or my teeth.’ ‘What do you mean, your teeth?!’ ‘It’s very simple. Eight teeth!’ ‘I didn’t put in eight, I put in six.’ Yerezhep opened his mouth, presenting his teeth as proof. ‘And I gave a hundred roubles to the dentist to do it quickly…’ ‘That’s of no interest to me. It’s up to you, either eight hundred roubles or eight gold teeth. I said…’ Yelemes rose from his chair, indicating that the meal was over. His wife began to get up from the table. But they stopped halfway through when Yerezhep began shouting. ‘Hey, are you crazy?! I thought he was joking, and he…! What kind of a brain have you got that’s so stupid? You’re asking for your teeth back? Like hell I will! Here’s your money, take it! If you don’t want it, fine, that’s all you’re getting!’ Yerezhep threw the envelope in front of Yelemes, but he flung it back at him. The money scattered, one note falling into a bowl of cold tea. Yerezhep snatched it from the crockery in a lightning motion, slipped it into the envelope, and poked the envelope into the inside pocket of his jacket. ‘Well, look, it’s my job to offer. I’ve done my duty. Now you’ll never see that money again!’ He was seeth- ing with righteous indignation. ‘It’s as if I had my teeth put in for nothing! You heard what I had to say at the conference, you politically illiterate…!’ ‘You don’t confuse your teeth with your politics, got it?!’ said Yelemes, hurt by the sting. ‘Have you forgotten how you caused the accident? You were drunk, remember? I’ll tell this to the right person and we’ll watch you dance! We’ll see who’s literate then! And remember, those six teeth gleaming in your jaw are mine. I can knock them out at any time too. Gently sup- porting his wife under his arm, Yelemes left Yerezhep’s house. ‘Swindler! Cheat!’ Yerezhep shouted after him. ‘And you cooked meat for them?! Throw it to the dogs! Yes, only to the dogs!’ His wife, making it clear that no amount of resentment, not even Yerezhep’s mortal grudge, would make her throw away the meat, pointedly and calmly remarked to him: ‘Stop shouting at the whole village. You’re a liar! I suspected the accident was caused by drunkenness, and that’s how it turned out! I knew in my heart… You’ll give