone live, while you, with your Doúmas, Ministries, -Synods, Academies, Universities, Conservatoires, Law Courts, armies, -and all such stupidities and nastinesses, are but playing at life, and -spoiling it for yourselves and others. They, the people, are alive. -They are the tree, and you are harmful growths--fungi on the plant. -Realise, then, all your insignificance and their grandeur! Understand -your sin, and try to repent, and at all costs set the people free...." - -"How well he speaks!" thought I. "Can it be a dream?" - -And as I thought that, I awoke. - -This dream set me again thinking about the land question: a -question of which those who live constantly in the country, among a -poverty-stricken agricultural peasant population, cannot help thinking. -I know I have often written about it; but under the influence of that -dream, even at the risk of repeating myself, I once more felt the need -to express myself. _Carthago delenda est._ As long as people's attitude -towards private property in land remains unchanged, the cruelty, -madness and evil of this form of the enslavement of some men by others, -cannot be pointed out too frequently. - -People say that land is property, and they say this because the -Government recognises private property in land. But fifty years ago the -Government upheld private property in human beings; yet a time came -when it was admitted that human beings cannot be private property, -and the Government ceased to hold them to be property. So it will be -with property in land. The Government now upholds that property, and -protects it by its power; but a day will come when the Government will -cease to acknowledge this kind of property, and will abolish it. The -Government will have to abolish it, because private property in land -is just such an injustice as property in men--serfdom--used to be. The -difference lies only in the fact that serfdom was a direct, definite -slavery, while land-slavery is indirect and indefinite. Then Peter was -John's slave, whereas now Peter is the slave of some person unknown, -but certainly of him who owns the land Peter requires in order to -feed himself and his family. And not only is land-slavery as unjust -and cruel a slavery as serfdom used to be, it is even harder on the -slaves, and more criminal on the part of the slave-holders. For under -serfdom--if not from sympathy, then at least from self-interest--the -owner was obliged to see to it that his serf did not wither away and -die of want, but to the best of his ability and understanding he looked -after his slaves' morality. Now the landowner cares nothing if his -landless slave withers away or becomes demoralised; for he knows that -however many men die or become depraved at his work, he will always be -able to find workmen. - -The injustice and cruelty of the new, present-day -slavery--land-slavery--is so evident, and the condition of the slaves -is everywhere so hard, that one would have expected this new slavery -to have been recognised by this time as out of date, just as serfdom -was admittedly out of date half a century ago; and it should, one would -have thought, have been abolished, as serfdom was abolished. - -"But," it is said, "property in land cannot be abolished, for it -would be impossible to divide equally among all the labourers and -non-labourers the advantages given by land of different qualities." - -But that is not true. To abolish property in land, no distribution of -land is necessary. - -Just as, when serfdom was abolished, no distribution of the people -liberated was necessary, but all that was needed was the abolition of -the law that upheld serfdom, so with the abolition of private property -in land: no distribution of land is needed, but only the abolition of -the law sanctioning private property in land. And as when serfdom was -abolished, the serfs of their own accord settled down as best suited -them, so when private property in land is abolished, people will find -a way of sharing the land among themselves so that all may have equal -advantage from it. How this will be arranged, whether by Henry George's -Single-Tax system, or in some other way, we cannot foresee. But it is -certain that the Government need only cease to uphold by force the -obviously unjust and oppressive rights of property in land, and the -people, released from those restrictions, will always find means of -apportioning the land by common consent, in such a way that everyone -will have an equal share of the benefits the use of the land confers. - -It is only necessary for the majority of land-owners--that is, -slave-owners--to understand (as they did in the matter of serfdom) -that property in land is as hard on the present-day slaves, and as -great an iniquity on the part of the slave-owners, as serfdom was; and, -having understood that, it is only necessary for them to impress on the -Government the necessity of repealing the laws sanctioning property in -land--that is, land-slavery. One would have thought that, as in the -'fifties, the best members of society (chiefly the serf-owning nobles -themselves), having understood the criminality of their position, -explained to the Government the necessity for abolishing their -evidently out-of-date and immoral rights, and serfdom was abolished, -so it should be now with regard to private property in land, which is -land-slavery. - -But strange to say, the present slave-owners, the landed proprietors, -not only fail to see the criminality of their position, and do not -impress on the Government the necessity of abolishing land-slavery, but -on the contrary they consciously and unconsciously, by all manner of -means, blind themselves and their slaves to the criminality of their -position. - -The reasons of this are: first, that serfdom in the 'fifties, being -the plain, downright enslavement of man by man, ran too clearly -counter to religious and moral feeling; while land-slavery is not a -direct, immediate slavery, but is a form of slavery more hidden from -the slaves, and especially from the slave-owners, by complicated -governmental, social and economic institutions. And the second reason -is that, while in the days of serfdom only one class were slave-owners, -all classes, except the most numerous one--consisting of peasants who -have too little land: labourers and working men--are slave-owners now. -Nowadays