How much land does a man need?

How much land does a man need? - Leo Tolstoy

'How Much Land Does A Man Need?' is a short story about greed by Leo Tolstoy.

An elder sister from the city visits a younger sister in the village. They debate about city life Vs. village life. Elder sister days that in village there are good food, places and entertainment while younger sister says that village life is better.

Elder sister's husband Pahom who was farmer was listening them and Devil also was present there who tempts Pahom. He thought life would be easier of he can get more wealth. Sometimes later the land lady of the village decides to sell her estate. Pahom buys 40 Acres of her land and thinks that now he will be happy. But land doesn’t give him happiness, he becomes very possessive of his land.

He goes on buying land and he becomes restless. Soon, he hears of another prosperous community, the Basskirs who are simple minded people with huge amount of land. Their offer is unusual. For sum of 1000 Rouples, Pahom can walk around as large area of land as he can but has to reach starting point till sunset. If he couldn’t return to the starting point he would lose his land and money .Pahom’s greed is aroused, for he believed that he can cover a great distance. they start early in the morning marking the land with his feet. He starts out let and when he sees setting sun, he realises that he is so far from the starting point and runs back as fast as he can. He finally arrives at the starting point exhausted and drops down dead. His servant buries him in an ordinary grave only 6 feet deep. Thus ironically answering the posed question in the title. “6 feet from his head to his heels was all he needed.”

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Ajit Kaliya

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