At noon seven men, chosen from among the peasants at the foreman’s invitation, came into the orchard, where the foreman had arranged a table and benches by digging posts into the ground, and fixing boards on the top, under the apple trees. It took some time before the peasants could be persuaded to put on their caps and to sit down on the benches.
Especially firm was the ex-soldier, who to-day had bark shoes on. He stood erect, holding his cap as they do at funerals, according to military regulation.
When one of them, a respectable-looking, broad-shouldered old man, with a curly, grizzly beard like that of Michael Angelo’s "Moses," and grey hair that curled round the brown, bald forehead, put on his big cap, and, wrapping his coat round him, got in behind the table and sat down, the rest followed his example.
When all had taken their places Nekhludoff sat down opposite them, and leaning on the table over the paper on which he had drawn up his project, he began explaining it.
Whether it was that there were fewer present, or that he was occupied with the business in hand and not with himself, anyhow, this time Nekhludoff felt no confusion. He involuntarily addressed the broad-shouldered old man with white ringlets in his grizzly beard, expecting approbation or objections from him.
But Nekhludoff’s conjecture was wrong. The respectable-looking old patriarch, though he nodded his handsome head approvingly or shook it, and frowned when the others raised an objection, evidently understood with great difficulty, and only when the others repeated what Nekhludoff had said in their own words.
A little, almost beardless old fellow, blind in one eye, who sat by the side of the patriarch, and had a patched nankeen coat and old boots on, and, as Nekhludoff found out later, was an oven-builder, understood much better. This man moved his brows quickly, attending to Nekhludoff’s words with an effort, and at once repeated them in his own way.
An old, thick-set man with a white beard and intelligent eyes understood as quickly, and took every opportunity to put in an ironical joke, clearly wishing to show off. The ex-soldier seemed also to understand matters, but got mixed, being used to senseless soldiers’ talk.
A tall man with a small beard, a long nose, and a bass voice, who wore clean, home-made clothes and new bark-plaited shoes, seemed to be the one most seriously interested. This man spoke only when there was need of it.
The two other old men, the same toothless one who had shouted a distinct refusal at the meeting the day before to every proposal of Nekhludoff’s, and a tall, white lame old man with a kind face, his thin legs tightly wrapped round with strips of linen, said little, though they listened attentively.
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聂赫留朵夫首先说明他对土地所有制的看法。
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First of all Nekhludoff explained his views in regard to personal property in land.
"The land, according to my idea, can neither he bought nor sold, because if it could be, he who has got the money could buy it all, and exact anything he liked for the use of the land from those who have none."
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“这话说得不错,”长鼻子老头声音低沉地说。
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"That’s true," said the long-nosed man, in a deep bass.
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“是,老爷,”退伍的士兵说。
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"Just so," said the ex-soldier.
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“有个婆娘给她的奶牛割点草,就被抓起来,送去坐牢,”相貌和善的瘸腿老头说。
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"A woman gathers a little grass for her cow; she’s caught and imprisoned," said the white-bearded old man.
"Our own land is five versts away, and as to renting any it’s impossible; the price is raised so high that it won’t pay," added the cross, toothless old man. "They twist us into ropes, worse than during serfdom."
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“我同你们想的一样,”聂赫留朵夫说,“我认为占有土地是罪孽。所以我要把土地交出去。”
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"I think as you do, and I count it a sin to possess land, so I wish to give it away," said Nekhludoff.
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“嗯,这可是好事,”留摩西式鬈曲大胡子的老头说,显然以为聂赫留朵夫想出租土地。
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"Well, that’s a good thing," said the old man, with curls like Angelo’s "Moses," evidently thinking that Nekhludoff meant to let the land.
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“我来就是为了这事。我不想再占有土地了。现在就是要考虑一下,土地应该怎么分。”
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"I have come here because I no longer wish to possess any land, and now we must consider the best way of dividing it."
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“把地交给庄稼汉,不就成了吗?”牙齿脱落、怒容满面的老头说。
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"Just give it to the peasants, that’s all," said the cross, toothless old man.
Nekhludoff was abashed for a moment, feeling a suspicion of his not being honest in these words, but he instantly recovered, and made use of the remark, in order to express what was in his mind, in reply.
"I should be glad to give it them," he said, "but to whom, and how? To which of the peasants? Why, to your commune, and not to that of Deminsk." (That was the name of a neighbouring village with very little land.)
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大家都不作声,只有退伍士兵说了一句:“是,老爷。”
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All were silent. Then the ex-soldier said, "Just so."
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“那么,好吧,”聂赫留朵夫说,“你们倒说说,要是皇上说把地主的地都拿过来,分给农民……”
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"Now, then, tell me how would you divide the land among the peasants if you had to do it?" said Nekhludoff.
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“怎么办?把全部土地按人头平分,庄稼人有份,老爷也有份,”砌炉匠忽上忽下地迅速动着眉毛,说。
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"We should divide it up equally, so much for every man," said the oven-builder, quickly raising and lowering his brows.
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“要不又怎么办?按人头平分好了,”相貌和善、裹白色包脚布的瘸腿老头说。
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"How else? Of course, so much per man," said the good natured lame man with the white strips of linen round his legs.
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大家都赞成这个办法,认为它能使人人满意。
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Every one confirmed this statement, considering it satisfactory.
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“到底怎样按人头分呢?”聂赫留朵夫问。“做佣人的也有份吗?”
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"So much per man? Then are the servants attached to the house also to have a share?" Nekhludoff asked.
"It can’t be done," said Nekhludoff, who had already prepared his reply. "If all are to share alike, then those who do not work themselves--do not plough--will sell their shares to the rich. The rich will again get at the land. Those who live by working the land will multiply, and land will again be scarce. Then the rich will again get those who need land into their power."
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“是,老爷,”退伍士兵赶快响应。
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"Just so," quickly said the ex-soldier.
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“那就得禁止出卖土地,只有自己耕种的人才有地,”砌炉匠怒气冲冲地打断退伍士兵说。
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"Forbid to sell the land; let only him who ploughs it have it," angrily interrupted the oven-builder.
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聂赫留朵夫反驳说,谁在为自己耕种,谁在为别人耕种,很难区别。
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To this Nekhludoff replied that it was impossible to know who was ploughing for himself and who for another.
The tall, reasonable man proposed that an arrangement be made so that they should all plough communally, and those who ploughed should get the produce and those who did not should get nothing.
To this communistic project Nekhludoff had also an answer ready. He said that for such an arrangement it would be necessary that all should have ploughs, and that all the horses should be alike, so that none should be left behind, and that ploughs and horses and all the implements would have to be communal property, and that in order to get that, all the people would have to agree.
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“我们老百姓是死也不会同意的,”怒容满面的老头说。
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"Our people could not be made to agree in a lifetime," said the cross old man.
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“这样打架就打不完了,”眼睛含笑的白胡子老头说。
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"We should have regular fights," said the white-bearded old man with the laughing eyes.
"So that the thing is not as simple as it looks," said Nekhludoff, "and this is a thing not only we but many have been considering. There is an American, Henry George. This is what he has thought out, and I agree with him."