nobles, merchants, officials, manufacturers, professors, -teachers, authors, musicians, painters, rich peasants, rich men's -servants, well-paid artisans, electricians, mechanics, etc., are all -slave-owners of the peasants who have insufficient land, and of the -unskilled workmen who--apparently as a result of most varied causes, -but in reality as a result of one cause alone (the appropriation of -land by the landed proprietors)--are obliged to give their labour and -even their lives to those who possess the advantages land affords. -These two reasons--that the new slavery is less evident than the old, -and that the new slave-owners are much more numerous than the old -ones--account for the fact that the slave-owners of our day do not see, -and do not admit, the cruelty and criminality of their position, and do -not free themselves from it. - -The slave-owners of our day not only do not admit that their position -is criminal, and do not try to escape from it, but are quite sure that -property in land is a necessary institution, essential to the social -order, and that the wretched condition of the working classes--which -they cannot help noticing--results from most varied causes, but -certainly not from the recognition of some people's right to own land -as private property. - -This opinion of land-owning, and of the causes of the wretched -condition of the labourers, is so well established in all the leading -countries of the Christian world--France, England, Germany, America, -etc.--that with very rare exceptions it never occurs to their public -men to look in the right direction for the cause of the wretched -condition of the workers. - -That is so in Europe and America; but one would have expected that -for us Russians, with our hundred million peasant population who deny -the principle of private ownership in land, and with our enormous -tracts of land, and with the almost religious desire of our people for -agricultural life, an answer very different to the general European -answer to questions as to the causes of the distress among the workers, -and as to the means of bettering their position, would naturally -present itself. - -One would think that we Russians might understand that if we really -are concerned about, and desire to improve, the position of the -people and to free them from the aggravating and demoralising fetters -with which they are bound, the means to do this are indicated both -by common-sense and by the voice of the people, and are simply--the -abolition of private property in land, that is to say, the abolition of -land-slavery. - -But, strange to relate, in Russian society, occupied with questions -of the improvement of the condition or the working classes, there is -no suggestion of this one, natural, simple and self-evident means -of improving their condition. We Russians, though our peasants' -outlook on the land question is probably centuries ahead of the rest -of Europe, can devise nothing better for the improvement of our -people's condition than to establish among ourselves, on the European -model, Doúmas, Councils, Ministries, Courts, Zémstvos, Universities, -Extension Lectures, Academies, elementary schools, fleets, sub-marines, -air-ships, and many other of the queerest things quite foreign to and -unnecessary for the people, and we do not do the one thing that is -demanded by religion, morality, and common-sense, as well as by the -whole of the peasantry. - -Nor is this all. While arranging the fate of our people, who do not -and never did acknowledge land-ownership, we, imitating Europe, try in -all sorts of cunning ways, and by deception, bribery, and even force, -to accustom them to the idea of property in land--that is to say, we -try to deprave them and to destroy their consciousness of the truth -they have held for ages, and which sooner or later will certainly be -acknowledged by the whole human race: the truth that all who live on -the earth cannot but have an equal right to its use. - -These efforts to inoculate the people with the idea of landed -property that is so foreign to them, are unceasingly made, with great -perseverance and zeal by the Government, and consciously or for the -most part unconsciously, from an instinct of self-preservation, by all -the slave-holders of our time. And the slave-holders of our time are -not the land-owners alone, but are all those who, as a result of the -people being deprived of the land, enjoy power over them. - -Most strenuous efforts are made to deprave the people; but, thank God! -it may be safely said that till now all those efforts have only had an -effect on the smallest and worst part of Russia's peasant population. -The many-millioned majority of Russian workmen who hold but little -land and live--not the depraved, parasitic life of the slave-owners, -but their own reasonable, hard-working lives--do not yield to those -efforts; because for them the solution of the land question is not -one of personal advantage, as it is regarded by all the different -slave-owners of to-day. For the enormous majority of peasants, the -solution of that problem is not arrived at by mutually contradictory -economic theories that spring up to-day and to-morrow are forgotten, -but is found in the one truth, which is realised by them, and always -has been and is realised by all reasonable men the world over,--the -truth that all men are brothers and have therefore all an equal right -to all the blessings of the world and, among the rest, to the most -necessary of all rights--namely, the equal right of all to the use of -the land. - -Living in this truth, an enormous majority of the peasants attach no -importance to all the wretched measures adopted by the Government -about this or that alteration of the laws of land-ownership, for they -know that there is only one solution to the land question--the total -abolition of private property in land, and of land-slavery. And, -knowing this, they quietly await their day, which sooner or later must -come. - - - - - SINGING IN THE VILLAGE - - -Voices and an accordion sounded as if close by, though through the mist -nobody could be seen. It was a work-day morning, and I was surprised to -hear music. - -"Oh, it's the recruits' leave-taking," thought I, remembering that I -had heard something a few days before about five men being drawn from -our village. Involuntarily