Strangers in a Strange Land

Abstract

Where [sadauri] do you come from?' 'Where [sadável]? From Gaibotani, here in the mountains on the banks of the Terek.' 'Are you Georgian or Ossetian [osi]?' 'Why would I be an Ossetian [ovsí]? I am a Georgian, a Moxevian.' 'Your home is in a good place.' 'It's not so bad [gonjái].* It suits our poverty.' 'Water and air like this are happiness itself.' 'Hm!' laughed the Moxevian. 'What are you laughing at [icini]?' 'I laugh [vicíni] at the laughable. An empty stomach cannot be filled with those.' 'This big road will give you help.' 'What difference does a road make! It's only of use to him who has things bought or made himself to carry and sell.' 'Then you do not hire yourself out?' 'Why would we not? Of course we do.' 'Then you get money from hire.' 'We get it. It doesn't stay in the pocket, though; a Moxevian mountaineer is the prey of the Armenian. There's no food and drink in the house; what we earn goes to the dukan. (VI) But Chavchavadze's brief account of the economic role of the road