In fact, I cannot remember when it was." "And since then have many of your serfs died ?" "I do not know.

To ascertain that I should need to ask my bailiff.
Footman, go and call the bailiff.

I think he will be at home to-day." Before long the bailiff made his appearance.

He was a man of under forty, clean-shaven, clad in a smock, and evidently used to a quiet life, seeing that his face was of that puffy fullness, and the skin encircling his slit-like eyes was of that sallow tint, which shows that the owner of those features is well acquainted with a feather bed.

In a trice it could be seen that he had played his part in life as all such bailiffs do--that, originally a young serf of elementary education, he had married some Agashka of a housekeeper or a mistress's favourite, and then himself become housekeeper, and, subsequently, bailiff; after which he had proceeded according to the rules of his tribe--that is to say, he had consorted with and stood in with the more well-to-do serfs on the estate, and added the poorer ones to the list of forced payers of obrok, while himself leaving his bed at nine o'clock in the morning, and, when the samovar had been brought, drinking his tea at leisure.
"Look here, my good man," said Manilov.