handkerchief and thoroughly dried his hands. “The first time I’ve heard of him. Madiev? No, I don’t know him… So, what about it?” “Nothing special. I just wanted to tell you that that young man turned out to be the most popular writer today.” “What a disaster!” Karatai smiled benevolently. “Is he really the most popular?” “Daddy, don’t you feel sorry that everything turned out like it did?” Bagila, trying to hide her mood, kissed her father coquettishly. “What’s there to be sorry about?” Karatai asked, changing to the tone he used to speak with Jasyn. “I don’t know him, and I don’t want to know him.” “But you don’t know any of writers…” “Bagila!” Karatai stopped his daughter with a shout. “You studied in Almaty for only a year and, apparently, decided that you could argue with me?! I have other knowledge and a different position. A real father always brings up a child in such a way that they respect what’s being said! So stop with this nonsense!” Bagila bit her tongue. She didn’t want to talk to her father about that guy anymore. Such an angry reaction from her father fell like a shadow on her soul, Karatai quickly understood this and stroked his daughter on the head. “Don’t be angry with me,” he said so that Bagila wanted to cuddle up to her father and cry. “There are too many people in this world who are angry with me. Don’t be one of them.” Bagila sighed convulsively, a barely perceptible chill to her father remained. She knew: her father would never be different; it was too late for him to change. Until the end of his days, he will be so tough, self-confident even when he is completely wrong. Thinking about it, she felt sorry for him. In the evening, Karatai presented Sargel with a thousand rubles in honour of the attainment, had a quick dinner and flew home. PART TWO On New Year’s Eve, Sargel received his Ph.D. He was convinced that after defending his dissertation, all the scientists of Almaty stopped their work and were only concerned with ensuring that the attestation commission did not approve his doctoral thesis at all costs. Sargel informed Karatai about all the insidiousness of his colleagues both in letters and by phone. At the last conversation, Karatai broke loose and, unexpectedly even for himself, shouted at his brother.
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