But now he clearly saw (the book on agriculture which he was writing, in which the labourer was the chief factor in farming, helped much in this direction) that the agricultural work he was carrying on was founded on a bitter and obstinate struggle between himself and his labourers, in which on the one side – his – there was a continual and strenuous attempt to bring everything into accord with what were considered the best models, while on the other side there was the natural order of things. And he saw that in his struggle, in spite of extreme efforts on his part, and without any effort or even intention on the part of others, the only results achieved were that neither side was the winner, and that fine tools and splendid cattle and soil were quite uselessly damaged.
El placer que sintiera en las tareas agrícolas, la aproximación que a causa de ella se había producido entre él y los campesinos, la envidia que tenía de la vida sencilla de aquellos seres, el deseo de adoptarla, que en aquella noche pasó de deseo a intención, y sobre cuyos detalles meditara, todo ello cambió de tal modo su punto de vista respecto al modo de llevar su propiedad que ya no podía encontrar en estos trabajos el interés de antes, ni podía dejar de ver su actitud desagradable ante los trabajadores, que eran la base de todo.