For more than a hundred years, humanity has been living in the era of oil civilization, and many people think that oil and its derivatives are the main driver of life. And the basis of all things in this world - water - has so far remained unnoticed. In the third volume of the collected works of Vaclav Michalski, the novel “Secret Mercies” (1981–1982) is published, which grew out of a series of essays devoted to the water supply of a regional city. But, as the author himself writes, “the novel, of course, is not only about water, but also about people, about their relationships, about the bizarre interweaving of interests.” Why “Secret Mercies”? Because we all live by secret mercies from above, many of which we don’t even think about, like the same water from which we practically consist. And how many harmful stupid things people do, how they poison their habitat. And so far we have gotten away with everything. Isn't this another secret mercy?