[Curse the Mud]

To one side someone said to him, "Curse the mud, old man, and here's a hundred rubles for you."

"I don't need that money," he said, "why should I curse the mud?" And then he set off down the road again. And again he came to a place where there was so much mud. And inside him this voice once more spoke: "Where did all this mud come from? It was a dry place, so where did all the mud come from?" And once more to one side: "Curse, curse this mud, old man. Here are a hundred rubles for you."