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,... see more