Anna Karenina - Part 8

It was impossible not to look after the affairs of Sergey

Ivanovitch, of his sister, of the peasants who came to him for

advice and were accustomed to do so--as impossible as to fling

down a child one is carrying in one's arms. It was necessary to

look after the comfort of his sister-in-law and her children, and

of his wife and baby, and it was impossible not to spend with

them at least a short time each day.

And all this, together with shooting and his new bee-keeping,

filled up the whole of Levin's life, which had no meaning at all

for him, when he began to think.

But besides knowing thoroughly what he had to do, Levin knew in

just the same way _how_ he had to do it all, and what was more

important than the rest.

He knew he must hire laborers as cheaply as possible; but to hire

men under bond, paying them in advance at less than the current

rate of wages, was what he must not do, even though it was very

profitable. Selling straw to the peasants in times of scarcity

of provender was what he might do, even though he felt sorry for

them; but the tavern and the pothouse must be put down, though

they were a source of income. Felling timber must be punished as

severely as possible, but he could not exact forfeits for cattle

being driven onto his fields; and though it annoyed the keeper

and made the peasants not afraid to graze their cattle on his

land, he could not keep their cattle as a punishment.

To Pyotr, who was paying a money-lender 10 per cent. a month, he

must lend a sum of money to set him free. But he could not let

off peasants who did not pay their rent, nor let them fall into

arrears. It was impossible to overlook the bailiff's not having

mown the meadows and letting the hay spoil; and it was equally

impossible to mow those acres where a young copse had been

planted. It was impossible to excuse a laborer who had gone home

in the busy season because his father was dying, however sorry he

might feel for him, and he must subtract from his pay those

costly months of idleness. But it was impossible not to allow

monthly rations to the old servants who were of no use for

anything.

Levin knew that when he got home he must first of all go to his

wife, who was unwell, and that the peasants who had been waiting

for three hours to see him could wait a little longer. He knew

too that, regardless of all the pleasure he felt in taking a

swarm, he must forego that pleasure, and leave the old man to see

to the bees alone, while he talked to the peasants who had come

after him to the bee-house.