Last Autumn our stable burnt down, and in it much of our stores of food for the winter, along with the horses and plow. It was a long, rough winter, and this spring we had extra work of it, getting the fields plowed. And now, the sheriff has come for the taxes, and we have naught to pay with. He threatens to take aught that we have left for sustenance, if we cannot give what they need. What can I do? We shall starve.