attracted by the merry song, I went in the -direction whence it proceeded. - -As I approached the singers, the sound of song and accordion suddenly -stopped. The singers, that is the lads who were leave-taking, entered -the double-fronted brick cottage belonging to the father of one of -them. Before the door stood a small group of women, girls, and children. - -While I was finding out whose sons were going, and why they had entered -that cottage, the lads themselves, accompanied by their mothers and -sisters, came out at the door. There were five of them: four bachelors -and one married man. Our village is near the town where nearly all -these conscripts had worked. They were dressed town-fashion, evidently -wearing their best clothes: peajackets, new caps, and high, showy -boots. Conspicuous among them was a young fellow, well built though not -tall, with a sweet, merry, expressive face, a small beard and moustache -just beginning to sprout, and bright hazel eyes. As he came out, he at -once took a big, expensive-looking accordion that was hanging over his -shoulders and, having bowed to me, started playing the merry tune of -"Bárynya," running his fingers nimbly over the keys and keeping exact -time, as he moved with rhythmic step jauntily down the road. - -Beside him walked a thick-set, fair-haired lad, also of medium height. -He looked gaily from side to side, and sang second with spirit, in -harmony with the first singer. He was the married one. These two -walked ahead of the other three, who were also well dressed, and not -remarkable in any way except that one of them was tall. - -Together with the crowd I followed the lads. All their songs were -merry, and no expression of grief was heard while the procession was -going along; but as soon as we came to the next house at which the -lads were to be treated, the lamentations of the women began. It was -difficult to make out what they were saying; only a word here and there -could be distinguished: "death ... father and mother ... native land -..."; and after every verse, the woman who led the chanting took a deep -breath, and burst out into long-drawn moans, followed by hysterical -laughter. The women were the mothers and sisters of the conscripts. -Beside the lamentations of these relatives, one heard the admonitions -of their friends. - -"Now then, Matryóna, that's enough! You must be tired out," I heard one -woman say, consoling another who was lamenting. - -The lads entered the cottage. I remained outside, talking with a -peasant acquaintance, Vasíly Oréhof, a former pupil of mine. His son, -one of the five, was the married man who had been singing second as he -went along. - -"Well," I said, "it is a pity!" - -"What's to be done? Pity or not, one has to serve." - -And he told me of his domestic affairs. He had three sons: the eldest -was living at home, the second was now being taken, and a third (who, -like the second, had gone away to work) was contributing dutifully to -the support of the home. The one who was leaving had evidently not sent -home much. - -"He has married a townswoman. His wife is not fit for our work. He is a -lopped-off branch and thinks only of keeping himself. To be sure it's a -pity, but it can't be helped!" - -While we were talking, the lads came out into the street, and the -lamentations, shrieks, laughter, and adjurations recommenced. After -standing about for some five minutes, the procession moved on with -songs and accordion accompaniment. One could not help marvelling at the -energy and spirit of the player, as he beat time accurately, stamped -his foot, stopped short, and then after a pause again took up the -melody most merrily, exactly on the right beat, while he gazed around -with his kind, hazel eyes. Evidently he had a real and great talent for -music. - -I looked at him, and (so at least it seemed to me) he felt abashed when -he met my eyes, and with a twitch of his brows he turned away, and -again burst out with even more spirit than before. When we reached the -fifth and last of the cottages, the lads entered, and I followed them. -All five of them were made to sit round a table covered with a cloth, -on which were bread and vódka. The host, the man I had been talking to, -who was now to take leave of his married son, poured out the vódka and -handed it round. The lads hardly drank at all (at most a quarter of a -glass) or even handed it back after just raising it to their lips. The -hostess cut some bread, and served slices round to eat with the vódka. - -While I was looking at the lads, a woman, dressed in clothes that -seemed to me strange and incongruous, got down from the top of the -oven, close to where I sat. She wore a light green dress (silk, I -think) with fashionable trimmings, and high-heeled boots. Her fair hair -was arranged in quite the modern style, like a large round cap, and she -wore big, ring-shaped, gold earrings. Her face was neither sad nor -cheerful, but looked as if she were offended. - -After getting down, she went out into the passage, clattering with the -heels of her new boots and paying no heed to the lads. All about this -woman--her clothing, the offended expression of her face, and above -all her earrings--was so foreign to the surroundings that I could not -understand how she had come to be on the top of Vasíly Oréhof's oven. I -asked a woman sitting near me who she was. - -"Vasíly's daughter-in-law; she has been a housemaid," was the answer. - -The host began offering vódka a third time, but the lads refused, rose, -said grace, thanked the hosts, and went out. - -In the street, the lamentations recommenced at once. The first to raise -her voice was a very old woman with a bent back. She lamented in such a -peculiarly piteous voice, and wailed so, that the women kept soothing -the sobbing, staggering old creature, and supported her by her elbows. - -"Who is she?" I inquired. - -"Why, it's his granny; Vasíly's mother, that is." - -The old woman burst into hysterical laughter and fell into the arms -of the women who supported her, and just then the procession started -again, and again the accordion and the merry voices struck up their -tune. At the end of the village the procession was overtaken by the -carts which were to carry the conscripts to the District Office. The -weeping and wailing stopped. The accordion-player, getting more and -more elated, bending