Page 202

[Alexandr Korol]

– Ilya, don’t turn around too quickly, that old woman, she’s sitting over there.
– Really?
– Yes.

I see that people are always scared of these messengers, because I always see fear, tension, and anxiety in everyone when a messenger starts doing something, because they move in such a different trajectory and speak in such a way that everyone gets stuck when a messenger arrives. And the waiters stand by the restaurant door with wide eyes, not knowing what to do. And then I look, and this old woman is talking. You know, the door of the restaurant was slightly open. And she’s sitting there, and I thought there was someone behind the door, but then I looked again – and there was no one. She’s talking to someone who’s not there, just talking and chatting. Then, I briefly turned away to tell Ilya something about work, we were working on the website and design. Suddenly, this old woman is standing right at our table and says:

– Korol! (King in Russian)
– What?
– What – what! The king ordered the flea to sew a coat!
– Okay, and what?
– What? Shalyapin! Do you know his songs?
– I know.
– They all have meaning. Figure it out.
– Okay, and what’s your name?
– It doesn’t matter,- she dances a little and runs away, like everyone else.

I just realized that five minutes before this, I had called the “Shalyapin” restaurant to make a reservation, and I was supposed to have my wedding there soon. And I start to decipher it. Well, of course, the boy, who is a reader, is in shock, he can’t understand how this could happen, that he ended up in my book, the one he had read, and what this all means. He asks what the messenger told me. I say I don’t know myself. I start googling, writing to friends, asking if they know this song, what the meaning is about the king who ordered the flea