put you in jail without asking anything.” “Turns out that it is not that easy to get into prison!” The shepherd joked sadly. “For seventeen years I kneaded the mud, froze my feet in the snow, forgetting about all the joys of life, I looked after the cattle. My family, children crawled behind me across the steppe… And in the end – I’m going to prison? You should frighten all the masters!” He began to speak and did not stop, looking at the fire raging in the furnace, not realising that his wife was looking at him with panic and fear. “So, I’ll get forty-five from my own cattle, personally. The state gave me as a gift for my work. After that, you can take the rest of your flock! And I will go to the central estate, I will live quietly, without the wolves howling behind my back. I don’t understand why we wander the desert steppe. Our hearts almost break with joy if we manage to see a living person during the whole winter. And now you show and say – ‘prison!’ I’m tired of it all! I’ll leave!” He plucked a tuft of wool from the bedding beneath him and threw it into the oven. “Kolbai, what is the matter with you? You can talk, but don’t go off on tangents like that!” The director chal- lenged him. Kolbai abruptly raised his head, shot him with his eyes. Rage choked him, and the whites of his eyes were filled with blood. The director of the state farm wilted, unable to bear this silent duel. “Don’t like what I’m saying? Strong words were invented by the people, which means they are needed!” Kolbai flared up, unable to contain his anger. “As long as I have lived, not once had cattle fell in my flock, so not only a person, but also Allah himself will forgive me for using strong words. Do you want me to be polite? But how can I be polite if I end up disappearing for nothing? It’s you, you drove me to this!” The director was furious. He immediately realised that this half-wit would put all the blame for their deaths on him. He looked at Kolbai threateningly. “Well, why did you stop?! Spread everything in front of our distinguished guest! What is my fault? That your frozen sheep die like flies from the

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153