About the book: 1987 / In the short story "The Sin of Donna Santa" Giovanni Verga ironically depicts a church ritual: during a sermon, the priest depicts the torment of sinners and at the same time arranges a performance with a hellish tribe and cries of sinful souls, that panic arises among the parishioners, and Donna Santa, known for her piety, goes into premature labor. In delirium, she continues to repent of her imaginary sins and forever deprives her freethinking husband of peace of mind.