In this village ringed by jagged mountains, the women give birth to many children. Five or six is not uncommon. Just the other day, the wife of the village headman gave birth to her tenth child. "And why do you think that is?" the young gellow asks the traveller, looking down at the snow-blanketed village. Kaim cocks his head in search of an answer. Meanwhile, the young man takes something like a piece of crystal candy from a small leather pouch. He pops it into his mouth and says with a laugh, "Because they die right away." "The children?" The young man is sixteen, as is his wife. And then-