a glass of tea offered him by the clerk,
he went to the village.

CHAPTER IV.

The crowd stood talking in front of the house of the bailiff, and as
Nekhludoff approached, the conversation ceased and the peasants, like
those of Kusminskoie, removed their caps. It was a coarser crowd than
the peasants of Kusminskoie, and almost all the peasants wore bast
shoes and homespun shirts and caftans. Some of them were bare-footed
and only in their shirts.

With some effort Nekhludoff began his speech by declaring that he
intended to surrender the land to them. The peasants were silent, and
there was no change in the expression of their faces.

"Because I consider," said Nekhludoff, blushing, "that every man ought
to have the right to use the land."

"Why, certainly." "That is quite right," voices of peasants were
heard.

Nekhludoff continued, saying that the income from the land should be
distributed among all, and he therefore proposed that they take the
land and pay into the common treasury such rent as they may decide
upon, such money to be used for their own benefit. Exclamations of
consent and approbation continued to be heard, but the faces of the
peasants became more and more grave, and the eyes that at first were
fixed on the master were lowered, as if desiring not to shame him with
the fact that his cunning was understood by all, and that he could not
fool anybody.

Nekhludoff spoke very clearly, and the peasants were sensible folks;
but he was not understood, and could not be understood by them for the
same reason which prevented the clerk from understanding him for a
long time. They were convinced that it was natural for every man to
look out for his own interest. And as to the land owners, the
experience of several generations had taught them long ago that these
were always serving their own interests.

"Well, what rate do you intend to assess," asked Nekhludoff.

"Why assess? We cannot do that? The land is yours; it is for you to
say," some in the crowd said.

"But understand that you are to use the money for the common wants."

"We cannot do it. The community is one thing, and this is another
thing."

"You must understand," said the smiling clerk, wishing to explain the
offer, "that the Prince is giving you the land for money which is to
go into the community's treasury."

"We understand it very well," said a toothless old man without raising
his eyes. "Something like a bank, only we must p