Ok, wow!
You'll be spared a mini-dissertation because I don't like typing from my phone, but this tale spoke to a lot of ideas & conflicts that I struggle with on a daily basis. The tension between technology and tradition, the never-ending battle between the strong and the weak, and (subtly, MK, you clever and brilliant storyteller!) the true subversive power that a woman holds even in a society that ignores and erases her.
I have to admit, the essay you guys ran last week affected me deeply, and I kept noticing the way the freaking *title character* kept getting her narrative overrun by all of these men...the husbands battling jealously to own her, the scurrying rat-soldiers only interested in what she could feed them, and the Colonel's disdain. (Tovarish polkovnik ne ochen simpatichno!)
But that's where I felt the brilliance of the piece came through, because Baba Makosh really came through, and she illustrated the central puzzle of the theme - the strong and the weak aren't necessarily who you think they are, after all!
I'll second Doctor Bob's praise!