– Oh, I want to become great. – I breathed that out, catching a curious look. – A professional whom the world has never seen before. To follow my dreams.
– In your age you'll have to hunt for your dreams. Do you know what price you're going to pay? Give me the case. – Iosif opened it the second I put it on the polised table. – Not everyone can become great. It's a heavy weight, I would say. Think twice.
– Why think? – I believed in my own speech. – I had a brother, and…
– We know, we know. Innokentii Palych. – It seemed he swallowed a good half of his words in desperate attempt to pronounce them all. – Say no more. – I shivered a bit. – Oh well, – Iosif looked into nowhere, – let's make you great, – he looked into my eyes; his laughter felt like thunder but it didn't last for long. Then he got a stone face again. – Do you know what that is? I got it from your case. – In his hand he held a ridiculous object with four legs.
– Looks like a hunched dog without a head.
– Good suggestion, – Iosif sighed. – Kamnev, it's a shoulder rest. With it you're destined to spend your learning process and further career. – He got the instrument from the pit and put the shoulder rest on it. – I'll tune it and we can begin.
Iosif took an orange box from the pocket of the case. I learned that it was called rosin. Then he grabbed the bow from the table and tightened its hair, polished it with rosin and opened the piano. He plucked the strings and began turning four black things knocked into the head of the instrument. Some time later he began pressing the piano keys in an order I didn't know, using the bow with his right hand, his left hand was busy turning little gears next to his chin. There was a fairytale-ish double sound.
– Watch this, Kamnev. There are four strings, G, D, A, E, – he plucked each. – Tuned in fifths, you'll get it soon. Understood?
I got confused.
– G, A… D, E?
– Well, almost. Replace A and D with one another. – Iosif smiled. – Would you look at that. I didn't even almost have to use the pegs, – he threw under his nose. – Kamnev, come here. – I did, and he placed the proud lady onto my shoulder by the shoulder rest. – Put your chin here. Hold it like this, yes.
– That's not comfortable. I have to keep my jaw open, – I replied in the process.