Parable About the Lame Sheep

A sheep is a sacrificial animal. But a lame sheep is lucky: it is not suited to be sacrificed to Allah. "Why aren't you killed yet?", people ask Magomed Shamilov. Perhaps, he is not taken seriously. He is too poor. He fights for justice. He makes jokes all the time. He says: "I laugh so as not to cry". Dagestan today is the most troubled spot on the map of Russia. A rare week passes without explosions, murders, acts of terror. Our protagonist towers above this land of fear like a mountain, an Eastern version of Don Quixote. His windmills are extremism, corruption, unemployment. Magomed has established a trade union of ex-policemen. While he manages his flock's rallies, his beloved Zaripat provides food for their children and grandchildren: tends to their farm from dawn to dusk. She breeds cattle, rabbits. And two sheep. By the end of our story, only one of the two remains alive. The lame one.