To the old woman Agafya Zhuravleva came the son of Konstantin Ivanovich. With wife and daughter. I drove in a taxi, and they all the whole family pulled suitcases out of the trunk for a long time. By evening, the village learned the details: he himself is a candidate, his wife is also a candidate, his daughter is a schoolgirl.

In the evening, men gathered at Gleb Kapustin’s porch. Somehow it turned out that many noble people left their village - a colonel, two pilots, a doctor, a correspondent. And it so happened that when nobles came to the village and people crowded in the hut in the evening, Gleb Kapustin came and cut off the noble guest. And now candidate Zhuravlev arrived ...

Gleb went to the men on the porch, asked:

- Have guests arrived at Granny Agafier?

- Candidates!

- Candidates? - Gleb was surprised. - Well, let's go see the candidates.

It turned out that the men were leading Gleb as an experienced fist fighter.

Candidate Konstantin Ivanovich greeted the guests joyfully, gurgled around the table. Have a seat. The conversation went amicably, they began to forget about Gleb Kapustin ... And then he came across a candidate.

- In what area do you identify yourself? Philosophy?

- You could say that

“And how does philosophy now define the concept of weightlessness?”

- Why now?

“But the phenomenon has recently been discovered.” Natural philosophy will define it this way, strategic philosophy - completely different ...

- Yes there is no such philosophy - strategic, - the candidate was worried. “What are you talking about?”

“Yes, but there is a dialectic of nature,” Gleb continued calmly, with general attention. - And nature is determined by philosophy. Therefore, I ask, is there confusion among philosophers?

The candidate laughed sincerely. But he laughed alone and felt awkward. He called his wife: “Valya, here we have some kind of strange conversation!”

“Good,” Gleb went on, “how do you feel about the problem of shamanism?”

- Yes, there is no such problem! The candidate slashed again.

Now Gleb laughed.

- Well, no, and no trial. There is no problem, but these ... are dancing, ringing bells. Yes? But with the same la-nii they seem to be gone. True ... Another question: how do you feel about the fact that the moon is also the work of the mind. That there are intelligent beings on her.

- So what? The candidate asked.

- And where are your calculations of natural trajectories? How can your cosmic science be applied here?

“Who are you asking?”

“You thinkers.” We are not thinkers, our salary is not the same. But if you are interested, I can share it. I would suggest drawing a diagram of our solar system in the sand, showing where we are. And then show what laws, say, I developed.

- I wonder why? - the candidate asked with irony and looked significantly at his wife. He did this in vain, because a significant glance was intercepted. Gleb soared up and hit the candidate from there:

- Invite your wife to laugh. Only, perhaps, we first learn how to at least read newspapers. This is also useful for candidates ...

- Listen!

- No, they did.They had, so to speak, pleasure. Therefore, let me say, Mr. Candidate, that a candidate is not a costume that he bought - once and for all. And even a suit needs to be cleaned from time to time. And the candidacy is all the more ... necessary.

It was embarrassing to look at the candidate; he was clearly at a loss. The men looked away.

- Of course, we can surprise you, drive a taxi to the house, pull five suitcases out of the trunk ... But ... if you come to this people, you need to be prepared. Collected. More modest.

- But what is our indiscretion? - the wife of the candidate could not stand it.

- But when you stay alone, think carefully. Bye. Have a nice vacation ... among the people!

Gleb grinned and walked slowly out of the hut. He did not hear how later the men, dispersing from the candidate, said: “He pulled him away! .. Dead, dog. How does he know about the moon? .. Cut it off. " In the men’s voice, even as if pity for the candidates, sympathy. Gleb Kapustin was still surprised. Amazing. I admired even. Though love was not here. Gleb is cruel, and nobody has ever loved cruelty anywhere else.