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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/28400.txt b/28400.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a148ca1 --- /dev/null +++ b/28400.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12207 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of An Obscure Apostle, by Eliza Orzeszko + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: An Obscure Apostle + A Dramatic Story + +Author: Eliza Orzeszko + +Translator: C. S. De Soissons + +Release Date: March 24, 2009 [EBook #28400] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN OBSCURE APOSTLE *** + + + + +Produced by Andrew Leader of www.polishwriting.net + + + + +An Obscure Apostle + +A Dramatic Story + +TRANSLATED BY C.S. DE SOISSONS FROM THE ORIGINAL POLISH OF + +MME. ORZESZKO + +LONDON + +GREENING & CO., LTD. + +20 CECIL COURT, CHARING CROSS ROAD + +1899 + +Printed by Cowan & Co., Limited Perth. + + + + +PREFACE + +ELIZA ORZESZKO + +In Lord Palmerston's days, the English public naturally heard a great +deal about Poland, for there were a goodly number of Poles, noblemen +and others, residing in London, exiles after the unsuccessful +revolution, who, believing that England would help them to recover +their lost liberty, made every possible effort to that end through +Count Vladislas Zamoyski, the prime minister's personal friend. But +even in those times, when the English press was writing much about the +political situation in Poland, little was said about that which +constitutes the greatest glory of a nation, namely, its literature and +art, which alone can be secure of immortality. Only lately, in fact, +has any public attention been paid by English people to Polish +literature. However, among the authors who have attracted considerable +attention of late, is the writer of "By Fire and Sword," whose "Quo +Vadis," has met with a phenomenal reception. Henryk Sienkiewicz has by +his popularity proved that in unfortunate, almost forgotten, Poland, +there is an abundance of literary talent and an important output of +works of which few English readers have any conception. For instance, +who has ever heard, in Great Britain, of Adam Michiewicz the great +Polish poet, who, critics declare, can be placed in the same category +with Homer, Virgil, Dante, Tasso, Klopstock, Camoens, and Milton? +Joseph Kraszewski as a novel writer occupies in Poland as high a +position as Maurice Jokai does in Hungarian literature, while Mme. +Eliza Orzeszko is considered to be the Polish Georges Sand, even by the +Germans, who are in many respects the rivals of Slavs in politics and +literature. + +Henryk Sienkiewicz, asked by an interviewer what he thought about the +contemporary Polish literary talents, replied: "At the head of all +stand Waclaw Sieroszewski and Stefan Zeromski; they are young, and very +promising writers. But Eliza Orzeszko still holds the sceptre as a +novelist." + +When the "Revue des Deux Mondes" asked the authors of different +nationalities to furnish an essay on women of their respective +countries, Mme. Orzeszko was chosen among the Polish writers to write +about the Polish women. It may be stated that translations of her +novels appeared in the same magazine more than twenty years ago. She is +not only a talented but also a prolific writer. She has suffered much +in her life, and her sufferings have brought out those sterling +qualities of soul and heart, which make her books so intensely human, +and characterise all her works, and place her high above contemporary +Polish writers. The present volume may stand as a proof of her +all-embracing talent. + +C.S. DE SOISSONS. + + + + +AN OBSCURE APOSTLE + +INTRODUCTION + +On the summits of civilisation the various branches of the great tree +of humanity are united and harmonised. Education is the best apostle +of universal brotherhood. It polishes the roughness without and cuts +the overgrowth within; it permits of the development, side by side +and with mutual respect, of the natural characteristics of different +individuals; it prunes even religious beliefs produced by the needs +of the time, and reduces them to their simplest expression, the +result being that people can live without antipathies. + +Quite a different state of affairs exists in the social valley +unlighted by the sun of knowledge. There people are the same to-day +as they were in the remote centuries. Time, while making tombs for +the dead people, has not buried with them the forms which, being +continually regenerated, create among amazed societies unintelligible +anachronisms. Here exist distinctions which, with sharp edges, push +back everything which belongs not to them; here are crawling moral +and physical miseries which are unknown, even by name, to those who +have reached the summits; here is a gathering of dark figures, +standing out against the background of the world, resembling vague +outlines of sphinxes keeping guard over the graveyards; here are +widely-spread petrifications of faiths, sentiment and customs, +testifying by their presence that geniuses of many centuries can +simultaneously rule the world. Patricians and plebeians changed their +formal parts. The first became defenders and propagators of equality; +the second stubbornly hold to distinctions. And if in times of yore +oppression was directed by those who stood high against those who, in +dust and humility, swarmed in the depths, in our times, from the +depths arise unhealthy exhalations, which poison life and make the +roads of civilisation difficult to the chosen ones. + +Such unfortunate valleys, rendering many people unhappy, separating +the rest of the world by a chain of high mountains, exist in +Israelitic society, as well as in the society of other nations, and +there they are even more numerous than elsewhere. Their too long +existence is the result of many historical causes and characteristics +of the race. To-day they constitute a phenomenon; attracting the +thinker and the artist by their great influence and the originality +of their colouring, composed of mysterious shadows and bright lights. +But who is familiar with them and who studies them? Even those who, +on account of the same blood and traditions, should be attracted +toward these localities, plunged in darkness, send there neither +painters nor apostles--sometimes they do not even believe in their +existence. For instance, what a surprise it would be to Israelitic +society, gathered in the largest city in the country, composed of +cultivated men and of women, who by their beauty, refinement and wit +are in no way inferior to the women of other nations: what a surprise +it would be to this society, gowned in purple and fine linen, if +somebody would all at once describe Szybow and what is transpiring +there! + +Szybow? On what planet is it, and if on ours, what population has it? +The people there, are they white, black or brown? + +Well then, readers, I am going to make you acquainted with that +deep--very deep--social valley. Not long ago there was enacted there +an interesting drama worthy of your kind glance--of your heart's +strong throb and a moment of long, sad thought. But in order to bring +out facts and figures they must be thrown against the background on +which they have risen and developed, and in the deep perspectives of +which there are elements which are the causes of their existence. +Therefore you must permit me, before raising the curtain which hides +the first scenes of the drama, to tell you in brief the history of +the small town. + + + +CHAPTER I + +Far, far from the line of the railroads which run through the +Bialorus (a part of Poland around the city of Mohileff which now +belongs to Russia), far from even the navigable River Dzwina, in one +of the most remote corners of the country, amidst quiet, large, level +fields--still existing in some parts of Europe--between two sandy +roads which disappear into the depths of a great forest, there is a +group of gray houses of different sizes standing so closely together +that anyone looking at them would say that they had been seized by +some great fright and had crowded together in order to be able to +exchange whispers and tears. + +This is Szybow, a town inhabited by Israelites, almost exclusively, +with the exception of a small street at the end of the place in +which, in a few houses, live a few very poor burghers and very quiet +old retired officials. + +It is the only street that is quiet, and the only street in which +flowers bloom in summer. In the other streets no flowers bloom, and +they are dreadfully noisy. There the people talk and move about +continually, industriously, passionately, within the houses and in +the narrow dark alleys called streets, and in the round, +comparatively large market-place in the centre of the town, around +which there are numerous doors of stinking small shops. In this +market-place after a week of transactions by the people of the +vicinity, there remains an inconceivable quantity of dirt and +sweepings, and here is also the high, dusky, strangely-shaped meeting +house. + +This building is one of the specimens, rare to-day, of Hebrew +architecture. A painter and an archeologist would look upon it with +an equal amount of interest. At first glance it can be easily seen +that it is a synagogue, although it does not look like other +churches. Its four thick walls form a monotonous quadrangle, and its +brown colour gives it a touch of dignity, sadness, and antiquity. +These walls must be very old indeed, for they are covered with green +strips of moss. The higher parts of the walls are cut with a row of +long, narrow, deeply-set windows, recalling, by their shape, the +loop-holes of a fortress. The whole building is covered by a roof +whose three large heavy turrets, built one upon the other, look like +three moss-covered gigantic mushrooms. + +Every gathering, whether of greater importance or of common +occurrence, was held here, sheltered beneath the brown walls and +mushroom-like roof of the temple. Here in the large round courtyard +are the heders (Hebrew schools), where the kahals (church committees) +gather. Here stands a low black house with two windows, a real mud +hovel, inhabited for several centuries and for many generations by +Rabbis of the family of Todros, famous in the community and even far +beyond it. Here at least everything is clean, and while in other +parts of the place, in the spring especially, the people nearly sink +into the mud, the school courtyard is always clean. It would be +difficult to find on it even a wisp of straw, for as soon as anything +is noticed, it is at once picked up by a passer-by, anxious to keep +clean the place around the temple. + +How important Szybow is to the Israelites living in Bialorus, and +even in Lithuania, can be judged by an embarrassing incident which +occurred to a merry but unwise nobleman while in conversation with a +certain Jewish agent, more spiritual than humble. + +The agent was standing at the door of the office of the noble, bent a +little forward, smiling, always ready to please and serve the noble, +and say a witty word to put him in good humour. The noble was feeling +pretty good, and joked with the Jew. + +"Chaimek," spoke he, "wert thou in Cracow?" + +"I was not, serene lord." + +"Then thou art stupid." + +Chaimek bowed. + +"Chaimek, wert thou in Rome?" + +"I was not, serene lord." + +"Then thou art very stupid." + +Chaimek bowed again, but in the meanwhile he had made two steps +forward. On his lips wandered one of those smiles common to the +people of his race--clever, cunning, in which it is impossible to say +whether there is humility or triumph, flattery or irony. + +"Excuse me, your lordship," he said softly, "has your lordship been +in Szybow?" + +Szybow was situated about twenty miles from the place at which this +conversation was held. + +The nobleman answered, "I was not." + +"And what now?" answered Chaimek still more softly. + +The answer of the jolly nobleman to that embarrassing question is not +recorded, but the use of Szybow as an argument against the insult +shows that to the Jew Szybow was of the same relative importance as +were Rome and Cracow to the nobleman, i.e., as the place which was +the concentration of civil and religious authorities. + +If someone were to have asked the Jew why he attributed such +importance to a small, poor town, he would probably mention two +families who had lived in Szybow for centuries--Ezofowichs and +Todros. Between these two families there existed the difference that +the Ezofowichs represented the concentration in the highest degree of +the element of secular importance, i.e., large family, numerous +relatives, riches, and keenness in the transaction of large business +interests, and in increasing their wealth. On the other hand, the +Todros family represented the spiritual element--piety, religious +culture, and severe, almost ascetic, purity of life. + +It is probable that if Chaimek were asked the reason for the +importance given to the little town, he would forget to name the +Ezofowichs because, although the Israelites were proud of the riches +and influence of that family as one of their national glories, this +lustre, purely worldly, paled in comparison with the rays of holiness +which surrounded the name of Todros. + +The Todros were for generations considered by the whole Hebrew +population of Bialorus and Lithuania as the most accomplished example +and enduring pillar of orthodoxy. Was it really so? Here and there +could be found scholarly Talmudists, who smiled when a question arose +in regard to the Talmudistic orthodoxy of the Todros, and when they +gathered together the name of Todros was sadly whispered about. But +although the celebrated orthodoxy of the Todros was much discussed by +these scholars, they were greatly in the minority--only a score among +the masses of believers. The crowd believed, worshipped, and went to +Szybow as to a holy place, to make obeisance and ask for advice, +consolation, and medicines. + +Szybow had not always possessed such an attractive power of +orthodoxy; on the contrary, its founders were schismatics, +representing in Israel the spirit of opposition and division, +Karaites. In the times of yore they had converted to their belief the +powerful inhabitants of the rich land on the shores of Chersoneses, +and they became their kings. Afterwards, in accordance with the +traditions of that reign, they wandered into the world with their +legislative book, the Bible, double exiles, from Palestine and +Crimea, and a small part of them, brought to Lithuania by the Grand +Duke Witold, went as far as Bialorus and settled there in a group of +houses and mud-hovels called Szybow. + +In those times, on Friday and Saturday evenings, great tranquillity +and darkness was spread through the town, because Karaites, contrary +to the Talmudists, did not celebrate the holy day of Sabbath with an +abundance of light and noisy joy and copious feasts, but they greeted +it with darkness, silence, sadness, and meditation upon the downfall +of the national temple, and the glory and might of the people of +Israel. Then, from the blackest houses, from behind the small dark +windows, there flowed into the quiet without the sound of singing; +the parents were sadly telling their children of the prophets who, on +the shores of the rivers in Babylon, broke their harps and cut their +fingers so that none could force them to sing in captivity, of the +blessed country of Havili, situated somewhere in the south of Arabia, +where the ten tribes of Israel lived in liberty, happiness, and +peace, not knowing quarrels or the use of the sword. They talked of +the holy river, Sabbation, hiding the Israelitic wanderers from the +eyes of their toes. In time, however, lights began to shine in the +windows on Fridays, and then, little by little, they began to talk +and pray aloud. Rabbinits arrived. The worshippers of Talmudistic +authorities, representative of blind faith in oral traditions +gathered and transmitted by Kohens, Tanaits, and Gaons, came and +pushed aside the handful of heretics and wrecks. Under the influence +of the newcomers the community of Karaites began to melt away. The +last blow was struck at it by a man well-known in the history of +Polish Hebrews--Michael Ezofowich, Senior. + +He was the first of his name to emerge from obscurity. His family, +settled in Poland for a long time, was one of these which, during the +reign of Jagiellons, under the influence of privileges and laws in +Poland promulgated by a (for that time) high civilisation, was united +by sympathetic ties to the aboriginal population, and Ezofowich was +appointed Senior over all the Hebrew population of Lithuania and +Bialorus, by King Zygmunt the First, by a document which read thus: + +"We, Zygmunt, by God's grace, etc., make known to all Jews living on +the estate, our Fatherland, having taken into consideration the +faithful services of the Jew, Michael Ezofowich, and wishing you in +your affairs not to meet with any obstacles and delays, according to +the laws of justice, we constitute, that Michael Ezofowich shall +settle all your affairs for US, and be your superior, and you must +come to US through him, and be obedient to him in everything. He will +judge you and rule over you according to the custom of our law, and +punish the guilty ones by OUR permission, everyone according to his +merit." + +From the few historical notes about him, it can be seen that the +Senior was a man of strong and energetic will. With a firm hand he +seized the authority given him over his co-religionists, and he threw +an anathema over those who would not obey him, especially on the +Karaites, excluding them from the Hebrew community, and refusing them +the friendship and help of their tribe. Under such a blow the +existence of the inhabitants of Szybow, already poor, sad, and +inactive, was made altogether unbearable. The descendants of Hazairan +rulers, heretics, constituting, as always, a great minority of the +population, exposed to aversion and hatred, oppressed and poor, left +the place which had given them shelter for a certain time, carrying +with them in their hearts their stubborn attachment to the Bible, and +on their lips their poetical legends. They scattered in the broad and +hostile world, leaving behind them in that little town where they had +lived two hundred years only a few families, cherishing still more +passionately their old graveyards, the hill now covered with the +ruins of their temple, which the conquering Rabbinits had destroyed. +The Rabbinits took possession of Szybow, and, if the truth be told, +they changed, by their energy, industry, perfect harmony of action, +the result of unusual mutual help, the quiet, gray, poor, sad little +village into a town full of activity, noise, care, and riches. + +In those times, under the Senior's rule, the Jews in general were +prosperous. Besides material prosperity, there began to live in them +the hope of a possibility of rising from their mental ignorance and +social humiliation. The Senior must surely have had a superior and +keen mind, for he was able to thoroughly understand the spirit of the +time and the needs of his people, notwithstanding the ancient +barriers and prejudices. He rejected the Karaites from the bosom of +Israel, not because of religious fanaticism but for broader social +reasons. Although he was a Rabbinit, and obliged to give to the +religious authorities absolute faith and worship, his mind was +sometimes visited by fits of scepticism--perhaps the best road to +wisdom. In one of his reports to the King, refuting some objections +which had been made to his sentences, he wrote, sadly and ironically: + +"Our different books give us different laws. Very often we know not +what to do when Gamaliel differs from Eliezer. In Babylon is one +truth--in Jerusalem another (two editions of the Talmud). We obey the +second Moses (Majmonides) and the new ones call him heretic. I +encourage the savants to write such wise books that the clever and +stupid can understand them." It was at the time when the Occidental +Israelites, settled in France and Spain, raised the question as to +whether the professors of the Talmud and Bible should be permitted to +acquire a knowledge of the lay sciences. Many opinions were +considered, but none was strong enough to prevail, because the +partisans of absolute separation from mental work and human +tendencies constituted a great majority among the Israelites. Every +society has such moments of darkness. It happens especially when a +nation is exhausted by a series of successful efforts, after having +undergone tortures, and enfeebled by the streams of blood poured out. +The Occidental Jews, after centuries of existence in abject fear, +wandering through fire and blood, passed such a moment in the +sixteenth century. The time was still far distant which gave birth to +famous doctors of secular sciences beloved of the people, esteemed by +Kings. The high ideas of Majmonides who, giving deserved credit to +the legislation of Israel, admired also the Greek scholars, were also +far from the--they were even forgotten. Majmonides, who wished to +base the knowledge of the Bible and Talmud on a foundation of +mathematical and astronomical truths, and make it durable; who openly +expressed the desire to shorten the twenty-five hundred sheets of the +Talmud into one chapter, clear as the day; who did not justify +religious beliefs which were contrary to commonsense, and claimed +that "the eyes are placed in the front, and not in the rear of man's +head, in order that he may look before him," and prophesied that the +whole world would one day be filled with knowledge, as the sea is +filled with water--such a man was despised. Four centuries had passed +since the dignified, sweet, highly sympathetic figure of the +Israelitic thinker had disappeared from the face of the earth. He was +one of the greatest thinkers of the middle ages. The giant with the +eagle eye and fiery heart had been succeeded by dwarfs, whose weak +breasts were saturated with bitterness, and whose eyes looked on the +world sadly, suspiciously, narrow-mindedly. "Keep away from Greek +knowledge," Joseph Ezobi cried to his son, "because it is like the +wine-garden of Sodom, pouring into man's head drunkenness and sin." + +"The strangers are pushing into the Gates of Zion!" lamented +Abba-Mari, when he learned that the Hebrew youths had begun to study +with masters of other religions. And all the Rabbis and the +Presidents of the Jewish communities in the West, ordered that no man +under thirty years of age should study the lay sciences. "Because," +said they, "he who has filled his mind with the Bible, and Talmud has +the right to warm himself at the stranger's flame." + +The bolder ones, while submitting to the decision of their superiors, +cried, "Rabbi, how can we study lay sciences after our thirtieth +year, when our minds will have become dulled and our memory tired, +and we shall possess enthusiasm no longer and strength of youth." + +The orders were obeyed. Their minds grew dull, tired memory fainted, +and the strength and enthusiasm of youth left them. Majmonides, +grave, silent, motionless, stood in the midst of the sea of darkness +which covered the people who had been conducted by him toward the +light. They cursed his memory, and a devastating hand rubbed off his +tomb its grateful and glorious inscription, replacing it with stiff +and cruel words, as fanatical as ignorant: + +"Here lies Moses Majmonides, excommunicated heretic." + +At the same time the same quarrels raged among the Hebrews settled in +Poland, but being less tired by persecution, and because they were +less tormented than their brothers in the West, and were freer and +more sure of their privileges than their brothers in the West, their +aversion to the 'stranger's flames' was less passionate. Nay, there +was among them quite a numerous party which cried for secular +sciences--for brotherhood with the rest of humanity in intellectual +efforts and tendencies. One of these men who stood at the head of +this party was the Lithuanian Senior, Ezofowich. Under his influence +the Jewish Synod convocated in those times, issued a proclamation to +all the Polish Jews. The principal paragraph of this was: + +"Jehovah has numerous Sefirots, Adam has had numerous emanations of +perfection. Therefore an Israelite must not be satisfied with one +religious science only. Although it is a holy science the others must +not on this account be neglected. The best fruit is a paradise apple, +but shall we not eat less good apples? There were Jews in the courts +of kings; Mordoheus was a savant, Esther was clever, Nehemias was a +Persian counsellor, and they liberated the people from captivity. +Study; be useful to the King and the nobles will respect you. The +Jews are as numerous as the sands of the sea and the stars in the +sky; they do not shine like the stars, but everyone tramples on them +as on the sand. The wind scatters the seeds of different trees, and +none asks from where the most beautiful tree has its origin. Why, +then, should there not rise among us a Cedar of Lebanon, instead of +thorn-bushes?" + +The man under whose inspiration the proclamation was written, calling +the Polish Jews to turn their faces to where the light of the future +was dawning, met, eye to eye, the man with his face set toward the +past and darkness. + +This man was a newcomer from Spain, and settled in Szybow. His name +was Nehemias Todros, the descendant of the famous Todros Abulaffi +Halevi who, famous for his Talmudistic learning and orthodoxy and +knowledge, was afterwards carried away by the gloomy secrets of +Kabalists, and helping it with his authority, was the cause of the +most dreadful error among the Jews from which any nation can suffer. +The tradition says that the same Nehemias Todros who had a princely +title, Nassi, was the first to bring to Poland the book, Zohar, in +which was explained the quintessence of the perilous doctrine, and +from that day there comes from Poland the mixture of the Talmud with +Kabalistic ideas which has influenced very badly the minds and the +lives of the Polish Jews. History is silent regarding the quarrels +and fights aroused by this innovation among the people who were in a +fair way of emerging from the darkness which surrounded them, but the +traditions, piously preserved in the families, tell, that in the +fight, which lasted a long time and was very obstinate, between +Michael Ezofowich, for a considerable period a Polish Jew, and +Nehemias Todros, a Spanish newcomer, the first was vanquished. +Consumed with grief caused by the sight of his people returning to +the old false roads, crushed by intrigues set afoot against him by +the gloomy adversary, he died in his prime. His name descended from +generation to generation of Ezofowichs. They were all proud of his +memory, although in time they understood less of its importance. From +that time dated the great authority of the Todros and the gradual +diminution of moral influence exerted by the Ezofowichs. The last +ones being driven out by those fresh from the field of waste, social +activity, they turned all their abilities in the direction of +business, with the aim of increasing their material welfare. The +navigable rivers were every year covered with vessels owned by them, +and carrying to remote parts enormous quantities of merchandise. +Their house, standing in the midst of the poor town, became more and +more the centre of national riches and industry. To them, as to the +modern Rothschilds, everyone went in need of gold to carry out their +enterprises. The Ezofowichs were proud of their material might, and +gave up entirely caring about the other--the might of spiritual +influence and the fate of the people possessed by their grandfather, +and of which they were robbed by Todros--by those Todros who, poor, +almost beggars, living in the wretched little house which stood near +the temple, disparaging everything which had the appearance of +comfort and beauty, but who were, nevertheless, famous all over the +country, and were enveloped in the pious dreams and hopes of their +people. And only once during two centuries did one of the Ezofowichs +attempt to lay hold of not only material--but also moral dignity. It +happened toward the end of the last century. The great Four-Year +Parliament was in session at Warsaw. The reports of its discussions +reached even the small town in Bialorus. The people living there +listened and waited. From lips to lips rushed the news of hope and +fear--the Jews