him eight hundred roubles. Eight hundred, got it?!’ The rumour of this dinner spread quickly through the village and the whole state farm went wild with laughter. But the louder the laughter, the fiercer the relationship between Yerezhep and Yelemes became. The villagers were looking forward to a fight and predicted it was coming… But contrary to these passionate expectations, everything ended quietly and peacefully. Amazed at the cleverness of Yelemes, the director thought that in case of an inquiry the story of Yerezhep’s teeth could backfire on him too, and sent a district officer to see Yelemes. After two visits, Yelemes agreed to pay four hundred roubles and thus the threat to Yerezhep’s teeth was averted. But the resolution of the financial misunderstand- ing did nothing to change their relationship. Yelemes hated Yerezhep for applying administrative pressure when he borrowed money. Yerezhep accused Yelemes of taking advantage of the rise in the price of gold to extort him and, in addition, of blabbing the real cause of the accident to the whole village. Thus, their relationship crossed a line beyond which reconciliation was no longer possible. Another wedding was in progress at the state farm. As is the custom on such occasions, there is an intricate and ornate subordination at the table, according to which the guests are seated from the place of honour in the red corner to the chair by the door according to the decreasing degree of authority and influence. For a Kazakh one of the unsolvable problems is his own place at a dastarkhan. Who will sit with whom, what will be put in front of whom, whose name will be mentioned more often (and whose less often) – all these questions have dignity riding on them, and during banquets these issues become as important as searching for peace in the Middle East… At such a crowded feast, Yelemes was seated ‘below’ Yerezhep. This meant that from now on, Yerezhep would automatically be considered more respected than Yelemes. It meant that at the table Yerezhep would eat before Yelemes, drink tea before him and make a toast before him… At the dastarkhan everyone should know his place and position, but nevertheless there is an invisible inner confrontation of virtues. Such a confrontation – of course, masked by delicacy, kindness and generosity – immediately arose between Yerezhep and Yelemes from the very beginning of the meal.