A Russian Proprietor (Tolstoy)
Short summary
Russia, mid-19th century. Prince Nekhliudof, at nineteen, left university after his third term to dedicate his life to reforming his estate and improving the lives of his seven hundred serfs. His aunt warned him that good intentions often caused more harm than bad ones and urged him to pursue a conventional career, but he ignored her advice and took up residence on his estate.
After a year of implementing his management plan, Nekhliudof established a routine of visiting poor serfs on Sundays. His first visit was to Iván Churis, whose hovel was falling apart with a dangerous crack in the ceiling. When Nekhliudof offered to move the family to a new stone cottage at the farm, Churis and his wife adamantly refused, weeping and begging not to be forced from their ancestral home. The prince gave them money for a cow instead.
Next, he visited Yukhvanka, who tried to sell a healthy young horse while claiming it was old and worthless. When Nekhliudof exposed the lie, he angrily lectured the peasant about honesty and hard work, but his words had no effect. At Davidka's hovel, he found the lazy peasant sleeping in the middle of the day while his mother worked alone. Despite lectures about the necessity of work, Davidka remained unresponsive and submissive.
Walking home through his overgrown garden, Nekhliudof felt overwhelmed by melancholy and moral weariness.
My God! my God! Is it possible that my dreams about the ends and duties of my life are all idle nonsense?
He realized his peasants had not become richer or morally improved despite his efforts.
Detailed summary by chapters
Chapter titles are editorial.
Chapter 1. Young idealists decision to reform rural life
At nineteen years old, Prince Nekhliudof left university after his third term to spend the summer on his estate. Alone there, he wrote to his aunt, Countess Biéloretskaïa, explaining his momentous decision to abandon his studies and devote his life to rural management.
Is not my obligation sacred and clear, to labor for the welfare of these seven hundred human beings for whom I must be responsible to God?
His aunt replied with practical wisdom, warning that good intentions often cause more harm than bad ones, and that his plans were childish. She urged him to choose a conventional career that would bring success and honor. Despite her warnings, Nekhliudof submitted his petition for dismissal from university and took up residence on his estate.
Chapter 2. Systematic approach to peasant welfare; visit to Churis
After more than a year of implementing his estate management plan, Nekhliudof had established a routine. Sundays were reserved for receiving petitioners and visiting poor serfs. On one clear July Sunday, he set out to visit peasants who had requested assistance, consulting his notebook for their names and needs.
His first stop was the hovel of Iván Churis, whose dwelling consisted of a half-decayed structure buried in the ground with broken windows and rotting framework. The yard was filled with heaps of blackened manure and broken farming implements. Churis himself was a fifty-year-old peasant with intelligent blue eyes and an expression of lazy good-nature, though his body showed the effects of a lifetime of hard labor.
When Nekhliudof asked about the supports Churis had requested, the peasant showed him the broken-down sheds and explained that everything was rotting. The prince suggested that instead of mere supports, Churis needed entirely new construction, but the peasant insisted that patching would suffice.
Chapter 3. Churis refuses relocation despite wretched conditions
Inside the hut, Nekhliudof found conditions even worse. The small, dark room was infested with cockroaches, and a huge crack in the ceiling threatened to collapse at any moment. Churis's wife complained that the ceiling would crush them and their children, while her husband remained stoically resigned to their fate.
Nekhliudof proposed moving them to one of his new stone cottages at the farm, offering it on credit at cost price. The cottage was spacious, safe from fire, with good water and land for a vegetable garden. However, Churis adamantly refused, explaining that they could never live in an unknown place away from their ancestral home.
Don't destroy us, benefactor; you are our father, you are our mother! Where are you going to move us to? We are old folks; we have no one to help us.
Churis's wife threw herself at the prince's feet, weeping and begging not to be moved from their home. She spoke of their attachment to the place where their parents had lived and died, where they had their threshing-floor, garden, and willows. Nekhliudof, moved by their distress, assured them they would not be forced to relocate if they didn't wish it.
Chapter 4. Discussion of poverty and Churiss sons education
When Nekhliudof asked about their dinner, he learned they had eaten only bread and onions, unable to afford vegetables for soup. Churis explained their extreme poverty, saying they hadn't been able to buy a candle for church since Easter. The prince felt overwhelmed by the contrast between his own upbringing and the peasants' destitution.
