Volume 1, No. 1
Banquet / Tyrras ... 3
other persons: Maria
Zakharovna, the bespectacled accountant from the Amur Machine Works, and
finally Genadii Baskin, the nervouslooking president of a newly established
Rotary Club of Blagoveshchensk.
Bondarenko had organized
a lavish dinner which began with hors d'oeuvres and vodka, followed by
Caucasian shashlik, that is mutton skewered with onions, mushrooms, peppers,
and served with rice, and red wine from the Georgian republic. For dessert
they brought out poppy and walnut strudel with ice cream, and champagne.
It was during the dessert that the speeches began.
"Tovarishchy! Tovarishchy!"
Bondarenko shouted in Russian. Comrades! Comrades! He had stood up and
was tapping his spoon against a glass. Comrades! he shouted a third time
to quiet the hall. "Excuse me! I said 'Comrades' didn't I. Old habit.
I mean, of course, ladies and gentlement! Yes. Ladies and gentlemen! This