his head to one side and resting on one foot, -turned out the toes of the other and stamped with it, while his fingers -produced brilliant _fioritures_, and exactly at the right instant -the bold, high, merry tones of his song, and the second of Vasíly's -son, again chimed in. Old and young, and especially the children who -surrounded the crowd, and I with them, fixed their eyes admiringly on -the singer. - -"He is clever, the rascal!" said one of the peasants. - -"'Sorrow weeps, and sorrow sings!'" replied another. - -At that moment one of the young fellows whom we were seeing off--the -tall one--came up with long, energetic strides, and stooped to speak to -the one who played the accordion. - -"What a fine fellow," I thought; "they will put him in the Guards." I -did not know who he was or what house he belonged to. - -"Whose son is that one? That gallant fellow?" I asked a little old man, -pointing to the fine lad. - -The old man raised his cap and bowed to me, but did not hear my -question. - -"What did you say?" asked he. - -I had not recognised him, but as soon as he spoke I knew him at once. -He is a hard-working, good peasant who, as often happens, seems -specially marked out for misfortune: first, two horses were stolen from -him, then his house burnt down, and then his wife died. I had not seen -Prokófey for a long time, and remembered him as a bright red-haired man -of medium height; whereas he was now not red, but quite grey-haired, -and small. - -"Ah, Prokófey, it's you!" I said. "I was asking whose son that fine -fellow is--that one who has just spoken to Alexander?" - -"That one?" Prokófey replied, pointing with a motion of his head to the -tall lad. He shook his head and mumbled something I did not understand. - -"I'm asking whose son the lad is?" I repeated, and turned to look at -Prokófey. - -His face was puckered, and his jaw trembled. - -"He's mine!" he muttered, and, turning away and hiding his face in his -hand, began to whimper like a child. - -And only then, after the two words, "He's mine!" spoken by Prokófey, -did I realise, not only in my mind but in my whole being, the horror of -what was taking place before my eyes that memorable misty morning. All -the disjointed, incomprehensible, strange things I had seen suddenly -acquired a simple, clear, and terrible significance. I became painfully -ashamed of having looked on as at an interesting spectacle. I stopped, -conscious of having acted ill, and I turned to go home. - -And to think that these things are at the present moment being done -to tens of thousands of men all over Russia, and have been done, and -will long continue to be done, to the meek, wise, and saintly Russian -people, who are so cruelly and treacherously deceived! - - - - - TRAVELLER AND PEASANT - - - [_The interior of a peasant hut. An old Traveller is sitting on - a bench, reading a book. A Peasant, the master of the hut, just - home from his work, sits down to supper and asks the Traveller to - share it. The Traveller declines. The Peasant eats, and when he has - finished, rises, says grace, and sits down beside the old man._] - -PEASANT. What brings you?... - -TRAVELLER [_taking off his spectacles and putting down his book_]. -There is no train till to-morrow. The station is crowded, so I asked -your missis to let me stay the night with you, and she allowed it. - -PEASANT. That's all right, you can stay. - -TRAVELLER. Thank you!... Well, and how are you living nowadays? - -PEASANT. Living? What's our life like?... As bad as can be! - -TRAVELLER. How's that? - -PEASANT. Why, because we've nothing to live on! Our life is so hard -that if we wanted a worse one, we couldn't get it.... You see, there -are nine of us in family; all want to eat, and I have only got in four -bushels of corn. Try and live on that! Whether one likes it or not, one -has to go and work for wages ... and when you look for a job, wages -are down!... The rich do what they like with us. The people increase, -but the land doesn't, and taxes keep piling up! There's rent, and the -district tax, and the land tax, and the tax for bridges, and insurance, -and police, and for the corn store ... too many to count! And there are -the priests and the landlords.... They all ride on our backs, except -those who are too lazy! - -TRAVELLER. I thought the peasants were doing well nowadays. - -PEASANT. So well, that we go hungry for days at a time! - -TRAVELLER. The reason I thought so, was that they have taken to -squandering so much money. - -PEASANT. Squandering what money? How strange you talk!... Here are -people starving to death, and you talk of squandering money! - -TRAVELLER. But how is it? The papers say that 700 million roubles (and -a million is a thousand thousands)--700 million were spent by the -peasants on vódka last year. - -PEASANT. Are we the only ones that drink? Just look at the priests.... -Don't they swill first-rate? And the gentlefolk aren't behind-hand! - -TRAVELLER. Still, that's only a small part. The greater part stills -falls to the peasants. - -PEASANT. What of that? Are we not to drink at all? - -TRAVELLER. No; what I mean is that if 700 millions were squandered on -vódka in one year it shows that life can't be so very hard.... 700 -millions! It's no joke ... one can hardly imagine it! - -PEASANT. But how can one do without it? We didn't start the custom, -and it's not for us to stop it.... There are the Church feasts, and -weddings, and memorial feasts, and bargains to be wetted with a -drink.... Whether one likes it or not, one can't get on without it. -It's the custom! - -TRAVELLER. But there are people who never drink, and yet they manage to -live! After all, there's not much good in it. - -PEASANT. No good at all! Only evil! - -TRAVELLER. Then one ought not to drink. - -PEASANT. Well, anyhow, drink or no drink, we've nothing to live on! -We've not enough land. If we had land we could at least live ... but -there's none to be had. - -TRAVELLER. No land to be had? Why, isn't there plenty of land? Wherever -one looks, one sees land! - -PEASANT. There's land, right enough, but it's not ours. Your elbow's -not far from your mouth, but just you try to bite it! - -TRAVELLER. Not yours! Whose is it, then? - -PEASANT. Whose?... Whose, indeed! There's that fat-bellied devil over -there ... he's seized 5000 acres. He has no family, but he's never -satisfied, while