were under discussion at this Parliament! + +What do they say about us? What do they write about us? the +long--bearded passers-by asked each other, as they walked through the +narrow streets of Szybow, dressed in long halats and big fur caps +This curiosity increased each day to such an extent that it +finally-extraordinary event--stopped the business transactions +and money circulation. Some of them even undertook the long, +difficult journey to Warsaw, in order to be near the source +of news, and from there they sent their brethren who remained +in the little town of Bialorus, long letters, rumpled and spotted +newspapers, and leaves torn from different pamphlets, and books. + +Of those who remained in the town, two men were most attentive and +most impatient--Nohim Todros, Rabbi, and Hersh Ezofowich, rich +merchant. There was a muffled, secret antipathy between them. +Apparently they were on good terms, but at every opportunity there +burst forth the antagonism which existed between the great-grandson +of Michael the Senior, the disciple of Majmonides, and the descendant +of Nehemias Todros, Kabalistic fanatic. + +Finally there came from Warsaw to Szybow a crumpled sheet of paper, +which had turned yellow during the journey, and on it were the +following words: + +"All differences in dress, language, and customs existing between the +Jews and early inhabitants must be abolished. Leave alone everything +concerning religion. Tolerate even the sects if they work no moral +injury. Do not baptise a Jew before he is twenty years old. Give to +the Jews the right to acquire land, and do not collect any taxes from +those who will take agriculture for five years. Supply them with farm +stock. Forbid marriages before the age of twenty for men and eighteen +for women." + +This sheet was carried about and read hundreds of times in the +houses, streets and squares. It was waved as a flag of triumph or +mourning, until it went to pieces in those thousands of unhappy, +trembling hands. But the population of Szybow did not express its +opinion of that news. A smaller part of it turned their questioning +eyes toward Hersh; others, more numerous, looked inquiringly into the +face of Reb Nohim. + +Reb Nohim appeared on the threshold of his hut, and raising his thin +hands above his gray head, as a sign of indignation and despair, he +cried several times: + +"Assybe! assybe! dajde!" + +"Misfortune! misfortune! woe!" repeated after him, the crowd gathered +in the courtyard of the temple. + +But, in the same moment, Hersh Ezofowich standing at the door of the +meeting house, put his white hand into the pocket of his satin halat, +raised his head, covered with a costly beaver cap, and not less +loudly than the Rabbi, but in a different voice, he called: + +"Hoffnung! Hoffnung! Frieden!" + +"Hope! Hope! Happiness!" repeated after him, timidly, his not very +numerous followers, with a sidelong glance at the Rabbi. But the old +Rabbi's hearing was good, and he heard the cry. His white beard +shook, and his dark eyes flashed lightning in Hersh's direction. + +"They will order us to shave our beards and wear short dresses!" he +exclaimed, painfully and angrily. + +"They will make our minds longer and broaden our hearts!" answered +Hersh's sonorous voice. + +"They will put us to the plough and order us to cultivate the country +of exile!" shouted Rabbi Nohim. + +"They will open for us the treasures of the earth, and they will +order her to be our fatherland!" screamed Hersh. + +"They will forbid us kosher," cried Rabbi. + +"They will make of Israel a cedar tree instead of a hawthorn!" +answered Hersh. + +"Our son's faces will be covered with beards before they may marry!" + +"When they take their wives, their minds and strength will be already +developed." + +"They will order us to warm ourselves at strange fireplaces, and +drink from the wine-garden of Sodom." + +"They will bring near to us the Jobel-ha-Gabel--the festival of joy, +during which the lamb may eat beside the tiger." + +"Hersh Ezofowich! Hersh Ezofowich! Through your mouth speaks the soul +of your great-grandfather, who wished to lead all Jews to foreign +fireplaces." + +"Reb Nohim! Reb Nohim! Through your eyes looks the soul of your +great-grandfather, who plunged all Jews into great darkness." + +Deep silence reigned in the crowd as the two men, standing far from +each other, spoke thus. Nohim's voice grew thinner and sharper; +Hersh's resounded with stronger and deeper tones. The Rabbi's yellow +cheeks became covered with brick-red spots--Ezofowich's face grew +pale. The Rabbi shook his thin hands, rocking his figure backward and +forward, scattering his silvery beard over both shoulders. The +merchant stood erect and motionless, and in his green eyes shone an +angry sneer. + +A couple of thousand eyes gazed in turn on the two +adversaries--leaders of the people--and a couple of thousand mouths +quivered, but were silent. + +Finally, the long, sharp piercing cry of Reb Nohim resounded in the +courtyard of the temple. + +"Assybe! assybe! dajde!" moaned the old man, sobbing and crushing his +hands. + +"Hoffnung! Hoffnung! Frieden!" joyfully exclaimed Hersh, raising his +white hand. + +The crowd was still silent and motionless for a while. Then the heads +began to move like waves and lips to murmur like waters, and at once +a couple of thousands of hands were lifted with a gesture of pain and +distress, and from a couple of thousand throats came the powerful +shout. + +"Assybe! assybe! dajde!" + +Reb Nohim was victorious! + +Hersh looked around. His friends surrounded him closely. They were +silent. They dropped their heads and cast timid looks on the ground. + +Hersh smiled disdainfully, and when the crowd rushed to the temple, +led by Reb Nohim continually shaking his yellow hands above his gray +head, and while still before the threshold of the temple began the +prayer habitually recited when some peril was imminent--when finally +the brown walls of the temple resounded with the powerful sobbing +cry, "Lord help thy people! Save from annihilation the sons of +Israel!" The young merchant stood motionless, plunged in deep +thought. Then he passed slowly down the square, and finally +disappeared into a large house of fine outward appearance. It was the +biggest and showiest house in the town, almost new, for it was built +by Hersh himself, and shone with yellow walls and brilliant windows. + +Hersh sat for a long time in a large, simply-furnished room. His look +was gloomy. Then he raised his head and called: + +"Freida! Freida!" + +In answer to this call the door of the adjoining room opened, and in +the golden light of the fireplace appeared a slender young woman. On +her head was a large white turban, and a white kerchief fell from her +neck, ornamented with several strings of pearls. Her big, dark eyes +shone brightly and like flame from her gentle, oval face. She paused +opposite her husband, and questioned him with her eyes only. + +Hersh motioned her to a chair, in which she sat immediately. + +"Freida," he began, "have you heard of what happened in the town +to-day?" + +"Yes, I have heard," she answered softly. "My brother Joseph came to +see me, and told me that you had quarrelled with Reb Nohim." + +"He wishes to eat me up as his great-grandfather ate up my +great-grand father." + +Freida's dark eyes became filled with fear. + +"Hersh!" she exclaimed, "you must not quarrel with him. He is a great +and saintly man. All will be with him!" + +"No," answered the husband, with a smile, "don't be afraid. Now other +times are corning--he can't harm me. And as for me, I can't shut my +mouth when my heart shouts within me that I must speak. I can no +longer stand by to hear that man teaching that what is good is bad, +and see the stupid people look into his eyes and shout, although they +do not understand anything. No! And how can they understand? Has +Todros ever taught them to distinguish good from evil, and separate +that which was from that winch shall be?" + +After a few moments of silence, Hersh continued: + +"Freida." + +"What, Hersh?" + +"Have you forgotten what I told you about Michael the Senior?" + +The woman folded her hands devoutly. + +"Why should I forget it?" she asked. "You told me beautiful things of +him." + +"He was a great--a very great man. Todros ate him up. If that family +had not eaten him up he would have accomplished great things for the +Jews. But no matter about that. I will ask him what he wished to do. +He will teach me, and I will do it!" + +Freida grew pale. + +"But how will you ask him?" she whispered in fear, "he is dead a long +time ago." + +A mysterious smile played about the merchant's thin lips. + +"I know how. Sometimes God permits those who have died to talk with +and teach their grandchildren, Freida," he continued, after another +pause, "do you know what the Senior did when he saw that Todros would +eat him up, and that he would die before the good times would come?" + +"No, what did he do?" + +"He shut himself up in a room, and he sat there without eating or +drinking or sleeping, and--he only wrote. And what did he write? That +nobody yet knows, because he hid what he had written, and when he +felt that his end was near, he said to his sons: 'I have written down +everything that I have known and felt, and what I intended to do; but +I have hidden my writings from you, because now such times are at +hand that all is useless for the present. The Todros rule, and they +will rule for a long time, and they will do this that neither you, +nor your sons, nor your grandsons will care to see my writing, and +even were they to see it, they would tear it into pieces, and scatter +it to the winds for annihilation, ant they would say that Michael the +Senior was kofrim (heretic), and they would excommunicate him as they +did the second Moses. But there will come a time when my +great-grandson will wish for what I had written--to ask for guidance +in his thoughts and actions in order to free the Jews from Todros' +captivity, and to lead them to that sun from which the other nations +receive the warmth. Thus, my great-grandson who desires to have my +writings, will find the writings, and you have only to tell the +eldest son of that family on your deathbed that it exists, and that +there are many wise things written down. It must be thus from +generation to generation. I command you thus. Remember to be obedient +to this one, whose soul deserved to be immortal! (It was the teaching +of Moses Majmonides, in regard to the immortality of the soul, that +every man, according to the culture of his mind and moral perfection, +could attain immortality, and that annihilation was the punishment +for misdeeds)." + +Hersh stopped speaking. Freida sat motionless looking into her +husband's face with intense curiosity. + +"Shall you search for that writing?" she asked softly. + +"I shall search for it," said her husband, "and I shall find it, +because I am that great-grandson of whom Michael Senior spoke when +dying. I shall find that writing--you must help me to find it." + +The woman stood erect, beaming with joy. + +"Hersh, you are a good man!" she exclaimed. "You are kind to +associate me, a woman, with such an important affair and great +thoughts." + +"Why should I not do it? Are you a bad housekeeper or a bad mother? +You do everything well, and your soul is as beautiful as your eyes." + +The white face of the young Hebrew woman became scarlet. She dropped +her eyes, but her coral-like lips whispered some words of love and +gratitude. + +Hersh rose. + +"Where shall we search for the writing?" said he thoughtfully. + +"Where?" repeated the woman. + +"Freida," said the husband, "Michael the Senior could not have hidden +his writing in the earth, for he knew that there the worms would eat +it, or that it would turn to dust. Is this writing in the earth?" + +"No," answered the woman, "it is not there." + +"He could not have hidden it in the wails of the house, for he knew +that they would rot, and that they would be destroyed, and new ones +built. These walls I have built myself, and I carefully searched the +old ones, but there was no writing." + +"There was not," repeated Freida sorrowfully. + +"He could not have hidden it in the roof, because he knew it would +not be safe there. When I was born there was perhaps the tenth roof +built over our house, but it seems to me that the writing could not +have been there. Where is it?" + +Both were thoughtful. All at once, after a while, the woman +exclaimed: + +"Hersh, I know where the writing is!" + +Her husband raised his head. His wife was pointing to the large +library filled with books, which stood in a corner of the room. + +"There?" said Hersh, hesitatingly. + +"There," repeated the woman, with conviction. "Have you not told me +that these are Michael Senior's books, and that all the Ezofowichs +have preserved them, but no one has read them because Todros would +not permit the reading of books." + +Hersh passed his hand over his forehead, and the woman spoke further. + +"Michael the Senior was a wise man, and he saw the future. He knew +that for a long time no one would read those books, and that only the +one who would read them would be that great-grandson who would find +his writings." + +"Freida, Freida," exclaimed Hersh, "you are a wise woman!" + +She modestly dropped her dark eyes. + +"Hersh, I am going to see why the baby is crying. I will give the +servants their orders, and have them keep the fire, then I will come +here and aid you in your work." + +"Come!" said her husband, and when she had gone to the room from +which came the sounds of children's voices, he said to himself: + +"A wise woman is more precious than gold and pearls. Besides, her +husband's heart is quiet." + +After a while she returned, locked the door, and asked softly: + +"Where is the key?" + +Hersh found the key of his great-grandfather's library, and they +began to take down the large books. They placed them on the floor, +and having seated themselves, they began to turn slowly one leaf +after the other. Clouds of dust rose from the piles of paper, which +had remained untouched for centuries. The dust settled on Freida's +snow-white turban in a gray layer, and covered also Hersh's golden +hair. But they worked on indefatigably and with such a solemn +expression on their faces that one would think that they were +uncovering the grave of their great-grandfather in order to take +therefrom his grand thoughts. + +Evening was already approaching when Hersh exclaimed as people +exclaim when they meet with victory and bliss. Freida said nothing, +but she rose slowly and extended her hands above her head in a +movement of gratitude. + +Then Hersh prayed fervently near the window, through which could be +seen the first stars appearing in the sky. During the whole night +there was a light in that window, and seated at the table, his head +resting on both hands, was Hersh, reading from large yellowish sheets +of paper. At the break of day, when the eastern part of the sky had hardly +begun to burn with pinkish light, he went out, dressed himself in a +travelling mantle and large beaver cap, got into a carriage, and drove +away. He was so deeply plunged in thought that he did not even bid +good-bye to his children and servants, who crowded the hall of the house. +He only nodded to Freida, who stood on the piazza, with the white turban +on her head turning pink in the light of the dawn. Her eyes, which +followed her husband, were filled with sadness and pride. + +Where had Hersh gone? Beyond mountains, forests, and rivers, to a +remote part of the country where, amidst swampy plains and black +forests of Pinseyzna lived an eloquent partisan of the rights to +civilisation of the Polish Jews, Butrymowicz. He was a karmaszym--(the +higher, or rather richer, class of nobility in Poland were called by that +name, which means a certain shade of red, because their national +costumes were of that colour)--and a thinker. He saw clearly and far. +He was familiar with the necessities of the century. + +When Hersh was introduced into the mansion of the nobleman and +admitted to the presence of the great and wise member of parliament, +he bowed profoundly, and began to speak thus: + +"I am Hersh Ezofowich, a merchant from Szybow, and the great-grandson +of Michael Ezofowich, who was superior over all the Jews, and was +called Senior by the command of the king himself. I come here from +afar. And why do I come? Because I wished to see the great member of +the Diet, and talk with the famous author. The light with which his +figure shines is so great that it made me blind. As a weak plant +twines around the branch of a great oak, so I desire to twine my +thoughts about yours, that they shall over-arch the people like the +rainbow, and there shall be no more quarrels and darkness in this +world." + +When the great man answered encouragingly to this preface, Hersh +continued: + +"Serene lord, you have said that there must be an agreement between +two nations, who, living on the same soil, are in continual +conflict." + +"Yes. I said so," answered the deputy. + +"Serene lord, you said that the Jew ought to be equal in everything +with the Christians, and in that way they would be no longer +noxious." + +"I said it." + +"Serene lord, yon have said that you consider the Jews as Polish +citizens, and that it is necessary that they should send their +children to the secular schools. They should have the right to +purchase the land, and that among them certain things, which are +neither good nor sensible, should be abolished." + +"I said it," again affirmed the deputy. + +Then the tall, stately figure of the Jew, with its proud head and +intelligent look, bent swiftly, and before the deputy could resist +Hersh had pressed his hand to his lips. + +"I am a newcomer in this country," said he softly. "Younger +brother--" + +Then he drew himself up and pulled from the pocket of his halat a +roll of yellowish papers. + +"That which I have brought here," he said, "is more precious to me +than gold, pearls, and diamonds." + +"What is it?" asked the deputy. + +Hersh answered in a solemn voice: + +"It is the will of my ancestor, Michael Ezofowich, the Senior." + +They both sat reading through the whole night by the light of two +small wax candles. Then they began to talk. They spoke softly, with +heads bent together and burning faces. Then toward day-break they +rose, and simultaneously each stretched out and shook the hands of +the other cordially. + +What did they read the whole night, and of what were they talking? +What sentiment of enthusiasm and hope united their hands as a sign of +a pact? Nobody ever learned. It is sunk in the dark night of +historical secrets, with many other desires and thoughts. Adversities +plunged it there. It was hidden, but not lost. Sometimes we ask +ourselves whence come the lightnings of those thoughts and desires +which nobody has known before? And we do not know that their sources +are the moments not written on the pages of the history by any +writer. + +The next day a coach driven by six horses stopped before time house +of the nobleman. The noble, with his Jewish guest, got in, and +together they went to the capital of the country. + +A couple of months afterwards Hersh returned from Warsaw to Szybow. +He was very active in the town and its environments, he spoke, +explained, persuaded, trying to gain partisans for the changes which +were in preparation for his people. Then he went away again, and +again he returned--and went away. This lasted a couple of years. + +When Hersh returned from Ins last journey he was very much changed. +His looks were sad, and his forehead was lined with sorrow. He +entered the house, sat on the bench, and began to pant heavily. +Freida stood before him, sorrowful and uneasy, but quiet and patient. +She did not dare to ask. She waited for her husband's words and +look. Finally he looked at her sadly, and said: + +"Everything is lost!" + +"Why lost?" whispered Freida. + +Hersh made a gesture, indicative of the downfall of something grand. + +"When a building falls," he said, "the beams fall on the heads of +those who are within, and the dust fills their eyes." + +"It is true," affirmed the woman. + +"A great building is in the mire. The beams have fallen on all the +great problems and our great works, and the dust covers them--for a +long time." + +Then he rose, looked at Freida with eyes full of big tears, and said: + +"We must hide the Senior's testament, because it will be useless +again. Come, let us hide it carefully. If some great-grandson of ours +will wish to get it, he will find it the same as we did." + +From that day Hersh grew perceptibly older. His eyes dulled, and his +hack grew bent. He sat for hours on the bench, sighing deeply, and +repeating: + +"Assybe! assybe! assybe! dajde!" (Misfortune! Misfortune! Woe!) + +Around this sad man moved softly and solicitously a slender woman +dressed in a flowing gown and white turban. Her dark eyes often +filled with tears, and her steps were so careful and quiet that even +the pearls which ornamented her neck never made the slightest noise, +and did not interrupt her husband's thoughtfulness. + +Sometimes Freida looked sadly at her husband. His sadness made her +sad also, but she did not clearly understand it. Why was he +sorrowful? His riches did not diminish, the children grew healthy, +and everything was as before that quarrel with Reb Nohim and the +finding of those old papers. The loving and wise woman, whose whole +world was contained between the four walls of her home, could not +understand that her husband's spirit was carried into the sphere of +broad ideas--that it was fond of the fiery world, and being driven +out of it by the strength of events, could not be cured of its +longing. She did not know that in this world there were griefs and +longings which had no connection with either parents or with +children, or with wife or with wealth, or with one's house, and that +such griefs and longings of the human spirit are the most difficult +to cure. + +Todros was rejoicing, and he called his flock to rejoice with him, +who believed in his wisdom and sanctity. He triumphed, but he desired +to triumph still further. To destroy the Ezofowichs would mean to +destroy the stream which flowed into the future, striving with that +other stream which strove to congeal into ice--into the petrification +of the past. Who knows what may happen in the future? Who knows but +that that cursed family may not give rise to a man strong enough to +destroy the centuries of work achieved by the Todros. If events had +taken another turn, Hersh, with the aid of his friend Edomits, would +already have accomplished this! + +As in times of yore, his ancestor Michael was accused, so now Hersh +was assailed with reproaches of all kinds. In the synagogue they +shouted at him that he did not observe the Sabbath, that he was +friendly with gojs (any man who does not follow Judaism is a goj), +and that he sat at their tables and ate meat which is not kosher. +That in contentious affairs he avoided Jewish courts, and went to the +tribunals of the country; that he did not obey the superiors of +kahal, and he even dared to criticise them that he did not respect +Jewish authorities in general, and Reb Nohim in particular. + +Hersh defended himself proudly, refuting some of the objections and +acknowledging some of the others, but justifying them by reasons, +which, however, were not recognised as being right, either by his people +or his superiors. + +This lasted quite a long time, but finally it stopped. The +accusations were discontinued, and intrigues ceased, because the +object of these attacks became himself silent, and morally +disappeared. Grown prematurely old, and tired of lights, Hersh shut +himself up in the circle of private life, and occupied himself with +business transactions, These, however, did not go as smoothly as did +those of others, because he did not possess--as did others--the +sympathy of his brethren. What he felt, and about what he thought, in +those last years of his life, no one knew, for he told no one +anything. Only before his death he had a long conversation with his +wife. + +The children were too small to be entrusted with the secret of his +disappointed desires, wasted efforts, and smothered griefs. He left +these as a legacy to his children through his wife. Did Freida +understand and remember the words of her dying husband? Was she +willing, and was she able, to remember them, and repeat them to his +descendants? It is not known. Only this is certain--that only she +knew the place where the Senior's will was hidden--the old writings +which were the heritage not only of the Ezofowich family but of the +whole Israelitic nation--a neglected and forgotten heritage, but in +which--who knows!