Many centuries ago in tsarist Russia, Tsar Rudolph sat on his throne in a dank and musty palace near the Kremlin. It was late fall, and the weather was dreary. His wife, the Tsarina, was peering out the window, looking across the bleak square.

"Rudolph, my liege, it is beginning to snow," she said with some conviction.

The Tsar, with nothing much else to do walked to the window to take in the scene.

"Catherine, that is just more of the same miserable rain we've seen for days."

"No, it's starting to snow. You can see a few flakes falling out there."

"It is only rain."