shall we do?’ Zhanaidarov asked, gathering his senior staff members in his office. ‘Representatives of the tannery from England, accompanied by the secretary of the Regional Committee, are coming to visit us tonight. In the morning they want to see the factory, and of course, they want to admire the statue of the first tanner. What can we do, how can we get out of this? No one opened their mouth. ‘What if we say someone knocked down the stat- ue in the night?’ suggested the head of the agriculture department. ‘No way,’ objected the head of the department. ‘And if they say to find the criminals, who should we grab by the neck? It is better to tell the truth and admit our guilt. Perhaps he himself, Comrade Secretary, will find a convenient excuse to take away from us… foreigners.’ Zhanaidarov glared at him angrily: ‘Then we’re all dead. There’s no patronage for cheating at the Obkom.’ ‘What to do?’ ‘What to do?’ No one could suggest anything sensible. ‘And it’s raining at the wrong time,’ the head of the livestock department broke the silence again by talking about the weather. ‘What’s the rain got to do with it?’ The chief of propaganda scowled at him, unhappy with the inappropriate conversation his neighbour had started. There was again a pained silence. ‘I didn’t start this conversation for nothing,’ the head of the agriculture department went on. ‘Even though we reported on the statue, it hasn’t been officially unveiled yet. By the time the British delegation and guests from the region arrive, the wooden pillar which is sticking out on the plinth must be removed, and Ashten himself must be put in its placetemporarily, of course. The unveiling of the statue will take, I think, no more than ten minutes; well, a fortnight at most. We’ll hurry them up ourselves. Ashten can drink free ‘Sary-Agach’ for six months if he agrees to stand motionless for half an hour with a lamb’s skin in his outstretched hands. Nothing will happen to Ashten, although it is raining. When the delegation leaves, he will jump off the plinth and go home.’ ‘What’s half an hour?’ laughed the head of the general department out loud. ‘Let him stand during the day and go home to sleep in the evening. We’ll find another plumber to replace him at night.’

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