Before And Now by Andrei Sergueiev

BEFORE AND NOW
by Andrei Sergueiev [1971]

 One step — and you are in the world of exciting everyday life.  Galoshes with monograms, indicating the beginning of the exposition, are nailed to the threshold of the hall with forged nails.  It all opened by an old and modest throw rug on a slender bronze pedestal.  Thousands of feet left indelible marks on the rug.  Now a slice of black bread is sewn to it with harsh threads — as a symbol of hospitality.  Take a closer look and you will recognize the worn numbers 1891 on the coarse burlap. This is both the year of the founding of Parnu and the date of the first urban exhibition of home economics.  Then the new settlers presented a custodian's apron with a cap and a mended net.  And now in the centre of the hall is a garden scarecrow dressed in a national costume of Boston fabric with a kind of embroidery.  Around it are the generous gifts of housewives and housekeepers.  The Perekond family put out boiled cabbage, sour apples and pickled potatoes.
 Folk craftsman Tulyak demonstrates his art — edible bast shoes made from dried rhubarb.  A persistent participant in these exhibitions since 1908, retiree Korm, as always, offers his favourite delight — candied cockchafers.  This season, the distinguished nurse of the porttech school, Aya Yya, shows her mosaic miniature — an impressive portrait of Bruno Lukk, arranged from clipped studential nails.  With each step, new miracles of prosperity, diligence and talent open up in front of you.  The exposition ends with an original replica of the 1891 exhibition – a custodian's apron made of leatherette, tallinka with the inscription "Parnu" and a multi-coloured fishing net woven from vinylchloride wire.  The people of Parnu are modestly silent about the prospects for development – there's no future tense in the Estonian language yet, but we all know: it will be!

transl. by Ed. Labintzeff