[ti:34]
[ar:34]
[00:01.70]Lesson 34
[00:01.380]A  happy  discovery
[00:01.930]What  was  the 'happy  discovery'?
[00:02.850]Antique  shops  exert  a  peculiar  fascination  on  a  great  many  people
[00:08.760]The  more  expensive  kind  of  antique  shop
[00:11.870]where  rare  objects  are  beautifully  displayed  in  glass  cases
[00:15.170]to  keep  them  free  from  dust  is  usually  a  forbidding  place.
[00:19.220]But  no  one  has  to  muster  up  courage  to  enter  a  less  pretentious  antique  shop.
[00:24.400]There  is  always  hope  that  in  its  labyrinth  of  musty,dark,disordered  rooms
[00:28.550]a  real  rarity  will  be  found  amongst  the  piles  of  assorted  junk  that  litter  the  floors
[00:35.110]No  one  discovers  a  rarity  by  chance.
[00:37.810]A  truly  dedicated  bargain  hunter  must  have  patience,
[00:41.520]and  above  all,the  ability  to  recognize  the  worth  of  something  when  he  sees  it.
[00:48.680]To  do  this,he  must  be  at  least  as  knowledgeable  as  the  dealer.
[00:53.580]Like  a  scientist  bent  on  making  a  discovery,
[00:55.860]he  must  cherish  the  hope  that  one  day  he  will  be  amply  rewarded.
[01:00.20]My  old  friend,Frank  Halliday,is  just  such  a  person.
[01:05.120]He  has  often  described  to  me  how  he  picked  up  a  masterpiece  for  a  mere `50.
[01:10.940]One  Saturday  morning,Frank  visited  an  antique  shop  in  my  neighbourhood.
[01:17.190]As  he  had  never  been  there  before,he  found  a  great  deal  to  interest  him.
[01:21.410]The  morning  passed  rapidly  and  Frankwas  about  to  leave
[01:24.920]when  he  noticed  a  large  packing  case  lying  on  the  floor.
[01:28.620]The  dealer  told  him  that  it  had  just  come  in,
[01:31.930]but  that  he  could  not  be  bothered  to  open  it.
[01:34.600]Frank  begged  him  to  do  so  and  the  dealer  reluctantly  prised  it  open.
[01:38.110]The  contents  were  disappointing.
[01:40.310]Apart  from  an  interesting-looking  carved  dagger,
[01:43.460]the  box  was  full  of  crockery,much  of  it  broken.
[01:46.770]Frank  gently  lifted  the  crockery  out  of  the  box
[01:50.590]and  suddenly  noticed  a  miniature  painting  at  the  bottom  of  the  packing  case.
[01:54.660]As  its  composition  and  line  reminded  him  of  an  Italian  painting  he  knew  well,
[01:59.310]he  decided  to  buy  it.
[02:01.710]Glancing  at  it  briefly  the  dealer  told  him  that  it  was  worth `50.
[02:06.330]Frank  could  hardly  conceal  his  excitement,
[02:08.840]for  he  knew  that  he  had  made  a  real  discovery.
[02:12.340]The  tiny  painting  proved  to  be  an  unknown  masterpiece  by  Correggio
[02:15.960]and  was  worth  hundreds  and  thousands  of  pounds.