Page:Complete Works of Count Tolstoy - 02.djvu/75

 Rh youngest, Ilyá, whom Nekhlyúdov had met in the gate, had no beard, and was smaller, ruddier, and more foppishly clad than the other two. The second, Ignát, was taller, more tanned, had a pointed beard, and, although he too wore boots, a driver's shirt, and a lambskin cap, he did not have the careless, holiday aspect of his younger brother. The eldest, Karp, was taller still, wore bast shoes, a gray caftan, and a shirt without gussets; he had a long red beard, and looked not only solemn, but even gloomy.

"Do you command me to send for father, your Grace?" he said, walking up to the master and bowing slightly and awkwardly.

"No, I will go myself to the apiary; I wish to look at his arrangement of it; but I want to talk with you," said Nekhlyúdov, walking over to the other end of the yard, so that Ignát might not hear what he was going to say to Karp.

The self-confidence and a certain pride, which were noticeable in the whole manner of these two peasants, and that which his nurse had told him, so embarrassed the young master that he found it hard to make up his mind to tell him of the matter in hand. He felt as though he were guilty of something; and it was easier for him to speak to one of the brothers, without being heard by the other. Karp looked somewhat surprised at being asked by the master to step aside, but he followed him.

"It is this," began Nekhlyúdov, hesitating, "I wanted to ask you how many horses you had."

"There will be some five sets of three; there are also some colts," Karp answered, freely, scratching his back.

"Do your brothers drive the stage?"

"We drive the stage with three tróykas. Ilyúshka has been doing some hauling; he has just returned."

"Do you find that profitable? How much do you earn in this manner?"