Ep. 5: Kino encounters a lifelong track polisher and shares a tale of voluntary labor

5

While traveling along an old railroad, Kino meets a man who has spent fifty years polishing the tracks. Taking a break, she tells him a story about a society where citizens freely choose to perform meaningless, stressful tasks despite having no obligation to work. The old man views this as foolish, unaware that his own efforts are equally pointless. Kino soon discovers that two other men are working on the same line, each systematically undoing the labor completed by the others, revealing a cycle of futile activity.