we've had to give up keeping fowls--there's nowhere -for them to run about! It's nearly time for us to stop keeping cattle, -too ... we've no fodder for them; and if a calf, or maybe a horse, -happens to stray into his field, we have to pay fines and give him our -last farthing. - -TRAVELLER. What does he want all that land for? - -PEASANT. What does he want the land for? Why, of course, he sows and -reaps and sells, and puts the money in the bank. - -TRAVELLER. How can he plough a stretch like that, and get his harvest -in? - -PEASANT. You talk as if you were a child!... What's he got money for, -if not to hire labourers?... It's they that do the ploughing and -reaping. - -TRAVELLER. These labourers are some of you peasants, I expect? - -PEASANT. Some are from these parts, and some from elsewhere. - -TRAVELLER. Anyway, they are peasants? - -PEASANT. Of course they are!... the same as ourselves. Who but a -peasant ever works? Of course they are peasants. - -TRAVELLER. And if the peasants did not go and work for him...? - -PEASANT. Go or stay, he wouldn't let us have it. If the land were to -lie idle, he'd not part with it! Like the dog in the manger, that -doesn't eat the hay himself and won't let others eat it! - -TRAVELLER. But how can he keep his land? I suppose it stretches over -some three or four miles? How can he watch it all? - -PEASANT. How queer you talk! He himself lies on his back, and fattens -his paunch; but he keeps watchmen! - -TRAVELLER. And those watchmen, I dare say, are also peasants? - -PEASANT. What else could they be? Of course they are! - -TRAVELLER. So that the peasants work the rich man's land for him, and -guard it for him from themselves? - -PEASANT. But how can one help it? - -TRAVELLER. Simply by not going to work for him, and not being his -watchmen! Then the land would be free. The land is God's, and the -people are God's; let him who needs it, plough and sow and gather in -the harvest! - -PEASANT. That is to say, you think we ought to strike? To meet that, -my friend, they have the soldiers. They'd send their soldiers ... one, -two, fire!... some would get shot, and others taken up. Soldiers give -short shrift! - -TRAVELLER. But is it not also the likes of you that are soldiers? Why -should they shoot at their own fellows? - -PEASANT. How can they help it? That's what the oath is for. - -TRAVELLER. The oath? What oath? - -PEASANT. Don't you understand? Aren't you a Russian?... The oath -is--well, it's the oath! - -TRAVELLER. It means swearing, doesn't it? - -PEASANT. Well, of course! They swear by the Cross and by the Gospels, -to lay down their life for their country. - -TRAVELLER. Well, I think that should not be done. - -PEASANT. What should not be done? - -TRAVELLER. Taking the oath. - -PEASANT. Not done? Why, the law demands it! - -TRAVELLER. No, it is not in the Law. In the Law of Christ, it is -plainly forbidden. He said: "Swear not at all." - -PEASANT. Come now! What about the priests? - -TRAVELLER [_takes a book, looks for the place, and reads_]: "It was -said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, _but I say -unto you, Swear not at all_.... But let your speech be, Yea, yea; nay, -nay: and whatsoever is more than these is of the evil one" (Matthew v. -33). So, according to Christ's Law, you must not swear. - -PEASANT. If there were no oath, there would be no soldiers. - -TRAVELLER. Well, and what good are the soldiers? - -PEASANT. What good?... But supposing other Tsars were to come and -attack our Tsar ... what then? - -TRAVELLER. If the Tsars quarrel, let them fight it out themselves. - -PEASANT. Come! How could that be possible? - -TRAVELLER. It's very simple. He that believes in God, no matter what -you may tell him, will never kill a man. - -PEASANT. Then why did the priest read out in church that war was -declared, and the Reserves were to be ready? - -TRAVELLER. I know nothing about that; but I know that in the -Commandments, in the Sixth, it says quite plainly: "Thou shalt do no -murder." You see, it is forbidden for a man to kill a man. - -PEASANT. That means, at home! At the wars, how could you help it? -They're enemies! - -TRAVELLER. According to Christ's Gospel, there is no such thing as an -enemy. You are told to love everybody. - - [_Opens the Bible and looks for place._ - -PEASANT. Well, read it! - -TRAVELLER. "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou -shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the -judgment.... Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt love thy -neighbour, and hate thine enemy: but I say unto you, Love your enemies, -and pray for them that persecute you" (Matthew v. 21, 43-44). - - [_A long pause._ - -PEASANT. Well, but what about taxes? Ought we to refuse to pay them too? - -TRAVELLER. That's as you think best. If your own children are hungry, -naturally you should first feed them. - -PEASANT. So you think soldiers are not wanted at all? - -TRAVELLER. What good do they do? Millions and millions are collected -from you and your folk for them--it's no joke to clothe and feed such -a host! There are nearly a million of those idlers, and they're only -useful to keep the land from you; and it is on you they will fire. - - [_The_ PEASANT _sighs, and shakes his head_. - -PEASANT. That's true enough! If everybody were to do it at once ... but -if one or two make a stand, they'll be shot or sent to Siberia, and -that will be the end of the matter. - -TRAVELLER. And yet there are men, even now--young men--who by -themselves stand up for the Law of God, and refuse to serve. They say: -"According to Christ's Law, I dare not be a murderer! Do as you please, -but I won't take a rifle in my hands!" - -PEASANT. Well, and what happens? - -TRAVELLER. They are put in prison; they remain there, poor fellows, -three years, or four.... But I've heard that it's not so bad for them, -for the authorities themselves respect them. And some are even let out -as unfit for service--bad health! Though he is sometimes a strapping, -broad-shouldered fellow, he's "not fit," because they're afraid -of taking a man of that kind, for fear he should tell others that -soldiering is against God's Law. So they let him go. - -PEASANT. Really? - -TRAVELLER. Yes, sometimes it happens that they are let off; but it also -happens that they die there. Still, soldiers die too, and even get -maimed