- As soon as he returns to the country, Levin begins to feel much better about himself.
- His old nurse, who acts as his housekeeper, is there to greet him. Her name is Miss Agatha (a.k.a. Agafya Mikhailovna). Laska, Levin's dog, is also happy to see Levin home.
- Coming back to a house full of his stuff reveals an inner angst inside Levin, a sense that nothing in his life is changing.
- He has ordered reforms on his property a hundred times (specifically, he designed a new kiln for drying the buckwheat crop, but it hasn't been built to his specifications and so has burnt the crop). But he feels that his workers undermine his orders. His steward, Kuzma, seems secretly pleased that Levin's new-fangled ideas aren't working out.
- Levin rapidly becomes embroiled in the details of running his estate. His prize cow has had a calf, which he inspects, an act that draws his attention further into his agricultural business.