Arkady has brought a friend from the university with him whom he introduces as Bazarov. Nikolai is pleased to receive any friend of his son and asks to be informed of his “christian name and patronymic,” which is Yevgeny Vassilievitch. Bazarov is tall and thin with a peaceful smile that suggests a degree of self-confidence. He holds himself aloof and does not strike one as being overly friendly on first glance.
Arkady and his father get in the buggy while Bazarov must ride in another conveyance and they depart for the farm. On the way home, Arkady is filled with Joy at being reunited with his father again, but he keeps the conversation on a prosaic level so as to discourage his father from becoming over-emotional. Thus, they discuss only the more mundane subjects and Arkady tells Nikolai how important his friendship with Bazarov is. Arkady is convinced that Bazarov is an intellectual giant and wants great care taken of him.
As they drive home, they discuss the problems that Nikolai has encountered during the year that they have been separated. Nikolai has been changing his farm system, trying to remove the serfs and establish them as tenant farmers (or a type of share cropper.)
Nikolai is very sentimental about the farm and the place where his son was born, but Arkady cuts him by saying that it makes no difference where a man is born, indicating an anti-romantic view. Nikolai is somewhat astonished by his son’s statement and does not immediately recover.
Nikolai tries to warn his son that one of the servants is now living in the house—the young Fenichka—and tries to apologize for living with this person of “inferior rank.” Nikolai expects his son to be shocked, and is surprised when Arkady expresses himself so liberally as to give the impression of not caring in the least that his father has taken a mistress. Nikolai wonders if this fact won’t embarrass their guest, Bazarov, but Arkady assures him that Bazarov is a person not to be anxious about.
As they reach the farm, Arkady notices that the place has fallen into a state of degeneration. Soon they arrive at the farmhouse, which Nikolai calls “Marino.”
