In which Vasili Andreevich, beleaguered by the biting wind and blinding snow, endeavours to find his way through a desolate winter landscape, pained by the treacherous sameness of the storm-tossed wormwood and haunted by the circling path he unknowingly retraces. Despite his faltering strength and flickering hope, he clings to the faint tracks of his horse, musing on the inefficacy of holy rites in this cruel wilderness as he struggles onward, lost and yet drawn inexplicably toward salvation.