Today, residents behaved more boldly, they surrounded Camel from all sides, patted him on the sides, and scratched him under the belly. They asked what he would like for breakfast, although there were several tables near the wall of the barn, which were piled with all sorts of fruits and vegetables. Camel said that what was laid on the tables was enough for him and nothing more was needed.
Then the Achmasians asked Camel to begin breakfast, which Camel promptly did, and the Achmasians watched with interest as he ate. They were curious to find out whether he quickly eats or slowly, what he likes and what he does not want to eat, how to bite, how to swallow, etc.
Finally, Camel breakfast ended, and he was about to take a walk; Many of those who watched Camel’s breakfast volunteered to accompany him. They walked through the streets of Achmas, giving Camel explanations about the locals, who does what and is famous for what.
Soon they reached the outskirts of the city, where the main highway passed. The highway was lined with walnut trees on both sides. In a small hollow near the road from under the ground, a source of clear, cold water was beating, which everyone (including Camel) enjoyed drinking with pleasure. Achmasians were amazed at how much water Camel drank at a time (and he drank three buckets). Turning to the other side of the road, the Achmasians people and Camel reached the thickets of bushes, where they all lay down on the grass, talking about this and that.
The conversation basically consisted in asking Camel about his life in the capital’s zoo and about the period of Camel’s life before the zoo when he lived in the desert. Camel talked about everything willingly and in detail, and the Achmasians people were surprised how people and camels could live in the harsh desert conditions.
All quietly doze off, and then fell sleep. Woke up when the sun was already leaning towards the horizon. Camel rose to its feet and stretched with a crunch. All followed his example, and then moved to the town, heading for Camel shed. When they came to the barn, they saw that on the tables, standing near the outer wall of the barn, piled again mountains of fruits and vegetables. Camel said: “Dear Achmasians, dear friends, I will not eat so much, and the products will spoil, will be lost. I ask you, I earnestly ask, do not bring so much. No offense, please! Enough that fits on one table!”
Those present promised to convey the words of Camel to all residents of Achmas. Warmly saying goodbye to Camel, everyone went home, and Camel went into his barn. He noticed that something had changed in the barn. Fresh straw was laid on the floor, and sconces were fastened on the walls, jolly curtains hung on the windows, and a new refrigerator was installed in the corner. In the refrigerator there were bottles and cans with various soft drinks and juices, but nothing alcoholic, since all Achmash people already knew that Camel is a sober. The yard was already dark, Camel drank a bottle of orange juice and fell asleep.
CHAPTER 4
EVERYDAY LIFE
Gradually, Camel developed its mode of daily timetable life in Achmas. Every day, up to a dozen residents gathered with Camel, of whom more than half were children. In asking Camel about the smallest details of his life, Achmas people were convinced that he had come a long way in life and had gained a lot of experience. He was well-read, knew a lot from life and from books. Therefore, over time, the Achmas people themselves began to seek advice from Camel. Like all inhabitants of a small town, Achmas people liked to talk about a big outside world, about events of world significance.
But they knew a lot only by hearsay, and they misunderstood much from media reports. As a result, they often argued, for they interpreted the meaning of events and phenomena of the external world in different ways. With the arrival of Camel, an authority appeared in the city, to whose opinion they could now turn to as the last decisive instance.
In the mornings, Camel got up quite early and made his morning run outside the city, the run gradually turned into a walk.
One of the Achmasians, with whom Camel became close friends, was a biology teacher at a school named Rustam-muallim. The teacher was a well-read man and his conversations with Camel were more profound.
The most friendly relations established between Camel and the Achmasian children, they could endlessly ask him questions about different distant countries and listen to his stories about what he had seen or read. They were especially admired by his stories about the wonders of Africa or India, about their animal world – lions, tigers, elephants, hippopotamuses. But when Camel and the children got tired of a long conversation, Camel put all the children on his hunchbacked back and rolled them through the city streets. The delight of children was no limit.
In Achmas there was one large enterprise – a cannery and several large workshops. In all these enterprises, Camel was free to enter, everywhere he was greeted with love and respect, and to him willingly explained the essence of the production process. Camel was very fond of visiting enterprises. At the cannery, he watched with interest how a big trucks drove up to the plant all day (and the plant worked around the clock), full of tomatoes, eggplants, squash, apples, pears and many other mature fruits of the generous southern nature.
At the height of the ripening season of vegetables and fruits, the plant did not have admit to receive the delivered fruits, and then a long, slowly moving line of loaded cars lined up in front of the factory gates. At the same time, some of the fruits were already beginning to deteriorate, and under some trucks on the ground pools of fruit and vegetable juices were formed.
Trucks drivers spent hours in their cabins or on the side of the road; the convoy of trucks moved forward only an few tens of meters in an hour. Finally, a loaded truck drove into the gates of the plant, and then unloading began.
Hefty movers picked up the filled boxes and carried them to a large reception funnel, where they were poured out. And trucks – dump trucks themselves drove the body to the receiving funnel, raised the front of the body and poured its contents into the funnel.
From the receiving funnel, the fruit fell on the conveyor (conveyor), which brought the fruit into the washing chamber. Here, streams of water flowed from above and the fruits were washed clean. Then they again fell on the conveyor, which brought them to the sorting shop. On both sides of the conveyor there were women –