How a Muzhik Fed Two Officials

How a Muzhik Fed Two Officials is not just a fable—it is a mirror, polished to a biting shine, reflecting the grotesque logic of power and servitude. In this brief yet mercilessly precise tale, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin strips hierarchy down to its raw absurdity: those who consume and those who are consumed. Two officials, stranded in a land without luxury, discover an ingenious solution to their predicament—one that requires neither effort nor skill on their part. Their savior? A humble muzhik, a man shaped by centuries of unquestioning toil. But necessity breeds invention, and soon, the line between duty and exploitation blurs beyond recognition. With razor-sharp irony, Saltykov-Shchedrin lays bare a world where privilege thrives on passivity, and survival itself becomes a grotesque performance. The muzhik, nameless and tireless, embodies an entire class condemned to labor without recognition, while the officials, ludicrous in their entitlement, reveal the disturbing resilience of power, even in the face of absurdity. Darkly comic yet chillingly relevant, How a Muzhik Fed Two Officials remains an unflinching satire on authority, dependence, and the silent mechanisms that sustain inequality. A story as brief as it is unsettling—one that lingers long after the last word.