Levin’s brother Sergei visits him and is intent on leisure, contrasting Levin’s own busy schedule and constant farming demands. Like many intellectuals of his class, Sergei idolizes the peasants as more noble than other Russians, while Levin’s own experiences show him that peasants are flawed and averse to modern farming. Levin thinks that his brother has distant intellectual attitudes toward morality. Preoccupied with his hay crop, Levin takes his brother fishing.

The brothers argue over the new zemstvo institutions, as Sergei insists that Levin’s disinterest in them shows a lack of commitment to the peasantry. Levin claims the institutions do not benefit him, though peasant emancipation did. As the solution to his distress, Levin decides to mow hay with the peasants, and finds that in this area he is less skilled than his workers. His mood and his technique gradually improve. He has “blissful moments” (252) of labor with no other thoughts but the rhythm of his work. When he returns home to dinner with his brother, Levin gets a letter from Oblonsky informing him Dolly is nearby at her estate and could use his help.

The narrative shifts to the Oblonsky’s perspective: Dolly is in the country partly in hope to spend less due to Stiva’s debts.