[1][2] Set in ancient Greece, the story concerns two sculptors who accept a commission with ironic consequences.

On a slope of Mount Maenalus in Arcadia is an olive grove that grows around a marble tomb and the ruin of an old villa.

They were devoted friends, but different in disposition: Musides enjoyed the nightlife, while Kalos preferred the quiet of the olive grove.

One day, emissaries from "the Tyrant of Syracuse" ask the sculptors each to create a statue of Tyché (Greek: τύχη, lit.

When the Tyrant's people return to the villa the next morning, they find it utterly destroyed; the great tree branch has fallen, and Musides' statue has been crushed into unrecognizable pieces.

The end of the story recalls the Latin aphorism that precedes the text: "Fata viam invenient" ("fate will find a way").