The first days of her existence in the country were very hard for

Dolly. She used to stay in the country as a child, and the

impression she had retained of it was that the country was a

refuge from all the unpleasantness of the town, that life there,

though not luxurious--Dolly could easily make up her mind to

that--was cheap and comfortable; that there was plenty of

everything, everything was cheap, everything could be got, and

children were happy. But now coming to the country as the head

of a family, she perceived that it was all utterly unlike what

she had fancied.

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The day after their arrival there was a heavy fall of rain, and

in the night the water came through in the corridor and in the

nursery, so that the beds had to be carried into the drawing

room. There was no kitchen maid to be found; of the nine cows,

it appeared from the words of the cowherd-woman that some were

about to calve, others had just calved, others were old, and

others again hard-uddered; there was not butter nor milk enough

even for the children. There were no eggs. They could get no

fowls; old, purplish, stringy cocks were all they had for

roasting and boiling. Impossible to get women to scrub the

floors--all were potato-hoeing. Driving was out of the

question, because one of the horses was restive, and bolted in

the shafts. There was no place where they could bathe; the whole

of the river-bank was trampled by the cattle and open to the

road; even walks were impossible, for the cattle strayed into the

garden through a gap in the hedge, and there was one terrible

bull, who bellowed, and therefore might be expected to gore

somebody. There were no proper cupboards for their clothes; what

cupboards there were either would not close at all, or burst open

whenever anyone passed by them. There were no pots and pans;

there was no copper in the washhouse, nor even an ironing-board

in the maids' room.

Finding instead of peace and rest all these, from her point of

view, fearful calamities, Darya Alexandrovna was at first in

despair. She exerted herself to the utmost, felt the

hopelessness of the position, and was every instant suppressing

the tears that started into her eyes. The bailiff, a retired

quartermaster, whom Stepan Arkadyevitch had taken a fancy to and

had appointed bailiff on account of his handsome and respectful

appearance as a hall-porter, showed no sympathy for Darya

Alexandrovna's woes. He said respectfully, "nothing can be done,

the peasants are such a wretched lot," and did nothing to help

her.




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