The French sculptor Rodin* had just finished a statue of the poet Hugo, standing on the crest of a rock, with Muses and Ocean deities surrounding him. He brought a troupe of journalists to his studio to contemplate the work. Unfortunately, the evening before, he had left the window open and, as a terrible storm had broken out during the night, a stream of water had reduced the huge group to a formless pulp. Hugo had flopped down into a sea of mud.
Rodin was dismayed, but the chorus of praise had already begun: "Wonderful! Marvellous! Hugo rising from this bed of slime, what a symbol! Master, it is a stroke of genius! You have successfully represented the ignominy of an epoch in which the inspiration of the bard alone survived. How beautiful! It is the masterpiece of masterpieces!"
法國雕刻家羅丹*雕成詩人雨果像。其像立於石上，四周是文學之神、海洋之神。羅丹帶着一群記者，到他工作室參觀這件作品。可是，他前一晚沒有把窗關上，而夜間來了一場大風暴，雨水如注，把雕像的眾神化作爛泥，無復原形。雨果就倒在爛泥之中。
羅丹大為懊喪，那些記者卻異口同聲，叫起好來：「真好、真妙！雨果起於一片爛泥之中，這象徵多麼貼切！大師，這真是神來之筆！你充分刻劃出一個可恥的時代，就中只有詩人雨果，文筆受天壠，可垂不朽。這件作品，令人唾壺擊碎，是傑作中之傑作！」
*羅丹卒於一九一七年，名作包括「沉思者」。