The pool of a capricious donna, the belongings of a cheerful don and one incompetent officer bring the village to the brink of disaster. The Latin American country is tormented by an economic crisis, political turmoil and military tyranny. The President is passionate about alchemy. The commanders-in-chief are weaving intrigues. The secret police are terrorizing the population. The mountains are infested with guerrillas, the jungle is “sudden death by thunder.” “These people love all of humanity, but they don’t think twice about killing each other.” A godforsaken village is preserved by spirits, cats and an ineradicable love of life. A tragicomic farce in the tradition of magical realism, the first part of the trilogy by Louis de Bernieres - for the first time in Russian.