Page 705 - ANNA KARENINA

Anna Karenina

occurred to the laborer to raise the share when he turned
the plough, and forcing it round, he strained the horses
and tore up the ground, and Levin was begged not to
mind about it. The horses were allowed to stray into the

wheat because not a single laborer would consent to be
night-watchman, and in spite of orders to the contrary, the
laborers insisted on taking turns for night duty, and Ivan,
after working all day long, fell asleep, and was very
penitent for his fault, saying, ‘Do what you will to me,
your honor.’
They killed three of the best calves by letting them into
the clover aftermath without care as to their drinking, and
nothing would make the men believe that they had been
blown out by the clover, but they told him, by way of
consolation, that one of his neighbors had lost a hundred
and twelve head of cattle in three days. All this happened,
not because anyone felt ill-will to Levin or his farm; on
the contrary, he knew that they liked him, thought him a
simple gentleman (their highest praise); but it happened
simply because all they wanted was to work merrily and
carelessly, and his interests were not only remote and
incomprehensible to them, but fatally opposed to their
most just claims. Long before, Levin had felt dissatisfaction
with his own position in regard to the land. He saw where

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