Kuzma

A local laborer/driver mentioned in passing at a Siberian station: on 7 May he had tried to cross the flooded meadows toward the Irtysh and "barely made it back," which the free driver cites as the reason horses can't be had that day. Chekhov, suspicious the flood report is exaggerated (since Kuzma himself had not seen the flood, only heard of it secondhand), overrides the warning and presses on -- setting up the letter's flooded-crossing ordeal.