How Much Land Does A Man Need1

How Much Land Does a Man Need?
Summary
"How Much Land Does a Man Need?" tells the story of a peasant named
Pahom, who boasts that if he had enough land, he wouldn't fear the Devil.
After a series of moves, however, it's clear that no matter how much land
Pahom has, he will never truly be happy.
 Pahom overheard a debate between his wife and her sister. He states that
if he had enough land, he wouldn't fear the Devil. The Devil overhears this
and decides to test him.
 An opportunity for Pahom to acquire land arrives when a lady decides to

sell her land. He buys some, but quickly falls out of favor with his
neighbors, necessitating a move.
 In his quest to attain more and more land, Pahom visits the Bakshirs,
whose chief agrees to sell him as much land as he can walk around in one
day. The caveat: he must return to the exact point he started, or the sale is
off. Pahom dies in the attempt.
Summary
(Comprehensive Guide to Short Stories, Critical Edition)
 print Print
 document PDF
 list Cite
 link Link
An elder sister from the city visits her younger sister, the wife of a peasant
farmer in the village. In the midst of their visit, the two of them get into an
argument about whether the city or the peasant lifestyle is preferable. The
elder sister suggests that city life boasts better clothes, good things to eat
and drink, and various entertainments, such as the theater. The younger
sister replies that though peasant life may be rough, she and her husband
are free, will always have enough to eat, and are not tempted by the devil
to indulge in such worldly pursuits.
Pahom, the husband of the younger sister, enters the debate and suggests
that the charm of the peasant life is that the peasant has no time to let
nonsense settle in his head. The one drawback of peasant life, he declares,
is that the peasant does not have enough land: “If I had plenty of land, I
shouldn’t fear the Devil himself!” The devil, overhearing this boast, decides
to give Pahom his wish, seducing him with the extra land that Pahom thinks
will give him security.
Pahom’s first opportunity to gain extra land comes when a lady in the
village decides to sell her three hundred acres. His fellow peasants try to
arrange the purchase for themselves as part of a commune, but the devil
sows discord among them and individual peasants begin to buy land.
Pahom obtains forty acres of his own. This pleases him initially, but soon
neighboring peasants allow their cows to stray into his meadows and their
horses among his corn, and he must seek justice from the district court. Not
only does he fail to receive recompense for the damages but also he ruins
his reputation among his former friends and neighbors; his extra land does
not bring him security.
Hearing a rumor about more and better farmland elsewhere, he decides to

sell his land and move his family to a new location. There he obtains 125
acres and is ten times better off than he was before, and he is very
pleased. However, he soon realizes that he could make a better profit with
more land on which to sow wheat. He makes a deal to obtain thirteen
hundred acres from a peasant in financial difficulty for one thousand rubles
and has all but clinched it when he hears a rumor about the land of the
Bashkirs. There, a tradesman tells him, a man can obtain land for less than
a penny an acre, simply by making friends with the chiefs.
Fueled by the desire for more, cheaper, and better land, Pahom seeks
directions for the land of the Bashkirs and leaves on a journey to obtain the
land that he thinks he needs. On arrival, he distributes gifts to the Bashkir
leaders and finds them courteous and friendly. He explains his reasons for
being there and, after some deliberation, they offer him whatever land he
wants for one thousand rubles. Pahom is pleased but concerned; he wants
boundaries, deeds, and “official sanction” to give him the assurance he
needs that they or their children will never reverse their decision.
The Bashkirs agree to this arrangement, and a deal is struck. Pahom can
have all the land that he can walk around in a day for one thousand rubles.
The one condition is that if he does not return on the same day to the spot
at which he began, the money will be lost. The night before his fateful walk,
Pahom plans his strategy; he will try to encircle thirty-five miles of land and
then sell the poorer land to peasants at a profit. When he awakes the next
day, he is met by the man whom he thought was the chief of the Bashkirs,
but whom he recognizes as the peasant who had come to his old home to
tell him of lucrative land deals available elsewhere. He looks again, and
realizes that he is speaking with the devil himself. He dismisses this
meeting as merely a dream and goes about his walk.
Pahom starts well, but he tries to encircle too much land, and by midday he
realizes that he has tried to create too big a circuit. Though afraid of death,
he knows that his only chance is to complete the circuit. “There is plenty of
land,” he says to himself, “but will God let me live on it?” As the sun comes
down, Pahom runs with all his remaining strength to the spot where he
began. Reaching it, he sees the chief laughing and holding his sides; he
remembers his dream and breathes his last breath. Pahom’s servant picks
up the spade with which Pahom had been marking his land and digs a
grave in which to bury him: “Six feet from his head to his heels was all he
needed.”

How Much Land Does A Man Need1

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

How Much Land Does A Man Need1

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

How Much Land Does A Man Need1

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

How Much Land Does a Man Need?

 An opportunity for Pahom to acquire land arrives when a lady decides to

Hearing a rumor about more and better farmland elsewhere, he decides to

You might also like