who ducks his head and believes his whole body is hidden.
Foreigners use strong language concerning the Italian lie; but
this only proves how extremely transparent the deception is. It is
indeed a singular fact, but one which may often be observed, that
two Italians who lie systematically will frequently believe each
other, to their own ruin, with a childlike faith rarely found
north of the Alps. This seems to me to prove that their dishonesty
has outgrown their indolent intelligence; and indeed they deceive
themselves nearly as often as they succeed in deceiving their
neighbours. In a country where a lie easily finds credence, lying
is not likely to be elevated to the rank of a fine art. I have
often wondered how such men as Cesare Borgia succeeded in
entrapping their enemies by snares which a modern northerner would
detect from the first and laugh to scorn as mere child's play.

There is an extraordinary readiness in Italians to fit themselves
and their lives to circumstances whenever they can save themselves
trouble by doing so. Their constitutions are convenient to this
end, for they are temperate in most things and do not easily fall
into habits which they cannot change at will. The desire to avoid
trouble makes them the most courteous among nations; and they are
singularly obliging to strangers when, by conferring an
obligation, they are able to make an acquaintance who will help
them to pass an idle hour in agreeable conversation. They are
equally surprised, whether a stranger suspects them of making
advances for the sake of extracting money from him, or expresses
resentment at having been fraudulently induced to part with any
cash. The beggar in the street howls like a madman if you refuse
an alms, and calls you an idiot to his fellow-mendicant if you
give him five centimes. The servant says in his heart that his