A Greedy Peasant

Peasant brothers Ivan and Yermil could hardly be more different. Ivan, the elder, is happy in his farming life, though he struggles always to make ends meet. Yermil, by contrast, has dreams of improvement, and they are very specific: he is desperate to make money and escape the drudgery of the peasant round.

Yermil takes any opportunity he can to improve his financial state, though, at first, these are slow in showing themselves. As he grows more and more fixated on money-making, he begins t...