"When did he get back?" "A few hours ago." "Why he is lying in my bed?" "He was tired." "Sleep on the floor tonight." "The neighbours will stop talking to us again." "Where they only just started visiting again." "He's your father." "Why didn't you stop?" "I couldn't." "My parents will come soon." "What if you're soon a father yourself?" "Don't talk rubbish." "it's not going to happen." "I have to finish my her barium." "Pierogi." "Warm pierogi, who wants warm pierogi?" "Fresh pierogi!" "Where have you been?" "At school?" "We're on vacation." "A glorious time." "How's life?" "Pretty good." "Where's Mama?" "At the railway station." "Are you helping her?" "Well, I'm off." "Where are you going?" "To work." "There must always be someone here." "My son will come and lend a hand." "One of their guys..." "Came and distracted you." "I sold three sacks." "Here's the money" "Bravo, Zharas." "Without you it'd all have been stolen." "Zharas!" "Have you stopped smoking?" "Do you smoke?" "I'm full." "Why won't you eat up?" "Why is he avoiding me?" "Doesn't he want to talk?" "What's your class teacher's name?" "Why do you ask?" "Is there a meeting tomorrow?" "What kind of meeting?" "Mama said it's parents' meeting." "It's better you don't go." "Don't contradict me." "I'm your father." "Can you tie a tie?" "I've forgotten how, screw it." "I'll go take a pee." "Bend your knees." "The punch comes from the shoulder." "Down at the knee, out from the shoulder." "Now you." "Not so hasty" "Keep this side up." "Hold that." "A man without tire is nothing." "Go and work with your son on the market, instead of sitting around here." "I won't go to work, where I went thieving." "There is no work." "No one will take me because of my criminal record." "Nobody respects your father it's no secret." "The factory has closed down." "I wanted to work as a guard." "But there are cutbacks." "The best thing is shift work." "I went to the foreman." "He wants a big bribe." "I said go to hell." "It's a job everyone wants." "You can work as a security guard or security instructor" "They teach it all." "At least sell pierogi with me." "Zharas will be back at school soon." "Selling pierogi is no job for a man!" "Security guard is." "That'd be something." "But the foreman wants money" "You just don't want to get up early." "What kind of man are you?" "Here Comes my SOD." "Do they take parcels for prisoners here?" "Get lost!" "Don't enter this house." "Never let me see you here again." "We've got to hurry" "Allah has answered my prayers." "I'm starting a new life." "Zharas, the foreman called me in person." "Imagine." "They want to take me!" "You hear me, Zharas?" "They'll teach me everything." "Don't forget your toothbrush." "Hello." "Let's go inside." "Have your son wait here." "Where have you come from?" "The station." "We brought my husband." "He found a job." "What kind of job?" "Shift work." "At an oil company" "Your husband has no education." "They took him, anyway" "Your son sold Hour and pocketed the cash without the boss' knowledge." "The boss says he blindly trusted your son." "First your son stole the money and then he broke the lock." "You said he went to work this morning." "Now we'll call him in." "He'll say he didn't go to work today" "Come, Zharas, sit down." "Zharas, have you been to work today?" "Yes." "Did men from the city come by?" "Yes." "What did they come by fol?" "They bought ten sacks of Noun" "You took the money and faked a break-in, didn't you?" "Yes." "Write a full confession." "It will lighten the punishment." "Call him "Chick"." "He doesn't mind." "Are you from school no. 2?" "Yes." "We know where Ardak is now." "Let's go." "Is that Ardak?" "Yes." "Don't cry off, now." "Why don't you say hello?" "Go on, Chick, give it to him!" "What are you waiting for?" "Kick him in!" "Flatten the fatty!" "Don't just stand there!" "Go on!" "Punch him in the face!" "Pull the fat off him!" "Flatten him!" "Punch him or we will!" "Finish him off!" "Why just stand there?" "Knock him down." "What are you waiting for?" "Go on, Chick, make him bleed!" "Don't quake!" "I'd finish them off after all those insults." "Let them know what it's like." "Go on." "We'll help you." "Why are you