in service--lose a leg, or an arm.... - -PEASANT. Oh, you're a clever fellow! It would be a good thing, only it -won't work out like that. - -TRAVELLER. Why not? - -PEASANT. _That's_ why. - -TRAVELLER. What's _that_? - -PEASANT. That the authorities have power given them. - -TRAVELLER. They only have power, because you obey them. Do not obey the -authorities, and they won't have any power! - -PEASANT. [_shakes his head_]. You do talk queer! How can one do without -the authorities? It is quite impossible to do without some authority. - -TRAVELLER. Of course it is! Only whom will you take for authority--the -policeman, or God? Whom will you obey--the policeman, or God? - -PEASANT. That goes without saying! No one is greater than God. To live -for God is the chief thing. - -TRAVELLER. Well, if you mean to live for God, you must obey God -and not man. And if you live according to God, you will not drive -people off the land: you will not be a policeman, a village elder, a -tax-collector, a watchman, or above all, a soldier.... You will not -promise to kill men. - -PEASANT. And how about those long-maned fellows--the priests? They must -see that things are being done not according to God's Law. Then why -don't they teach how it ought to be? - -TRAVELLER. I don't know anything about that. Let them go their way, and -you go yours. - -PEASANT. They are long-maned devils! - -TRAVELLER. It's not right to judge others like that! We must each -remember our own faults. - -PEASANT. Yes, that's right enough. [_Long pause. The_ PEASANT _shakes -his head, and smiles_.] What it comes to is this: that if we all were -to tackle it at once, the land would be ours at one go, and there would -be no more taxes. - -TRAVELLER. No, friend, that's not what I mean. I don't mean that if we -live according to God's will, the land will be ours, and there will be -no more taxes. I mean that our life is evil, only because we ourselves -do evil. If one lived according to God's will, life would not be evil. -What our life would be like if we lived according to God's will, God -alone knows; but certainly life would not be evil. We drink, scold, -fight, go to law, envy, and hate men; we do not accept God's Law; we -judge others; call one fat-paunched and another long-maned; but if -any one offers us money, we are ready to do anything for it: go as -watchmen, policemen, or soldiers, to help ruin others, and to kill our -own brothers. We ourselves live like devils, and yet we complain of -others! - -PEASANT. That's so! But it is hard, oh, how hard! Sometimes it's more -than one can bear. - -TRAVELLER. But, for our souls' sakes, we must bear it. - -PEASANT. That's quite right.... We live badly, because we forget God. - -TRAVELLER. Yes, that's it! That's why life is evil. Take the -Revolutionaries; they say: "Let's kill this or that squire, or these -fat-paunched rich folk (it's all because of them); and then our life -will be happy." So they kill, and go on killing, and it profits them -nothing. It's the same with the authorities: "Give us time!" they say, -"and we'll hang, and do to death in the prisons, a thousand or a couple -of thousand people, and then life will become good...." But it only -gets worse and worse! - -PEASANT. Yes, that's just it! How can judging and punishing do any -good? It must be done according to God's Law. - -TRAVELLER. Yes, that is just it. You must serve either God or the -devil. If it's to be the devil, go and drink, scold, fight, hate, -covet, don't obey God's Law, but man's laws, and life will be evil. If -it is God, obey Him alone. Don't rob or kill, and don't even condemn, -and do not hate any one. Do not plunge into evil actions, and then -there will be no evil life. - -PEASANT [_sighs_]. You speak well, daddy, very well--only we are taught -so little! Oh, if we were taught more like that, things would be quite -different! But people come from the town, and chatter about their way -of bettering things: they chatter fine, but there's nothing in it.... -Thank you, daddy, your words are good!... Well, where will you sleep? -On the oven, yes?... The missis will make up a bed for you. - - - - - A TALK WITH A WAYFARER - - -I have come out early. My soul feels light and joyful. It is a -wonderful morning. The sun is only just appearing from behind the -trees. The dew glitters on them and on the grass. Everything is lovely; -everyone is lovable. It is so beautiful that, as the saying has it, -"One does not want to die." And, really, I do not want to die. I would -willingly live a little longer in this world with such beauty around -me and such joy in my heart. That, however, is not my affair, but the -Master's.... - -I approach the village. Before the first house I see a man standing, -motionless, sideways to me. He is evidently waiting for somebody or -something, and waiting as only working people know how to wait, without -impatience or vexation. I draw nearer: he is a bearded, strong, healthy -peasant, with shaggy, slightly grey hair, and a simple, worker's face. -He is smoking not a "cigar" twisted out of paper, but a short pipe. We -greet one another. - -"Where does old Alexéy live?" I ask. - -"I don't know, friend; we are strangers here." - -Not "_I_ am a stranger," but "_we_ are strangers." A Russian is hardly -ever alone. If he is doing something wrong, he may perhaps say "I"; -otherwise it is always "we" the family, "we" the _artél_, "we" the -Commune. - -"Strangers? Where do you come from?" - -"We are from Kaloúga." - -I point to his pipe. "And how much do you spend a year on smoking? -Three or more roubles, I daresay!" - -"Three? That would hardly be enough." - -"Why not give it up?" - -"How can one give it up when one's accustomed to it?" - -"I also used to smoke, but have given it up ... and I feel so well--so -free!" - -"Well of course ... but it's dull without it." - -"Give it up, and the dulness will go! Smoking is no good, you know!" - -"No good at all." - -"If it's no good, you should not do it. Seeing you smoke, others will -do the same ... especially the young folk. They'll say, 'If the old -folk smoke, God himself bids us do it!'" - -"That's true enough." - -"And your son, seeing you smoke, will do it too." - -"Of course, my son too...." - -"Well then, give it up!" - -"I would, only it's so dull without it.... It's chiefly from dulness. -When one feels dull, one has a smoke. That's