Why does Simon need to buy sheepskins

"Simon could not buy a sheepskin coat because of a few reasons. The reasons are that the first peasant who owed him rubles was not at his hut and his wife asked Simon to come back next week.

The second peasant swore to Simon that he had no rubles to give him and he would only pay some amount for the shoes Simon had mended for him.

Then, Simon even tried getting the coat on credit, but the shopkeeper did not trust Simon enough. Therefore, Simon was unable to buy a sheepskin coat.