Page:The Complete Works of Lyof N. Tolstoi - 11 (Crowell, 1899).djvu/236

 of a particularly needy village, we drive to it, go to the starosta, and having explained our purpose, we call in some of the old men and question them about the actual condition of the farms from one end of the village to the other. The starosta, his wife, the old men, and perhaps one or two more who have come out of curiosity to the izba, describe to us the state of affairs in the village.

"Well, on the left hand side: Maksim Aptokhin. How is he?"

"His is a hard case. He has children, seven of them. And no bread this long time. We must relieve him of his old woman and one child."

We write down, "From Maksim Aptokhin—two." Then comes Feodor Abramof.

" They are in a bad case too. Still, they can get along." But here the starosta's wife puts in a word, and says that he is in a bad state and we must relieve him of one child. Then comes an old man, a soldier of Nicholas's time.

"He is almost dead of starvation."

Demyon Sapronof—"they are subsisting."

And thus the whole village is scanned.

A proof of the justice and lack of caste feeling shown by the peasants in appraising the needs of the villagers may be seen in this: that notwithstanding the fact that many peasants were not admitted in the first village, in the village of Tatishchevo in Ruikhotskaya Volost', where we opened an eating-room, in the number of the unquestionably poor whom we had to admit to the free table, the peasants nominated, without the slightest hesitation, the widow of a pope and her children and the wife of a diachok or sexton.

Thus all the enumerated forms were generally divided according to the report of the starosta and the neighbors into three classes: those unquestionably hard up, some of whom ought to be admitted to the free table; those that were unquestionably well off, such as could support themselves; and thirdly, those concerning whom there was some question. This doubt was generally set-