where the mischief -lies.... It's dull! At times it's so dull ... so dull ... so dull!" -drawled he. - -"The best remedy for that is to think of one's soul." - -He threw a glance at me, and at once the expression of his face quite -changed: instead of his former kindly, humorous, lively and talkative -expression, he became attentive and serious. - -"'Think of the soul ... of the soul,' you say?" he asked, gazing -questioningly into my eyes. - -"Yes! When you think of the soul, you give up all foolish things." - -His face lit up affectionately. - -"You are right, daddy! You say truly. To think of the soul is the -great thing. The soul's the chief thing...." He paused. "Thank you, -daddy, it is quite true"; and he pointed to his pipe. "What is it?... -Good-for-nothing rubbish! The soul's the chief thing!" repeated he. -"What you say is true," and his face grew still kindlier and more -serious. - -I wished to continue the conversation, but a lump rose in my throat (I -have grown very weak in the matter of tears), and I could not speak. -With a joyful, tender feeling I took leave of him, swallowing my tears, -and I went away. - -Yes, how can one help being joyful, living amid such people? How can -one help expecting from such people all that is most excellent? - - - - - FROM THE DIARY - - -I am again staying with my friend, Tchertkóff, in the Moscow -Government, and am visiting him now for the same reason that once -caused us to meet on the border of the Orlóf Government, and that -brought me to the Moscow Government a year ago. The reason is that -Tchertkóff is allowed to live anywhere in the whole world, except in -Toúla Government. So I travel to different ends of it to see him. - -Before eight o'clock I go out for my usual walk. It is a hot day. At -first I go along the hard clay road, past the acacia bushes already -preparing to crack their pods and shed their seeds; then past the -yellowing rye-field, with its still fresh and lovely cornflowers, and -come out into a black fallow field, now almost all ploughed up. To the -right an old man, in rough peasant-boots, ploughs with a _sohá_[4] and -a poor, skinny horse; and I hear an angry old voice shout: "Gee-up!" -and, from time to time, "Now, you devil!" and again, "Gee-up, devil!" I -want to speak with him; but when I pass his furrow, he is at the other -end of the field. I go on. There is another ploughman further on. This -one I shall probably meet when he reaches the road. If so, I'll speak -to him, if there is a chance. And we do meet just as he reaches the -road. - - [4] A primitive plough used by the peasants. - -He ploughs with a proper plough, harnessed to a big roan horse, and -is a well-built young lad, well clad, and wearing good boots; and he -answers my greeting of "God aid you!" pleasantly. - -The plough does not cut into the hard, beaten track that crosses the -field, and he lifts it over and halts. - -"You find the plough better than a _sohá_?" - -"Why, certainly ... much easier!" - -"Have you had it long?" - -"Not long--and it nearly got stolen...." - -"But you got it back?" - -"Yes! One of our own villagers had it." - -"Well, and did you have the law of him?" - -"Why, naturally!" - -"But why prosecute, if you got the plough back?" - -"Why, you see, he's a thief!" - -"What then? The man will go to prison, and learn to steal worse!" - -He looks at me seriously and attentively, evidently neither agreeing -nor contradicting this, to him, new idea. - -He has a fresh, healthy, intelligent face, with hair just appearing on -his chin and upper lip, and with intelligent grey eyes. - -He leaves the plough, evidently wishing to have a rest, and inclined -for a talk. I take the plough-handles, and touch the perspiring, -well-fed, full-grown mare. She presses her weight into her collar, and -I take a few steps. But I do not manage the plough, the share jumps out -of the furrow, and I stop the horse. - -"No, you can't do it." - -"I have only spoilt your furrow." - -"That doesn't matter--I'll put it right!" - -He backs his horse, to plough the part I have missed, but does not go -on ploughing. - -"It is hot in the sun.... Let's go and sit under the bushes," says he, -pointing to a little wood just across the field. - -We go into the shade of the young birches. He sits down on the ground, -and I stop in front of him. - -"What village are you from?" - -"From Botvínino." - -"Is that far?" - -"There it is, shimmering on the hill," says he, pointing. - -"Why are you ploughing so far from home?" - -"This is not my land: it belongs to a peasant here. I have hired myself -out to him." - -"Hired yourself out for the whole summer?" - -"No--to plough this ground twice, and sow it, all properly." - -"Has he much land, then?" - -"Yes, he sows about fifteen bushels of seed." - -"Does he! And is that horse your own? It's a good horse." - -"Yes, it's not a bad mare," he answers, with quiet pride. - -The mare really is, in build, size, and condition, such as a peasant -rarely possesses. - -"I expect you are in service somewhere, and do carting?" - -"No, I live at home. I'm my own master!" - -"What, so young?" - -"Yes! I was left fatherless at seven. My brother works at a Moscow -factory. At first my sister helped; she also worked at a factory. But -since I was fourteen I've had no help in all my affairs, and have -worked and earned," says he, with calm consciousness of his dignity. - -"Are you married?" - -"No." - -"Then, who does your housework?" - -"Why, mother!" - -"And you have a cow?" - -"Two cows." - -"Have you, really?... And how old are you?" I ask. - -"Eighteen," he replies, with a slight smile, understanding that it -interests me to see that so young a fellow has been able to manage so -well. This, evidently, pleases him. - -"How young you still are!" I say. "And will you have to go as a -soldier?" - -"Of course ... be conscripted!" says he, with the calm expression with -which people speak of old age, death, and in general of things it is -useless to argue about, because they are unavoidable. - -As always happens now when one speaks to peasants, our talk touches on -the land, and, describing his life, he says he has not enough land, and -that if he did not do wage-labour, sometimes with and sometimes without -his horse, he would not have anything to live on. But he says this with -merry, pleased and proud self-satisfaction; and