The town governors . . . all flogged the inhabitants, but the first
flogged them pure and simple, the second explained their zeal by
referring to the needs of civilization, and the third asked only that in
all matters the inhabitants should trust in their valour.
One of the major satirical novels of the 19th century, Shchedrin's
farcical history of Glupov (or Stupid Town) follows the bewildered and
stoical Russian inhabitants for hundreds of years as they endure the
violence and lunacy of their tyrannical rulers.