THE DITCH

(Șanțul)

On a hot summer day, Vasile, a 50-something year old peasant, refuses to accompany his wife Lucretia to a religious ceremony and finds a good excuse: he has to finish the ditch in front of their house to avoid paying a fine. Scared by the hard work ahead of him, he tries desperately to find somebody to help him. Petre, a Gypsy young man seems to be the right person. But after changing a few words with him, Vasile notices that Petre is very upset because none of the villagers wants to be the Godfather for his kid. Really impressed, Vasile decides to baptise the child himself asking Petre in exchange to help him finish the ditch. In the evening, Lucretia learns about Vasile’s decision and a new ordinary domestic fight starts between them.