The lineage of donkeys

My mother divided the children into three categories: angels, remnants of demons, and a breed of donkeys. The obedient and gentle boys and girls were attributed to the angelic breed. These remained there, where the elders left them, who often remember their children after midnight, when they are in another city. These children did not resort to loud crying for food, but sucked their fingers, imagining it was a beautiful soup, and they became fat and beautiful. Some little rascals belong to the demon breed. One of them - as my mother says - roams the apartment from morning until night, laughs mischievously, drops all objects he encounters in his way, destroys furniture, overturns Chinese vases, and tears wallpaper. They ask for food, shouting and biting in a disgusting manner. As for the breed of donkeys, it is completely different. A donkey enters the body of the child, belonging to this breed, from birth. The donkey confidently takes its place, making the child heavy on the minds of those around him. This child was not an angel, like the children of the first breed, although his facial features might be beautiful, and he does not get angry or threaten, as remnants of demons do, but he was distinguished by three terrible traits: stubbornness, as this child always insists on his opinion; fairness, as he hunts for small mistakes; and courage, as no restraint can prevent him from his wicked activity for knowledge. The author won the "Ernest Hemingway" Literature Prize in 2017 in Canada for this book, and it entered the longlist for the "Yasnaya Polyana" Award in 2017. Author: Polina Geryiptsova Translation: Mahmoud Ibrahim Al-Hassan Number of pages: 466 Dar Ta'theer Publishing