I knock a glass off a plinth and find that there are no brooms in the studio. I walk to the nearest hardware shop, knowing that I have seen brooms waiting at the shopfront.
I type ‘broom’ into the shop owner’s mobile phone’s translation application.
“seprű”
The shop owner shows me to the brooms. There are four kinds to choose from.
“littlie[1] seprű?” I ask and the shopkeeper and we walk around the shop. There isn’t a small broom. I point to the shop’s dustpan.
“Little seprű” the shopkeeper says as he walks around the shop looking for a dustpan and brush. “Little seprű?” he says to his employee. The employing shrugs. I am told that there is no little seprű. This is my indication to leave.
I buy a normal sized broom.
[1] This is what I thought the Hungarian word for little was.