Balgaran e galant

Summary

A boulevardier in a boater, all waxed moustache and conspiratorial wink, spies a solitary girl amid Sofia’s morning swirl of trams and chestnut vendors; what begins as airy courtship mutates into a merciless pas de deux. She parades him through bazaars heaped with Persian scarves and brass samovars, her fingers flicking price tags like playing cards while his wallet thins to onion-skin. At the oyster bar she orders champagne the colour of insult, pearls of laughter ricocheting off mirrored walls as he ferries parcels that tower like small Balkan principalities. The final ignominy arrives in the guise of matrimony: a husband materialises, the couple hail a cab, and our once-dashing Bulgar is left marooned beneath lantern light, clutching ribboned boxes and a coin so contemptuously small it might be a tear petrified.

Synopsis

The elegant and fun-loving Bulgarian meets a young lady in the street and begins to flirt with her.She decides to teach the stranger a lesson and suggests that he should accompany her round the market-place where she goes on a spending spree. To her surprise she discovers that she has no money with her and asks her escort to lend her some. He agrees. The lady takes Bulgarian to the posh restaurant where she order expensive drinks and refreshments at his expense. Then she loads her escort down with the parcels and leads the way home. On the way she meets her husband and proposes that he should hire a cab so that they can relieve "the porter". The couple leave Bulgarian in a state of shock. He is tipped a small coin for the services rendered.