Two Wayfarers (Tolstoy)
Division into chapters is editorial.
Two wayfarers on the road
Two men walked along the dusty road between Moscow and Toula, carrying bundles on their shoulders. One was young, wearing spectacles, a short coat and velveteen trousers under a new peasant's hat. The other was about fifty, remarkably handsome, dressed in a monk's frock with a leather belt and high black cap typical of monastery novices. His long dark beard and hair showed streaks of grey.
The younger man was pale and sallow, was covered with dust, and seemed scarcely able to drag one foot after the other. The old man walked cheerfully along...
while dust seemed afraid to settle on his handsome face.
Borzins academic project and preparations
The young man was Serge Vasilievich Borzin, a doctor of science at Moscow University.
After completing his degree and writing articles for Moscow reviews, Borzin had gone to the countryside
...went to stay in the country, to plunge into the current of peasant life and to refresh himself in the waves of the popular stream, as he put it.
After a month in complete solitude, he wrote to his literary friend Ivan Finogeich, editor of a journal.
Deeply impressed by peasant life, Borzin became convinced that determining Russia's destiny was more complex than he had imagined. He concluded that
...he must traverse Russia on foot; so he asked his friend not to discuss the question in his journal pending his return, promising to set forth all that he discovered...
Preparing for his journey, Borzin bought peasant clothing and studied himself in the mirror, unable to abandon his spectacles due to nearsightedness. He needed 300 roubles and consulted his bailiff about selling grain.
The conversation revealed Borzin's agricultural ignorance, with
...the bailiff recognising that Borzin knew as little about farming as a babe, and Borzin realising that the rye had been sown already...
Eventually, Borzin obtained the necessary funds by selling surplus grain after accounting for daily needs and seed requirements.
Serpovs arrival and their partnership
The evening before departure, an unknown visitor arrived. Stephen, his father's old valet, announced Nicholas Petrovich Serpov.
Serpov was the older man now traveling with Borzin - a former sublieutenant turned monk who had been expelled from his monastery for bad conduct but retained the monastic garb.
Serpov entered stamping his foot and declaring himself a wayfarer. He spoke erratically:
Nothing but ignorance—no education. I admonish Russia in vain. Russia is a fool. The peasant is industrious but Russia is a fool. Don't you agree?
Learning of Borzin's journey plans, Serpov thoroughly approved and offered himself as companion. He claimed to have traveled to Greece and Mount Athos, declaring he had never seen anyone as honest as Russian peasants. Borzin accepted partly because he couldn't refuse, partly due to Serpov's flattery, but chiefly because
...Borzin regarded the monk as a remarkable, though somewhat complicated, phenomenon of Russian life.
The journey begins
The two men set out together and had now covered twenty-two versts of their planned route. They were approaching the place where they intended to spend their first night on the road. Serpov had enjoyed a drink at the public house and was in excellent spirits, while Borzin struggled with fatigue from the unaccustomed physical exertion of their walking journey through the Russian countryside.
Their contrasting conditions reflected their different natures and backgrounds as they embarked on this ambitious project to understand the Russian people.