Anna Karenina

Chapter 29
The carrying out of Levin's plan presented many difficulties; but he
struggled on, doing his utmost, and attained a result which, though not what
he desired, was enough to enable him, without self-deception, to believe
that the attempt was worth the trouble. One of the chief difficulties was that
the process of cultivating the land was in full swing, that it was impossible
to stop everything and begin it all again from the beginning, and the
machine had to be mended while in motion.
When on the evening that he arrived home he informed the bailiff of his
plans, the latter with visible pleasure agreed with what he said so long as he
was pointing out that all that had been done up to that time was stupid and
useless. The bailiff said that he had said so a long while ago, but no heed
had been paid him. But as for the proposal made by Levin--to take a part as
shareholder with his laborers in each agricultural undertaking-- at this the
bailiff simply expressed a profound despondency, and offered no definite
opinion, but began immediately talking of the urgent necessity of carrying
the remaining sheaves of rye the next day, and of sending the men out for
the second ploughing, so that Levin felt that this was not the time for
discussing it.
On beginning to talk to the peasants about it, and making a proposition to
cede them the land on new terms, he came into collision with the same
great difficulty that they were so much absorbed by the current work of the
day, that they had not time to consider the advantages and disadvantages of
the proposed scheme.
The simple-hearted Ivan, the cowherd, seemed completely to grasp Levin's
proposal--that he should with his family take a share of the profits of the
cattle-yard--and he was in complete sympathy with the plan. But when
Levin hinted at the future advantages, Ivan's face expressed alarm and
regret that he could not hear all he had to say, and he made haste to find
himself some task that would admit of no delay: he either snatched up the
fork to pitch the hay out of the pens, or ran to get water or to clear out the
dung.
Chapter 29
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Another difficulty lay in the invincible disbelief of the peasant that a
landowner's object could be anything else than a desire to squeeze all he
could out of them. They were firmly convinced that his real aim (whatever
he might say to them) would always be in what he did not say to them. And
they themselves, in giving their opinion, said a great deal but never said
what was their real object. Moreover (Levin felt that the irascible
landowner had been right) the peasants made their first and unalterable
condition of any agreement whatever that they should not be forced to any
new methods of tillage of any kind, nor to use new implements. They
agreed that the modern plough ploughed better, that the scarifier did the
work more quickly, but they found thousands of reasons that made it out of
the question for them to use either of them; and though he had accepted the
conviction that he would have to lower the standard of cultivation, he felt
sorry to give up improved methods, the advantages of which were so
obvious. But in spite of all these difficulties he got his way, and by autumn
the system was working, or at least so it seemed to him.
At first Levin had thought of giving up the whole farming of the land just
as it was to the peasants, the laborers, and the bailiff on new conditions of