How Much Land Does a Man Need?

by

Leo Tolstoy

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An unnamed stranger who passes through Pakhom’s village, implied to be the Devil in disguise. Pakhom offers the traveling peasant food and lodging for the night, at which point the peasant tells Pakhom about his experiences working south of the Volga river. He claims the land there is fertile, and that upon joining the village commune, a person is allotted twenty-acres of prime farmland. The traveling peasant tempts Pakhom with promises of cheap land and a good life, and he later transforms into the Devil during Pakhom’s ominous dream the night before he walks the Bashkirs’ land. This suggests that the Devil has disguised himself as the traveling peasant to fuel Pakhom’s greed for land, and Pakhom takes the bait.

The Traveling Peasant Quotes in How Much Land Does a Man Need?

The How Much Land Does a Man Need? quotes below are all either spoken by The Traveling Peasant or refer to The Traveling Peasant. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
The Corrupting Nature of Greed Theme Icon
).
Chapter 3 Quotes

“The land is so fertile,” he said, “that rye grows as high as a horse and it's so thick you can make a whole sheaf from only five handfuls! One peasant arrived with a copeck and only his bare hands to work with and now he has six horses and two cows.”

Related Characters: The Traveling Peasant (speaker), Pakhom, The Devil
Page Number: 100
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7 Quotes

And then Pakhom saw that it wasn't the peasant, but the Devil himself, with horns and hoofs, sitting there laughing his head off, while before him lay a barefoot man wearing only shirt and trousers. When Pakhom took a closer look he saw that the man was dead and that it was himself.

Related Characters: Pakhom, The Devil, The Traveling Peasant, The Passing Merchant
Page Number: 106
Explanation and Analysis:
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The Traveling Peasant Quotes in How Much Land Does a Man Need?

The How Much Land Does a Man Need? quotes below are all either spoken by The Traveling Peasant or refer to The Traveling Peasant. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
The Corrupting Nature of Greed Theme Icon
).
Chapter 3 Quotes

“The land is so fertile,” he said, “that rye grows as high as a horse and it's so thick you can make a whole sheaf from only five handfuls! One peasant arrived with a copeck and only his bare hands to work with and now he has six horses and two cows.”

Related Characters: The Traveling Peasant (speaker), Pakhom, The Devil
Page Number: 100
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7 Quotes

And then Pakhom saw that it wasn't the peasant, but the Devil himself, with horns and hoofs, sitting there laughing his head off, while before him lay a barefoot man wearing only shirt and trousers. When Pakhom took a closer look he saw that the man was dead and that it was himself.

Related Characters: Pakhom, The Devil, The Traveling Peasant, The Passing Merchant
Page Number: 106
Explanation and Analysis: