| [00:01.080] |
--- lesson 34 A happy discovery |
| [00:05.840] |
--- Listen to the tape then answer the question below. |
| [00:11.520] |
--- What was the 'happy discovery'? |
| [00:16.600] |
Antique shops exert a peculiar fascination on a great many people. |
| [00:22.400] |
The more expensive kind of antique shop where rare objects are beautifully displayed in glass cases to keep them free from dust is usually a forbidding place. |
| [00:34.200] |
But no one has to muster up courage to enter a less pretentious antique shop. |
| [00:40.240] |
There is always hope that in its labyrinth of musty, dark, disordered rooms a real rarity will be found amongst the piles of assorted junk that litter the floors. |
| [00:53.040] |
No one discovers a rarity by chance. |
| [00:56.360] |
A truly dedicated bargain hunter must have patience, and above all, the ability to recognize the worth of something when he sees it. |
| [01:06.600] |
To do this, he must be at least as knowledgeable as the dealer. |
| [01:11.480] |
Like a scientist bent on making a discovery, he must cherish the hope that one day he will be amply rewarded. |
| [01:20.360] |
My old friend, Frank Halliday, is just such a person. |
| [01:25.080] |
He has often described to me how he picked up a masterpiece for a mere $50. |
| [01:31.240] |
One Saturday morning, Frank visited an antique shop in my neighbourhood. |
| [01:36.920] |
As he had never been there before, he found a great deal to interest him. |
| [01:42.200] |
The morning passed rapidly and Frank was about to leave when he noticed a large packing case lying on the floor. |
| [01:50.040] |
The dealer told him that it had just come in, but that he could not be bothered to open it. |
| [01:56.160] |
Frank begged him to do so and the dealer reluctantly prised it open. |
| [02:01.360] |
The contents were disappointing. |
| [02:03.920] |
Apart from an interesting-looking carved dagger, the box was full of crockery, much of it broken. |
| [02:10.640] |
Frank gently lifted the crockery out of the box and suddenly noticed a miniature painting at the bottom of the packing case. |
| [02:19.200] |
As its composition and line reminded him of an Italian painting he knew well, he decided to buy it. |
| [02:26.520] |
Glancing at it briefly, the dealer told him that it was worth $50. |
| [02:32.200] |
Frank could hardly conceal his excitement, for he knew that he had made a real discovery. |
| [02:38.640] |
The tiny painting proved to be an unknown masterpiece by Correggio and was worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. |
