---
title: "Pahom's growing greed for land"
subject: "Communication English"
chapter: 2
key: "semester_5/communication_english:pahom-growing-greed-for-land"
source: https://www.bctengineer.com/q/semester_5/communication_english/pahom-growing-greed-for-land
site: BCT Engineering
---

# Pahom's growing greed for land

Communication English · Chapter 2: Extensive Reading

- Asked in: 2075 Chaitra, 5 marks
- Video: [How Much Land Does a Man Need? Tolstoy's Timeless Lesson on Greed](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f86Ps-nXq7M) — okami visions
- Answer checked by Claude Opus 5.5 (high effort) on 2026-10-14
- Page: https://www.bctengineer.com/q/semester_5/communication_english/pahom-growing-greed-for-land
- Whole chapter: https://www.bctengineer.com/md/semester_5/communication_english/chapter-2

## Question

Describe Pahom's growing greed for land. (How Much Land Does a Man Need?)

## Short answer

Pahom’s desire escalates from buying a small plot to moving for more, renting, and finally attempting to encircle vast land in a day. He collapses from exhaustion at sunset, dying; his grave proves a man needs only six feet.

## Answer

In Leo Tolstoy's story "How Much Land Does a Man Need?", Pahom is a peasant whose desire for land grows steadily until it destroys him.

#### Stages of his greed
1. **The first wish.** At the start he is a fairly contented peasant. Hearing his wife's sister boast about city life, he says that if he had plenty of land he would not fear even the Devil. The devil overhears and decides to tempt him.
2. **Buying land.** When a landlady sells her land, Pahom borrows money, buys part of it and works hard. He soon quarrels with his neighbours, whose cattle stray onto his fields, and he becomes harsh and angry with them.
3. **Moving for more land.** Though he has more land than before, he is dissatisfied with his situation. He moves to a distant area where land is more plentiful, and receives a larger share. He then rents more land and grows wheat.
4. **Wanting still more.** Each gain increases his wish. He wants freehold land of his own and is always looking for a better and larger area.
5. **The Bashkirs.** He hears of the Bashkirs who sell land cheaply. He travels there and is told that for 1000 roubles he may have as much as he can walk around in one day, provided he returns to the starting point by sunset.
6. **Final greed.** He goes farther and farther, tempted by good land, and returns exhausted and in a desperate rush. He reaches the starting point at sunset but falls dead. His servant buries him in a grave of about six feet.

#### Moral
Greed is never satisfied. In the end, all the land a man needs is the six feet in which he is buried.

## Check yourself

The answer's key points as multiple-choice questions, with the correct option and why.

1. What did Pahom say that made the devil decide to tempt him?
   A. That he hated all landlords
   B. That with plenty of land he would not fear even the Devil
   C. That he wanted to move to the city
   D. That land was worthless
   Answer: B. The devil overheard his boast and set out to tempt him. (Key point: First wish)

2. What happened after Pahom bought part of the landlady's land?
   A. He quarrelled with neighbours whose cattle strayed and became harsh with them
   B. He became friendly with all neighbours
   C. He gave the land away
   D. He lost the land at once
   Answer: A. Gain made him quarrelsome and dissatisfied. (Key point: Result of buying land)

3. What was the Bashkirs' offer to Pahom?
   A. Free land for one year
   B. Land in exchange for his horse
   C. A fixed plot of ten acres
   D. For 1000 roubles, as much land as he could walk round in a day, returning by sunset
   Answer: D. He had to return to the starting point by sunset. (Key point: Bashkirs' offer)

4. What is the moral of the story?
   A. Land makes a man happy
   B. Hard work always brings wealth
   C. Greed is never satisfied; all the land a man needs is six feet to be buried in
   D. Strangers should never be trusted
   Answer: C. Pahom died after the walk and was buried in a grave of about six feet. (Key point: Moral)

## Related in Communication English

- [Interpret: slavery of man to nature](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_5%2Fcommunication_english%3Ainterpret-slavery-man-to-nature) — Communication English, chapter 1