Chapter 16
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18521852

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Author : Leo Tolstoy

Translator : Leo Wiener

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" I WANTED to ask your Grace about my children," said 
the old man, accidentally or purposely paying no attention to the master's angry look. 
" What ? " 
" Thank the Lord, we are well off for horses, and we 
have a hired man, so there will be no trouble about the 
manorial dues." 
" What of it ? " 
" If you would be kind enough to let my sons substitute 
money payment for their manorial labor, Ilyushka and 
Ignat would take out three troykas to do some teaming 
all summer. They may be able to earn something." 
" Where will they go ? " 
" Wherever it may be," replied Ilyushka, who had in the 
meantime tied the horses under the shed, and had come 
up to his father. " The Kadma boys took eight troykas 
out to Eomen, and they made a good living, and brought 
back home thirty rubles for each troyka ; and they say 
fodder is cheap in Odessa." 
" It is precisely this that I wanted to talk to you 
about," said the master, turning to the old man, and trying to introduce the discussion about the farm as deftly 
as possible. " Tell me, if you please, is it more profitable 
to do hauling than attend to a farm ? " 
" No end more profitable, your Grace ! " again interrupted Ilya, boldly shaking his hair. " There is no fodder 
at home to feed the horses with." 
"Well, and how much do you expect to earn in a 
summer ? " 
" In the spring, when fodder was dreadfully expensive, 
we traveled to Kiev with goods ; in Kursk we again 
took a load of grits for Moscow, and we made our living, 
the horses had enough to eat, and I brought fifteen rubles 
home." 
" It is not a disgrace to have an honest trade," said the 
master, again turning to the old man, " but it seems to 
me one might find another occupation ; besides, it is a 
kind of work where a young fellow travels about, sees all 
kinds of people, and gets easily spoiled," he said, repeating 
Karp's words. 
" What are we peasants to take up, if not hauling ? " 
answered the old man, with his gentle smile. "If you 
have a good job at teaming, you yourself have enough 
to eat, and so have the horses. And as to spoiling, 
thank the Lord, they are not hauling the first year ; and I 
myself have done teaming, and have never seen anything 
bad, nothing but good." 
" There are many things you might take up at home : 
land and meadows — " 
" How can we, your Grace ? " Ilyiishka interrupted him 
with animation. " We were born for this ; we know all 
about it ; the business is adapted to us, and we like it 
very much, your Grace, and there is nothing like teaming 
for us fellows." 
" Your Grace, will you do us the honor to walk into 
the hut? You have not yet seen our new house," said 
the old man, bowing low, and winking to his son. 
Ilyushka ran at full speed into the hut, and Nekhlyudov 
followed him, with the old man. 



     From : Wikisource.org

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     Chapter 16 -- Publication : November 30, 1851

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