Why does the sunset become delayed in "How Much Land Does a Man Need?"

Head to the fifth-to-last paragraph in the story, and we can see why the sunset seemed delayed:

"He looked up--the sun had already set. He gave a cry: 'All my labor has been in vain,' thought he, and was about to stop, but he heard the Bashkirs still shouting, and remembered that though to him, from below, the sun seemed to have set, they on the hillock could still see it.He took a long...

Head to the fifth-to-last paragraph in the story, and we can see why the sunset seemed delayed:

"He looked up--the sun had already set. He gave a cry: 'All my labor has been in vain,' thought he, and was about to stop, but he heard the Bashkirs still shouting, and remembered that though to him, from below, the sun seemed to have set, they on the hillock could still see it. He took a long breath and ran up the hillock. It was still light there. He reached the top and saw the cap."

What we find out right here is that Pahom is standing on lower ground when he sees the sun set from his perspective down low. But then when he runs up to the top of the hill, he can still see the sun peeking out a little bit.

Of course, the whole idea of the sun "setting" is all about perspective: whether it has already "set" or not depends on where you're standing and whether or not you can still see it. That we would find a natural, simple answer to this question makes sense in the context of the story: we weren't looking for anything magical or miraculous to happen, since we know that "How Much Land Does a Man Need?" is a serious, realistic tale without any magic, any time travel, or any bending the laws of nature.