Why are you so poor? ...his heart was torn with painful, almost unendurable melancholy, as though some absolute and unavoidable punishment were torturing him.
Churis requested that his young son be excused from school, as the boy was needed to help with household tasks and tending cattle. Nekhliudof insisted the child must attend school to learn reading and farming, despite the family's need for his labor at home.
Chapter 5. Churiss family history and estate mismanagement
Churis explained how his family had fallen into poverty after his father's death, when the brothers separated due to conflicts among their wives. Under the previous overseer's mismanagement, peasants had been exploited and their best land taken for the master's use. He praised Nekhliudof for bringing order and treating peasants fairly, contrasting this with the chaos of previous years when everyone acted as master.
Before leaving, Nekhliudof gave Churis money to buy a cow, ordering fodder to be provided from the granary. The peasant accepted the gift with his characteristic sarcastic smile, while his wife offered prayers of gratitude. The prince felt both pleased with his benevolence and troubled by the man's apparent skepticism.
Chapter 6. Visit to Yukhvanka who wants to sell his horse
Nekhliudof's next visit was to Yukhvanka, whose well-maintained hut contrasted sharply with Churis's hovel. The peasant wanted to sell a horse, claiming it was old and worthless, though the prince could see it was actually a healthy, prime animal.
Chapter 7. Meeting Yukhvankas family and elderly mother
At the well, Nekhliudof encountered Yukhvanka's wife, a robust, healthy woman with an embroidered headdress, and his mother, an elderly woman bent with age and hardship. The contrast between the well-dressed daughter-in-law and the decrepit mother was striking, the old woman appearing to have reached the final limit of decrepitude.
Chapter 8. Confrontation with dishonest Yukhvanka
Inside the hut, Yukhvanka nervously tried to hide his pipe and avoided eye contact with the prince. When Nekhliudof examined the horse's teeth, he discovered the animal was young and healthy, not old as claimed. Confronted with this evidence, Yukhvanka continued to lie, insisting the horse was twenty years old.
Nekhliudof became angry at the peasant's dishonesty, calling him a liar and good-for-nothing. He pointed out that Yukhvanka's yard was neglected, his hedges broken, and he mistreated his elderly mother while sitting at home smoking instead of working. The prince accused him of stealing from crown woods to buy vodka.
Despite Nekhliudof's moral lecture about honesty and hard work, Yukhvanka responded with insincere agreement and a smile that showed he understood nothing. The prince left feeling frustrated that his words had been wasted, giving money to the old mother with instructions to keep it from her son.
Chapter 9. Visit to lazy peasant Davidka found sleeping
Nekhliudof's next stop was Davidka Byélui's hovel, which stood alone at the village edge without proper yard or outbuildings. The dwelling was in complete disorder, with tall grass growing where a courtyard should be and only a sow lying in the mud at the threshold.
Inside the filthy hut, chickens scratched on the floor and benches. Nekhliudof found Davidka sleeping on the oven in the middle of the day, covered by his sheepskin. The peasant was tall and stout but with an unhealthy, bloated appearance, his face bearing the pallor of illness.
When awakened, Davidka showed complete submission, hanging his head and remaining silent as Nekhliudof lectured him about laziness. The prince explained that those who work most should receive most grain, questioning why Davidka deserved help when he contributed nothing. The peasant's only response was to mutter that he heard him.
Nekhliudof tried to explain that without work, everyone would starve, but Davidka remained unresponsive, standing with arms folded and head bowed, waiting for whatever punishment might come. His attitude of patient submission only frustrated the young proprietor further.
Chapter 10. Arínas complaints about her sons laziness
Davidka's mother Arína entered the hut, a tall, energetic woman whose face showed both strength and the hardships of peasant life. She immediately began complaining loudly about her son's laziness, calling him a lout who only knew how to sleep on the oven and scratch his head.
Here he stands, the lout...All he knows is to lie on top of the oven, or else he stands here, and scratches his empty pate.
Chapter 11. Story of daughter-in-laws death from overwork
Arína told the tragic story of Davidka's young wife, who had died from overwork and poverty. The woman had been healthy when she arrived from her father's house, but the harsh conditions and lack of help had broken her down. After losing her baby and with no cow to provide milk, she had grown despondent and eventually died, leaving Arína to work alone.