--were treasures a hundredfold richer than those +which filled the chests of that wealthy family. + +Therefore the Senior's last thoughts and wishes slept in some +hiding-place, waiting for a bold descendant who would be courageous +enough to bring them into life. But in the meantime there remained in +the town not one soul longing for the light--not one heart which +throbbed for something more than his own wife, his own children, and +before all, his own riches. + +There was plenty of noise arising from the care and haste whose only +aim was to gain money; there was darkness because of mystic fears and +dreams there was narrowness and suffocating because of merciless, +grinding, dead orthodoxy. + +The common people of the same faith throughout the whole country +considered the people of Szybow as powerful, both materially and +morally, wise, orthodox, almost holy. + +Over the whole deep-sunk social valley hung a cloud. This cloud was +composed of the darkest elements which exist in human kind, which +are: respect for the letter from which the spirit has departed, dense +ignorance, suspicious and hateful defence of self against everything +which flows from broad, sunny, but 'foreign' worlds. + + + + + +CHAPTER II + +It happened three years ago. + +Damp fog was rising from the muddy streets of the town and made dark +the transparency of a starry evening. A breath of March wind mingled +with the odour of freshly ploughed fields, flew over low roofs, but +could not drive out the suffocating exhalations coming in clouds from +the doors and windows of the houses. + +Notwithstanding the mists and exhalations which filled it, the town +had a gay and festive appearance. From behind gray curtains thousands +of windows shone with bright illuminations, and from lighted houses +came the sounds of noisy conversation or collective prayers. Whoever +passed through the streets and looked into this or that window of +this or that house, would see all around bright family scenes. In the +centre of larger or smaller rooms were long tables, covered with +white cloths, and all prepared for a feast. Around them bustled women +in variegated dresses, carrying and leaving contributions with a +smile on their faces, and admiring their own work in the decoration +of the tables. Bearded husbands, holding their children in their +arms, pressed their lips to the pink cheeks, or kissed the on the +mouth with a loud smack. They tossed them up to the low ceilings, to +the great mirth of the older members of the family. Others sat in +groups on benches and talked of affairs of the past week. Others +still, covered with the folds of their white talliths, stood +motionless, facing the walls, rocking their figures back and forward. +These were preparing themselves by fervent prayer to meet the holy +Sabbath day. + +For it was Friday evening. + +In the whole town there was but one house in which reigned darkness, +emptiness, and sadness. It was a little gray hut which seemed to have +been clapped on to a small hill at the other end of the town--it was +the only elevation on the waste plain. And even this hill was not +natural. Tradition said that it was made by Karaites, who built it on +their temple. Today there remained no traces of that temple. The +bare, sandy hill, protected the little hut from the winds and snow +storms, and the hut humbly and gratefully nestled in its shelter. +Over its roof, on the side of the hill, grew a large pear tree. +Through its branches the wind rushed sweetly--over it shone a few +stars. A large, cultivated field separated this spot from the town. A +deep quiet reigned here, interrupted only by muffled echoes of the +remote noise of the town. Over the black beds thick clouds of steam +and mist, coming from the streets of the town, crept toward the hut. + +The interior of the hut was dark as a precipice, and from behind its +small windows resounded the trembling but vigorous voice of a man: + +"Beyond far seas, beyond high mountains,"--spoke this voice amidst +the darkness--"the river Sabbation flows. But it flows not with +water, nor with milk and honey, but with yellow gravel and big +stones." + +The hoarse, trembling voice became silent, and in the dark room, seen +from behind two small windows, there was deep silence for a while. +This time it was interrupted by quite different sounds. + +"Zeide! speak further." + +These words were spoken in the voice of a girl--almost childish, but +languid and dreamy. + +Zeide (grandfather) asked, "Are they not coming yet?" + +"I don't hear them," answered the girl. + +In the dark room the hoarse trembling narrative began again: + +"Beyond the holy river of Sabbation there live four Israelitic +tribes; Gad, Assur, Dan and Naphtali. These tribes escaped there from +great fears and oppressions, and Jehovah--may His holy name be +blessed--has hidden them from their enemies, beyond the river of +gravel and stones. And this gravel rises high as the waves of the sea +and the stones are roaring and rushing like a big forest when it is +shaken by a storm. And when the day of Sabbath comes--" + +Here the old voice stopped suddenly, and after a while he asked +softly: + +"Are they not yet coming?" + +There was no answer for a long time. It seemed as though the other +was listening before replying. + +"They are coming," she said finally. + +In the dark interior was heard a long, muffled moaning. + +"Zeide! speak further," said the girl's voice, sonorous and pure as +before, only less childish--stronger this time. + +Zeide did not speak any more. + +From the direction of the town rushed, approaching the hut, a strange +noise. This was caused by numerous human feet, by piercing +exclamations and silvery laughter of the children. Soon in the +distance appeared a big moving spot rolling on the surface of the +fields. Soon the spot neared the hut, scattered into several groups +and with irresistible shouting, screaming, laughing, rushed toward +the bent walls and low windows of the hut. + +They were children--boys of various ages. The oldest amongst them was +perhaps fourteen years and the youngest five. It was difficult to see +their dresses in the darkness, but from beneath their caps and long +curls of hair, their eyes shone with the passionate fire of mischief +and perhaps some other excited sentiment. + +"Guten abend! karaime!" shouted at once the rabble, kicking at the +locked door with their feet, and shaking the frames of the windows. + +"Why don't you show some light on the Sabbath? Why are you sitting in +a black hole like the devil? Kofrim, uberwerfer!" (You unbeliever! +heretic!) shouted the older ones. + +"Aliejdyk giejer! oreman! mishugener!" (rascal, beggar, mad-man!) +howled the young ones at the top of their voices. + +The insults, laughter, and shaking of the door and windows increased +every moment, when from within the hut resounded the girl's voice, +quiet and sonorous as before, but so strong that it pierced the +noise--"Zeide! speak further!" + +"Aj! aj! aj!" answered the old voice, "how can I speak when they +shout so loudly." + +"Zeide! speak further!" + +This time the girl's voice sounded almost imperatively. It was no +longer childish. In it could be heard grief, contempt and struggle +for the preservation of peace. + +As sad singing is blended with the noise of stormy elements, so with +the wild noise of the mob of children, insulting, mewing, howling, +and laughing, the sobbing words were mingled. + +"And during the day of Sabbath, Jehovah--may His name be +blessed--gives rest to the holy river of Sabbation. The gravel ceases +to flow, the big waves of stones do not roar like the forest--only +from the river, which lies quiet and does not move, a thick mist +rises--so great that it reaches the high clouds, and hides again from +the enemies, the four tribes of Israel: Gad, Assur, Dan and +Naphtali." + +Alas! around the hut with bent walls and dark interior, the holy +river of Sabbation did not flow; neither did high waves or gravel nor +thick mists hide its inhabitants from the enemies. + +These foes were small, but they were numerous. By a last effort of +mischievous frolic several of them pulled at the frames of the +windows so strongly that several panes broke. A shout of joy sounded +far over the field. Through the openings the interior of the hut +became strewn with small clods of earth and stones. The old voice, +from the most remote part of the room, trembling, and still more +hoarse, cried: + +"Aj! Aj! Aj! Jehovah! Jehovah!" + +The girl's voice, always sonorous, repeated: + +"Zeide, keep quiet! Zeide, don't shout! Zeide, don't be afraid!" + +All at once, from behind the crowd of children, someone exclaimed +threateningly and imperatively: + +"Shtyl Bube! What are you doing here, you rascals? Get out!" + +The children at once became silent. The man who caused the +tranquillity by his loud voice was tall and well built. His long +dress was lined with fur. His face looked pale in the dusk, and his +eyes shone as only young eyes can shine. + +"What are you doing here?" he repeated, in an angry and decided +voice. "Do you think that this house is inhabited by wolves, and that +you can howl at them and break the windows?" + +The boys, gathered in one compact body, were silent. After a while, +however, one of them, the tallest, and evidently the boldest, said: + +"Why do they not show some light on Sabbath?" + +"That's none of your business," said the man. + +"No! That's none of yours either," said the stubborn boy. "We come +here every week and do the same--what then?" + +"I know that you do the same every week. Therefore I watched to catch +you here . . . now go home! quick!" + +"And you, Meir, why don't you go yourself to your house? Your bobe +and your zeide are eating the fish without you. Why do you drive us +from here, and not observe the Sabbath yourself?" + +The eyes of the young man became more fiery. He stamped the earth +with his foot and shouted so angrily that the younger children +dispersed immediately, and only the oldest boy, as though he would +have revenge for the scolding, seized a clod of earth and wished to +throw it into the little house. + +But two strong hands seized him by the arms and the collar. + +"Come," said the young man, "I will take you back home." + +The boy shouted, and tried to escape. But the strong arm held him +fast, and a quiet voice ordered him to be silent. He obeyed, dropping +his head. + +Around the hut it was now deep dusk. From the dark interior came the +sound of heavy, hoarse sighing as from some very old breast, and near +the broken window sounded the girl's voice: + +"Thank you." + +"Rest in peace," answered the young man, and went off, leading the +little prisoner. + +They passed silently through a few streets, and went toward a house +situated at the square. + +The house was low and long, with a piazza, and a long corridor ran +through the whole building. All this announced an inn. The windows in +the part of the house assigned to guests were dark. In the others, +situated opposite the piazza, and not higher than half-an-ell from +the ground, which was covered with straw and hay and all kinds of +rubbish, the lights of Sabbath shone forth from behind the dirty +panes. + +The young man, still leading the boy--who, as it seems, was not only +not afflicted by his situation, but was jumping joyfully--passed the +rubbish-covered ground, entered the deep corridor, where in the +darkness some horse was stamping with his feet, and, groping, found +the door Having half-opened it, he pushed the youngster into the +room. Then he put his head in the door and said: + +"Reb Jankiel, I have brought you Mendel. Scold him or punish him. He +roams in the darkness around the town, and attacks innocent people." + +This speech, delivered in a loud voice, remained without an answer. +Only the continual and fervent murmuring of a prayer came from the +interior of the room. Through the door, which still remained half-opened, +could be seen the whole long room, with very dirty walls, and enormous +stove, which was black with the dust. In the centre of the room was a +table covered with a cloth of doubtful cleanliness, but lighted with a +copious blaze of light from seven candles burning in a great branched +candlestick hanging from the ceiling. The Sabbath feast had not yet +begun, and although from the remote part of the house could be heard the +voices of women and children, announcing that the family was numerous, +there was only one man, his face turned toward the wall, in the room where +stood the table ready for the Sabbath supper. This man was of medium size, +and very thin and supple. It is not exact to say that he was standing, +because that does not express the position of his figure, but, just +the same, it would be hard to find another expression. He was neither +walking nor jumping, but, nevertheless, he was in continual and +violent motion. He threw his head--which was covered with red +hair--backward and forward with great rapidity. With these swift +movements, the sounds which came from his mouth were in perfect +harmony; for he was murmuring, then shouting passionately, then +pouring forth long plaintive songs. + +The young man standing on the threshold looked for a long time at +that figure, praying with all its soul, or, rather, with all its +body. Evidently he was waiting for an interruption in the prayer. But +it was known that the one who wished to see the end of Reb Jankiel's +prayers would have to wait for some time. Apparently the young man +was anxious to settle the mischief of the little Mendel quickly. + +"Reb Jankiel," he said aloud, after quite a long time, "your son +wanders about during the night and assaults innocent people!" + +There was no answer. + +"Reb Jankiel, your son insults people with bad words!" + +Reb Jankiel continued to pray with the same fervour. + +"Reb Jankiel, your son breaks the windows of poor people!" + +Reb Jankiel turned a few leaves of a large book which he held in both +hands, and sang triumphantly: + +"Sing to the Lord a new song, because he has created all marvels! +Sing! Play, play with a loud singing! Sound the trumpets and horns +before the King, Lord!" + +The last words were accompanied by the closing of the door. The young +man left the long dark corridor, wading once more through the +rubbish. When he passed the last lighted window he heard the sound of +soft singing. He stopped, and anyone would have done the same, for +the voice was pure, young and soft as a murmuring of a complaint, +full of prayer, sadness and longing. It was a man's voice. + +"Eliezer!" whispered the passer-by, and stopped at the low window. + +These windows had far cleaner panes than the others. Through them +could be seen a small room, in which was only a bed, a table, a few +chairs, and a library full of books. On the table burned a tallow +candle, and at the table sat a young man holding his head between the +palms of his hands. He was about twenty years old, and his face was +white, and of a delicate oval shape. From his fresh lips came the +beautiful singing which would have attracted the attention of a great +master of music. + +And no wonder. Eliezer, Jankiel's son, was the cantor of the +community of Szybow--the singer of people and Jehovah. + +"Eliezer!" was repeated from behind the window in a soft, friendly +whisper. + +The singer must have heard the whisper, for he sat near the window. +He raised his eyes, and turned them toward the pane. They were blue, +meek, and sad. But he did not interrupt his singing. On the contrary, +he lifted his hands, white as alabastar, and in that ecstatic +position, with an enthusiastic expression on his face, he sang still +louder: + +"My people, cast from thee the dust of heavy roads. Rise, and +take the robe of thy beauty. Hasten, ah hasten, with help to your +people, the Only, Incomprehensible! God of our fathers." + +The young man at the window did not call any more to the singer +praying for his people. He went off, stepping softly in careful +respect, and walking through the dark, empty place toward the large +house ablaze with lights; he looked at the few stars shining with +their pale light through the fog, and he softly hummed, plunged in +deep thankfulness: + +"Hasten! ah, hasten! with help to your people the Only, +Incomprehensible! God of our fathers!" + + + +CHAPTER III + +The large house, blazing with light, which stood opposite the temple, +separated from it by the whole width of the square, was the same +house built by Hersh Ezofowich, in which he lived with his beautiful +wife Freida. Its hundred year old walls had become black from the +rains and dust, but the house stood straight, and by its height +dominated all other dwelling-places in the town. + +For the past hour the celebration of the Sabbath day had begun in the +large room filled with old furniture. + +There were numerous people of both sexes present, and others were +coming. Saul Ezofowich, Hersh's son, the host of the house and chief +of the family, rose and approached the big table, above which hung +two heavy seven-branched candelabra of solid silver. The old +man--whose bent, but strong figure, wrinkled face, and snow-white +beard, proclaimed that he was over eighty--took from the hand of the +eldest son--himself a gray-headed man--a long candle, and, raising it +toward the other candles in the candelabra, exclaimed, in a voice +strong, but aged: + +"Be blessed God, Lord of the world, Thou who hast lighted us with Thy +commandments, and ordered us to light the lights on the day of +Sabbath." + +As soon as he said these words, the numerous candles were lighted in +the candelabra, and everyone present in the room exclaimed: + +"Let us go! Let us meet the bride! Let us meet her with greeting on +the day of Sabbath! Burn! burn! light of the King! Capital, rise from +the mire! Thou hast lived long enough in the valley of tears!" + +"My people, shake from thee the dust of heavy roads. Take on the robe +of thy beauty. Hasten! ah, hasten! with help to Thy people! God of +our fathers!" + +"Let us go! Let us go to meet the bride! Let us greet her with the +greeting of the song of the Sabbath!" + +Loud singing, and the sound of fervent prayers following each other, +filled the large room, and sounded far out on the large empty square. +The young man, passing the square thoughtfully, heard it, and +hastened his steps. When, after having passed the piazza and the long +narrow corridor dividing the house in two parts, opened the door to +the room filled with lights, the prayers had already changed to +conversation, and the gathered company, with traces of solemnity in +their faces, but yet mingled with joyful smiles, was standing around +the table spread with abundant viands. + +The company was composed of different faces and figures. There were +two of Saul's sons living with the father; Raphael and Abraham, +already gray, dark-eyed, with severe and thoughtful faces. Then +Saul's son-in-law, light-haired, pale, with soft eyes--Ber. There +were also daughters, sons, and grandchildren of the host of the +house; matured women, with stately figures and high caps on +carefully-combed wigs; or young girls, with swarthy complexions and +thick tresses, their young eyes, brightened by the feast, shone like +live coals. + +Several young men belonging to the family, and numerous children of +different ages, gathered at the other end of the table. Saul stood at +the head of it, looking at the door leading to the other rooms of the +house, as though he were waiting. After a while, two women appeared +in the doorway. One of them gleamed with rainbow-like, almost +dazzling light. She was very, very old, but still erect, and looked +strong. Her head was surmounted by a turban of bright colours, +fastened with an enormous buckle of diamonds. Around her neck she +wore a necklace composed of several strands of big pearls which fell +on her breast, also fastened with diamonds. She wore a silk dress of +bright colours. She also had diamond earrings, which were so long +that they reached her shoulders, and so heavy that it was necessary +to support them with threads attached to the turban; they gleamed +with the dazzling light of diamonds, emeralds, and rubies, and at +every movement they rustled, striking the pearls and a heavy gold +chain beneath them. + +This hundred-year-old woman, dressed in all the riches accumulated +for centuries, was, it seemed, a relic of the family, much respected +by all these people. When, led by her grand-daughter--a girl with a +swarthy face and dark hair--she stopped on the threshold of the room, +all eyes turned toward her, and all mouths smiled and whispered: + +"Bobe! Elte Bobe!" (Grandmother! Great-grandmother!) + +The majority of those present said the last words, because there were +present more great-grandchildren than grandchildren. Only the host of +the house, and the head of the whole family, said to the woman +softly: + +"Mamma!" + +This word, suitable for little children, sounded strangely, softly, +and solemnly from the withered, yellow lips of Saul, moving from the +midst of his milk-white beard. While pronouncing that word, his +wrinkled forehead, surmounted by equally white hair beneath a velvet +skull-cap, became smooth. + +But where were Freida's beautiful face, dark, fiery eyes, and slender +figure? How changed was the quiet, industrious, intelligent wife and +confidant of Hersh Ezofowich! She had outlived all her charms, as she +had outlived her husband, lord and friend. With time, her delicate, +slender figure increased in size, and took on the shape of the trunk +of a tree, from which sprang many strong, fruit-bearing branches. Her +face was now covered with such a quantity of fine wrinkles that it +was impossible to find one smooth place. Her eyes were sunken, and +had grown small, looking from beneath the bar of eyelashes with a +pale, faded glow. But on her face, crumpled though it was by the hand +of time, there was a sweet and imperturbable peace. The small eyes +looked about with smiling tranquillity of the spirit, lulled to sleep +by agreeable whispering, and the sweet smile of slumber surrounded +her yellow, hardly perceptible lips, which for a long time had grown +silent, opening more and more seldom for the pronunciation of shorter +and shorter sentences. Now, having placed her arm about the neck of +the pretty, young and strong girl by whose side she stood at the +family table, and having looked on the faces of all present there, +she whispered: + +"Wo ist Meir?" + +It was the great-grandmother who spoke, and at her words the whole +assembly recoiled, as from the blow of a sudden gust of wind. Men, +women, and children looked at each other, and through the room +resounded the whisper: + +"Wo ist Meir?" + +Owing to the largeness of the family his absence had not been +noticed. Old Saul did not repeat his mother's question, but his +forehead frowned still more, and his eye was fixed on the door with a +severe, almost angry expression. + +At that moment the door opened and a tall, well-proportioned young +man entered. His long dress was trimmed with costly fur. He closed +the door after him and stood near it, as though shy or ashamed. He +noticed that he was too late and that the common family prayers had +been recited without him, that the eyes of his grandfather Saul, of +two uncles and several women relatives were looking at him severely +and inquisitively. Only the grandmother's golden eyes did not look at +him angrily. On the contrary, they dilated and shone with joy. Her +wrinkled eyelids ceased to tremble, and the thin lips moved and +pronounced with the same soundless whisper as before: + +"Ejnyklchen! Kleineskind!" (Grandson! Child!) When Saul heard that +voice, resounding with joy and tenderness, he shut his lips, already +opened to pronounce severe words of reproach and questioning. Both +his sons dropped their eyes angrily to the table. The newcomer was +greeted only by a general silence which, however, was interrupted by +the great-grandmother repeating once more: + +"Kleineskind!" + +Saul stretched his hands over the table, and in a half-voice +suggested the subject of a prayer to be recited before the Sabbath +feast. + +"The Lord may be blessed," began he. + +"Blessed be," resounded in the room in a muffled whisper. + +For a time they all stood around the table, blessing by the prayer +the viands and drinks spread upon it. + +The young man did not join the general choir, but, having retreated +to a remote corner of the room, he recited the Kiddish prayers +omitted by him. While praying he did not move his figure. He crossed +his hands on his chest, and fixed his eyes steadily on the window, +behind which was complete darkness. + +His delicate oval face was pale--the sign of a nervous and passionate +disposition. His abundant dark, flowing hair, which had shades of +gold in it, was scattered on his white forehead. His deeply set, +large gray eyes gazed thoughtfully and a little sadly. In the whole +expression of the young man's face there were mingled characteristics +of deep sadness and childish bashfulness. His forehead and eyes +betrayed some painful thought, but the thin lips had lines of +tenderness, and they quivered from time to time as though under the +influence of some fear. His upper up and cheeks were covered with +golden down, indicating that the young man might be nineteen or +twenty years old. It was the age at which the Hebrew men ripened and +were not only allowed, but obliged to look after their family and +other affairs. + +When the young man had finished the prayers and approached the table +to take his place, there was heard a voice from among those present, +enouncing the words in such a way that they seemed sung: + +"Meir, where have you been for such a long time? What were you doing +in the town after the Sabbath had begun, and no one is allowed to +work any longer? Why did you not celebrate Kiddish with your family +to-day? Why is your forehead pale and your eyes sad, when to-day is +the joyful Sabbath? In heaven the whole celestial family rejoices, +and on earth all pious people should keep their souls mirthful." + +All this was said by a strange-looking man. He was rather small and +thin; he had a large head covered with thick, coarse hair. His face +was swarthy and round, covered with abundant hair, which formed a +long, coarse beard. His round eyes cast sharp glances from beneath +their thick eyelids. The thinness of the man was increased by a +strange dress--more strange than the man himself. It was a very +simple costume, consisting of a bag made of rough gray linen, girded +around the neck and waist with a hemp rope, and falling to the ground +it covered his bare feet. + +Who was the man in the dress of an ascetic, with fanatical eyes, with +lips full of mystic, deep, almost intoxicated joyfulness? + +It was Reb Moshe, melamed or teacher of religion and the Hebrew +language. He was pious-perfect. No matter what the weather--wind, +rain, cold, and heat--he always went barefooted, dressed in a bag +made of rough linen. He lived as do the birds--nobody knew +how--probably on some grain scattered here and there. He was the +right hand and the right eye of the Rabbi of Szybow, Isaak Todros, +and after the Rabbi he was the next object of reverence and +admiration of the whole community. + +Hearing those words pouring tumultuously from the melamed's mouth and +directed towards himself, Meir Ezofowich, great-grandson of Hersh and +the grandson of old Saul, did not sit at the table, but with eyes +cast on the ground, and a voice muffled by timidity, he answered: + +"Reb! I was not there where they are joyful and do good business. I +was there where there is sorrow and where poor people sit in darkness +and weep." + +"Nu!" exclaimed the melamed, "and where today could there be sadness. +To-day is Sabbath. Everywhere it is bright and joyful. . . . Where, +today, could it be dark?" + +A few older members of the family raised their heads and repeated the +question: + +"Where to-day could there be darkness?" + +And then again they asked him: + +"Meir, where have you been?" + +Meir did not answer. His face expressed timidity and inward +hesitation. At that moment one of the girls--the same who had +introduced the old grand mother--the girl with the swarthy face and +dark, frolicsome eyes, exclaimed mirthfully, clapping her hands: + +"I know where it is dark to-day!" + +All looks were directed toward her, and all lips asked: + +"Where?" + +Under the influence of the attracted attention, Lija blushed, and +answered softly, with a certain amount of bashfulness: + +"In the hut of Abel Karaim, standing on the hill of the Karaites." + +"Meir, have you visited Karaites?" + +The question was asked by several voices, dominated by the sharp, +whining voice of the melamed. + +On the bashful young man's face there appeared an expression of angry +and sullen irritation. + +"I did not visit them," he answered, more loudly than before, "but I +defended them from an attack." + +"From an attack? What attack? Who attacked them?" asked the melamed +mockingly. + +This time Meir raised his eyelids and his shining eyes looked sharply +into the eyes of his questioner. + +"Reb Moshe," he exclaimed, "you know who attacked them. They were +your pupils--they do the same every Friday. And why should they not +do it, knowing--" + +He stopped and again dropped his eyes. Fear and anger were fighting +within him. + +"Nu, what do they know? Meir, why did you not finish? What do they +know?" laughed Reb Moshe. + +"They know that you, Reb Moshe, will praise them for so doing." + +The melamed rose from his chair, his shining eyes opened widely. He +stretched out his dark, thin hand, as though to-say something, but +the strong and already sonorous voice of the young man did not permit +to do it. + +"Reb Moshe," said Meir, bending his head slightly before the +melamed--which he did, evidently not very willingly--"Reb Moshe, I +respect you--you taught me. I do not ask you why you do not forbid +your pupils to attack these poor people living in darkness--but I +cannot look at such injustice My heart aches when I see them, because +I believe that from such bad children will grow bad men, and if they +now shake the poor hut of an old man, and throw stones through the +windows, afterward they will set fire to the houses and kill the +people! To-day they would have destroyed that poor hut and killed the +people if I had not prevented them." + +As he said the last words, he took his place at the table. On his +face there was no longer timidity and bashfulness. He was evidently +deeply convinced of the righteousness of his cause. He looked boldly +around, and only his lips quivered, as is always the case with young, +sensitive people. At that moment old Saul and his two sons raised +their arms and said: + +"Sabbath." + +Their voices were solemn, and the looks they turned on Meir were +severe and almost angry. + +"Sabbath! Sabbath!" shouted the melamed, jumping in his chair and +gesticulating with his hands; "You, Meir, during the holy evening of +Sabbath, instead of reciting Kiddish and filling your spirit with +great joy and giving it into the hands of the angel Matatron, who +defends Jacob's tribes before God, that he may give them into the +hands of Sar-ha-Olama, who is the angel over angels and the prince of +the world, that Sar-ha-Olama may give them to the ten serafits who +are so strong in force that they crushed the whole world, in order +that through the ten serafits your spirit may reach the great throne, +on which is seated En-Sof himself, and join with him in a kiss of +love--you, Meir, instead of doing all that, went to defend people +from some attack--to watch their house and their life. Meir! Meir! +You have violated the Sabbath! You must go to the school and accuse +yourself before the people of having committed a great sin and +scandal." + +This speech made an immense impression on the whole assembly. Saul +and his sons looked threatening. The women were surprised and +frightened. The dark eyes of Lija--she who had first betrayed her +cousin's secret--shone with tears. Only Saul's son-in-law, blue-eyed +Ber, looked at the accused boy with sad sympathy, and several young +men, Meir's playmates, gazed into his face with curiosity and +friendly uneasiness. + +Meir answered in a trembling voice: + +"In our holy books, Reb Moshe, neither in the Torah nor in the Mishma +is there any mention of Sefirots and