Pagina 263 di 2288

The bailiff came in, and said everything, thank God, was doing

well; but informed him that the buckwheat in the new drying

machine had been a little scorched. This piece of news irritated

Levin. The new drying machine had been constructed and partly

invented by Levin. The bailiff had always been against the drying

machine, and now it was with suppressed triumph that he announced

that the buckwheat had been scorched. Levin was firmly convinced

that if the buckwheat had been scorched, it was only because the

precautions had not been taken, for which he had hundreds of

times given orders. He was annoyed, and reprimanded the bailiff.

But there had been an important and joyful event: Pava, his best

cow, an expensive beast, bought at a show, had calved.

"Kouzma, give me my sheepskin. And you tell them to take a

lantern. I'll come and look at her," he said to the bailiff.