My Brother Bzou

This story from the last century is about the friendship between a simple Abkhazian youth and a wild sea inhabitant, a dolphin. And even more wonderful is this friendship, surrounded by the harsh and sometimes primitive life of an Abkhazian village, whose residents—peasants and fishermen—consider the dolphin a "foolish gray fish," and the person who befriends it, at least a curious character. The village of Ldzaa has been living its measured life for many centuries: the Abkhaz cherish the inheritance of their ancestors, work the land, go to the sea for fish, mourn, and rejoice. Schools of dolphins have also inhabited the sea since ancient times—playing and hunting, sometimes delighting, sometimes frightening people. The meeting place of the two future friends is the shore. A spring morning, a promise of a miracle. The glow of an unusual friendship illuminates the entire narrative—highlighting characters, warming hearts. Step by step, day by day, word by word, the summer of the growing hero passes. His gaze becomes increasingly focused on his native land, on familiar work, on loving relatives. Just one summer to get to know each other, to learn trust, to become friends, to become brothers…