The guy at the wine stand asks in an ironical tone if any of them are fifteen yet, or else he can t give them the drinks. Olga insists in an offended tone that she is in fact sixteen, and the man relents, amused. Little Milan is a bit puzzled by the man s reticence, since at the age of nine he has frequently run out to the potraviny to get his dad a bottle or two of Pilsen, but it doesn t seem wise to press the issue. In Bratislava the carp vat is quite enormous and dominates one part of the square, since it has to accomodate so many families. In most villages across the country a barrel in the tiny grocery stores is sufficient.
Crowds gather around the vat to examine the day s selection.
Fathers hold up their children to the edge so they can peer intently into the murky water and choose the biggest, liveliest fish. This year it s Igor s turn, and he takes his duty seriously. The Man with the Net swoops his tool into the vat, chases the carp a moment or two, and whips it out of the water. His assistant standing below catches the fish in a handful of newspaper, wraps it up, and passes it off to Big Milan, while Zela doles out 300 korun to pay for it. The fish safely in hand and wrapped in newspaper, the Kovac family races towards home before their new family friend suffocates in the air.