पृष्ठ 659 / 2288

To Konstantin the peasant was simply the chief partner in their

common labor, and in spite of all the respect and the love,

almost like that of kinship, he had for the peasant-sucked in

probably, as he said himself, with the milk of his peasant

nurse-still as a fellow-worker with him, while sometimes

enthusiastic over the vigor, gentleness, and justice of these

men, he was very often, when their common labors called for other

qualities, exasperated with the peasant for his carelessness,

lack of method, drunkenness, and lying. If he had been asked

whether he liked or didn't like the peasants, Konstantin Levin

would have been absolutely at a loss what to reply. He liked and

did not like the peasants, just as he liked and did not like men

in general. Of course, being a good-hearted man, he liked men

rather than he disliked them, and so too with the peasants.