s come! Down with the taxes! Down with the landlords!"

Some of the peasants stared at him in amazement, others passed on
without taking any notice of him, thinking that he was drunk; one even
said when he got home that he had met a Frenchman on the way who was
jabbering away at something he did not understand. Nejdanov had common
sense enough to know that what he was doing was unutterably stupid and
absurd had he not got himself up to such a pitch of excitement that he
was no longer able to discriminate between sense and nonsense. Pavel
tried to quiet him, saying that it was impossible to go on like that;
that they were quite near a large village, the first on the borders of
T., and that there they could look around.... But Nejdanov would not
calm down, and at the same time his face bore a sad, almost despairing,
expression. Their horse was an energetic, round little thing, with a
clipped mane on its scraggy neck. It tugged at the reins, and its strong
little legs flew as fast as they could, just as if it were conscious
of bearing important people to the scene of action. Just before they
reached the village, Nejdanov saw a group of about eight peasants
standing by the side of the road at the closed doors of a granary. He
instantly jumped out of the cart, rushed up to them, and began shouting
at them, thumping his fists and gesticulating for about five minutes.
The words "For Freedom! March on! Put the shoulder to the wheel!" could
be distinguished from among the rest of his confused words.

The peasants, who had met before the granary for the purpose of
discussing how to fill it once more--if only to show that they
were doing something (it was the communal granary and consequently
empty)--fixed their eyes on Nejdanov and seemed to listen to him with
the greatest attention, but they had evidently not understood a word he
had said, for no sooner was his back turned, shouting for the last time
"Freedom!" as he rushed away, when one of them, the most sagacious of
the lot, shook his head saying, "What a severe one!" "He must be an
officer," another remarked, to which the wise one said: "We know all
about that--he doesn't talk for nothing. We'll have to pay the piper."

"Heavens! what nonsense this all is!" Nejdanov thought to himself, as he
sat down next to Pavel in the cart. "But then none of us know how to get
at the people--perhaps this is the right way after all! Who knows? Go
on! Does your heart ache? Let it!"

They