En-Sof. But there it is stated +plainly that Jehovah, although he has commanded us to keep the +Sabbath, permitted twenty people to violate the Sabbath in order to +save one man." + +Such a thing as any one daring to answer the melamed--the perfect +pious and Rabbi Todros's right hand--was unheard of and astonishing; +it was more, because in the answer there was a negation of his +judgment. Therefore the melamed's convex eyes nearly sprang from +their sockets. They opened widely and covered Meir's pale face with +deep hatred. + +"Karaims!" he shouted, tossing himself in his chair, and tearing his +beard and his hair--"You went to rescue the Karaims, heretics, +infidels, accursed! Why should one rescue them? Why do they not light +candles on Sabbath--why do they sit in darkness? Why do they not kill +birds and animals as we do? Why do they not know Mishma, Gemara and +Zahor?" + +He choked with excitement and became silent, and in that interruption +Meir's pure and sonorous voice resounded: + +"Reb, they are very poor!" + +"En-Sof is revengeful and merciless!" + +"They are much persecuted!" + +"The Incomprehensible persecutes them!" shouted Reb. + +"The Eternal does not command us to persecute. Rabbi Huna said: 'Even +if the persecution is righteous, the Eternal will take the part of +the persecuted one!'" + +Reb Moshe's cheeks were red as flame. His eyes seemed to devour the +face of the young man, whose looks had now grown bold, and his lips +quivered with the words that came rushing to them, but were not +pronounced. + +The whole gathering was astonished--frightened--depressed. Such a +quarrel with the melamed seemed to some of them a sin, to others a +danger for the bold young man, and even for the whole family. +Therefore Saul looked up sharply from beneath his bushy gray +eye-brows into his grandson's face, and hissed: + +"Sh-a-a-a!" + +Meir bent his head before his grandfather, in token of humility and +obedience, and one of Saul's sons, in order to pacify Reb Moshe's +anger, asked him: + +"What is the difference between the authority of the books of Talmud, +and Zahora, the Kabalistic book?" + +Having heard this question, the melamed put his elbows on the table, +and fixed his eyes motionlessly and with an expression of deep +reflection on the opposite wall. Then he began to speak slowly, and +in a solemn voice: + +"Simon ben Jochai, the great Rabbi who lived a very great while ago +and knew everything that happened in the heavens and on the earth, +said, 'The Talmud is a vile slave, and the Kabala is a great queen.' +With what is the Talmud filled? It is filled up with small, secondary +things. It teaches what is clean and what is not clean. What is +permitted and what is not permitted. What is decent and what is not +decent. And with what is filled Zohar--the book of light, the book of +Kabala? It is filled with great science; it tells what is God and his +Sefirots. The author of it knows all their names, and he teaches what +they do and how they built the world. There is said that God's name +is En-Sof and his second name is Notarikon and his third name is +Gomatria and fourth name Zirufh. The Sefirots are great heavenly +forces called: human source, fiancee, fair sex, great visage, small +face, mirror, celestial story, lily and apple orchard. And Israel is +call Matron, and Israel's. God is called Father, God, En-Sof. He did +not create the world; the Sefirots, celestial forces, did it. The +first Sefirot produced the strength of God; the second all angels and +the Torah (Bible); the third all prophets. The fourth Sefirot +produced God's love; the fifth God's justice, and the sixth, a power +which ruins everything. The seventh Sefirot produced beauty, the +eighth magnificence, the ninth, eternal cause, and the tenth, an eye +which watches Israel continually, and follows him on all his roads +and takes care of his feet--that they are not wounded--and his head, +that misfortune does not fall upon him. All this is taught by Zohar, +the book of Kabala, and it is the first book for every Israelite. I +know that many Israelites say that the Torah is the more important, +but they are stupid, and they do not know that the earth shall +tremble from great pains before God and Israel, Father and Matron, +shall be united in a kiss of love, until the slave will not retreat +before the queen--the Talmud before the Kabala. And when shall that +time come? It shall come when the Messiah shall appear. Then for all +pious and scholarly people will there be a great feast of joy. Then +God will order the boiling of the fish Leviathan which is so great +that the whole world rests on it. And everyone will sit down and eat +that fish--the scholarly and pious people from the head, and the +simple and ignorant from the tail!" + +When the melamed finished his speech he breathed deeply, and having +dropped his eyes on the table he suddenly fell from mystical heights +to earthly realities. On the plate before him was an excellent +fish--not Leviathan, but excellent nevertheless. The melamed, living +ascetically was very fond of Sabbath feasts, because he believed that +it was necessary, to celebrate the Sabbath properly, to keep joyful +the body as well as the spirit. Therefore, with the remains of the +ecstasy in his eyes, he began to put the delicious dish into his +mouth. The whole assembly was silent for a while. His clever speech +made a deep impression on almost everyone. Old Saul listened to it +with great reverence. His sons cast their grateful eyes on the table +and thought over Reb Moshe's scholarly instruction. The women piously +placed their hands on their bosoms, inclined their heads in sign of +admiration and with smiling lips they repeated: + +"Great student--perfect-pious. A true pupil of the great Rabbi +Isaak!" + +The one looking attentively on the faces of those sitting around the +table would have seen two looks which, swift as lightning and +unperceived by all present, had been exchanged during the melamed's +speech. They were the looks of Ber and Meir. The former looked sadly +at the other, who answered him with a look full of restrained anger +and irony. When the melamed spoke of the fish Leviathan, so large +that the whole world stood on it, and which, in the day of the +Messiah, the scholars would eat from the head and the ignorant from +the tail, a smile appeared on Meir's thin lips. It was a smile +similar to the stiletto. It pierced the one on whose lips it +appeared, and it seemed as though it would like to pierce the one who +caused it. Ber answered this smile by a sigh. But the four young men +who sat opposite Meir noticed it, and on their faces Meir's smile was +reflected. After a period of silence, interrupted only by the clatter +of knives on the plates and the loud movements of the melamed's jaws, +old Saul said: + +"Those are great things, scholarly and dreadful, and we thank Reb +Moshe for having told them to us. Listen to the learned men, who by +their great knowledge sustain Israel's strength and glory, because it +is written that the wise men are the world's foundation. 'Who +respects them, and questions them often about obscure things with +which they are familiar, to that one all sins shall be pardoned.'" + +Reb Moshe raised his face from the plate, and stuttered with his +mouth full of food: + +"Good deeds bring upon man an inexhaustible stream of blessing and +forgiveness. They open for him the secrets of the heavens and earth +and carry his soul among the Sefirots!" + +A silence full of respect was the only answer. But after a few +seconds it was interrupted by the sonorous voice of the youth: + +"Reb Moshe! what do you call a good deed? What must one do in order +to save one's life from sin and draw upon one's self a great stream +of grace?" asked Meir aloud. + +The melamed raised his eyes at the question. Their looks met again. +The melamed's gray eyes shone angrily and threateningly. The gray, +transparent eyes of the youth contained silvery streams of hidden +smiles. + +"You, Meir, you were my pupil, and you can ask me about such things. +Have I not told you a great many times that the best deed is +acquiring depth in the holy science? To whom does that everything +will be forgiven, and he who does not do that will be cursed and +thrust out from the bosom of Israel, although his hands and heart are +clean and white as the snow." + +Having said this he turned to Saul and said, pointing at Meir with +his brown finger: + +"He don't know anything. He has forgotten everything I have taught +him!" + +The old man slightly bent his wrinkled forehead before the melamed +and said in a conciliatory voice: + +"Reb, forgive him! When wisdom shall come to him, then he will +recognise that his mouth has been very daring, and I am sure he will +be pious and scholarly, as were all the members of our family." + +He drew himself up, and pride sparkled in the eyes which age had long +dimmed. + +"Listen to me, children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Our +family--the family of Ezofowich--is not a common family. We--thanks +to God, whose holy name be blessed--have great riches in chests and +on vessels. But we have still greater riches in the records of our +family. Our ancestor was a Senior, a superior over all the Jews +living in this country, and very much beloved by the king himself. +And my father Hersh, the famous Hersh, had the friendship of the +greatest lords, and they drove him in their carriages, and for his +surprising wisdom they took him to the king to the diet which was +then held in Warsaw." + +The old man became silent and looked around with eyes brightened with +pride and triumph. The whole gathering looked on him as on a rainbow. +The melamed became gloomy, and slowly sipped the wine from a big +glass. The old great-grandmother, who was already slumbering, +awakened at once, and peered with her golden eyes from behind +half-closed lids, exclaiming in her soundless voice: + +"Hersh! Hersh! my Hersh!" + +After a while. Saul began to talk again: + +"We have in our family a great treasure--such a treasure as has no +equal in all Israel. This treasure is a long document, written by our +ancestor Michael the Senior, and left by him, and in which there are +written noble and wise things. If we could get that document of +wisdom we should be happy. The only trouble is that we don't know +where it is." + +From the time Saul began to talk of the document left by his +ancestor, among the many eyes looking at him two pairs sparkled +passionately, with, however, quite contradictory sentiments. They +were the eyes of the melamed, who laughed softly and maliciously, and +the eyes of Meir who drew himself up in his chair and looked into his +grandfather's face with burning curiosity. + +"This writing," Saul said further, "was hidden for two hundred years +and nobody has touched it. And when the two hundred years were ended, +my father, Hersh, found it. Where he found it no one but our old +great-grandmother knows." + +Here he pointed to his mother, and then finished: + +"And she alone knows where he hid that writing, but as yet she has +told no one." + +"And why did she tell no one?" laughed maliciously and softly the +melamed. + +Saul answered in a sad voice: + +"Reb Nohim Todros--may his memory be blessed--has forbidden her to +speak of it." + +"And you, Reb Saul, why have you not searched for that writing +yourself?" + +Saul answered still more sadly: + +"Reb Baruch Todros, the son of Reb Nohim and Reb Isaak--may he live a +hundred years--the son of Reb Baruch, have forbidden me to search for +it!" + +"And no one dare search for it!" exclaimed the melamed with all his +might, raising his hand armed with a fork, "nobody dare search for +that writing, because it is full of blasphemy and filth. Reb Saul! +You must forbid your children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren +to search for that writing, and in case they find it they must give +it up to the fire to be destroyed! For the one who shall find that +writing, and shall read it aloud to the people--upon that one shall +the herem fall. He shall be cast out from the bosom of Israel. Thus +spake Reb Nohim and Reb Baruch--may their memory be blessed! Thus +spake Reb Isaak--may he live a hundred years. In that writing is +excommunication and great misfortune to the one who shall find it." + +A deep silence followed those words, spoken with the greatest +enthusiasm by the melamed, and amidst this silence was heard a long, +trembling passionate sighing. All looked around, desiring to learn +from whose breast proceeded that noise as of the tearing out of +desire, but no one could discover whence it came. They only perceived +that Meir, with rigid figure, pale face and burning eyes was gazing +into the great-grandmother's face. She, feeling the piercing look of +her beloved child, raised her wrinkled eyelids and said: + +"Meir?" + +"Bobe?" answered the young man, in a voice filled with caressing +tenderness. + +"Kleineskind!" whispered the great-grandmother and, smiling sweetly, +she began to slumber again. + +The Sabbath feast was near its end when an incident occurred which +would have appeared very strange to any foreign eye, but was an +ordinary sight to those gathered there. + +Reb Moshe, whose dark cheeks burned from the effects of several +glasses of wine hospitably poured out for him by the hosts, suddenly +jumped from his chair and rushed to the centre of the room. + +"Sabbath! Sabbath! Sabbath!"--he shouted, shaking his head and arms +violently. "Fried! Fried! Fried!" he repeated--"the whole celestial +family rejoices and dances in the Heavens! David danced and jumped +before the Arch--why then should not the perfect pious gladden his +heart by dancing and jumping?" + +Therefore he danced and jumped around the table. + +It would have been interesting for an observer to watch the different +sentiments reflected in the faces of those present who looked at the +ecstatic dance. Old Saul and his sons looked at the dancing figure +with the greatest gravity and attention. Not the slightest quiver of +a smile appeared on their lips. It seemed as though they looked on +the melamed's crazy leaps as the believers look on the performance of +a mystic but holy ceremony. Tallow-haired Ber sat stiff and dignified +also, but he knit his brows almost painfully, and his eyes were cast +on the ground. Meir leaned his head in the palms of both hands, and +it seemed that he neither heard nor saw--or at least tried not to +notice anything. But the women wondered at Reb Moshe's dance; they +moved their bodies to the time beaten by the bare-footed man, +smacking their lips and making signs of admiration with their eyes. +At the lower end of the table, where the boys and girls sat, could be +heard a soft noise, as of gigglings suppressed with effort. + +Finally Reb Moshe's strength was exhausted, his body shivering with +enthusiasm, fell to the floor near the big green brick stove. After a +while, however, he rose, laughed aloud, and wiped with the large +sleeve of his shirt, the perspiration bathing his forehead and +cheeks. + +Sarah, Saul's daughter, left the table and carried around a large +silver basin filled with water, in which everyone washed his fingers. +Whispering prayers of thanksgiving, those present dipped their hands +in the water and wiped them on a towel suspended from Sarah's +shoulder. The Sabbath feast was ended. + +A few moments afterward the table was cleared off. The whole company, +dividing itself into small groups, filled the room with the noise of +loud and animated conversation. Meir, who for a few moments had stood +alone by the window gazing thoughtfully into the darkness of the +evening, approached the group composed of the oldest people, gathered +in the most luxurious part of the room which was ornamented by an +antique sofa. Here Abraham and Raphael, Saul's sons, and Ber, his +son-in-law, reported to the father in reference to the business +transacted during the week, and asked his advice and help. Here old +Saul was in his proper field, for, although the high and wise studies +of mystic scholars aroused in him respect and fear, it seemed that +secular business affairs were more suited to his mind--he was more +familiar with them. In his eyes, which were now shining with keen and +animated thought, there were no more signs of old age, and only his +white hair and beard gave him the appearance of a patriarch and +dignitary, distributing among the members of his family advice, +praise and judgments. + +Meir stood indifferent before that group of people talking of losses +and profits. It was clear that in such affairs he did not yet take a +part, and that his fresh nature was not yet touched by the biting +fever of profit. He looked with some surprise at the usually +phlegmatic Ber, who at that moment seemed to be changed into another +man. Relating to his father-in-law his business projects, and +explaining to him the necessity of contracting a considerable loan +with his wife's brother, he became animated, eloquent--almost +vehement. His eyes burned, his lips moved with great rapidity, and +his hands trembled. + +Meir went away and joined another group where the melamed was a +central figure. As usual he was leaning his elbows on the table, and +spoke solemnly to the attentive listeners. + +"Everything in the world--every man, every animal, every blade of +grass, and every stone--has its roots in the country where the +spirits live. Therefore the whole world is like a gigantic tree, +whose roots are among the spirits. And it is like a gigantic chain, +whose last links are suspended where live the spirits. And it is like +a gigantic sea, which never dries up, because an inexhaustible stream +of spirits is always pouring in and filling it up." + +Meir left the group listening to the melamed and approached the +window. There two young men, leaning their foreheads in their hands +and in deep thought, were speaking of where it is written that a man +who walks during a clear night and does not see his shadow will die +the same year. + +Meir looked around. In the next room the older women were speaking of +their households, and how clever their children were. The young girls +were seated in a corner, whispering, giggling, and humming. + +From Meir's face it could be seen that he was not attracted by any of +these groups of people filling the house. He was among his own +people--among those who were nearest to him in blood and +affection--but it might be said that he was in the desert, so lonely did +he stand in the room, and so sorrowfully did he look around him. +He went out. Descending the stairs leading from the piazza he passed +the dark square, and entered the little house of Reb Jankiel. + +After the large, clean, well-lighted, and comfortable rooms of his +grandfather's home, the dwelling of Reb Jankiel, the possessor of the +largest inn in Szybow, whisky merchant, and a member of kahal, seemed +to Meir narrow, dark, dirty, and mean. The Sabbath feast was over. It +never was long, for it was scanty and passed in gloomy silence, +interrupted only by quarrelling and the biting remarks of the father +of the family. It was known that Reb Jankiel was avaricious. He +gathered much money, but he did not care for the comfort of the +house, because he was seldom there, being busy with whisky +distilleries, with dram-shops in the neighbouring villages, returning +to the town only when religious affairs required his presence. His +wife, Jenta, and two grown-up daughters conducted the business of the +inn. + +The appearance of riches in his house only occurred when Reb Jankiel +received eminent guests, as the saintly Rabbi, with whom he was a +great favourite, the colleagues of the kahal, or wealthy merchants. +Cleanliness and gaiety were well-known virtues. + +In the first room, which Meir entered through a door opening into the +dark hall, only one little candle burned in a brass candlestick. The +smell of the food, which was just cleared off the table, was here +mingled with the mustiness of the dirty walls and the greasy +exhalations from the smoky chimney. It was dark and dull here. From +the other room, completely dark, sounded the loud snoring of the +master of the house, who was already fast asleep. In the third small +room, filled with beds and trunks, Meir perceived, by the light of a +small lamp burning in the stove around which was suspended a quantity +of cabbages, a woman who was rocking a cradle with her foot, and +trying to lull to sleep a crying child. Meir greeted her, and she +answered him in a friendly manner and continued to hum. + +Behind the closed door could be heard the muffled sound of human +voices. Meir opened that door and entered the room of Eliezer. + +Eliezer the cantor and the possessor of that marvellous voice, was +not alone. Around the table, lighted by a tallow candle, sat several +young men, members of the Ezofowich family--the same who had eaten +Supper with Meir. Meir breathed deeply, perhaps because the air was +purer there than in the other apartments, or perhaps because he was +among friendly figures, on which he liked to gaze, and which, seeing +him, smiled in a friendly manner. + +Eliezer raised his turquoise-like eyes to the face of the newcomer as +he sat at the table. + +"Meir!" he exclaimed in his musical voice. "Well?" answered his +guest. + +"You were impatient to-day, and said to the melamed things of which +there was no necessity to speak. They told me of your dispute with +him." + +Meir looked sharply and a little ironically into the cantor's face. + +"Eliezer, are you in earnest when you tell me that?" he asked slowly. + +The cantor dropped his head. + +"It was honest on your part, but it may cause you much trouble." + +The young man laughed, but his laugh Was empty and forced. + +"Nu!" said he with determination, "Let it come. I can't stand it any +longer. I can't be silent and look and listen, while we are being +made fools of." + +"Child! child what can you do?" sounded from behind them in a lazy, +drawling voice. + +They all turned. It was the phlegmatic Ber who had entered during the +conversation. Having thus answered the angry exclamation of the young +man, he stretched himself on Eliezer's bed. It seemed that those +present were accustomed to see him among them, for they showed +neither the slightest impatience nor confusion. On the contrary, the +conversation was continued. One of the young men, a relative of +Meir's, half in doubt and in smiles, half in fear and seriously, +began to repeat to the cantor the melamed's speech about En-Sof and +the Sefirots, about the day of the Messiah, and the gigantic fish, +Leviathan. Another asked Eliezer what he thought of a moral which +taught that it was sufficient to study Mishma and Zohar in order to +obtain pardon for evil deeds. + +Eliezer listened silently. He did not answer for a long time; then he +slowly raised his head and said: + +"Read the Torah! There it is written: 'God is one, Jehovah! He is not +satisfied with your sacrifices, singing, and incense, but he requires +from you a love of the truth, to defend the oppressed, to teach the +ignorant, and heal the sick, because these are your first duties.'" + +The two young men opened their eyes. "Well!" they exclaimed, "then +the melamed did not tell the truth!" + +Eliezer was silent for a long time again. It was evident that he +preferred not to answer, but the young impatient hands pulled him by +the sleeve, asking for a reply. + +"He did not tell the truth," he finally exclaimed timidly. + +At that moment Meir put his hand on his shoulder. "Eliezer," said he, +"you gave me the same answer two years ago, when you came back from +the great city where you studied singing. Then you opened my eyes, +which alone began to search for the truth, and you taught me that we +are not true Israelites; that our faith was not the same that was +given to us on Mount Sinai; that Judaism has grown muddy like water +when a handful of earth is thrown into it--and that mud has blackened +our heads and our hearts. Eliezer, you have told me this, and I have +seen the light. Since that time I have loved you as a brother who +helped me out of obscurity, but Since that time, I feel in my heart a +great oppression and a great loneliness." + +"Meir, Eliezer taught you, and Eliezer is silent--you, his pupil, +commence to talk," said her, whose lazy words were tinged with irony. + +"I wish I knew how to talk," exclaimed the young man, with sparkling +eyes, "and what to do!" + +And after a while he added, more softly: + +"But I know neither how to speak nor how to act--only in my heart I +bear a great hatred toward those who deceive us, and a great love +toward those who are deceived." + +"And a great audacity," drawled Ber, negligently stretched on the +bed. + +"Until now I have not had the audacity, but--but if I knew what to +do, I would have it." + +There was a silence for a few moments which was finally broken by +Meir. + +"Eliezer, you are happier!" + +"Why?" + +"You have been out into the broad world--you have seen its +wisdom--you have listened to clever people. Ah! if I could but go out +into the world!" + +"Eliezer, tell us something of the great world," said one of the +young men. + +And in the eyes watching the cantor there was curiosity and a strange +longing. + +Of the youth of Szybow, Eliezer alone had been out into the world. +This was because of his marvellous voice, to cultivate which he had +been sent to a large city. Everything he had to say had been told to +his friends long ago. It was not much, but such as it was they were +willing to listen to it every day. How does a large city appear? How +high are the houses there? What kind of people live in those houses, +and how many among them are Israelites? Who are rich, and wear +beautiful dresses, and are greatly respected among the people? And +why are they respected? Is it because they are rich? No--in Szybow +there are also rich merchants, and the Purices (nobles) care for them +only when they need their money, and when they do not need money they +despise them. The Israelites in the great city are respected because +they have a great deal of knowledge, and they have studied not only +Mishma and Gemara, but other different, beautiful, and necessary +things. And why in Szybow is there not such a school where these +things could be studied, and why do Rabbi Isaak and Reb Moshe say +that these sciences are the wine-garden of Sodom and infidel flames, +and that every true Israelite should avoid them? + +"Eliezer, how do those big carriages run without horses, and who +invented them so cleverly?" + +"Eliezer, do all Israelites there live kosher?" + +"Eliezer, what is said there of the Rabbis Todros?" + +"They speak ill of them." + +A great surprise! The Israelites in the broad world speak ill of the +Todros; and they believe neither in En-Sof nor in the Sefirots and +the whole Kabalistic science! + +"And what do they say of the Talmud?" + +"They say that this beautiful book, full of wisdom, was written by +clever and saintly people, but it should be shortened and many things +left out because these are quite different times, and that which was +formerly necessary is now harmful." + +Again great surprise! The Talmud should be shortened, because it is +difficult to study Gemara, and it dulls the minds and memories of the +children! + +True! They remember how difficult it was for them to study Gemara, +and how the melamed had cruelly beaten them because they could not +remember it, and how on that account they grew weak physically and +mentally, and the little Lejbele, the son of a poor tailor, remained +forever stupid and sick for the same reason! + +"And who shortened the Talmud, and made it easier to study?" + +"It was done by the great and saintly Moses Majmonides, whom the +Rabbis excommunicated." + +The Rabbis excommunicated the great and saintly savant! Therefore the +Rabbis could be unjust and bad. One must not always believe what they +teach! + +"What more has Moses Majmonides written?" + +"He has written More Nebuchim a guide for lost ones--a wise and +beautiful book, which, when one reads one is inclined to weep with +tenderness and laugh with joy!" + +"Eliezer, have you read that book?" + +"Yes. I have it." + +"Where did you get it?" + +"A wise Israelite gave it to me. He is a lawyer in the large city." + +"Eliezer, read us something from that book." + +In that way was revealed to those naive minds, involuntarily longing +for the sun and broad bosom of humanity,--even though the revelation +was partial and chaotic--the phenomena and thoughts circulating in +the waste spaces. The result of this was not the production