It was not until 1856, in his comedy "A Drunken Headache from Another Man's Banquet" (meaning, "to bear another's trouble"), that Ostrovsky invented the words which have passed into the language, _samodur_ and _samodurstvo_ (which mean, literally, "self-fool" and "the state of being a self-fool").

The original "self-fool" is "Tit Tititch Bruskoff" (provincially pronounced "Kit Kititch" in the play), but no better example of the pig-headed, obstinate, self-complacent, vociferous, intolerable tyrant which constitutes the "self-fool" can be desired than that offered in "The Thunderstorm" by Marfa Ignatievna Kabanoff, the rich merchant's widow.

She rules her son, Tikhon, and his wife, Katerina, with a rod of iron.

Her daughter, Varvara, gets along with her by consistent deceitfulness, and meets her lover, Kudryash, whenever she pleases.

Tikhon goes off for a short time on business, and anxious to enjoy a little freedom, he persistently refuses to take his wife with him, despite her urgent entreaties.