running off?" "I feel sorry for them." "Did they feel sorry for you?" "I already said, I can't do it." "I have to go home." "Who's your buddy?" "He's a singer." "Imagine your opponent is standing there." "He throws a punch." "You duck left and give him an uppercut." "The jaw is connected to the legs." "There's a nerve cord between them." "A precise blow and you punch his lights out." "You know I can't punch anyone." "You'll learn." "Lights go out at nine." "I have to practice a song." "The competition's in a month." "I have a new song to do." "We'll go soon." "Take up your stance." "Your opponent throws a punch." "You duck away and throw an uppercut from below." "Is there really a singer who can shatter glass with his voice?" "Yes, Chaliapin." "Do you know him?" "Yes." "Will you introduce me to him?" "I said not to shake them!" "The gas is gone now." "Get lost." "You shouldn't drag out your cold." "Your voice needs to recover." "Take a warm footbath tonight." "Let's try it again." "Thanks, guys." "Don't worry, my boy." "Your voice will recover." "How about more milk with butter?" "What for?" "My voice won't come back." "Sell my costumes." "Punch him!" "Don't be shy!" "Finish him off!" "Bury him!" "I'll tear you to shreds!" "Go on, Chick, give it to him!" "Give it to him." "Show no mercy!" "Land the Erst punch, Chick! I was at the parents' meeting today" "They say you have to pay money to the school fund." "Our family is low income." "We don't have to pay anything." "Your son owes me 20 tenge, too." "What for?" "He'll tell you himself." "He lost it in a game." "You begged me for that game." "Now it just lies there." "Why don't you play with the other children anymore?" "It's no fun for them." "I always win." "And I don't want to play with play-money anymore." "You haven't washed for a week." "And then you want to know why you get warts." "It's my birthday tomorrow." "Have you got me a present?" "I had this dream." "In it I'm really small." "I can't walk yet." "We're at a bus stop in the steppe." "We're waiting for the bus." "We're alone there." "The sun's shining." "Everything is white." "After a while wolves appear in the distance." "Lots of them." "They run towards us." "You don't know where to go." "The steppe is empty The wolves approach." "You grab me and throw me onto the bus shelter." "You want to climb up, but you can't make it." "The wolves are beginning to bite you." "They rip your dress." "You scream." "I hear it all but I don't look." "I'm afraid." "I lie there and look at the bright sky" "I see a large bird." "It flies straight towards me." "And at that moment I woke up." "Think of something nice." "It's your birthday today" "Are you making a cake?" "With candles?" "Are you inviting someone?" "You need friends." "It's not good to be alone." "It's more fun with friends." "We have a guest." "Come and have tea with us." "Are you coming?" "Don't be afraid." "Come along, come on!" "Want some tea?" "Sit down." "How did you find your way here?" "An old man told me how." "Copper is kid's stuff." "We'll show you something..." "It'll knock you out." "We scratched it from the wiring throughout the factory" "Pay no attention to him." "He's cuckoo." "From the orphanage for the disabled." "We all ran away from there." "There the bedbugs bite and the mattresses are piss-stained." "There are bedbugs and it's cold." "Talga, bring it here." "Is that real silver?" "We live from copper and aluminum, silver we save." "When the toluene runs out, we buy glue." "Come on, join us." "Shall we go to my place?" "It's my birthday today" "To your house?" "Do you have anything to eat?" "There's a cake with candles." "We'll come over, but later." "Angel's waiting." "He'd be offended." "We promised we'd go see him Erst." "And then we'll celebrate your birthday" "Angel?" "Yes." "He is wounded." "How come he's wounded?" "He fell from the sky" "And crashed to the ground." "it's fun with him." "The sun shines there, sometimes it rains." "Then there's a rainbow." "We ride on it." "Me, Talga, Squinter and the Wounded Angel." "Afterwards our shit is multi-coloured." "Don't be a pussy" "You'll see Wounded Angel." "We'll introduce you to him." "Squinter's already watching "cartoons"." "There's no electricity" "Yes, but he's wired." "Why did you do that?" "Who's he talking to?" "No one, just his mother." "You left me at the orphanage." "I know I wasn't good and stole your money" "Come get me, Mama." "The mattresses smell of pee and the bedbugs bother me." "Come join us." "it's better there, more beautiful." "Wounded Angel will be glad of a new friend." "He promised to teach us to sing today" "Blow them out, son." "What's the matter, son?" "Go on." "In the tree there are descending juices and...?" "Ascending juices." "Will it all be..." "Questions like that?" "Of course, it's the school curriculum." "It is not easy to get into medical high school." "You need to know all the natural science material." "And you don't even know the structure of a tree." "You can't even tell cambia from medullar rays." "I want to be a surgeon." "Doctors aren't interested in trees." "A man must be capable of doing everything." "I know." "Plant a tree, raise a son, build a house." "The food has been ready for two hours." "I still have material to go oven" "You'll have a ruined stomach before it's exam time." "What counts is his stomach's not ruined." "Or else he'll die." "Come and eat." "Look after yourself like you look after Tamagotchi." "Or you'll be completely exhausted." "A hungry stomach makes gastric juice." "It's good for the digestion." "Aslan, I'm worried." "We have to do something." "We'll talk later." "I have a difficult test today." "You'll go to medical high and leave me alone." "The entrance exam is very difficult." "Thirty applicants to one place." "I have to go." "Why are you late?" "I'm here specially for you." "So at least one pupil from our province becomes a surgeon." "What kind of town is this?" "Nothing but criminals and labourers." "Should I ask the cards whether it's a boy or a gin?" "A classmate showed me how." "What's wrong with you?" "The holidays are almost over and we've made no real progress." "You can't explain the difference between bark and hast." "I'm going to medical high." "I'll get my diploma and go to the academy" "You'll come to the city and be a student, too." "Aslan, what are you afraid of?" "A neighbour drowned another neighbour's kittens in a bucket." "The owner asked why" "He said their cat had eaten his chicks." "Do you know Zharas?" "Yes." "He's in prison for theft." "He's taken after his father." "Toad hanged himself in the basement." "He started acting weirdly after his birthday" "Is he dead?" "Yes." "Didn't you heal?" "I saw Chick the singer recently" "He's gone crazy" "He's taking money off little kids." "Don't worry" "It won't hurt." "You're only in the second month." "Then we'll have peace." "Come here, Rosa." "The new clothes give you confidence." "You'll ride into town like a true gentleman." "Just don't fail in a suit like that!" "You should have covered all the main topics long ago." "But we're still on embryonic development." "You mean this is also unimportant?" "This isn't about trees, it's about people." "How are you going to heal them?" "Tomorrow you'll explain embryonic development to me." "Never mind, son." "Then medical high isn't for you." "You'll finish school here, then go to university" "Aslan, why do you drink so much water?" "I have to feed it." "Your Tamagotchi is in the kitchen." "It's been dead for ages." "I'm talking about the tree." "I have to water it." "Otherwise it'll die." "He's drinking water again." "Give it to me!" "Why are you drinking?" "The tree." "If don't water it, it'll die." "You idiot!" "Tomorrow you're going to school." "Cretin." "I'm not leaving the house again." "They'll destroy my tree." "I won't let it happen." "We need to get him to the city" "To a psychiatrist." "We cannot delay it." "Let's wait and see." "Why are you taking everything out?" "The tree will be big soon." "It needs more room." "Are we going to the city?" "Mama, I'll pass my exams, and then I'll be a surgeon." "But don't take my water away it's always very dry there." "All right, Papa?" "Why do you move so slowly?" "The tree is hindering me." "It's getting big." "Do you know how much my body hurts?" "I suffer this pain for my tree's sake." "BABELFISCH TRANSLATIONS Thomas Cooper"