'Hey, gospodarz!' she would shout. 'You are raking in the money and buying your wife silk handkerchiefs, but the poor farm labourers have to creep on all fours. It's "Cut the corn, Sobieska and Maciek, and I will brag about like a gentleman!" You will see, he will soon call himself "Pan Slimaczinski."[1] He is the devil's own son, for ever and ever. Amen.'
[Footnote 1: The ending ski denotes nobility.]
She would fall into a furrow and sleep until sundown, though she was paid for a full day's work. As she had a sharp tongue, Slimak had no wish to offend her. When he haggled about the money, she would kiss his hand and say: 'Why should you fall out with me, sir? Sell one chicken more and you'll be all right.'
'Cheek always pays!' thought Maciek.
On the following Sunday, when everyone was ready to go to church,
Maciek sat down and sighed heavily.
'Why, Maciek, aren't you going to church?' asked Slimak, seeing that something was amiss.
'How can I go to church? You would be ashamed of me.'
'What's the matter with you?'
'Nothing is the matter with me, but my feet keep coming through my boots.'
'That's your own fault, why didn't you speak before? Your wages are due, and I will give you six roubles.'