As a peace offering Jan gave Ivan?

From the text:

Now Jan had no shoes at all. The rags he had bound his feet with during the winter were worn out. He endured the cold and the dirt and the sharp stones underfoot for a whole week before he could bring himself to apologize. He went to the control post with cut feet, sobbing, truly repentant. He left a peace-offering for Ivan — one of the treasures from his wooden box, one he prized very highly. It was a dead, shrivelled-up lizard. And he came back with his shoes.