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Updated: June 28, 2025
"The Dream is true!" he cried. "Did you see, Anna? We are as good as they! This is the land where a muzhik is as good as a prince of the blood!" The President was nearing the close of his address. Anna shook Ivan, and Ivan came out of the trance which the President's words had brought upon him. He sat up and listened intently: We grow great by dreams. All big men are dreamers.
* Amongst themselves the peasants are not addicted to thieving, as is proved by the fact that they habitually leave their doors unlocked when the inmates of the house are working in the fields; but if the muzhik finds in the proprietor's farmyard a piece of iron or a bit of rope, or any of those little things that he constantly requires and has difficulty in obtaining, he is very apt to pick it up and carry it home.
"He is a rich muzhik!" says a voice in the crowd. "Lay on him five souls!" "Five souls I cannot! By God, I cannot!" "Very well, you shall have four," says the leading spirit to Ivan; and then, turning to the crowd, inquires, "Shall it be so?" "Four! four!" murmurs the crowd; and the question is settled. Next comes one of the old wives just referred to.
And what was worst of all, she no longer held any opinions. She saw and understood everything that went on around her, but she could not form an opinion about it. She knew of nothing to talk about. And how dreadful not to have opinions! For instance, you see a bottle, or you see that it is raining, or you see a muzhik riding by in a wagon.
A muzhik in a white apron wearing a conspicuous emblem made his way through the crowd and, screwing up his mouth, cried like a madman: "For Rush-ya, I say, fel-lows, kill 'em!" He threw himself on Elisaveta and began to strangle her. She awoke. Again there was a dark, terrible dream. Nothing as yet was to be seen, it was hard to tell what was happening. But fear filled the intense darkness.
An austere, freckled woman was saying: "Beat me, seeing that I'm your woman, but there's no law that'll let you tie up with a girl so long as you've got a wife living." A muzhik walked at her side, a dirty, ill-smelling fellow, who said nothing and hiccuped. Once more there was a nobleman, large, stout, bristling, savage-looking. He ranted: "Hang them! Flog them!"
Do you remember, Pavel, you explained to me that as a man lives, so he also thinks, and that if the workingman says 'Yes, the master must say 'No, and if the workingman says 'No, the master, because of the nature of the beast, is bound to cry 'Yes. So you see, their natures are different one from the other. The muzhik has his nature, and the gentleman has his.
"Here I am!" he said, raising his head and smiling. He wore a short fur overcoat, all stained with tar, a pair of dark mittens stuck from his belt, and his head was covered with a shaggy fur cap. "Are you well? Have they let you out of prison, Pavel? So, how are you, Nilovna?" "Why, you? How glad I am to see you!" Slowly removing his overclothes, Rybin said: "Yes, I've turned muzhik again.
Meanwhile it is plain that the local peasant has become a mere dissolute, lazy drunkard. Give a muzhik enough to live upon for twelve months without working, and you will corrupt him for ever, so inured to rags and vagrancy will he grow. And what is the good of that piece of pasture there of that piece on the further side of those huts? It is a mere flooded tract.
A silence ensues, save that the young fellow goes on snorting and fidgeting, and the raindrops continue to fall with the same reluctance, the same indolence, as ever. Then once more the woman's voice is heard through the pattering. "Perhaps," says the voice, "you have guessed that I am seeking a husband? Yes, I AM seeking one a good, steady muzhik." "But I am NOT a good, steady muzhik."
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