Now Arína begged Nekhliudof to help find Davidka a new wife, arguing that he needed someone to help with the work. She threw herself at the prince's feet, but he explained he couldn't force anyone to marry against their will, though he would pay for a willing bride.
Chapter 12. Nekhliudofs plans to reform Davidka through kindness
After leaving Davidka's hovel, Nekhliudof wrestled with what to do about the lazy peasant. His first instinct was to send him away as a soldier, but then he had a more appealing idea: he would take Davidka to his house and personally reform him through kindness and proper guidance, teaching him to work and become useful.
Chapter 13. Visit to wealthy peasant Dutlof; nurses insights
On his way to visit the prosperous peasant Dutlof, Nekhliudof stopped to speak with his former nurse, who provided insights into the wealthy family's affairs. She described Dutlof as the leading peasant on the estate, with numerous horses, cattle, and beehives, though he was secretive about his money after being cheated in a business deal years earlier.
Chapter 14. Meeting Dutlofs sons and their horse business
At Dutlof's prosperous farmyard, Nekhliudof met the three sons: Ilya, the youngest and most energetic; Ignát, the middle son; and Karp, the eldest and most serious. When the prince proposed they rent additional land instead of pursuing their teaming business, Karp deferred to his father's judgment.
The sons were eager to continue their profitable teaming work, traveling to distant cities with their horse teams. They had earned good money on recent trips and preferred this mobile lifestyle to farming at home.
Chapter 15. Bee stings at Dutlofs apiary and land proposal
In the pleasant apiary behind the house, old Dutlof tended his beehives among the lindens. The space was warm and comfortable, filled with the sound of buzzing bees. Despite warnings to wear protective netting, Nekhliudof refused and was stung multiple times while trying to discuss modern beekeeping techniques he had read about.
The old man patiently explained that bees follow their own nature in building comb, dismissing book learning in favor of practical experience. As the bees continued their assault, Nekhliudof retreated from the apiary, embarrassed by his inability to endure what the old peasant handled easily.
Chapter 16. Dutlof denies having money despite obvious wealth
When Nekhliudof proposed that Dutlof buy woodland for two hundred rubles, the old man became agitated and vehemently denied having any money beyond fifteen silver rubles. He swore before God that he had nothing more, despite the obvious prosperity of his establishment.
Chapter 17. Dutlofs family rejects business proposals
Inside the spacious new house, Nekhliudof met Dutlof's daughters-in-law and grandchildren. The family lived comfortably, with fresh bread baking in the oven. However, when he again proposed the land purchase, the old man insisted they had only enough money to feed the family and pay taxes, maintaining his denial of any substantial wealth.
Chapter 18. Nekhliudofs disillusionment with peasant reform
Walking home through his overgrown garden, Nekhliudof felt overwhelmed by melancholy and moral weariness. He questioned whether his dreams about rural reform were mere idle nonsense, wondering why he felt no satisfaction from his efforts.
Have my peasants become any richer? Have they learned anything? or have they shown any moral improvement? Not the least.
He reflected bitterly on his failures: his neighbors called him a mere boy, his innovative threshing machine had broken down publicly, and he faced legal troubles for neglecting administrative duties while pursuing his idealistic schemes.
Chapter 19. Memories of youthful idealism versus harsh reality
Nekhliudof remembered the moment a year earlier when, lying under a tree, he had experienced a revelation about love and righteousness being the path to true happiness. That epiphany had inspired his decision to dedicate his life to improving his serfs' conditions.
Love is self-denying; this is the only true happiness independent of chance...And so I ought to do good if I would be happy.
Chapter 20. Melancholy reflections and dreams of simpler life
At home, Nekhliudof found a crowd of peasants waiting with various complaints and requests. After dealing with their problems, he retreated to his room feeling exhausted and defeated. His old nurse tried to comfort him, suggesting he visit his aunt or neighbors instead of isolating himself with his troubles.
Where are those dreams?...I am simply dissatisfied! I am dissatisfied because I find no happiness here; and I desire, I passionately long for, happiness.
Sitting at his piano, Nekhliudof played random chords that stirred his imagination. He envisioned Ilyushka's handsome face and carefree life as a teamster, traveling the roads with his horses, sleeping under the stars, and experiencing the freedom that seemed so appealing compared to his own burdensome responsibilities.
Splendid! ...and the thought, 'Why am I not Ilyushka?' comes to him.