In the play “The Merchants,” which is a theatrical parable, the narrator’s oral narration is accompanied by a series of silent scenes. The originality of the play lies in the original combination of these two dimensions, which form a single whole only during the performance. The scenes pass before the eyes of the audience parallel to the narrator’s narrative, but do not illustrate it, but complement or even question it. The words spoken by the heroine are not objective in nature: they can be decisively refuted by the events taking place on stage at that time. It is impossible to vouch for the authenticity of the story. The reader himself will have to imagine this, still unclear, side of the performance, and, thanks to his imagination, complement or even dream the meaning of the parable. Zh.P.