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Question: What is that story called!?
Someone told me a story about a guy who can have as much land as he can circle by foot!. The only catch was that he had only one day to travel and had to be back in time in order for the land to be his!. Anyway, he ends up never settling for what he had walked and always wants more and more!. The guy ends up dying and the lesson is!.!.!.that we only really need the bare minimum to live!.
I think its by some Russian author!. Gogol Maybe!?Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
"How Much Land Does A Man Need!?" by Leo Tolstoy
http://en!.wikipedia!.org/wiki/How_Much_La!.!.!.
" The protagonist of the story is a peasant named Pahom, who at the beginning can be heard complaining that he does not own enough land to satisfy him!. A landlady in the village decides to sell her estate, and the peasants of the village buy as much of that land as they can!. Pahom himself purchases some land, and by working off the extra land is able to repay his debts and live a more comfortable life!.

However, Pahom then becomes very possessive of his land, and this gets him into discord with his neighbours!. This is a first sign that greed is disrupting his moral values!. Later, he moves to a larger area of land at another Commune!. Here, he can grow even more crops and amass a small fortune, but he has to grow the crops on rented land, which irritates him!.

Finally, he is introduced to the Bashkirs, and is told they are simple-minded people who own a huge amount of land!. Thus, he goes to them to take as much of their land for as low a price as he can negotiate!. Their offer is very unusual: for a sum of one thousand rubles, Pahom can walk around as large an area as he wants, starting at daybreak, marking his route with a spade along the way!. If he reaches his starting point by sunset that day, the entire area of land his route encloses will be his!. He is delighted as he believes that he can cover a great distance and has chanced upon the bargain of a lifetime!.

His journey across the land illustrates his greediness!. He tries to cover as much land as possible, not content with what he already has!. As the sun nearly sets, he realizes his error and runs back as fast as he can to the waiting Bashkirs!. He finally arrives at the starting point just as the sun sets!. The Bashkirs cheer his good fortune, but exhausted from the run, he drops dead!. They bury him in an ordinary grave only six feet long, thus ironically answering the question posed in the title of the story"


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