They thought it safer, therefore, at once to deny it all.

You don't yet understand the Russian muzhik!" In this last remark I was obliged to concur, but since that time I have come to know the muzhik better, and an incident of the kind would now no longer surprise me.

From a long series of observations I have come to the conclusion that the great majority of the Russian peasants, when dealing with the authorities, consider the most patent and barefaced falsehoods as a fair means of self-defence.

Thus, for example, when a muzhik is implicated in a criminal affair, and a preliminary investigation is being made, he probably begins by constructing an elaborate story to explain the facts and exculpate himself.

The story may be a tissue of self-evident falsehoods from beginning to end, but he defends it valiantly as long as possible.