"Tolstoy, Leo - How Much Land Does A Man Need" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tolstoy Leo)

lying on the ground, and close by stood the stumps where the trees had
been. Pakhom was furious.

"If he had only cut one here and there it would have been bad enough,"
thought Pakhom, "but the rascal has actually cut down a whole clump. If I
could only find out who did this, I would pay him out."

He racked his brains as to who it could be. Finally he decided: "It must be
Simon - no one else could have done it." So he went to Simon's homestead to
have a look round, but he found nothing, and only had an angry scene.
However, he now felt more certain than ever that Simon had done it, and he
lodged a complaint. Simon was summoned. The case was tried, and retried,
and at the end of it all Simon was acquitted, there being no evidence
against him. Pakhom felt still more aggrieved, and let his anger loose upon
the elder and the judges.

"You let thieves grease your palms," said he. "If you were honest folk
yourselves you would not let a thief go free."

So Pakhom quarreled with the judges and with his neighbour. Threats to burn
his building began to be uttered. So though Pakhom had more land, his place
in the commune was much worse than before.

About this time a rumour got about that many people were moving to new
parts.

"There's no need for me to leave my land," thought Pakhom. "But some of the
others might leave our village and then there would be more room for us. I
would take over their land myself and make my estate a bit bigger. I could
then live more at ease. As it is, I am still too cramped to be
comfortable."

One day Pakhom was sitting at home when a peasant, passing through the
village, happened to call in. He was allowed to stay the night, and supper
was given him. Pakhom had a talk with this peasant and asked him where he
came from. The stranger answered that he came from beyond the Volga, where
he had been working. One word led to another, and the man went on to say
that many people were settling in those parts. He told how some people from
his village had settled there. They had joined the commune, and had had
twenty-five acres per man granted them. The land was so good, he said, that
the rye sown on it grew as high as a horse, and so thick that five cuts of
a sickle made a sheaf. One peasant, he said, had brought nothing with him
but his bare hands, and now he had six horses and two cows of his own.

Pakhom's heart kindled with desire. He thought:

"Why should I suffer in this narrow hole, if one can live so well
elsewhere? I will sell my land and my homestead here, and with the money I
will start afresh over there and get everything new. In this crowded place
one is always having trouble. But I must first go and find out all about it