Day 23: The Merchant's Safe in Kostroma
In the local history museum of Kostroma, the elderly caretaker shows a locksmith on holiday a nineteenth-century merchant's safe.
How to study this lesson 3 steps
- Read the situation under the title.
- Read the dialogue and its translation. The audio for this lesson is coming soon.
- Spend at least 30 minutes listening to native Russian audio, for example from the Resources page. It doesn't matter if you don't understand it yet.
Dialogue
Audio for this lesson is coming soon. For now, read the dialogue and its translation.
Keys: E hide English · ← → previous / next day
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A
Проходите, молодой человек, это наш главный экспонат: сейф купца первой гильдии Сычёва. Его больше ста лет никто не открывал.
Come in, young man, this is our prize exhibit: the safe of Sychov, a first-guild merchant. Nobody has opened it for over a hundred years.
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B
Солидная вещь. А ключ-то куда делся, неужели так и не нашли?
A solid piece. And where did the key go? Has it really never been found?
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A
Купец увёз его в восемнадцатом году. Говорят, внутри остались бумаги, о которых он жалел до самой смерти.
The merchant took it with him in 1918. They say there are papers left inside that he regretted till the day he died.
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B
Разрешите взглянуть поближе? Я слесарь, всю жизнь с замками вожусь, у меня интерес профессиональный.
May I take a closer look? I'm a locksmith, I've been tinkering with locks all my life, my interest is professional.
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A
Смотрите, только руками не трогайте. Над этим замком лучшие мастера бились, и все сдавались.
Go ahead, only don't touch it. The best craftsmen have struggled with this lock, and they all gave up.
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B
Замок сувальдный, не личинка какая-нибудь. А вот скважина странная, слишком простая для такого сейфа: её не меняли?
It's a lever lock, not some cylinder. But the keyhole's odd, too simple for a safe like this: was it ever replaced?
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A
Что вы, никто её не трогал! Этот экспонат, за которым я тридцать лет присматриваю, я знаю наизусть.
Oh no, nobody's touched it! This exhibit, which I've been looking after for thirty years, I know by heart.
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B
Тогда она, скорее всего, ложная, а настоящая под табличкой. Отмычкой в такую хоть сто лет ковыряй.
Then it's most likely a fake, and the real one is under the nameplate. You could pick at this one for a hundred years and get nowhere.
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A
Под табличкой?! Сто лет краеведы голову ломали, а вы за пять минут... Это же сенсация!
Under the nameplate?! Local historians have racked their brains for a hundred years, and you, in five minutes... This is a sensation!
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B
Не спешите, я ведь только предполагаю. Позовите директора: с его разрешения табличку снимем и посмотрим, прав я или нет.
Don't rush, I'm only guessing. Call the director: with his permission we'll take the plate off and see whether I'm right or not.
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