e
than to offer a deadly insult to my rank and station.

"2. And the same impolite and indecent nobleman, moreover, attempted
injury to my property, inherited by me from my father, a member of
the clerical profession, Ivan Pererepenko, son of Onisieff, of blessed
memory, inasmuch that he, contrary to all law, transported directly
opposite my porch a goose-shed, which was done with no other intention
that to emphasise the insult offered me; for the said shed had, up
to that time, stood in a very suitable situation, and was still
sufficiently strong. But the loathsome intention of the aforesaid
nobleman consisted simply in this: viz., in making me a witness of
unpleasant occurrences; for it is well known that no man goes into a
shed, much less into a goose-shed, for polite purposes. In the execution
of his lawless deed, the two front posts trespassed on my land, received
by me during the lifetime of my father, Ivan Pererepenko, son of
Onisieff, of blessed memory, beginning at the granary, thence in a
straight line to the spot where the women wash the pots.

"3. The above-described nobleman, whose very name and surname inspire
thorough disgust, cherishes in his mind a malicious design to burn me in
my own house. Which the infallible signs, hereinafter mentioned, fully
demonstrate; in the first place, the said wicked nobleman has begun to
emerge frequently from his apartments, which he never did formerly on
account of his laziness and the disgusting corpulence of his body; in
the second place, in his servants' apartments, adjoining the fence,
surrounding my own land, received by me from my father of blessed
memory, Ivan Pererepenko, son of Onisieff, a light burns every day, and
for a remarkably long period of time, which is also a clear proof of the
fact. For hitherto, owing to his repulsive niggardliness, not only the
tallow-candle but also the grease-lamp has been extinguished.

"And therefore I pray that the said nobleman, Ivan Dovgotchkun, son of
Nikifor, being plainly guilty of incendiarism, of insult to my rank,
name, and family, and of illegal appropriation of my property, and,
worse than all else, of malicious and deliberate addition to my
surname, of the nickname of goose, be condemned by the court, to fine,
satisfaction, costs, and damages, and, being chained, be removed to
the town jail, and that judgment be rendered upon this, my plaint,
immediately and without delay.

"Written and composed by Ivan Pererepen