HONESTY AND DISHONESTY.
One day two peasants were conversing; one of them was boastful and untruthful, the other famed for truthfulness and honesty. The one was saying that it was better to live, telling lies and cheating everybody, and be rich; while the other replied that it was far better to live in poverty, as long as you were honest and truthful. So they began to dispute and quarrel, neither of them wishing to give in. They at last decided to go out into the village high-road, and ask the opinion of the very first person they met.
They walked and walked, and soon saw a peasant ploughing in a field close to the road; they went up to him, and said,—
"Good man, judge our quarrel: how is it better to live in the wide world—honestly or dishonestly?—telling the truth or by telling lies?"
"Ah, my brothers, you cannot possibly live honestly in this world all your life! You must tell a lie now and then! Besides, an honest and truthful man must walk about all his life in straw shoes, while a liar and a dishonest man can walk in handsome boots. Take us, for example, our masters unjustly take our days from us,[1] leaving no time for us to
- ↑ The serfs were allowed three days in the week to work for themselves, while the other three days belonged to their masters.
