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The old couple, Afanasy Ivanovich Tovstogub and his wife Pulcheria Ivanovna, live in seclusion in one of the remote villages known as "starosvitsky" in Little Russia. Their life is so peaceful that to a guest who happens to visit their low, green-roofed manor house, the passions and turmoil of the outside world seem to have no existence. The small rooms of the house are filled with all sorts of trinkets, the doors are singing in different keys, and the storerooms are filled with supplies, which are constantly being prepared by the servants under the supervision of Pulcheria Ivanovna. Despite the fact that the household is being robbed by the steward and the servants, the blessed land produces so much that Afanasy Ivanovich and Pulcheria Ivanovna do not notice the thefts at all.