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Rh starosta a letter concerning which I should be glad of your advice."

With that he searched for the document, found it after some difficulty, and read it aloud.

"So you hear what the starosta says as to drought and a failure of the crops? What ought I to do?"

"The prime necessity," replied Tarantiev, "is complete quiet for you. That you would get at the house of the friend of whom I have just spoken; and I could come to see you every day."

"Yes, yes," said Oblomov. "But what about this affair of the starosta?"

"The starosta is lying. He is a thief and a rogue. Why, I know an estate, only fifty versts from yours, where the harvest of last year was so good that it cleared the owner completely of debt. That being so, why have the crops on your estate threatened to fail? Clearly the starosta is a robber. If I were there I'd teach him! Do you suppose this letter to be a natural, an honest one? No, no more than we can suppose that that sheep's head over there"—he pointed to Alexiev again—" is capable of writing an honest letter, or his kinsman either."