Monday, September 3, 2018

Briefly summarize what happens on the last day of Pahom's life in "How Much Land Does a Man Need?"

Pahom has become greedy and obsessed with acquiring more land. Having entered into a pact with the devil, he will eventually lose his life due to his greed.
The last day of his life begins after meeting with and making an arrangement with the Bashkirs, who own a large plot of land but are willing to sell it cheaply. Their only requirement is that, for the price of one thousand rubles, Pahom can acquire as much land as he can walk around in one day. So, he spends the entire day walking, drawing with a spade the property he wishes. He spends as much time as possible marking it off to get more and more, but, in his greed, he went too far. As the sun sets, he sprints back to the start, trying to close the circle. He succeeds but dies of exhaustion in the end, fulfilling Satan’s promise to kill him with his own greed.

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