Do you call that a rational system?" said the landowner, obviously rather proud of the word "rational.

" "My system's very simple," said Mihail Petrovitch, "thank God.

All my management rests on getting the money ready for the autumn taxes, and the peasants come to me, 'Father, master, help us!' Well, the peasants are all one's neighbors; one feels for them.

So one advances them a third, but one says: 'Remember, lads, I have helped you, and you must help me when I need it--whether it's the sowing of the oats, or the haycutting, or the harvest'; and well, one agrees, so much for each taxpayer--though there are dishonest ones among them too, it's true.