of firm +convictions, nor the spinning out of a guiding thread to another +better life; but doubt entered their consciences and desire filled +their breasts--the young eyes veiled with the sadness of the thought +which began to feel its fetters. + +It was quite late when, after a long conversation, the young men rose +and stood opposite each other with pale faces and burning looks. +After a time of silence, Meir said: + +"Eliezer, when shall we stand up and cry with a powerful voice to the +people, that they may open their eyes? Shall we always crawl in +darkness, like the worms, covered with earth, and look on while the +whole nation rots and chokes?" + +Eliezer dropped his eyes, which were full of tears, and raising his +white hands, he said in his harmonious voice: + +"Every day before God I sing and cry for my people!" + +Meir made a movement of impatience, and at that moment Ber, rising +heavily from the bed, laughed in a gloomy manner. + +"Sing and cry!" said he to Eliezer, "your dreadful father fills you +with such fear that you will never be able to do anything else!" + +Then he put his hand on Meir's shoulder and said: + +"Only he is daring and will swim against the stream. But the water is +stronger than a man. Where will it carry him?" + +Leaving Jankiel's house, Meir perceived again in one of the rooms, +the same as before, a woman sitting at the cradle of a sleeping baby. +Now she was bent over, and with both elbows resting on the edges of +the cradle, was slumbering. The light of the small lamp, burning in +the stove, fell upon her and threw a purple glimmer on the old caftan +which covered her bosom and shoulders. On her head she still wore the +holiday cap with crumpled flowers, its red colour contrasting +strangely with the yellow, wrinkled face with its low forehead and +withered cheeks. She was not yet old but worn out, over worked, spent +with fatigue. One glance at her was sufficient to tell that her life +lay in the midst of work and humiliation, and that she was not +refreshed by even one drop of happiness. Looking at her, it was not +difficult to guess that she would not live--like Freida, wife of the +heretic Hersh--until her hundredth birthday, and that she would not +fall into the eternal sleep little by little, amidst those dear to +her heart--the noise made by numerous children and grandchildren. +Jenta, the wife of the greedy Reb Jankiel, was slain in spirit and +worn out in body. + +When the steps of the departing guests, which had for some time +mingled with the snoring of several people fast asleep, became +silent, Eliezer stood in the low door of his room and looked for a +few seconds at his sleeping mother. + +"Mother!" he called softly, "why don't you go to bed? Little Hajka is +sleeping for a long time, and she will not cry any more. Mother, go +to bed and rest." + +The whisper of her son reached the slumbering Jenta. She raised her +eyelids, turned her sad glance toward the tall youth whose white face +shone in the darkness like alabastar, and--what a wonder--her small, +half-closed eyes opened, and from the colourless eyeballs shone a +light of joy. + +"Eliezer, come here!" she whispered. The young man approached and sat +on the edge of the bed. + +"How can I sleep?" the faded woman whispered to him, "when I feel so +miserable! Hajka is sick and at any moment she may cry, and if she +would cry Jankiel would waken and be very angry!" + +"Sleep mother," whispered back the young man. "I will sit here and +rock Hajka." + +The yellow, wrinkled face, with the big red rose over the forehead, +bent and rested--not on the high dirty pillows--but on the lap of the +sitting youth. + +Eliezer put his elbow on the edge of the cradle, leaned his forehead +on the palm of his hand and sat in thought. From time to time he +moved the cradle with his foot, and hummed. + +"Oj! My head, my poor head!" whispered in her sleep the yellow-faced +woman, slumbering with her head in her son's lap. + +"Oh, Israel! how poor thou art!" thoughtfully whispered the red lips +of the young man watching by the cradle. + +While this was passing in Reb Jankiel's house, a small, lively human +figure rushed through the darkness, across the large school-yard +toward the small house of Rabbi Todros, where it disappeared behind a +small door. + +The creaking of the door was answered from the interior of the house +by a low, but pure voice: + +"Is that you, Moshe?" + +"I, Nassi! your faithful servant! the miserable footstool of your +feet! May the angel of peace visit your sleep! May every breath of +your nostrils be agreeable to you, as the sweet oil mixed with myrrh! +And while you sleep, may your soul bathe with great delight in the +streams of the spirits!" + +The deep voice coming from the interior of the room situated beyond +the small dark hall, asked: + +"Where were you so long, Moshe?" + +The man, who remained in the little hall, answered: + +"I ate the Sabbath supper in the house of the Ezofowich. In that +house they celebrate the Sabbath with great magnificence, and I go +there often to keep my soul in great joy!" + +"You act wisely, Moshe, in keeping your soul joyful during the +Sabbath. But what news have you?" + +"Bad news, Nassi! Among the roses and lilies an ugly worm crawls!" + +"What worm?" + +"A worm which is eating into our holy faith, and which may make of +the Israelitish people a people of goims and hazarniks." + +"And in whose heart crawls that worm?" + +"It is crawling in the heart of Meir Ezofowich--grandson of the rich +Saul." + +"Moshe, have you seen this worm with your own eyes, and have you +heard with your own ears? Speak, Moshe! On my head rests the burden +of all souls which are in this community, and I must know all." + + + + + +There was silence for a moment in the little hall The man who was +humbly sitting there at the closed door of the saintly Rabbi was +evidently gathering his thoughts and reminiscences. After a while he +began to speak in his hoarse voice, in a sing-song manner. + +"I have seen with my own eyes, and heard with my own ears. Meir +Ezofowich has not celebrated to-day the Kiddish with the whole +family, and he came home after Sabbath had already been with us for +some time. And I asked him what he had been doing, and he told me +that he had been defending the cabin of Abel Karaim and his +grandchild, Golda, from assault." + +He became silent, and the deep voice within the closed room said: + +"He defended heretics, and violated the Sabbath!" + +"He does not keep his soul joyful during the holy day of Sabbath." + +"That teaching may be excommunicated! Israel must avoid it, and the +Lord may not forgive it!" said the deep voice behind the door. + +"He said that in the holy books of Israel there is nothing said of +En-Sof and Sefirots, and that the Eternal does not command us to +persecute heretics." + +"Abominations pour from the mouth of that young man! Hersh +Ezofowich's soul--his great-grandfather's soul--has passed into his +body!" + +"Nassi!" exclaimed Moshe, in a louder voice. An indistinct murmur +from behind the door encouraged him to continue the conversation. + +"He is going to search for the writing of Michael the Senior. I have +seen that in his eyes. And he will find that writing, and when he +finds it and reads it aloud to the people, the spirit of Israel will +rise against your teaching." + +There was a deep silence after those words, and then the bass voice +resounded again: + +"When he shall find that writing, then my heavy hand will rest on him +and crush him into dust. Moshe, what did he do after supper?" + +"He went to the house of Reb Jankiel, and talked with the cantor, +Eliezer. I passed that way, and saw them through the window." + +"Moshe, who else was there?" + +"There were Haim, Mendel, Aryel, and Ber, Saul's son-in-law." + +"About what were they talking?" + +"Nassi, my soul entered into my ear as I stood by their window. They +complained much that they are kept in great darkness, and that the +true faith of Israel is troubled like water when a handful of mud is +thrown into it. And Eliezer said that he complains of it before the +Lord, singing and crying; and Meir said that it is not enough to sing +and cry, but that one must shout with a great voice to the people, +and do something so that they will become something quite different +from what they now are." + +"A family of vipers!" hissed the voice from behind the door of the +cabin. + +"Nassi, who are a family of vipers?" asked Moshe humbly + +After a moment of silence, the answer came from the darkness: + +"Ezofowich's family." + + + +CHAPTER IV + +A few months passed. A warm May day was ending in a bright, +sweet-scented evening. + +Not long before sunset two beings were walking through the narrow +street surrounded by the poorest houses in town. One of these beings +was a slender girl, the other was a snow-white she-goat. The she-goat +went before, jumping at every moment in order to catch some herb +growing here and there. She appeared to be adroit, full of pranks, +and happy. The girl following was grave and thoughtful. It would be +difficult to tell how old she was. She may have been anywhere from +thirteen to seventeen. Although she was tall, she seemed childish, on +account of the extreme thinness of her body. But her mien and the +expression of her face denoted gravity and premature grief and +sadness. At first glance she appeared to be homely. What charms she +may have possessed were not enhanced by the poor dress made of faded +calico, from beneath which appeared her feet, only half protected by +heavy shoes. The flowing dress was buttoned at the neck, around which +she wore a few strings of broken corals. Her face was thin and pale, +contrasting sharply with the red colour of the beads. From beneath +the thick eyebrows looked velvet-like eyes, and over the narrow +forehead curled hair as black as ebony. + +The whole person of this child, or woman, was a mixture of pride and +wildness. Her walk was stiff, grave, and thoughtful, and she looked +boldly into space. But at the more lively sound of human voices she +stopped and dropped her eyes--not because she was afraid, but because +it seemed that she much disliked meeting people. Only the presence of +the she-goat did not cause her disgust; on the contrary, she looked +after the animal attentively, and when the agile creature went too +far, she called her with sharp, muffled exclamations. Reciprocally, +it seemed that the goat understood her very well, and, obedient to +her call, she returned to the girl with a questioning baa! At the end +of the poor, narrow street, there appeared a small green meadow, +fresh, pearled with the dew of May, and gilded with the sun. This was +situated outside the town, surrounded on one side by a birch grove, +the other side opening on large fields, beyond which, in the far +distance, was seen a blue strip of the forest. + +The girl slackened her steps, and having seized the animal by the +horns, she stopped, and looked on the lively scene displayed on the +meadow. At first the outlook appeared to be merely a tumultuous and +chaotic mass of movement, composed of snow-white animals and +variegated children on the green background. Only after a short while +one could distinguish numbers of little girls driving from pasture +several herds of goats. + +The girls were full of play, and they hastened home. The goats were +stubborn, and wished to remain on the meadow, so there was some +fighting, in which the goats were victorious over the children. They +escaped from the hands of their leaders, and jumped nimbly and +quickly toward the hazel bushes. + +The girls chased them, and, reaching them, they seized the animals by +their long, rough hair, and then they were at a loss what to do next. +Some of them called to their friends, busy and embarrassed also, for +help; others crossed the way of their disobedient charges, and, when +they were opposite them, they stretched out their arms; others +shouted, and, falling on the ground, they rolled in the soft grass, +bursting with laughter. These exclamations, calls, and laughter, +mingling with the m-a-a-ing of the goats, were seized by the warm +breeze blowing over the meadow, and carried through the gloomy +streets of the town, over the large field, and in the remote depths +of the grove. Through the golden air the small feet flitted and +crossed each other, trampling the grass, and above them nodded the +little heads covered with hair of all shades, from locks black as +ebony to the curls of copper-red and flaxen-yellow. + +The tall, grave girl, who passed with her frolicsome but obedient +goat, looked indifferently at the noisy, animated scene. It was +evident that neither the gaiety nor curiosity attracted her. As she +had been walking, now she was standing grave and quiet. It seemed as +though she was waiting for something. Maybe the disappearance from +the meadow of these flitting heads and the exclamations of the +children. + +After a while the exclamations were united in one choir. It announced +joy and universal triumph. At the end of long fights, chases, and +efforts, the goats were finally subdued by the girls, and were now +gathered in one group. Some of the children were holding the stubborn +and rebellious animals by their short horns, dragging them with all +their strength; while others, clasping their necks with both hands, +accompanied them in their jumps; others, more courageous and strong, +sat on the goats' backs, and, carried by their strange chargers, +holding fast by the longest hair, they went at full trot toward the +town. This cavalcade, tumultuous and noisy, squeezed into one of the +larger streets, and disappeared in clouds of dust. + +Now the green meadow was silent and deserted. Only a light wind +rustled among the branches of birches and hazel trees, and the +setting sun veiled it in transparent pink clouds. + +The girl set her goat at liberty, walked quicker than formerly, and +after a while reached the edge of the meadow. Then she stopped and +looked in one direction with a sudden amazement of joy. This point +was a thick birch trunk lying at the foot of the grove, and on this +trunk sat a young man with an open book in his lap. The girl's +amazement was short. With her eyes fastened on the young man's face, +which was bent over the book, she crossed the whole length of the +meadow, straight and light, and having stopped near the trunk on +which he was sitting, she bent, seized his hand in both her swarthy +hands, and raised it to her mouth. + +Absorbed in his reading the man swiftly raised his head and looked in +astonishment at the girl, quickly withdrawing his hand from her +embrace and growing red with a warm blush. + +"You don't know me," said the girl, in a voice which was muffled, but +which trembled not one whit. + +"No," answered the young man. + +"But I know you. You are Meir Ezofowich, rich Saul's grandson. I see +you often when you sit on the piazza of your beautiful house, or +when, with that book, you pass the hill of the Karaims." + +All this she said in a grave, steady voice, her figure drawn erect. +In her face there was not the slightest sign of embarrassment or +timidity nor the slightest blush. Only her large eyes became darker +and shone with a warm light, and her pale lips assumed a soft and +gentle expression. + +"And who are you?" asked Meir softly. + +"I am Golda, the grand-daughter of Abel Karaim, despised and +persecuted by all your people." + +And now her mouth trembled and her voice took on a gloomy tone. + +"All your people persecute Abel Karaim and his grand-daughter Golda, +and you defend them. Long ago I wished to thank you." + +Meir dropped his eyelids. His pale face flushed. + +"Live in peace, you and your grandfather Abel," he said softly, "and +may the hand of the Eternal be stretched over your poor house--the +hand of Him who loves and defends those who suffer." + +"I thank you for your good words," whispered the girl. + +In the meanwhile she slipped down to the grass at the young man's +feet, and raising her clasped hands she whispered further: + +"Meir, you are good, wise, and beautiful. Your name signifies +'light,' and I have light before my eyes every time I see you. Long +ago I wished to find you and talk with you, and tell you that +although you are a grandson of a rich merchant and I am a +grand-daughter of a poor Karaim, who makes baskets, yet we are equal +in the eyes of the Eternal, and it is permitted to me to raise my +eyes to you and looking on your light, to be happy." + +And in fact she looked happy. Only now her thin, swarthy face burned +with a flame-like blush, her lips were purple, and in her eyes raised +to the young man's face and filled with passionate worship stood two +silvery tears. + +Meir listened to her with downcast eyes, and when she was silent he +looked up and gazed at her for a while and whispered softly: + +"Golda, how grateful and beautiful you are!" + +For the first time during her conversation with Meir, Golda dropped +her eyes and mechanically began to pluck the high grass growing +around her. Meir looked at her silently. The innocence of her heart +was plainly manifested in her confusion, which caused him to blush, +and a timid joy shone with double light from his gray eyes, which +remained cast down. + +"Sit beside me," said he finally, in a soft voice. + +The girl rose from the ground and sat in the place indicated by him. +She had recovered all her boldness and gravity. She was silent and +looked at the youth who did not look at her. They were silent a long +time. Silence was around them; only above their heads the tall +birches rustled softly, and around the pond near by, which was grown +up with osier, the whistling and carolling of the marsh-dwelling +birds was heard. + +Meir, who kept looking at the grass spread at his feet, was the first +to speak: + +"Why do you bring your goat so late to the pasture?" + +Golda answered: + +"Because I don't wish to meet the other girls here." + +"Do they also persecute you?" + +"They laugh at me when they see me, and call me ugly names, and drive +me from them." + +Meir raised his eyes to the girl, and in his glance there was deep +pity. + +"Golda, are you afraid of those girls?" + +Golda gravely shook her head in negation. + +"I have grown up together with fear," she answered. "It's my brother, +and I am accustomed to it. But when I return home the old zeide asks: +'Have you met anybody? Have they annoyed you?' I can't lie, and if I +tell the truth the old zeide is very sad and he weeps." + +"Did zeide alone bring you up?" + +She nodded her head affirmatively. + +"My parents died when I was as small as that bush. Zeide didn't have +any children, so he took me to his home and took care of me, and when +I was ill he carried me in his arms and kissed me. When I was older +he taught me to spin and read the Bible, and told me beautiful +stories which the Karaims brought from the far world. Zeide is good; +zeide is a dear old man--but so old--so old, and so poor. His hair is +snow-white from great age and his eyes are red as corals from +weeping. When he is making baskets I often lie at his feet and keep +my head in his lap, and he caresses my hair with his old, trembling +hand, and repeats: 'Josseyme! Josseyme!' (orphan)." + +While thus speaking she sat a little bent over, with her elbow +resting on her knee. She balanced herself softly, looking into space. + +Meir was now gazing in her face as on a rainbow, and when she +pronounced the last word, he repeated after her in a soft voice, +filled with pity: + +"Josseyme!" + +At that moment, quite a distance behind them in the grove, was heard +the bleating of the goat. Meir looked back. + +"Your goat--will it not be lost in the forest?" he asked. + +"No," answered the girl quietly. "She never goes too far, and when I +call her she returns to me. She is my sister." + +"Fear is your brother, and a she-goat your sister!" said the young +man, smiling. + +The girl turned her head toward the grove, and gave voice to a few +short exclamations. Immediately there came from the thicket the +sound of quick, racing steps, and among the green birch branches +appeared the snow-white hairy animal. It stood still and looked at +the two people sitting beside each other. + +"Come here!" called Golda. + +The goat approached and stood near her. Golda caressed the animal's +neck, and Meir did the same smiling. The goat gave a short bleat, +jumped aside, and in the twinkling of an eye was biting at one of the +birches. + +"How obedient she is," said Meir. + +"She is very fond of me," said Golda gravely. "I brought her up in +the same way that zeide did me. She was a little kid when zeide +brought her home and made me a present of her. I used to carry her in +my arms and feed her with my hands, and when she was sick I sang to +her, as zeide used to sing to me." + +In speaking thus she smiled, and the smile gave her a childish +appearance. She looked not more than fourteen years old. + +"Would you like to have another little kid?" asked Meir. + +"Why not?" she answered. "I would like it very much. When zeide shall +sell a great many baskets, and I shall spin much wool we will buy +another little kid." + +"For whom do you spin the wool?" + +"There are some good women who help me in that way. Hannah, +Witebski's wife, your aunt Sarah, Ber's wife, give me wool to spin +and then they pay me with copper--sometimes with silver money." + +"Then you sometimes come to our house to take the wool for spinning +from Sarah, Ber's wife?" + +"Yes." + +"And why have I never seen you?" + +"Because they wish me to come secretly. Ber and his wife Sarah are +very good-hearted people, but they don't wish anyone to know that +they help us. I come to see them when there is nobody in the house +except Lijka, your cousin, and I try to slip in in such a way that +the black man could not see me." + +"Whom do you mean by the 'black man'?" asked Meir in astonishment. + +"Rabbi Isaak Todros!" answered Golda softly--almost in a whisper. + +At the sound of that name pronounced by Golda, Meir's face, formerly +beaming, full of pity, blushing with emotion, quivered nervously. He +grew suddenly silent and looked into space with eyes filled with +gloomy lights. He became so thoughtful that a deep line appeared on +his white forehead. It seemed to him that he had forgotten that he +was not alone. + +"Meir," sounded in a soft voice, close to his shoulder, "of what are +you thinking, and why have your eyes become so sad? Your name means +'light.' The sun of joy--does it not shine always for you?" + +The young man, without changing the direction of his glance, shook +his head. + +"No," he answered, "there is a deep sorrow in my heart." + +The girl bent toward him. + +"Meir," she exclaimed, "and from where does this sorrow come to your +heart?" + +He was silent for a while, and then answered softly: + +"From the fact that there are black people among us, and such +darkness--such darkness!" + +The girl dropped her head, and repeated like a sad echo: + +"Ah! Such darkness!" + +Meir continued to look into space, toward where a long strip of the +forest separated the golden valley from the purple sky. + +"Golda!" he said softly. + +"What, Meir?" + +"Did you never wish to see and know what there is beyond that thick, +high forest--what is going on in the broad world?" + +The girl was silent. From her attitude--her body bent toward the +young man, her wide-open eyes full of fire--it could be seen that +when she could look at him she did not wish to see anything else in +the broad world. + +But Meir spoke further: + +"I would like to borrow wings from a bird, in order to go beyond that +forest--to fly far away!" + +"Don't you like the beautiful house of the rich Saul? Don't you like +the faces of your brothers, relatives, and friends, that you wish for +the wings of a bird to fly away?" whispered the girl, with stifled +grief or fright. + +"I like the home of Saul, my grandfather," whispered the thoughtful +youth, "and I love my brothers and all my relatives; but I would like +to fly beyond that forest in order to see everything and become very +wise, and then return here and tell to those who are walking in +darkness and wearing chains, what they should do in order to leave +the darkness and throw off the chains." + +After a time of silence he spoke further. + +"I should like to know how the stars are fixed and how the planets +grow, and how all the nations of the world live, and what kind of a +sacred book they have. I would like to read their books, and learn +from them God's thought and human lot, in order that my soul might +become filled with science as the sea is filled with water." + +Suddenly he stopped, and his voice broke with a sigh of inexpressible +longing and insatiable desire. Again he was silent for a while, and +then added softly: + +"I would like to be as happy as was Rabbi Akiba." + +"And who was Rabbi Akiba?" asked Golda shyly. + +Meir's thoughtful eyes lit up and shone. + +"He was a great man, Golda. I read his story often, and I was reading +it again when you came." + +"I know a great many beautiful stories," said Golda; "they grow in my +soul, like red, fragrant roses! Meir, give me one more such rose that +it may shine for me when I may not see you." + +Their looks met and a soft smile played about Meir's mouth. + +"Do you understand Hebrew?" + +She hastily nodded in the affirmative. + +"Yes, I understand. Zeide taught me." Meir turned a few pages of the +book which his lap and read aloud: + +"Kolba Sabua was a rich man. His palaces were high as mountains and +his dresses shone with gold. In his gardens grew fragrant cedars, +palms with large leaves, and there bloomed sweet scented roses of +Sharon." + +"But more beautiful than the high palaces, than the fragrant cedars +and crimson roses, more beautiful than all the maidens in Israel was +his daughter, young Rachel." + +"Kolba Sabua had as many herds as there were stars in the heavens, +and these herds were watched by a poor youth who was tall, like a +young cedar, and his face was pale and sad, as it is with a man who +wishes to free his soul from the darkness, but cannot." + +"The name of that youth was Joseph Akiba, and he lived on a high +mountain on which the herds of his master grazed." + +"And it happened once upon a time, that the beautiful Rachel came to +her father, threw herself on the ground before him, kissed his feet, +and wept bitterly; then she spoke: 'I want to marry Akiba and live in +that little cabin which stands on the summit of the mountain, and in +which he lives.'" + +"Kolba Sabua was a proud man, and his heart was hard. He became very +angry with his daughter, the beautiful Rachel, and forbade her to +think of that young man." + +"But the beautiful Rachel left the high palace, and taking with her +only her dark eyes, which shone like big diamonds, and her dark +tresses, which were raised over her head like a crown. And she went +on the high mountain to the little cabin, and said, 'Akiba, behold +your wife, who enters into your house!'" + +"Akiba was joyful, and he drank from Rachel's eyes her diamond-like +tears, and then began to tell her many beautiful things. Wise words +poured like honey from his lips, and she listened and was happy, and +said, 'Akiba, you shall be a great star, which shall shine over +Israel's roads.'" + +"Kolba Sabua was a proud man, and his heart was hard. He sent to his +daughter on the high mountain neither food nor clothing, and said, +'Let her become acquainted with hunger, and let her see misery.'" + +"And the beautiful Rachel saw misery, and became acquainted with +hunger. There were days when she had nothing to put into Akiba's +mouth, and thought that her husband must go hungry." + +"Akiba spoke, 'No matter that I am hungry,' and then he told her wise +things, but she descended the high mountains, went to the town, and +cried, 'Who will give me a measure of millet-seed for the dark crown +which I wear on my head?' And they gave her a measure of millet-seed, +and took her dark crown from her forehead, which was more beautiful +than diamonds." + +"She returned to the mountains, to the little cabin, and said, 'Akiba, +I have some food for your mouth, but your soul is hungry, and +for it I cannot get food! Go into the world and nourish your soul +with great wisdom which flows from the mouths of wise people. I will +remain here. I will sit at the threshold of the house; I will spin +wool, and take care of the herds, ad look on the road by which you +will return, like the sun which returns to the sky to chase away the +darkness of the night.'" + +"And Akiba went." + +Here the voice of the young man became silent, and he cast his eyes +on the leaves of the book, for near his shoulder was heard a voice +full of astonishment. + +"Akiba went?" asked Golda, and her eyes were widely opened, and the +breath seemed to stop in her breast. + +"Akiba went," repeated Meir, and began to read farther. + +"The beautiful Rachel sat at the threshold of the house, span the +wool, took care of the herds, and looked at the road by which he must +return, shining with great wisdom." + +"Seven years passed, and there came an evening when the moon at her +full pours on the earth a sea of silvery light, and the trees and +herbs stand still and do not move, as though the spirit of the +Eternal breathed on them, and brought to the world peace and +tranquillity." + +"That evening, from behind the mountains, a tall pale man appeared. +His feet trembled like leaves when the wind shakes them, and his +hands from time to time were raised to the heavens. And when he saw +the small, poor cabin, a stream of tears flowed from his eyes--for it +was Akiba, the husband of the beautiful Rachel." + +"Akiba stopped at the open window, and listened to the talk that was +going on within. His wife, Rachel, was talking with her brother, whom +her father sent to her. 