ten o'clock
`` I know when to wake . '' The dawn was fine , clear and chilly . A light appeared in the drawing - room , and Ivan saw the Prince go out , cross the terrace and depart into the Steppe . At ten o'clock , the President entered the office , and set about what was , in his opinion , a torturous , useless business -- the making out an inventory of the wheat and rye in each peasant 's possession . It was useless because he knew , as did everyone in the village , how much each man had ; it was torturous because it entailed such a great deal of writing . Prince Prozorovsky had risen at daybreak . The sun glared fiercely over the bare autumn-swept park and into the drawing-room windows .