again remarks that he -was left alone, master of the house, when he was fourteen, and has -earned everything himself. - -"And do you drink vódka?" - -He evidently does not like to say that he does, and still does not wish -to tell a lie. - -"I do," he says, softly, shrugging his shoulders. - -"And can you read and write?" - -"Very well." - -"And haven't you read books about strong drink?" - -"No, I haven't." - -"Well, but wouldn't it be better not to drink at all?" - -"Of course. Little good comes of it." - -"Then why not give it up?" - -He is silent, evidently understanding, and thinking it over. - -"It can be done, you know," say I, "and what a good thing it would -be!... The day before yesterday I went to Ívino. When I reached one of -the houses, the master came out to greet me, calling me by name. It -turned out that we had met twelve years before.... It was Koúzin--do -you know him?" - -"Of course I do! Sergéy Timoféevitch, you mean?" - -I tell him how we started a Temperance Society twelve years ago with -Koúzin, who, though he used to drink, has quite given it up, and now -tells me he is very glad to be rid of so nasty a habit; and, one sees, -is living well, with his house and everything well managed, and who, -had he not given up drinking, would have had none of these things. - -"Yes, that is so!" - -"Well then, you know, you should do the same. You are such a nice, good -lad.... What do you need vódka for, when you say yourself there is no -good in it?... You, too, should give it up!... It would be such a good -thing!" - -He remains silent, and looks at me intently. I prepare to go, and hold -out my hand to him. - -"Truly, give it up from now! It would be such a good thing!" - -With his strong hand he firmly presses mine, evidently regarding my -gesture as challenging him to promise. - -"Very well then ... it can be done!" says he, quite unexpectedly, and -in a joyous and resolute tone. - -"Do you really promise?" say I, surprised. - -"Well, of course! I promise," he says, nodding his head and smiling -slightly. - -The quiet tone of his voice, and his serious, attentive face, show that -he is not joking, but that he is really making a promise he means to -keep. - -Old age or illness, or both together, has made me very ready to cry -when I am touched with joy. The simple words of that kindly, firm, -strong man, so evidently ready for all that is good, and standing so -alone, touch me so that sobs rise to my throat, and I step aside, -unable to utter a word. - -After going a few steps, I regain control of myself, and turn to him -and say (I have already asked his name): - -"Mind, Alexander! ... the proverb says, 'Be slow to promise, but having -promised, keep it!'" - -"Yes, that's so. It will be safe." - -I have seldom experienced a more joyful feeling than I had when I left -him. - -I have omitted to say that during our talk I had offered to give him -some leaflets on drink and some booklets. [A man in a neighbouring -village posted up one of those same leaflets on the wall outside his -house lately, but it was pulled down and destroyed by the policeman.] -He thanked me, and said he would come and fetch them in the -dinner-hour. - -He did not come in the dinner-hour, and I, sinner that I am, suspected -that our whole conversation was not so important to him as it seemed -to me, and that he did not want the books, and that, in general, I had -attributed to him what was not in him. But he came in the evening, all -perspiring from his work and from the walk. After finishing his work, -he had ridden home, put up the plough, attended to his horse, and had -now come a quarter of a mile to fetch the books. - -I was sitting, with some visitors, on a splendid veranda, looking out -on to flower-beds with ornamental vases on flower-set mounds--in short, -in luxurious surroundings such as one is always ashamed of when one -enters into human relations with working people. - -I went out to him, and at once asked, "Have you not changed your mind? -Will you really keep your promise?" - -And again, with the same kindly smile, he replied, "Of course!... I -have already told mother. She's glad, and thanks you." - -I saw a bit of paper behind his ear. - -"You smoke?" - -"I do," he said, evidently expecting that I should begin persuading him -to leave that off too. But I did not try to. - -He remained silent; and then, by some strange connection of thoughts (I -think he saw the interest I felt in his life, and wished to tell me of -the important event awaiting him in the autumn) he said: - -"But I did not tell you.... I am already betrothed...." - -And he smiled, looking questioningly into my eyes. "It's to be in the -autumn!" - -"Really! That's a good thing! Where is she from?" - -He told me. - -"Has she a dowry?" - -"No; what dowry should she have? But she's a good girl." - -The idea came to me to put to him the question which always interests -me when I come in contact with good young people of our day. - -"Tell me," said I, "and forgive my asking--but please tell the truth: -either do not answer at all, or tell the whole truth...." - -He looked at me quietly and attentively. - -"Why should I not tell you?" - -"Have you ever sinned with a woman?" - -Without a moment's hesitation, he replied simply: - -"God preserve me! There's been nothing of the sort!" - -"That's good, very good!" said I. "I am glad for you." - -There was nothing more to say just then. - -"Well then, I will fetch you the books, and God's help be with you!" - -And we took leave of one another. - -Yes, what a splendid, fertile soil on which to sow, and what a dreadful -sin it is to cast upon it the seeds of falsehood, violence, drunkenness -and profligacy! - - - OPEN ROAD PRESS, 3 AMEN CORNER, LONDON, E.C. - - - - - The Free Age Press - - - POPULAR PUBLICATIONS OF - LEO TOLSTOY'S - AND KINDRED WRITINGS - - - The following are all by Leo Tolstoy - - SIXPENNY SERIES (postage 1d.) - Also Cloth bound, 1s. net (postage 2d.), except those marked * - - What is Religion? - - What I Believe - - On Life - - The Kingdom of God is within You - - What Shall We Do? - - The Slavery of our Times - - Popular Stories - First and Second Series, in 1 Volume - - The Divine and the Human - - A Murderer's Remorse - - Tolstoy on Shakespeare* - - Revolution in Russia* - - War Album* - - A Peace Album. 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