'Return to Kolba Sabua's house,' spoke her +brother, and she answered, 'I am waiting for Akiba, and taking care +of his house.' The brother spoke, 'Akiba will never return--he has +left you, and he is a disgrace to you.' She answered, 'Akiba has not +left me. I, myself, sent him to the fountain of wisdom, that he might +drink from it.' 'He drinks from the fountain of wisdom, and you bathe +yourself in tears, and your flesh dries from misery!' 'Let my eyes +flow out with my tears, let my flesh be eaten with misery, I shall +watch the house of my husband. And if that man, for whom I fed love +in my heart, shall come back to me and say, 'Rachel, I come back to +you that you may not weep any more, but I have not drunk enough from +the fountain of wisdom,' I would say to him, 'Go and drink more.''" + +"The pale traveller, who stood at the window, which was open, became +still paler, and trembled still more when he heard what Rachel said. +He left the small cabin, and returned whence he came." + +"Again seven years passed by. And there came a day when the sun pours +streams of golden brightness, and the trees rustle, and the flowers +blossom, and the birds sing, and the people laugh, as though the +spirit of the Eternal breathed on them, and brought to them life and +joy." + +"On the road which led up the mountain to the shepherd's little cabin +a great crowd of people was roaring. Amidst them a tall man was +walking. His face shone like the sun with great wisdom, and from his +mouth fell words sweet as honey and fragrant as myrrh. People bowed +low before him, seizing every word, and crying with great love to +him, 'Oh, Rabbi!'" + +"But through the crowd of people a woman rushed, and falling on the +ground, she seized the master's knees. She still held a spindle in +her hand. She was covered with rags; her face was thin and her eyes +deeply sunken, for during fourteen years they had flowed with tears." + +"'Go away, you beggar!' the people shouted to her, but the master +raised her from the ground and pressed her to his breast; for the man +was Joseph Akiba, and the woman was his wife Rachel." + +"'Behold the fountain which supplied my sad heart with the drink of +hope, when my head was in the depths of great loneliness and work.'" + +"Thus spake the master to the people, and wished to place on Rachel's +head a crown of gold and pearls." + +"'Thou, Rachel,' said he, 'hast taken from thy head thy beautiful +hair, in order to nourish my hungry mouth. Now I will ornament thy +forehead with a rich garland.'" + +"But she stopped his arm, and raising to him her eyes, which had +again become as beautiful as of yore, she said to him, 'Rabbi, your +glory is my crown.'" + +The young man finished the story, and turned his eyes on the girl +sitting beside him. + +Golda's face was all aflame, and her eyes were full of tears. + +"Do you find my story beautiful?" asked Meir. "Yes; beautiful +indeed!" she answered, and with her head leaning on the palm of her +hand she balanced her slender figure to and fro for a while, as if +under the influence of ecstasy and drowsiness. Suddenly she grew +pale, and drew herself up. + +"Meir," she exclaimed, "if you were Akiba, and I the daughter of the +rich Kolba Sabua, I would do for you the same as the beautiful Rachel +did for him!" + +She seized her superb tresses, black as ebony, which hung carelessly +down her back, and twisting it around her head, she said: + +"I have exactly the same black crown as Rachel!" Then she raised her +deep, fiery eyes to Meir, and said boldly, gravely, without a smile, +blush, or exaltation: + +"Meir, for you I would take my eyes out of my head! I would not have +any use for them if I could not look at you." + +A strong flush covered the young man's face, but it was not mere +bashfulness, but emotion. The girl was so naive--so wild, and at the +same time so beautiful, with her luxuriant, dishevelled tresses piled +above her forehead, and with passionate words on her grave and daring +lips. + +"Golda," said Meir, "I will come to your house and pay a visit to +your old grandfather." + +"Come," said she; "with you there will enter into our house a great +light." + +The sun had almost set behind the high scarlet and purple clouds. A +little pond shone from beyond the high osiers. In that direction +Golda's looks went, and stopped at the water and surrounding bushes. + +"Why are you looking at the pond?" asked Meir, who could no longer +keep his eyes from the girl's face. + +"I would like to get as many as I could of those branches growing +over there," answered the girl. + +"What for?" + +"I would carry them home. Zeide makes baskets of them, then he sells +them in the market and buys bread, and sometimes fish. For a long +time zeide has had no willow to make baskets, and he grieves." + +"Why don't you take them if you need them?" + +I am not permitted. + +"Why not? Everyone from the town may cut the branches. This meadow +and that grove belong to the whole community of Szybow." + +"It doesn't matter; I am not permitted. We don't believe in the +Talmud; we don't light candles on the Sabbath--nothing is allowed +us." + +Meir rose suddenly. + +"Come," said he to Golda, "I will be with you, and you may cut as +many branches as you like. Don't be afraid of anything." + +Golda's face shown with joy. She took from Meir's hand a jack-knife +and rushed toward the pond. Now, when she felt safe under the +protection of a strong arm, when there was hope of giving pleasure to +the old grandfathers she lost the gravity which gave her the +appearance of a matured woman. She ran along, looking from time to +time at Meir who followed her, calling her she-goat, who turned +toward her from the opposite side of the meadow. They stopped on the +shore. The most flexible willow grass grew in the water, a few steps +from the bank. In the twinkling of an eye Golda threw off her low +shoes, and rolling up her dress she entered the water. Meir remained +on the shore and watched the girl, as raising her arms, she began to +swiftly cut the pliable branches. In the mean time she laughed, and +her parted lips disclosed rows of teeth as white and beautiful as +pearls. The glare of the last dazzling rays bathed her swarthy face +with a pinkish light, and gilded the black crown of hair twined above +her brow. + +Meir did not lose sight of her, and smiled also. Suddenly Golda set +up a cry. + +"What is the matter?" asked Meir. + +From the green thicket, in which the girl's figure was hidden, a +joyful voice resounded. + +"Meir, what beautiful flowers are here!" + +"What flowers?" + +The tall figure thrust aside the green bushes, bent toward the shore, +and stretching out her arm handed the young man a broad-leaved yellow +pond lily. Meir bent over a little in order to reach the flower, but +all at once Golda's arm trembled, her pink, face grew pale, and her +eyes dilated with dread. + +"The black man!" she whispered, dropping the flower, and with a soft +exclamation of fear she retreated and hid herself in the willow +copse. + +Meir looked behind him. Some distance off he saw emerging from the +grove, and passing swiftly across the meadow, a strange figure walked +swiftly. It was a medium-sized man, very thin, with a dark face, gray +hair and a dark, dullish beard falling to his waist. He was robed in +a long dress made of rough woven cloth, and his yellow, bare neck was +thrust from an open shirt of rough material. He stooped in the +shoulders and his steps were noiseless, as he wore low, woven +slippers. In either hand he carried a big bunch of variegated herbs. +When that man, without looking at Meir, passed him at a distance, the +youth mechanically bent low his head in sign of humility and +reverence Soon, however, he raised it. His face was pale, and +expressed suppressed grief. He looked gloomily at the black figure +passing swiftly across the meadow, and through his teeth set in +either grief or anger, he said: + +"Rabbi Isaak Todros!" + + + +CHAPTER V + +Rabbi Isaak Todros' appearance, and also his spiritual development, +perhaps, were expressive characteristics of several centuries of long +sojourn of his ancestors in Spain. + +Wandering people, although astonishingly perseverant and conservative +of marks distinguishing them from other nations, still by the +inevitable influence of nature, draw here and there something from +the different skies under which the lot of the exile scattered them. + +Among the common characteristics of Israelites, however, there can be +seen great differences. There are among them people but recently +arrived from the South and West, and again there are others over +whose head a pale sky has stretched and a cold wind has blown for +centuries. There are among them phlegmatic natures, and also ardent +mystical ones, and others redolent of reality. Some of them have hair +black as the darkest raven wing--others have eyes the colour of the +sky. There are among them white and also swarthy foreheads; strong, +hardy natures, and others nervous, quivering with passion, imbued +with dreaming, and consumed with fanciful ideals. + +The swarthiest among the swarthy faces, the darkest of dark hair, the +most passionate among the fiery spirits belonged to Isaak Todros. + +What precise position did he occupy in the community, and on what was +it based? He was not a priest; rabbis are not priests, and perhaps +there is no other nation, as distant by its nature from theocratic +government as are the Israelites. Neither was he the administrator of +the community, because the members of the kahal took charge of its +civil affairs; rabbis, while being members of the kahal, possessed +only the role of warden of religion in respect to its rules and +rites. He possessed a dignity higher than that, however. He was the +descendant of an old princely house and among his ancestors he +counted many scholars, pious and revered rabbis, and he was perfectly +pious himself--consequently cadek and hahamen, ascetic, almost a +miracle-worker, and a deeply, supernaturally learned man. Of course, +saying that he was a learned man refers only to religious erudition, +but in the eyes of the community of Szybow this was the only +learning. + +This scholarship embraced the incomparable knowledge of sacred books; +Torah or the Bible, as little as possible--more of the Talmud, and +most of Kabala. + +Isaak Todros was the most able Kabalist of modern times, and it +constituted the corner-stone upon which was built his greatness. +Someone not familiar with the faith of the plebeian Israelites would +suppose that the population of Szybow was a branch of a numerous +gloomy sect of Hassid, which puts at the head of all religious and +secular learning, the Kabala. No; the inhabitants of Szybow did not +consider themselves heretics. On the contrary, they were proud of +being orthodox Talmudists and Rabbinists. But they belonged to those, +numerous in the lowest stratum of Talmudists, who joined Kabala to +the Torah and Talmud, recognised it as a holy book, and became +passionately fond of it, setting it in the shadow of the two first +books. + +And then Hassidism touched the Hebrew population of Szybow and left +deep traces. In fact the greater part of the population was Hassidish +without knowing it. Tradition said that Isaak Todros' ancestor, that +Reb Nohim who had waged a battle of ideas with Hersh Ezofowich, was +for some time a pupil of Besht, the founder of that curious sect. He +saw him often, and although he did not join the sect entirely, he +grafted some of its ideas into the community of which he was the +spiritual leader. + +The principal characteristics of the sect were: a boundless respect +for Kabala, an almost idolatrous worship of Cadeks and a deep, pious +and unshakeable aversion toward Edomites (foreign nations) and their +lores. + +These principles multiplied and branched out under the teaching of +Nohim's son, Baruch, and his grandson Isaak seized the dignity held +by his ancestors during the period of their rule. Therefore the +religion of the inhabitants was neither Mosaism, nor Talmudism, nor +Hassidism, but it was a chaotic mixture of all three which prevailed +for the space of a number of miles around Szybow, and the highest +expression of which was found in the person of the Rabbi of Szybow. + +Rabbi Isaak had a swarthy forehead, furrowed deeply by lines of +strained thought in trying to penetrate the mystery of Heaven and +earth by a combination of letters, composed of the name of God and +the Angels. Therefore in his coal-black eyes were gloomy lights which +sometimes became ecstatic when they contemplated the incomparable +delights of the supernatural world. His back was bent from the +continual reading of books, arid his hand shook with excitement +caused by the perpetual state of emotion in which his mind was kept; +his body was thin from spiritual torments and physical mortifications. + +Celibacy, fasting and sleepless nights were written in the dark face +of the man, as well as his mystical ecstasies, secret dread and +merciless hatred of everyone who lived, believed and desired +differently from himself. + +When he was young he had married--or rather they had married +him--before the slightest sign of a beard had appeared on his cheeks, +but he soon divorced his wife, because, by her continual bustling +activity she troubled his pious thought and spiritual raptures. His +three children were brought up in his brother's house, and he himself +lived the life of an anchorite in the little cabin--a life of fancy +strained to the utmost, of passionate prayers and unfathomable mystic +contemplations. Such was his spiritual life. + +His physical life was sustained by gifts sent him by his zealous +admirers. But those gifts were small and common. Rabbi Isaak did not +accept great and costly presents--he even refused to accept +remuneration for the advice, medicines and prophecies which he gave +to the faithful who came to him. + +But every day before sunrise some bashful figures glided through the +school-yard, and placed on the wooden bench standing near the window +of the house some earthen dishes with food--slices of bread or +holiday cake. + +At that time the Rabbi usually recited his morning prayers, for it +was that moment at which white could be distinguished from blue, +which is the time that every faithful Israelite should recite the +morning Tefils and Shems. + +Then he opened his window and contemplated the pink glow of the dawn. +In one direction was the far Orient, Jerusalem, the invisible ruins +of Solomon's Temple, Palestine weeping for her sons and the withering +palms of Zion. + +Sometimes the fire shining in the Rabbi's eyes was quenched by a +tear, cooling his cheeks which burned with the heat of interior +fires. Sometimes they were cooled also by the cold winds and misty +fogs, but Isaak Todros looked every morning through the mists and +fogs, toward the Orient. Then he bent and took from the bench the +food prepared for him by pious hands. He did not eat it alone. He +broke the bread and cake into crumbs and threw it in handfuls to the +birds which came to his window in great flocks. Some of them seized +the food and carried it to their nests, chirping joyfully. Others +after having eaten enough flew in through the window and perched on +the bent shoulders of their friend. Then the Rabbi's dark face grew a +little less dark, and sometimes--though very seldom--a smile played +about his close shut lips. He was very well known, not only to the +birds living in the town, but also to those who filled the birch +grove. + +Isaak Todros often went to the grove, and sometimes penetrated the +neighbouring pine forest. What did he do there? He fed the birds, +who, on seeing him, immediately flew to him, and accompanied him in +his walk. Sometimes he prayed in a loud voice, raising his trembling +hands, and awakening by the sounds of his passionate cries the choir +of wood echoes. He also gathered different herbs and plants, which he +brought in great bunches to his hut. These plants possessed curative +properties, whose knowledge was a heritage in the Todros family. All +the members of this family belonged to that class of primitive +physicians with which the Middle Ages was filled, and who learned +their art of healing not from academies, but from wild nature, +studied more with fantastical inquiring, than with learned thought. +One of Isaak Todros' ancestors was, however, a very learned physician +in Spain at the time when there was a short interval in prosperity in +the bad fortunes of the Hebrew nation, and they were permitted to +draw with the other nations all possible good from every source. +However, the interval was but a short one, and after it the +world-famous and really scholarly Hebrew physicians disappeared from +the world; but one, by the name of Todros Halevi, transmitted his +knowledge to his sons, and so it passed from generation to +generation. + +Isaak Todros searched for diligently, and gathered carefully, these +precious plants of the ancient knowledge and traditions of his +family. He carried them with him, and laid them on the dirty floor of +his cabin in order to dry them. + +On this account the air of his cabin was saturated during the summer +and fall with the pungent, choking scent of drying herbs and wild +flowers. + +His cell was a vivid reminder of the bare cells of anchorites and +hermits. Its only furniture consisted of a hard bed, a white table, +standing near one of the windows, a couple of chairs, and a few +planks fastened to the wall piled up with books. Among these books +were twelve enormous volumes bound in parchment. They constituted the +Talmud. There were also the "Ozarha-Kabod," a work written by one of +Isaak's ancestors--that Todros Halevi who was the first Talmudist to +believe in the Kabala; "Toldot-Adam," an epic poem, telling the +history of the first man and his exile; "Sefer-Jezira," (Book of +Creation), telling by pictures of the origin of the world; "Ka-arat +Kezef," in which Ezobi warns the Israelites against the pernicious +influence of secular science; "Schiur-Koma," a plastic description of +God, instructing the reader regarding his physical appearance--the +gigantic size of the head, feet, hands, and especially God's beard, +which, according to the book, is ten thousand five hundred parasangs +long. But the place of honour was occupied by a book showing much +thumbing. It was the Book of Light--Zohar--the greatest, and, at the +same time, the deepest dissertation on Hohma-Nistar (Kabala), which +was published in the thirteenth century by Moses Leon, in the name of +Symeon-ben-Jochai, who lived several centuries before. + +Such was the library of Isaak Todros, in the reading of which he +spent his nights, drawing from it all his learning and wisdom, +consuming in its perusal all the forces of his body. From that +library emanated an odour which intoxicated his mind with mystical +emotions and the bitter, sharp venom of aversion to everything which +was a stranger to, or bore ill-will to the world, shut up in those +books, filled with supernatural lights and shadows. In reading them, +he exhausted many hours a week--even holy days and nights. But +through the holy nights there sat at his feet his pupil and +favourite, Reb Moshe, the melamed, who snuffed the yellow candle, for +a pious man reading Holy Books during holy nights was not permitted +to snuff the candle, and he must have beside him some attentive +person to perform this office. + +During the holy nights the Rabbi read Schiur-Koma and Zohar, and the +little man, sitting beside him, raised himself from time to time in +his low chair, reviving the flame of the dying candle, and with his +round eyes looking into the face of his master, waiting for the +moment when his hand would arrange a word from the names of God, +Notarikon and Gomatria, which would perform great miracles, and +disclose to the people all the secrets of the heavens and of the +earth. + +Returning home after sunset one day with a big bunch of herbs, Isaak +Todros found his faithful worshipper seated in a corner of the dark +hall, plunged in deep thought. + +"Moshe," said the Rabbi, passing swiftly and quietly through the +hall. + +"What is your order, Nassi?" humbly asked Moshe. + +"Go at once to old Saul, and tell him that Rabbi Isaak Todros will +visit his house to-morrow." + +The cramped, gray figure in the dark corner jumped as though moved by +a spring, and rushed across the square to the house of Saul. Passing +quickly the piazza and long hall, the melamed opened the door, and, +thrusting his head into the room, he exclaimed triumphantly: + +"Reb Saul, a great honour and happiness is coming to you! Rabbi Isaak +Todros, the perfect pious, and the first scholar in the world, will +visit your house to-morrow!" + +From the depths of the large parlour the voice of the old merchant, +dried by age, but still strong, answered: + +"I, Saul Ezofowich, my children, grandchildren and +great-grandchildren will await Rabbi Isaak's visit with great joy and +great desire in our hearts. May he live a hundred years!" + +"May he live a hundred years!" repeated the dark figure, and +disappeared. + +The door was closed. Old Saul was sitting on the sofa, reading from +Zohar, but he could not understand its deep explanations in spite of +the utmost mental strain, for his mind was accustomed to secular +business affairs. Suddenly his wrinkled forehead became gloomy and +uneasiness shone in his eyes. He turned to his elder son, Raphael, +who sat at a table near by, balancing his books, and asked: + +"Why is he coming here?" + +Raphael shrugged his shoulders, as a sign that he did not know. + +"Has he any reason for picking a quarrel?" asked the old man again. + +Raphael, raising his face from his books, said: + +"He has." + +Saul shivered. + +"Nu!" he exclaimed, "And what reason can he have? Has someone of the +family sinned?" + +Raphael answered shortly: + +"Meir." + +The faces of both father and son grew sad and disquieted. Isaak +Todros visited the members of the sect very seldom--only when there +was a question of some important religious matter or transgression of +rules. And even such rare calls were only paid to the most prominent +and influential members of the community. Poor people surrounded the +Rabbi's cabin, ready to rush in at a sign from him in inexpressible +joy or fear. + +Rabbi Isaak Todros was an ascetic and he despised mammon, but he did +not reject all possible signs of respect the people desired to show +him, and they who were familiar with his thoughts and sentiments knew +that he was very fond of these signs, and would even demand them +imperiously in case anyone thought to dispense with or diminish them. +For that reason all the poor population, and everyone who wished to +win his special favour, called him "Prince," addressing him as +"Nassi." Therefore his passage through the town on all occasions was +an important and curious event for the population, and was performed +with quiet, dignified ceremony. A couple of hours before noon Saul +Ezofowich, standing before the window of his parlour, looked with a +certain amount of trouble at the retinue passing slowly across the +square. All the members of his family, robed in holiday dresses, with +a solemn expression on their faces, looked also, holding themselves +in readiness to welcome this high dignitary of the community at the +threshold of their residence. Through the square, from the school, a +throng of people dressed in black advanced toward the house of the +Ezofowich. In the middle, bent as always, in shabby clothes, with his +rough shirt unbuttoned showing the yellow neck, marched Isaak Todros, +with his usual swift, noiseless quiet pace. + +On either side was an official of the Kahal--the small, lithe Reb +Jankiel, with his white, freckled face and fiery red beard, and David +Calman, one of the dignitaries of the town. Morejne, a rich cattle +merchant, tall, stiff, and dignified, with hands in the pockets of +his satin halat and a sweet smile of satisfaction on his fat lips, +walked near. Behind these three people, and on both sides, were +several others more or less humble and smiling. The whole crowd was +preceded by Reb Moshe, in such a way that he faced the Rabbi and had +his back in the direction in which they walked. Consequently he could +not be said to walk, but draw back, in the meantime jumping and +clapping his hands, bending low to the ground, stumbling, and jumping +again, raising his face to the sky and shouting for joy. Finally, a +certain distance behind, a throng of children followed them and +looked with great curiosity at the retinue, and on seeing the +melamed's jumping and dancing, they began to imitate him, jumping and +gesticulating also and filling the air with wild noise. + +After a while the door of the Ezofowich house was violently opened +and through it rushed the melamed--he was red, out of breath, bathed +in perspiration and beaming with great joy. He rejoiced heartily, +loudly, passionately. What for? Poor melamed! + +"Reb Saul!" he said with a hoarse voice, "meet the great happiness +the great honour coming to you." + +From Saul's face it would be seen that a secret fear was fighting +with the great joy within him. But his family evidently rejoiced +exceedingly, for their faces beamed with pride and satisfaction +except Ber, who was always silent and apathetic if the question was +not one of business and money. Old Saul stood near the threshold of +the parlour. On the piazza Rob Jankiel and Morejne Calman seized the +Rabbi under either arm, lifted his thin body above the ground, and +having carried him through the hall and over the threshold they +placed him opposite Saul. Then they bowed profoundly, left the house, +sat on the piazza waiting for the moment to reconduct the Rabbi. + +In the meanwhile Saul bent before the guest his grave and reverent +head. Everyone present followed his example. + +"He who greets a sage greets the Eternal," said he. + +"He who greets a sage . . ." the choir of male and female voices +began to repeat after Saul, but at that moment Isaak Todros raised +his index finger, looked around with his fiery eyes, and said: + +"Sh-a-a-a!" + +In the room there was the silence of the tomb. + +The finger of the guest made a large circle, taking in the row of +people standing near the wall. + +"Weg!" (get out) shouted he. + +Within the room the rustling of dresses and the sound of swift steps +were heard; faces grew frightened and sorrowful, and crowding +together the inmates squeezed through the door leading to the +interior of the house, and disappeared. + +In the larger room only two men remained--the silver-haired, +broad-shouldered patriarch, and the thin, fiery-looking sage. + +When the Rabbi imperatively drove out his host's family--the +gray-headed sons, dignified matrons, and beautiful girls, Saul's gray +eyebrows quivered and bristled for a moment. Evidently his pride rose +within him. + +"Rabbi," said he, in a muffled voice, and with a bow that was not as +low as the first one, "deign to take under my roof the place you +think the most comfortable." + +He did not call his guest "prince"; he did not give him the name of +Nassi. + +Rabbi Isaak looked t him gloomily, crossed the room, and sat on the +sofa. At that moment he was not bent; on the contrary, he sat bolt +upright, looking sharply into the face of the old man who sat +opposite to him. + +"I have driven them out," said he, pointing to the door through which +the patriarch's family had made their exit. "Why did you gather them? +I wished to talk with you alone." + +Saul was silent. + +"I bring you news," again said the Rabbi quickly and gloomily. "Your +grandson Meir has not a clean soul. He is a kofrim (infidel)." + +Saul still sat silent, only his frowning brows quivered nervously +above his faded eyes. + +"He is a kofrim!" the Rabbi repeated loudly. "He speaks ugly words of +our religion, and he does not respect the sages. He violates the +Sabbath, and is friendly with the heretics." + +"Rabbi!" began Saul. + +"You must listen when I speak," interrupted the Rabbi. + +The old man tightened his lips so that they disappeared under his +gray moustache. + +"I came to tell you," continued Todros, "that it's your fault that +your grandson is bad. Why did you not permit the melamed to whip him +when he was in the heder, and did not want to study German, and +laughed at the melamed, and instigated the others to laugh at him? +Why did you send him to Edomita, living there among the gardens to +make him study the reading of the Gojs and also their writing and the +other abominations of the Edomites? Why did you not punish him when +he violated the Sabbath, and contradicted the melamed at your table? +Why did you spoil his soul with your sinful love? Why don't you force +him to study holy science? And why do you look on all his +abominations as though you were a blind man?" + +This vehement speech tired the Rabbi, and panting, he rested. + +Then old Saul began to talk: + +"Rabbi, your soul must not be angry with me. I could not act +otherwise. This child is the son of my son--the youngest among my +children, and who disappeared very quickly from my eyes. When his +parents died I took this child to my home, and I wished that he might +never remember that he was an orphan. I was then already a widower, +and I carried him in my own arms. His old great-grandmother took care +of him also, and she would give her soul for the happiness of his +soul. In her crown he is the first jewel, and now her old mouth opens +only for him. These are, Rabbi, the reasons why I have been more +indulgent with him than with my other children; these are the reasons +why my soul was ill when the melamed scolded and whipped him in the +heder, as the other children. I sinned then. I rushed into the heder +like a madman, spoke ugly words to the melamed, and took the boy away +with me. Rabbi, I sinned, because the melamed is a wise and saintly +man; but this sin will disappear from your mind, Rabbi, if you will +but think that I could not bear to look at the bruises on the body of +the son of my son. When such bruises appeared on the bodies of the +children of my son Raphael, and my son Abraham, and my son Ephraim, I +was silent, for their fathers were living--thanks be to God!