A fable. In wild old tribal days they made robot-slaves by means of a camel's udder skin that shrank onto their shaved heads and leeched memory. The 20th century is on its way to invent a robotics of people and create a happy State, says an advocate. Elsewhere, cosmonauts discover extraterrestrial intelligence: but what intelligence can be expected from the governments on Earth?

I liked his nostalgic descriptions of the Aral Sea, and of camels; I liked the fine old Kazangap, whom they go to bury.