Three foreigners arrive at Los Erizos. At first they mistrust its inhabitants and their form of sociopolitical organization, which strikes them as too different from their own: the Erizans do not use money, there is no wage labor, there are no hierarchies. The newcomers can hardly believe that they could be so well treated without anything being asked of them in return. After a few misunderstandings and a welcome party, the newcomers become part of this new world, which is not as harmonious as it might seem: its inhabitants tend to disagree with each other, and some even have a special inclination for discord, such as Max, the baker, whose dogmatic air and political outspokenness make him incapable of keeping quiet when the equality of the city’s inhabitants is called into question. To resolve such conflicts, the Erizans resort to a ritual similar to Snakes and Ladders or the Game of the Goose; a motor for social transformation with surprising, irreversible results.
Juan Rodrigáñez
