As vouchers were being distributed all over Russia, two men in the city of Sergeyev Posad -- one a beggar and the other a young souvenir salesman -- epitomized the anachronism of this tourist mecca still commonly called by its old name, Zagorsk.


Dmitry Dadimov, 61, his grey beard not quite hiding a deeply wrinkled face, begged for kopeks on the monastery grounds and knew practically nothing about the privatization vouchers. "If I can get 10, 000 rubles, I'll sell it right away", said Dadimov, who suffers from one blind eye and a limp that requires a cane. "Are you sure I can do that? "


Meanwhile Sergei Sosorin, 24, working nearby at a table covered with Russian souvenirs, gave a journalist a veritable lesson in the economics of vouchers. "I'll be buying all I can", he said. "So many people will be selling at first that the price will fall. Then later it will rise and I can resell them or use them to buy property".


The two men's views are a symptom of a city that is itself a paradox in which three epochs of Russian history live side-by-side: old Russian, Soviet and post-Soviet.


Sergeyev Posad's ancient role as guardian of traditional Russian culture and religious orthodoxy is played out at the monastery which still pulses to the rhythms of the 12th century. As a dying Soviet city, the evidence is nearly as vivid. The decrepit hammer-and-sickled government building and fading Communist slogans painted on store fronts, factory walls and apartment high rises intimate an era fading with dizzying speed.


The city's newest incarnation is as tourist trap. The post-Soviet symbols are everywhere: Commercial kiosks, hard-currency stores, English-language signs, junky trinkets and a general worship of anything Western. The entire paradox is summed up at the monastery gate. While the faithful solemnly worship inside Russia's greatest monastery, just across the street citizens line up to see a French erotic film, "The Slaves of Sex".


Vouchers were not distributed Friday in Sergeyev Posad, the result of a month-long dispute over how the task should be accomplished City leaders fear that old people will be robbered their checks outside distribution points, according to the city's newspaper, Vperyod.


How Dadimov and Sosorin will profit from this latest chapter in Russian history is clearly very different. "My parents will be giving me their vouchers; they're very old", said Sosorin of his mother, 55 and father, 53. "They don't understand their value". Dadimov holds no particular enthusiasm for the government's plans and is content to continue begging. "I'm old", he said. "I'll be dead soon. For now, other people have good jobs and they can share with me. Is there anything wrong with that? "