This collection of three Aitmatov short stories basically was dedicated to James Riordan, the British academic and the best translator of Aitmatov into English. It contains his translation of the 1960 short story 'Camel Eye' as well as Rahima Abduvalieva's translations of 'The Boy Soldier' and 'The Monkey Girl and the Satchel'. The latter was originally written in German as a fairy tale for Aitmatov's children.