Mother was busy with the stove. She carefully threw firewood, bones, and other garbage left over from cooking into the stove hole.

- Mother, this is inconceivable. You are simply a virtuoso.

She beamed with her kind round face, charming dimples immediately appeared on her cheeks.

- Thank you for your kind word, matressa, I try ...

- I've never eaten anything better.

- The whole secret is in this beast, - the cook pointed her plump finger into the oven, - if it weren't for Master Darius, I would never have mastered such recipes.

The comment baffled me, and I wondered: did I misheard at all?

- What animal?...