Donja Petrovna, a Peasant in an Open Cart

Donja had to drive with a peasant in an open cart all the seventeen-versits into town. For a whole month the town was full of gossip about this scandal. Martha Petrovna managed to slander Donja and throw dirt at her in every family. All our acquaintances avoided us, nobody even bowed to us in the street. And I learned that some shopmen and clerks were intending to insult us in a shameful way. The landlord began to tell us we must leave.