--and +could look after their children. But when I saw the black-and-blue +marks on the back and shoulders of the orphan, Rabbi, then I +cried--then I shouted, and I sinned." + +"That is not your only sin," said the Rabbi, who listened to Saul's +speech with the motionless severity of a judge, "and why did you send +him to Edomit?" + +"Rabbi," answered Saul, "and how could he go through the world if he +did not understand the tongue of the people of this country, and +could not write his name to a contract or a note? Rabbi, my sons and +grandsons conduct large business transactions, and he will do the +same when he is married. His father's wealth belongs to him. He will +be rich and will have to talk with great lords, and how could he so +talk if I had not sent him to study with an Edomit?" + +"May Edom perish with his abominable learning, and may the Lord not +forgive him!" grumbled the Rabbi, and after a while he added: "and +why did you not make of him a scholar instead of a merchant?" + +"Rabbi," answered Saul, "the Ezofowich family is a family of +merchants. We are merchants from father to son--that is our custom." + +Saying this, he raised his bent head. The mention of his family +caused him to grow proud and bold. But nothing could be compared with +the disdain with which, repeating after Saul, the Rabbi hissed: + +"The Ezofowich family! It was always a grain of pepper in Israel's +palate!" + +Saul raised his head higher. + +"Rabbi!" he exclaimed, "in that family there were diamonds which +caused the Edomites themselves, in looking on them, to respect the +whole of Israel." + +The ancient hatred between the Ezofowichs and Todros began to bubble +up. + +"In your family," spoke the Rabbi, "there is one ugly soul which +passes from one Ezofowich to another, and cannot be cleansed. For it +is written that all souls which flow from the Seraphim flow like +drops of water from an inclined bottle, carrying Ibur-Gilgul--travel +through bodies, from one to another, until they are cleansed from all +sin, when they return to the Seraphim. If a man is pious and saintly +his soul returns to the Seraphim, and when the soul returns there +another soul goes into the world and enters a body. Misery and +sadness, sorrow and sin will dwell upon the earth as long as all +souls taken from the Seraphim have not fulfilled the Ibur-Gilgul and +pass through the bodies. And how will they be able to pass all the +bodies if on the earth there are many which are abominable, unclean, +and do not respect the holy teachings? These unwholesome ones keep +the souls in their bodies, and there above the other souls are +waiting. And they must wait, because there are not as many bodies in +the world as there are souls among the Seraphim. And the Messiah +himself is waiting, because he will not come until the last soul +enters the body and Ibur-Gilgul begins. These abominable ones, +occupying one body after another, do not permit the waiting souls to +enter in, and postponing to a remote period the Jobelha-Gabel, the +day of the Messiah,--the great festival of joy! In your family there +is such an abominable soul. It entered first into the body of Michael +the Senior, then it entered Hersh's body, and now it sits in the body +of your grandson Meir! I recognised the proud and rebellious soul in +his eyes and face, therefore my heart turned from him!" + +While Todros explained to the old man sitting opposite him this +doctrine of the migration of souls, and its consequences, in the old +man a striking change took placer Before he had grown bolder, and +even raised his head with a certain pride and dignity. Now he bent it +low, and sorrow and fear appeared among the wrinkles of his face. + +"Rabbi!" said he humbly, "be blessed for having disclosed to my eyes +your holy learning. Your words are true and your eyes can recognise +the souls which dwell in bodies. Rabbi, I will tell you something. +When my son Raphael brought little Meir, I took the child and began +to kiss him, for it seemed to me that he looked like my son Benjamin, +his father; but the old great-grandmother took him from me, put him +opposite her on the floor and began to look at him very attentively, +and then she exclaimed: 'He does not look like Benjamin, but like my +Hersh!' The tears flowed from her old eyes and her lips repeated: +'Hersh, Hersh! my Hersh!' and she pressed the child to her boom and +said: 'He is my dearest Kleineskind! He is the eyes of my head and +the diamond in my crown, made for me by my grandsons and +great-grandson, for he looks like my Hersh.' And she is fond of him. +Now she knows only him and calls him to her because he looks like her +husband, Hersh." + +"Michael's soul entered Hersh's body, and from his body it passed +into your grandsons Meir's," repeated the Rabbi, and added: "It's a +proud rebellious soul! There is no peace and humility in it." + +It seemed that Todros was softened by Saul's submissiveness, and the +respect shown in his words. + +"Why don't you marry him? He has already long hair on his face," said +the Rabbi. + +"Rabbi, I wished to marry him to the daughter of the pious Jankiel, +but the child lay at my feet and begged me not to force him." + +"Why then did you not put your feet on his back, and make him obey +you?" + +Saul dropped his eyes and was silent. He felt that he was guilty. +Love for the orphan made him sin always. + +Todros spoke further: + +"Marry him as soon as you can, because it is written that when on a +young man's face the hair is growing, and he has not a wife, then he +will fall into uncleanliness. Your grandson's soul has already fallen +into uncleanliness. Yesterday I saw him with a girl--" + +Saul raised his eyes. + +"I saw him," continued the Rabbi, "talking with Karaim's girl." + +"Karaim's girl?" repeated Saul, in a voice full of surprise and +fright. + +"He was standing on the edge of the pond and took from her hand some +flowers, and I read in their faces that the unclean fire was +embracing them." + +"With Karaim's girl," repeated Saul once more. + +"With a heretic!" said the Rabbi. + +"With a beggar!" said Saul energetically, raising his head. + +"Rabbi," continued he, "now I will act differently with him! I don't +wish to have shame eat up my eyes in my old age, because my grandson +has an unclean friendship with a beggar. I shall marry him!" + +"You must punish him," said the Rabbi, "I came here to tell you to +put your foot on his neck and bend his pride. Don't spare him, for +your indulgence will be a sin which the Lord will not forgive you. +And if you will not punish him, I will lay my hand on his head and +there will be great shame for you, and for him such misfortune that +he will grovel in the dirt, like a miserable worm!" + +Under the influence of these words, pronounced in a threatening +voice, Saul trembled. Different emotions fought continually within +the old man; a secret hatred for Todros and a great respect for his +learning, pride and fear, fierce anger toward his grandson and tender +love for him. The Rabbi's threat touched that last chord. + +"Rabbi," he said, "forgive him. He is still a mere child. When he is +married and starts in business he will be different. When he was born +his father wrote to me: 'Father, what name do you wish your grandson +to be given?' and I answered, 'Give him the name of Meir, which means +light, that it may be a light before me and all Israel!'" + +Here emotion choked his voice and he was silent. Two tears rolled +slowly down his cheeks. + +The Rabbi rose from the sofa, lifted his index finger and said: + +"You must remember my commands. I order you to set your foot on his +neck, and you must listen to my orders, because it is written that +'the sages are the world's foundation.'" + +Having said this, he advanced toward the door, at which Reb Jankiel +and Morejne Calman seized him again, and carried him through the hall +and across the threshold and set him on the ground. + +And again the black throng of people advanced through the square +toward the school-yard; again the melamed, retreating before the +Rabbi, jumped, clapped his hands, danced and shouted; and again the +crowd of children, following the retinue at a distance, imitated +their teacher, jumping, howling, Clapping their hands. And in +Ezofowich's parlour old Saul sat with his face covered with his +hands, while at the opposite door Freida appeared. The sun rays, +falling through the window, kindled into rainbow colours the diamonds +with which she was covered. She looked around the room with her +half-closed eyes, and pronounced, in her customary soundless whisper: + +"Wo ist Meir?" + + + +CHAPTER VI + +Meir was absent during the Rabbi's visit. He left the house early in +the morning and went in the direction of the poorest quarter of the +town. The houses there were very small and very low and exceedingly +dismal, none of them having more than two windows. In front of the +houses were evil-smelling sloughs. From the black chimneys of the +tenements arose thin streaks of smoke, indicating by their thinness +the scarcity of fuel, and the food cooked by it. Fences, rotten and +tumble-down, surrounded the small courtyards, which were covered with +sweepings. Here and there could be seen in the rear of the houses, +tiny tracts of land with meagre vegetables growing in them. At the +low doors, miserable looking women with dark sickly faces, wearing +blue caftans and carroty wigs, washed their gray, coarse linen in +buckets. The old and bent women sat on the benches, knitting blue or +black wool stockings, while young sunburned girls, in dirty dresses +and dishevelled hair, milked the goats. + +It was the quarter of the town inhabited by the poorest population of +Szybow, the nursery of poverty--even of misery, dirt, and disease. +The houses of the Ezofowichs, Calmans, Witebskis and Kamionkers, +standing at the square, were luxurious palaces when compared with +those human dwellings, the mere exterior aspect of which made one +think of earthly purgatory. And no wonder. There, on the square, +lived merchants and learned men, the aristocracy of every Jewish +community; here lived the population of working men and +tradesmen--the plebeians earning their daily bread with their hands +and not with brains. + +In spite of the fact that it was yet early morning, the daily work +had generally begun. From behind the dirty windows could be seen the +rising and falling arms of the tailors and cobblers. Through the thin +walls resounded the tools of tinsmiths and the hammers of +blacksmiths, and from the houses of the manufacturers of tallow +candles rose unbearable, greasy exhalations. Some of the inhabitants, +taking advantage of the sunrise, looked into the street, opened their +windows and a passer-by could see the interior of, the small rooms +with black walls, crowded with occupants which swarmed like ants. +Through the windows came the mixed noise of singing and praying in +male voices, the quarrelling of women and the screaming of children. +All the smaller children rent the sultry air of the black, crowded +rooms with their cries, while the older ones trooped out into the +street in great crowds, chasing each other noisily or rolling on the +ground. Growing boys, dressed not in sleeveless jackets like the +children, but in long, grey halats, stood on the thresholds of the +huts leaning against the walls, pale, thin, drowsy, with widely +opened mouths, as though they wished to breathe into their sickly, +cold breasts the warm rays of the sun and the fresh breeze of the +morning. + +Meir approached one of these youths. + +"Nu, Lejbele," said he, "I have come to see you. Are you always sick +and looking like an owl?" + +It was evident that Lejbele was ill and moping, for, with hands +folded in the sleeves of his miserable halat, and pressed to his +chest, he was shivering with cold, although the morning was warm; he +did not answer Meir, but opened his mouth and great, dull, dark eyes +more widely, and looked idiotically at the young man. + +Meir laid his band on the boy's head. + +"Were you in the heder yesterday?" he asked. The boy began to tremble +still more, and answered in a hoarse voice: + +"Aha." + +This meant an affirmative. + +"Were you beaten again?" + +Tears filled the boy's dark eyes, which remained raised to the face +of the tall young man. + +"They beat me," he said. + +His breast began to heave with sobs under the sleeves of the halat, +which were still pressed by the boy's folded bands. + +"Have you breakfasted?" + +The boy shook his head in the negative. + +Meir took from the nearest huckster's stand a big hala (loaf of +bread), for which he threw a copper coin to the old woman. He then +gave the bread to the child. Lejbele seized it in both bands, and +began to devour it rapaciously. At that moment a tall, thin, lithe +man rushed out from the cabin. He wore a black beard, and bad an old, +sorrowful face. He threw himself toward Meir. First be seized his +band and raised it to his lips, and then began to reproach him. + +"Morejne!" he exclaimed, "why did you give him that hala? He is a +stupid, nasty child. He don't want to study, and brings shame upon +me. The melamed--may he live a hundred years--takes a great deal of +trouble to teach him; but he has a head which does not understand +anything. The melamed beats him, and I beat him, too, in order that +the learning shall enter his head, but it does not help at all. He is +an alejdyc gejer (lazy)--a donkey!" + +Meir looked at the boy, who was still devouring the bread. + +"Schmul," said he, "he is neither lazy nor a donkey, but he is sick." + +Schmul waved his hand contemptuously. + +"He is sick," shouted he. "He began to be sick when he was told to +study. Before that he was healthy, gay, and intelligent. Ah, what an +intelligent and pretty child he was! Could I expect such a +misfortune? What is he now?" + +Meir continued to smooth the dishevelled hair of the pale child with +his hand. The tall, thin Schmul bent again and kissed his hand. + +"Morejne," said he, "you are very good if you pity such a stupid +child." + +"Schmul, why do you call me Morejne?" asked Meir. + +Schmul interrupted him hastily. + +"The fathers of your father were Morejnes; your zeide and your uncles +are Morejnes, and you, Meir, you will soon be Morejne also." + +Meir shook his head with a peculiar smile. + +"I shall never be a Morejne!" said he. "They will not confer such an +honour upon me, and I--don't wish for it!" + +Schmul thought for a while, and then said: + +"I heard that you have quarrelled with the great Rabbi and the +members of the kahal." + +Meir, without answering, looked at the horrible proofs of deep +destitution around him. + +"How poor you are," said he, not answering Schmul directly. + +These words touched the very sensitive string of Schmul's life. His +hands trembled, and his eyes glared. + +"Aj, how poor we are," he moaned; "but the poorest of all living on +this street is the hajet (tailor) Schmul. He must support an old, +blind mother, and wife, and eight children. And how can I support +them? I have no means except these two hands, which sew day and night +if there is something to sew." + +Speaking thus, he stretched toward Meir his two hands--true beggar's +hands, dark, dirty, pricked with the needle, covered with scars made +by scissors, and now trembling from grief. + +"Morejne," he said more softly, bending toward the listener, "our +life is hard--very hard. Everything is very expensive for us, and we +have so much to pay. The Czar's officers take taxes, we must pay more +for our kosher meat, and for the candles for Sabbath, we must pay to +the funeral society, pay to the officers of the kahal, and for what +do we not pay? Aj, vaj! From these poor houses flow rivers of +money--and where does it come from? From the sweat of our brows, from +our blood and the entrails of our children who grow thin from hunger! +Not a long time ago you asked me, Morejne, why my room was dirty. And +how can we help it when eleven of us must live in one room, and in +the passages there are two goats, which nourish us with their milk. +Morejne, you asked me why my wife is so thin and old, although she +has not yet lived many years, and why my children are always sick! +Morejne, kosher meat costs us so much that we never eat it. We eat +bread with onion, and we drink goat's-milk. On Sabbath we have fish +only when you, Morejne, come to see us and leave us a silver coin. +All in this street are poor--very poor, but the poorest is hajet +Schmul, with his blind mother, thin wife and eight children." + +He shook his head piteously and looked into Meir's face with his dark +eyes which expressed stupefied astonishment at his own misery. Meir, +with his hand still on the head of the sickly child, who was +finishing his bread, listened to the speech of the miserable fellow. +His mouth expressed pity, but the frowning brows and drooped eyelids +gave to his face the expression of angry reverie. + +"Schmul," he said, "and why are you so often out of work?" + +Schmul became plainly confused, and raised his hand to his head, +disarranging his skull cap which covered his long dishevelled hair. + +"I will tell you," continued Meir; "they don't give you work because +from the stuff which they give you to make dresses you cut large +pieces and keep them." + +Schmul seized his skull cap in both hands. + +"My poor head," he groaned. "Morejne, what have you told me? Your +mouth said a very ugly thing against me." + +He jumped, bent nearly to the ground, and then jumped again. + +"Nu, it's true, Morejne, I will open my heart to you I used to cut +off and keep pieces of the stuff, and why did I do it? Because my +children were naked. I clothed them with it. And when my blind mother +was sick I sold it and bought a piece of meat for her. Morejne, your +eye must not look angrily on me! Were I as rich as Reb Jankiel and +Morejne Calman--had I as much money as they make from the work of our +hands and the sweat of our brows, I would not steal!" + +"And for what are Reb Jankiel and Morejne Calman taking your money?" +began Meir thoughtfully, and he wished to continue, but Schmul +stretched himself and interrupted suddenly: + +"Nu, they have a right to it. They are elders over us. What they do +is sacred. When one listens to them it is as if one listened to God +himself." + +Meir smiled sadly and put his band into his pocket. + +Schmul followed the movement with his eyes, which were animated with +cupidity. + +Meir placed on the open window a few silver coins. Schmul seized his +hand and began to kiss it. + +"Morejne, you are good. You always help poor people. You pity my +stupid child." + +When the enthusiasm of his gratitude had cooled a little, he +stretched himself and began to whisper in Meir's ear. + +"Morejne, you are good and generous and the grandson of a very rich +man, and I am a poor and stupid hajet, but you are as honey in my +mouth, and I must open my heart to you. You are wrong in quarrelling +with our great Rabbi and with the members of the kahal. Our Rabbi is +a great Rabbi and there is no other like him in the whole world. God +revealed to him great things. He alone understands the Kabala Mashjat +(the highest part of the Kabala, teaching how, by a combination of +letters and words, miracles are performed and the mysteries +penetrated). All the birds fly after him when he calls them. He knows +how to cure all human diseases and all human hearts open to him. +Every breath of his mouth is holy, and when he prays then his soul +kisses God himself. And you, Morejne, you have turned away your heart +from him." + +Thus gravely spoke poor Schmul, raising in solemn gesture his black, +needle-pricked index finger. + +"And the members of the kahal," continued he, "they are very pious +men and very rich. One should respect them and listen to them also, +and even close one's eyes if they do something wrong. They could +accuse one before God and the people. God will be angry if he hears +their complaint, and will punish you, and the people will say that +you are very bold, and will turn away their faces from you." + +It would be difficult to guess the impression made on Meir by +Schmul's humble and at the same time grave, warning. He continually +kept his hand on little Lejbele's head, and looked into the beautiful +fine-featured face of the pale, sick, idiotic and trembling child, +where he saw the personification of that portion of Israel, which, +devoured by misery and disease, nevertheless believed blindly and +worshipped humbly, timidly, and everlastingly. + +Then he gave Schmul a slow and friendly nod, and went away. Schmul +followed him several steps. + +"Morejne," he moaned, "don't be angry with me for having opened my +heart to you. Be wise. May the learned and rich not complain of you +to God, for the man who is under the ground is better off than he on +whom they shall turn their angry hands." + +Then he returned to his hut, and did not notice that Lejbele was not +standing at the wall of the house. When Meir departed, the pale child +followed him. With hands still muffled in the sleeves of his ragged +gown, and with wide opened mouth, the child of Schmul the tailor +followed the tall, beautiful man. At the end of the street only, as a +being afraid to go further, the poor boy said, in a hoarse, guttural +voice: + +"Morejne!" + +Meir looked back. A friendly smile brightened his face when he saw +the boy. The dark, dull eyes of the child were raised to his face, +and from the gray sleeve a small, thin hand was stretched toward him. + +"Hala," said Lejbele. + +Meir looked around for a huckster's stand. Along the street stood +several miserable barrows, by which the women, their thin bodies +scantily clad in rags, were selling loaves of bread, hard as stone, +and some heads of onion, as well as a black, unappetising preparation +made of honey and poppy-seed. + +From Meir's white hand to the dark, thin hand of the child again +passed a big hala. Lejbele raised it to his mouth with both hands, +and, turning, he walked slowly and gravely down the middle of the +street toward his home. + +After a while Meir reached the square of the town. It seemed to him +that he came back to the light of day from a dark cavern. The +sunlight flooded everything around, dried the mud, and kindled golden +sparks in the windows of the houses. In the yard of the pious. Reb +Jankiel, some large, new structure was being erected. The red-haired +owner inspected the workmen personally, evidently satisfied with the +increase of his wealth. The noise of axes and the gnashing of the +saws filled the air, and in front of the low inn stood a couple of +carriages belonging to passing guests. Further along the street stood +Morejne Calman in the piazza of his house, shining in his satin +halat. With one hand he held to his smiling mouth a cigar, and with +the other he caressed the golden hair of a two-year-old child, who +sat on a bench holding a loaf of bread abundantly spread with honey, +which he had smeared all over his plump face, casting the while +admiring glances at his magnificent father. + +In the court-yard of the Ezofowich mansion there was plenty of noise, +sunlight, and gaiety. In the centre two broad-shouldered workmen were +sawing wood for the winter, and in the soft sawdust several +cleanly-dressed children were playing. At the well a buxom and merry +servant girl was drawing water, joking with the workmen, and through +the open windows of the house could be seen Raphael's and Abraham's +grave heads--they were talking over business affairs with great +animation--and Sarah, standing by the fireplace, and pretty Lija, who +stood before a mirror smoothing her luxuriant tresses. + +When Meir entered the gate, the workmen stopped sawing, and smiled +and nodded to him. They came from the same poor, dirty street he had +just left, and evidently knew him very well. + +"Scholem Alejhem!" (peace to you) they exclaimed. + +"Alejhem & Scholem!" answered Meir, merrily. + +"Will you not help us to-day?" asked one of the workmen jokingly. + +"Why not?" answered Meir, approaching them. + +Meir was fond of physical work. He practised it very often, and his +grandfather's workmen were accustomed to it. One of them was about to +give him his place at the log of wood, but at that moment. Lija +appeared in the open window. She was just finishing braiding her +hair, and said. + +"Meir! Meir! where have you been so long? Zeide wishes to see you." + +Hardly a quarter of an hour had passed since the Rabbi's visit. Saul +still sat with his head between his hands, lost in half angry and +half sad musing. A few steps from him sat Freida, bathed in golden +sunlight and sparkling with diamonds. A very complicated process was +going on in Saul's old breast. He disliked Isaak Todros. Without +having deeply understood the real meaning of the action and position +of either his ancestor Michael, or his father Hersh, he knew that +they had great influence among their "own people," and enjoyed the +general esteem of the mighty, although 'stranger' people. Therefore +he was proud of these reminiscences of his family, and the knowledge +of the wrong done to these two stars of his family by ancestors of +Isaak Todros excited toward the latter a mute and not very +well-defined dislike. Besides this, being rich, and proud of so +being, he resented the misery and--as he said at the bottom of his +soul--the sluttishness of the Todros. But all this was as nothing +compared with the respect felt for the holy, wise, and deeply-learned +man, who was the representative of all that was holiest, wisest, and +most learned. Saul himself read with great zeal the holy books, but +he could not become familiar with them, because for a long time his +brain had been occupied with quite different matters. He