Poor Demagogue by Fazil Iskander. Short summary

5 seconds

An Abkhazian came to town to complain to the chief of police about the scoundrel who had stolen his buffalo. The chief accepted the gifts and promised to sort it out. But the next day the Bolsheviks came to power in the town.

1 minute

On a summer afternoon, an old Abkhazian was waiting for a train in the shade of a large tree. The old man watched two stokers, who tried for a long time to open a bottle of beer. When the bottle was opened, the old man told the two companions a story from his life.

His best buffalo had once been stolen by a rascal from a neighboring village. A fellow villager told the old man that he had seen the thief chasing the buffalo. The old man chased the thief, but before he had had time he had already slaughtered the cattle.

The old man decided to take his revenge on the thief through the state. He went to town to see the chief of police, taking the gifts with him. He told him about the crime and returned to Chegem. The next day the old man learned that the Bolsheviks had come to power and the old chief of police had fled. He had to collect presents again and went to complain to the new chief.

The new chief received him, listened to his complaint, and sent him home to await his summons. And indeed, the old man was soon summoned. The thief was put in jail, and his relatives gave the old man a cow and a heifer instead of a buffalo.