Who is Solopi Tcherevik from The Fair of Sorotchinetz from The Diary of a Madman, the Government Inspector, and Selected Stories and what is their importance?

Solopi Tcherevik is a farmer, who takes his wife and daughter to a fair where he hopes to sell wheat and a mare. While at the fair, he hear stories that the wheat will not sell due to rumors about a wine house where a devil once visited. Tcherevik, unfortunately, believes what he hears, leaving himself vulnerable to a young suitor who wishes to marry his daughter.