Because we have to look for the meaning of the central theme in indirect elements, the analysis of setting and of the similes used to convey it is particular important. N. Stepanov described the general tendency to exoticism in Babel's landscapes, the fact that everyday things seem to take on a new appearance, without however, attempting to reveal what structural or thematic function such descriptions play in the Babel short story. In My First Goose the treatment of setting not only has the typical function of creating or deepening a particular atmosphere, but plays a vital structural, thematic part in the revelation of the narrator's experience. The role of setting is clear from its very absence at the opening of the story: there is no conventional 'setting of the scene'; the first reference to the setting comes only after the narrator has left Savitsky's office, after he...