Page:Tolstoy - Tales from Tolstoi.djvu/178

Tales from Tolstoi The overseer had the upper hand, and he sat on the necks of the muzhiks. He, too, was a family man; he had a wife and two married daughters, and he had earned money, and had wherewith to live upon, to live upon without sin; but he was envious and sunken in sin. He began by worrying the muzhiks on the estate till their life became a burden to them. He set on foot a brick-field, and there he ground down the muzhiks, women and all, and made them make and sell the bricks. The muzhiks went to Moscow and complained to the proprietor, but their complaint came to nought. He sent away the muzhiks unanswered, and did not withdraw his favour from the overseer. The overseer found out that the muzhiks had gone to complain of him, and he paid them out for it. The existence of the muzhiks became worse than ever. Among the muzhiks themselves, too, there were people without good faith, and they began to tell tales of their brethren and play the spy on one another. So there was a great confusion among the whole community, and the overseer raged like a madman.

And so matters went from bad to worse, and the overseer led them such a life that they began to fear him like a wild beast. If he walked about in the village they all hid themselves away as if he were a wolf, and whosoever met him dared not so much as raise their eyes to his face. And the overseer saw this and grew even more evilly disposed towards them because they feared him so. And he visited them yet more with stripes and tasks, and the muzhiks suffered many grievous plagues at his hands. 128