Tasks count: 10
"Excuse me, please,” a museum employee approached Vasily Ivanovich, “we are closing in ten minutes.”
He looked up, distracted from examining a shawl with bright roses as if unceremoniously pulled out of the dream world.
“Thank you for the reminder,” he sighed, “I have lost track of time.”
“I understand,” the woman smiled, “it’s easy here. I do, too, sometimes.”
“You know, I was just looking at all these shawls, hand- and machine-made, of different epochs and regions, and thinking: at any time, even the most difficult one, business was developing both in the city and in the village. Goods were produced and were in high demand. So what is happening now? Now, probably, everything is the same... But the competition is completely insane.”
“And I might be losing this competition,” the thought that had been spinning in his head for a long time finally took shape. And he became even sadder.
“What kind of degrading mood is that?” After the employee had asked this question, Vasily Ivanovich realized that he had said the last phrase out loud.
However, he did not have time to regret it. The woman continued without waiting for his answer:
“You know, even those who have pessimistic thoughts can find new hope in Pavlovsky Posad. Sometimes even new ideas. Are you not from here?”
“Not really. I sell clothes and accessories, and I also buy Pavlovsky Posad shawls... But this is the first time I have come to this museum.”
“Nice to hear!” There was genuine joy in her voice. “What hardships can a person selling such beautiful things face?”
“Any,” he waved his hand, without going into details. “Crisis... It happens.”
“You know what? If you have some more time, you can take a walk with me to an anti-crisis place. I'm just heading that way, and the weather is good today… What do you think?”
“I'm not in a hurry,” he agreed, “especially if the place is anti-crisis.”
Language: English