Not far from my estate lives a young landowner, a retired officer, Arkady Pavlovich Penochkin. He is a sensible and well-educated man, takes care of his subjects and punishes them for their own good. He is small in stature and not bad. From his light brown eyes and rosy cheeks, he is full of health and goodwill. Arkady Pavlovich is considered one of the most educated noblemen and enviable suitors of our province. He is careful, and was not involved in any story. His house in Petersburg is kept in an enviable manner. Says Arkady Pavlovich in a soft and pleasant voice, abundantly sprinkling speech with French phrases. Despite all these advantages, I visit him reluctantly. In his house, a strange concern seizes me.
Once I had to spend the night with Arkady Pavlovich. In the morning, he did not let me go without breakfast, during which a footman who forgot to warm the wine was punished. Penochkin found out that I was going to Ryabovo, and decided to go with me - his village Shipilovka was in the same places. He very much praised the local bermistra Sofron, the "state man."
With him Arkady Pavlovich captured the abyss of things and the cook. We drove for a long time, and came straight to Shipilovka. That day I had to forget about the hunt and submit to my fate. At the outskirts we were met by an elder, the son of a burmistra, a huge red man. Sofron himself was not at home. We drove through the village. At the sight of our stroller, people fell silent and scattered. An alarming excitement spread throughout the village. The burmistra’s wife met us at the porch and kissed the handle of Arkady Pavlovich for a long time.
We already managed to settle down in a cold hut when the burmister arrived. He was short, dense, broad-shouldered and gray-haired, with a red nose, small blue eyes and a beard in the form of a fan. Entering the hut, he spoke in a chant and, with tears of tenderness, kissed the master’s pen. We were served dinner, and the burmistre kept reporting on business and complained that there was little land. He told how a dead body was found on Penochkin’s land, and he ordered his neighbors to be pulled to the ground and appeased the camp’s. Penochkina was amused by this ruse. Falling asleep, Penochkin noticed to me that since the time of Sofron’s rule, there were no arrears for the peasants.
The next day, Arkady Pavlovich persuaded me to stay in order to show me his estate. We were accompanied by Sofron. During the inspection, he kept pressing on the fact that there was little land, and Penochkin allowed to buy it on his own behalf. Coming out of the barn after inspecting the fan, we saw two men in paid shirts. The elder was called Antip. They came to complain about the burmistra. It turned out that Sofron paid the arrears for them and took them into bondage, and not just them. Sofron gave all adult sons to Antipas as a soldier, and he wanted to give the latter. Arkady Pavlovich did not want to listen to them to the end. Until my departure, he sulked at Sofron.
An hour later, I was already in Ryabov and, together with the familiar peasant Anpadist, was going to hunt. I spoke with the Anpadista about Sofron. He said that Shipilovka is only listed as Penkin, and the burmister owns it. He has much more land than Penochkin thinks, in addition, the burmistra is also engaged in trade. Antip somehow argued with the bermistra, and now Sofron takes revenge on him.
