means to that end.

In the Bible, it is laid down as the law of man: "In the sweat of
thy face shalt thou eat bread, and in sorrow thou shalt bring forth
children;" but "nous avons change tout ca," as Moliere's character
says, when expressing himself with regard to medicine, and asserting
that the liver was on the left side. We have changed all that. Men
need not work in order to eat, and women need not bear children.

A ragged peasant roams the Krapivensky district. During the war he
was an agent for the purchase of grain, under an official of the
commissary department. On being brought in contact with the
official, and seeing his luxurious life, the peasant lost his mind,
and thought that he might get along without work, like gentlemen,
and receive proper support from the Emperor. This peasant now calls
himself "the Most Serene Warrior, Prince Blokhin, purveyor of war
supplies of all descriptions." He says of himself that he has
"passed through all the ranks," and that when he shall have served
out his term in the army, he is to receive from the Emperor an
unlimited bank account, clothes, uniforms, horses, equipages, tea,
pease and servants, and all sorts of luxuries. This man is
ridiculous in the eyes of many, but to me the significance of his
madness is terrible. To the question, whether he does not wish to
work, he always replies proudly: "I am much obliged. The peasants
will attend to all that." When you tell him that the peasants do
not wish to work, either, he answers: "It is not difficult for the
peasant."

He generally talks in a high-flown style, and is fond of verbal
substantives. "Now there is an invention of machinery for the