"

He had to accept the fate of every newcomer to a small town where there are plenty of tongues that gossip and few minds that think.

"

[He] had to submit to the fate of every newcomer in a small town, where many tongues talk but few heads think.

"

In a little town, there are many mouths which talk, and very few heads which think.

"

The goodness of the mother is written in the gaiety of the child.