Ivan Turgenev

“ The strings emitted their sweet and plaintive sounds in the motionless air, but except for some short preliminary flourishes the cultured valet's efforts failed to produce any tune; nature had granted him no more talent for music than it had for anything else.
But meanwhile things had not been going too well at Maryino, and poor Nikolai Petrovich was having a hard time. Every day difficulties arose on the farm--senseless, distressing difficulties. ”

“ Bazarov held himself aloof from all the "squabbles," and indeed as a guest it was not incumbent on him to meddle in other people's affairs. On the day after his arrival in Maryino he set to work on his frogs, his infusoria, and his chemical experiments, and spent all his time over them. Arkady, on the contrary, considered it his duty, if not to help his father, at least to create an impression of being ready to help him. He listened to him patiently and sometimes gave his advice, not that he expected it to be acted upon, but in order to show his concern. ”

“ Both Bazarov and Arkady responded with a silent bow, took their seats in the carriage, and without stopping again anywhere, drove straight home to Maryino, where they arrived safely on the evening of the following day. During the whole journey neither of them so much as mentioned the name of Madame Odintsov; Bazarov, in particular, hardly opened his mouth, and kept staring sideways at the road with a kind of embittered concentration.
At Maryino everyone was overjoyed to see them. The prolonged absence of his son had begun to make Nikolai Petrovich uneasy ”