read them, +but understood very little of their obscure and secret sense, and the +less he understood the more he respected them, and the deeper was +his humility and dread. And now that dread and humility stood +opposed to the true, tender love for his grandson, and he struggled +between them. + +"What profit can he draw from it?" thought Saul, and he met his +grandson with angry looks. + +Meir entered the parlour timidly. He already knew of the Rabbi's +visit, and he guessed at the aim of it; he was afraid of his +grandfather's anger and grief. + +"Nu," said the old man, "come nearer. I am going to tell you +beautiful things, at which you will rejoice greatly." + +And when Meir had come to within a couple of steps from him, Saul +looked at him sharply from beneath his bushy eyebrows, and said: + +"I am going to betroth you, and in two months you must be married." + +Meir grew pale, but was silent. + +"I am going to betroth you to Jankiel Kamionker's daughter." + +After these words there was quite a long silence, which Meir at last +interrupted. + +"Zeide," said he, in a low but determined voice, "I am not going to +marry Kamionker's daughter." + +"Why?" asked Saul, smothering his anger. + +"Because, zeide," growing bolder and bolder, "Kamionker is a bad and +unjust man, and I don't wish to have anything to do with him!" + +Then Saul's anger burst out. He reproached his grandson for the +audacity of this judgment, and praised Rob Jankiel's piety. + +"Zeide," interrupted Meir, "he wrongs the poor!" + +"Is that any of your business?" exclaimed the grandfather. + +This time the young man's eyes shone warmly. "Zeide," he said, "he +pockets a great deal of the money produced by the sweat +and work of these miserable people who live at the other end of the +town, and through him they are thieves. While their children are +naked, Reb Jankiel builds new houses! In the dram-shops and +distilleries which he rents from the nobility be carries on evil +acts. His dram-shop keepers make the peasants drunk, and cheat them, +and his distilleries produce more vodka than is permitted by the +Government. Zeide, you must not look at the way he prays, but the way +he acts, for it is written: 'I do not need prayers, nor your +sacrifices! The one who wrongs the poor man wrongs the Creator +Himself!'" + +Saul was very angry, but his grandson's quotation mollified him, for +he very much desired to see him a scholar, and expert in the +knowledge of the holy books. + +"Well," muttered he angrily, but without vehemence, "it does not +matter that Jankiel makes the peasants drunk, and that he produces +more vodka than the law permits. You don't know yet that business is +business! When you are married to Reb Jankiel's daughter, and go into +partnership with him, you will do the same." + +"Zeide," answered Meir quickly, "I shall neither produce nor sell +vodka. I have no inclination for it." + +"And what are you going to do--" + +He did not finish, for Meir bent forward and seized his knees with +his hands, and pressing his lips to them, he began to talk. + +"Zeide, let me go hence! Let me go into the broad world! I will +study! I wish to study, and here my eyes wander in darkness. Two +years ago I made the same request, but you became angry, and ordered +me to remain. I remained, zeide, because I respect you, and your +commands are sacred to me. But now, zeide, let me go hence! If I go +into the world with your permission and blessing, I shall become a +learned man. I shall come back here and take my stand against the +great Rabbi, and I shall know how to show him that he is a small man. +Now--" + +Saul did not permit him to speak further. + +"Sha-a-a!" he exclaimed. + +He was seized with fear at the mere mention of a strife between his +grandson and the great Rabbi. + +But Meir drew himself up, and with fire in his face and tears on his +eyelashes, he spoke again: + +"Zeide, remember the history of Rabbi Eliezer. When he was young his +father did not let him go into the world. He ploughed the field, and +looked into the dark forest which hid him from the world, and +curiosity and longing ate into his heart as now they are eating into +mine. He could not stand that yearning, and he escaped. He went to +Jerusalem, to a great, world-famed scholar, and said to him: 'Let me +be your pupil, and you shall be my master!' And it was as he said. +And when, several years after, his father Hyrkanos came to Jerusalem, +he saw there on the square a beautiful youth, who talked with the +people, and the people listened to him, and their souls melted like +wax before the great sweetness of his words, and all heads bent low +before the youth and shouted: 'Behold our master!' Hyrkanos wondered +much at the wise words of the man who stood on the heights, and at +the great love which all the people bore him. And he asked of the man +who stood beside him: 'What is the name of the youth who stands on +the heights, and where does his father live? for I wish to bow before +him, whose entrails have brought into the world such a son.' And the +man whom he questioned made answer: 'That youth's name is Eliezer, a +star over Israel's head, and his father's name is Hyrkanos.' When +Hyrkanos heard this he shouted with a great voice, rushed toward the +youth, and opened his arms. And then there was ecstatic joy in the +hearts of both father and son, and the whole nation bowed before +Hyrkanos, because his entrails brought into the world such a son." + +Saul listened attentively to the story, half gloomy and half joyful. +He cherished the traditions of his nation, and was delighted to +listen to them, especially when they were spoken by the mouth of his +much-loved grandson. He did not hesitate, however, in his answer. He +half closed his eyes and began: + +"If in Jerusalem there was to-day teaching such a famous learned man +of Israel, I would send you to him at once, but the avenging hand of +the Lord is laid on Jerusalem--she is no longer ours. When the day of +the great Messiah shall come, she will again be ours. It is pleasant +and sweet for a son of Israel to die there, but there is no one there +to teach him. And I shall not send you into a foreign world to learn +strange sciences. They are useless to an Israelite. From Edomit you +have already learned as much as it is necessary for you to transact +business in the foreign world, and even for that the great Rabbi has +reproached me. And his reproaches are a shame and a sorrow, for, +although the Rabbi is a wise man, my soul suffers when he comes to my +house to scold me like the melamed scolds the little children in the +heder." + +Speaking thus, the old man became morose, and looked gloomily on the +ground. Meir stood before him as though petrified, but in his eyes, +looking into space, there was reflected a bottomless precipice of sad +and rebellious sentiments. + +"Zeide," he said finally, half in prayer and half abruptly, "then +permit me to be an artisan. I will live in the same street with the +poor. I will work with them and guard their souls from sin, And when +they ask me something I will always answer them 'Yes' or 'No' When +they lack bread I will divide with them all the bread I have in my +house!" + +Again his face burned and the tears shone on his eyelids. But Saul +looked at him in the intensest amazement, and after a while he said: + +"When you are two or three years older you will see how stupid you +are in telling me such things. There has been no artisan in the +Ezofowich family and, please God, there never shall be. We are +merchants, from father to son; we have enough money, and each +generation brings more. You shall be a merchant also, because every +Ezofowich must be one." + +The last words he spoke in an imperative voice, but after a while he +continued a little more softly: + +"I want to show you my favour. If you do not wish to marry Reb +Jankiel's daughter, I will permit you not to marry her. But I shall +betroth you to the daughter of Eli Witebski, the great merchant. You +are longing for learning--flu! I am going to give you a very well +educated wife. Her parents keep her in a boarding school at Wilno; +she speaks French and plays the piano. Nu! if you are so difficult to +please, that girl ought to suit you. She is sixteen years old. Her +father will give her a big dowry, and immediately after the wedding +will make you his partner." + +From the expression of Meir's face it could be seen that his blood +was boiling. + +"I don't know Witebski's daughter. I never saw her," said he +gloomily. + +"Why do you need to know her?" exclaimed Saul; "I give her to you! In +a month she will be back from Wilno and in two months you will be +married! That is what I am telling you, and you, be silent and obey my +commands. Up to the present I have given you too much liberty, but +from now on it will be different. Isaak Todros told me to set my foot +on your neck." + +A flush appeared on Meir's pale face and his eyes flashed. + +"Rabbi Isaak may put his feet on the necks of those who, like dogs, +lick his feet!" he exclaimed. "I am an Israelite, as he is. I am no +one's slave, I." + +The words died on his quivering lips, for old Saul stood before him, +drawn up to his full height, powerful, inflamed with anger, and +raised his hand to strike him. But at that moment between the old +man's thin hand and the burning face of the younger man, appeared a +small hand, dried, wrinkled, trembling with old age, separating them. +It was the hand of Freida, who was present during the whole +conversation between the grandfather and grandson, and had seemed to +doze in the sun and not hear anything. But when the room resounded +with Meir's passionate exclamation, and Saul had risen, angry and +threatening, she rose also, and silently advanced a few steps, until +with her poor old hand she shielded her great-grandson. Saul's hand +dropped. Having exclaimed to Meir in an already softened voice, +"Weg!" (Get out) he fell into a chair, panting deeply. + +The great-grandmother again sat down by the window in the sunlight. +Meir left the room. + +He went out with bent head and a gloomy expression on his face. At +that moment he felt all the impotency of youth against age, +influence, and authority. He felt that the fetters of the +patriarchial organisation of his family were growing heavy on him. +And the mere thought of that small, thin, trembling woman's hand, +which had shielded him from a rough act of force, caused a touching +smile of tenderness to appear on his lips. It was also a smile of +hope. + +"If I could only get that writing," he said to himself, passing his +hand over his forehead. + +He was thinking of the writing of Michael the Senior, of which the +old great-grandmother alone knew the whereabouts. He thought also +that if he could only find it he would know what to say and how to +act. + +In the meantime Saul sat for a long time, breathing heavily from +weariness, and sighing from grief. He looked several times at his +mother and smiled. The intervention of this silent, continually +dozing, hundred-year-old-woman for her great-grandson, seemed strange +to him, and perhaps in the bottom of his heart he was grateful to her +for not permitting him to wrong his orphan grandson in a moment of +anger. + +After a while he called: "Raphael." + +The call was answered by a dignified dark-eyed man, already growing +gray--his oldest son. After Saul he was the oldest of the family. He +himself had grown-up grandchildren and was doing a very large +business. On hearing his father call him he left his office and came +to him immediately. + +"Do you know if Eli Witebski is home?" asked Saul. + +"Yes, he returned home yesterday," answered his son. + +"Someone must go there at once and tell him that I wish to see him, +and talk with him about an important matter." + +"I will go myself," said Raphael; "I know about what you are going to +talk with Witebski. You have an excellent idea, and it must be +executed immediately. Meir may go astray if he is not married soon." + +Saul's eyes searched his son's face inquiringly. "Raphael, do you +think he will change when he is married?" + +Raphael nodded his head affirmatively. + +"Father," said he, "remember Ber. He was on the same road which Meir +is travelling, but then he married Sarah, and you, father, took him +into partnership and when the children began to come, one after +another, all these stupid ideas left his head." + +"Go! Call Witebski to me," concluded Saul. + +Raphael left the room, and was soon walking in the direction of the +house which stood at the corner of the two largest streets. On the +piazza sat a plump woman in a silk gown, and a mantilla buckled with +a gold brooch. On her ears were long earrings, and a carefully-combed +wig was on her head. She was about forty, and looked fresh and +healthy. Her mouth wore a smile of satisfaction and pride, and in her +hands she held some fancy embroidery. When Raphael ascended the +stairs she rose, and with the most exquisite bow ever made in Szybow, +she extended her hand in welcome to the guest. Except Pani (Mrs.) +Hannah Witebska, there was not another woman in Szybow who shook +hands with a man. The English hand-shake, popular in the whole +civilised world, evidently did not meet with the approval of the +dignified Raphael, for he touched the plump Pani Hannah's hand a +little reluctantly, and after a short greeting he asked for her +husband. + +"He is home," answered the woman, smiling continually, with +chronic satisfaction and equally chronic pride; "he came back +yesterday, and is now taking a rest." + +"I came to talk with him," said Raphael + +"Come in! come in!" exclaimed the woman, opening with hasty +amiability the door leading into the house. "My husband will be much +pleased to receive such a guest." + +Raphael answered Pani Hannah's fashionable civilities by a swift nod +of the head, and entered the house. Pani Hannah again sat down on the +bench, and half closed her eyes disdainfully, whispering to herself: + +"Nu! what people there are in this Szybow! They don't want to talk +with women. They are like wild bears." + +She sighed, moved her head several times, and added: + +"Am I accustomed to such people? In our city of Wilno the people are +civil and educated, not savages as here. Pfe!" + +She sighed once more, continued her work mechanically, looking on the +town and swarming people with the same smile of satisfaction and +pride. Soon two men appeared in the door of the house. They were in +conversation, and passed swiftly by the piazza and without looking at +Pani Hannah they went in the direction of the Ezofowich house. Eli +Witebski, walking with Raphael across the square, did not at all +resemble his companion. Although a merchant, he represented quite a +different type of the Hebrew trader. He was evidently fashionable and +a dandy. His coat, although not entirely short, was a great deal +shorter than the halat which Raphael wore, and it was cut quite +differently. Across his silk waistcoat shone a thick gold chain, and +he wore a big diamond ring on his finger. His face was serene, his +eyes keen and penetrating. He had a small, yellowish beard to which +he often raised his diamond-ornamented hand by a slow and deliberate +movement. + +He walked beside Raphael rapidly and with evident pleasure. At any +rate, there was not a merchant in all Szybow who would not make equal +haste if he were called by Saul Ezofowich. For ten years Saul had +retired from business, and, except to go to the synagogue, he never +left his house. But everyone who wished to draw from the treasures of +his great experience and equal keenness in business transactions came +to see him. Saul never refused advice, and even help, as far as he +was able to give it, without wronging his children And when he wished +to speak to some dignitary of the community, he called them to him +through his sons or grandsons and they hastened to him willingly. +Therefore, on being called by the old patriarch, Eli Witebski +hastened naturally. Smiling and radiant he entered the parlour, and +greeted the host: + +"Scholem Alejhem!" (Peace to you). He did not greet anyone outside of +Szybow in such an old-fashioned way. On the contrary, he could say +very correctly, Gut morgen (Good morning), but his unshaken rule was +to accommodate himself to those with whom he had to deal. + +Raphael wished to leave them, but Saul signed him to remain. They +carefully closed all the doors, and spoke together for quite a while. +But no matter how low they spoke, the frolicsome Lija, Raphael's +daughter, put her little nose to the closed door, and her dark eye to +the keyhole, and often heard repeated the names of Meir and Mera, +Witebski's daughter first, and then her own name and that of a +certain Leopold, Pani Hannah's cousin. She sprang from the door +covered with blushes, half-confused, and half-seized with a secret +joy, and then she constantly looked through the window to see as soon +as possible when her cousin returned. + +The sun had begun to set when Witebski left the Ezofowich's house, +beaming, smiling, and evidently very much pleased with the +transaction, or, perhaps, two transactions closed at the same time. + +Almost at the same moment Meir returned home. Lija rushed to meet +him, and, in the gate of the court-yard, placing her arm about his +neck, she whispered in his ear: + +"Do you know, Meir, a great thing has happened to-day in our house. +Our zeide and my father spoke a long time with Eli Witebski, and they +came to an agreement about us. Witebski has promised his daughter to +you, and my father has promised me to Paul Hannah's nephew, who is +very well educated." + +She whispered all this, blushing, and too confused to dare to raise +her eyes to her cousin's face. At once she felt that, by a sudden +movement, he slipped from her embrace, and, when she raised her eyes, +she saw Meir again leaving the gate of the house. + +"Meir!" exclaimed the girl, in surprise, "where are you going? Are +you not going to have supper with us?" + +The departing young man did not answer the girl's voice calling him +to the family table. A deep wrinkle angrily cut his forehead. Now he +understood the nothingness of his exclamation in the presence of his +grandfather: "I am no one's slave!" They disposed, without the +slightest regard for his will, of his future, of his family, and he +knew that the commands of the elders must be obeyed. + +No! He shuddered to think that it must be so. Why? He did not know +the young girl Mera, who, somewhere in the world, was studying the +same things which he himself desired so much. But, walking through +the town and the empty fields separating it from the Karaim's Hill, +walking slowly, with hands behind him, and bent head, he thought +obstinately, almost mechanically, and incessantly, "I am no one's +slave!" Pride and the desire for freedom boiled in his heart, aroused +by some unknown source, probably those secret breaths of nature sown +in the fields by noble and strong spirits thirsting for liberty, +righteousness, and knowledge. + +At the foot of the Karaim's Hill, in the hut which clung closely to +its sandy side, there burned a small, yellow light. Over it, through +the forked branches of the willow tree, shone many small stars, and +further on, over the great fields, lay the gray shadows of the dusk. + +In the interior of the hut, against the low wall, was seated an old +man, working with the flexible willow branches. His figure was gray +in the dusk of the hut, and the features of the bent face could not +be seen. The tall, straight figure of a girl, with a thin face, sat +in a wooden chair near the flame of the candle. In one dropped hand +a spindle was softly twirling, and over her head was a board with a +big bunch of wool fastened to it. From the wall, where the old man +sat, came a hoarse, trembling voice: + +"In the midst of the desert, so large that one could not see its end, +rose two mountains so high that their summits were hidden in the +clouds. The names of these mountains were Horeb and Sinai." + +The voice became silent, and the girl, who listened gravely while she +spun, said: + +"Zeide, speak further." + +But at that moment a manly voice was heard at the open window. + +"Golda!" + +The spinner was neither frightened nor surprised at this sudden +pronunciation of her name by a strange voice. It might almost be said +that at any moment she expected to hear that voice, so gravely, and +with so little emotion did she rise and go to the window. Only her +eyes shone warmly under: the dark lashes, and her voice was +inexpressibly sweet when, standing at the lattice, she said softly: + +"Meir! I knew that you would keep your promise and come." + +"Golda," said the muffled voice from behind the window, "I came to +see you because to-day there is a great darkness before my eyes, and +I wished to look at you, that the world might become brighter to me." + +"And why is it so dark to-day before your eyes?" asked the girl. + +"A great sorrow has befallen me. Rabbi Todros has accused me of +wrongdoing before my zeide, and my zeide wishes to marry me." + +He became silent and dropped his eyes. The girl did not move. Not the +slightest movement of her face or figure betrayed emotion--only her +swarthy and sun-burned face grew white. + +"To whom does your zeide wish to marry you?" she asked, and her voice +had a gloomy sound. + +"To Mera, the daughter of the merchant Witebski." + +She shook her head. + +"I don't know her." + +Then she asked suddenly: + +"Meir, are you going to marry her?" + +The young man did not answer. Golda, however, did not ask him again. +Her swarthy forehead was bathed in a blush and an expression of great +bliss filled her eyes, for Meir's sweet, deep and at the same time +fiery look, rested on her face. + +Both were silent, and amidst the tranquillity, interrupted only by +the rustling of the branches overhanging the roof, there was heard +again the hoarse and trembling voice of the old man sitting by the +wall. + +"When Moses descended Mount Sinai, the thunders were silenced, the +lightning was quenched, the wind lay down, and all Israel rose as one +man and exclaimed with a great voice: 'Moses, repeat to us the words +of the Eternal!'" + +Meir listened attentively to the old voice relating the history of +Israel. Golda looked at her grandfather. + +"He always tells the different stories," she said. "I spin or lie at +his feet and listen." + +"Meir," she added, with gravity in her look and her voice, "enter our +house and greet my grandfather." + +In a few moments the door of the small hall creaked. Old Abel raised +his head from the willow branches, which his trembling but active +hand continually plaited, and seeing in the dark, the handsome figure +of the young man, he said: + +"Who is there?" + +"Zeide," said Golda, "Meir Ezofowich, son of the rich Saul, has come +to our house to greet you." + +At the sound of that name pronounced by Golda, he shrunk against the +wall, suddenly raised himself and leaning with both hands on the +straw sheaf on which he sat, he stretched forward his yellow neck, +swathed in rags. This brought near the flame a head covered with +long, abundant white hair, and a small shrivelled face which was +almost hidden by an enormous beard. Golda spoke the truth when she +stated that her grandfather's hair had become white as snow from old +age, and coral-like red were his eyes from weeping. Now, from beneath +these swollen eyelids, the quenched pupils looked with an amazement +of fear at first, and then with a sudden lighting of indignation or +hatred. + +"Ezofowich!" he exclaimed in a voice which was neither so hoarse nor +so trembling as before, "why have you come here and passed the +threshold of my house? You are a Rabbinit--foe--persecutor. Your +great-grandfather cast an anathema at my ancestors and turned their +temple into dust. Go from here. My old eyes shall not be poisoned by +looking at you." + +While speaking the last words he stretched his trembling hand toward +the door through which the young man had entered. + +But Meir stepped forward slowly, and bending his head before the +angry old man said: + +"Peace to you!" + +Under the influence of those sweet words, pronounced with sonority +and expressing a prayer for a blessing and concord, the old man +became silent, fell back on his seat, and only after a long while did +he begin to speak in a plaintive, pitiful voice: + +"Why did you come here? You are a Rabbinit, and the great-grandson of +the powerful Senior. Your people will curse you if they see you pass +my threshold, for I am the last Karaite who remained here to watch +the ruins of our temple and the ashes of our ancestors. I am a +beggar! I am cursed by your people! I am the last of the Karaites!" + +Meir listened to the old man's words in respectful silence. + +"Reb," said he after a while, "I bend my head low before you because +it is necessary that justice be done in the world, and that the +great-grandson of the one who cursed should bow before the +great-grandson of the accursed." + +Abel Karait listened attentively to these words. Then he was silent +for a while, as though he was pondering in his tired mind, over the +meaning of them. Finally he understood them entirely, and whispered: + +"Peace be to you!" + +Golda stood with her arms crossed on her bosom, looking on Meir as +pious people look on a holy image. Having heard the words of peace +from her grandfather's lips, she pushed toward Meir one of two +chairs, took as mall, shining pitcher and went into the hall. + +Meir sat near the old man who was again busy with his work and +whispered something. After a while this whispering became louder +until it changed into a hoarse and trembling narrative. It seemed +that was his habit. He had plenty of stories in his head and heart, +and with them he brightened his miserable life. + +Meir could not hear the first whispers, and only understood their +meaning when the old man began to speak louder: + +"On the shores of Babylon they sat weeping, and the wind moaned in +their lutes, brought by them from their country, and in sadness they +hung them on the trees." + +"And their masters came to them, and said: 'Take to your hands your +harps; play, and sing!' And they answered: 'How can we play and sing +in the land of exile, when our tongues are dried with great +bitterness and our hearts only know how to cry! Palestine! +Palestine!' But unto them their masters said: 'Take from the trees +your harps. Play and sing!'" + +"Then Israel's prophets looked at one another and said: 'Who of us is +sure? Who will stand torture that we may not be made to play and sing +in the land of exile!'" + +"And when their masters came to them the next day and said: 'Take +from the trees your harps; play and sing!' the prophets of Israel +raised their bloody hands and exclaimed: 'How can we take them, when +our hands are cut in two, and we have no fingers!'" + +"The rivers of Babylon rustled aloud with great amazement and the +wind cried in the harps hanging on the trees, because the prophets of +Israel had cut their hands in two rather than be forced to sing in +the land of exile." + +When Abel finished the last words of the old legend, Golda entered +the room. In one hand she held a tray made of straw, on which there +were two earthen cups. In the other hand she held a shining pitcher +filled with milk. In the door, which remained open behind her, +appeared the goat, whose whiteness stood out against the blackness of +the hall. The girl was dressed in a faded skirt, and her long black +tresses were thrown over the shoulders of the gray shirt which she +wore. She poured the milk into the cups and handed it to the guest +and her grandfather. She walked into the room quietly and lightly, +with a smile on her lips. Then she sat down and began to spin. The +room was in complete silence, and old Abel began to whisper some old +story. But soon his mouth closed, his hands dropped on the sheaf of +willow branches and his head rested motionlessly against the wall. +The goat disappeared from the threshold and for a while could be +heard her tramping in the little hall. Then everything became quiet. +The young people remained alone in the presence of the slumbering old +man and the stars which looked in through the low window, The girl +was spinning, gazing into the face of the young man who sat opposite +to her. He, with dropped, eyelids was thinking. + +"Golda," said he, after a long while, "the prophets of Israel, who +cut their hands in two rather than be forced to play and be the +slaves of their masters, were great men." + +"They did not wish to act against their hearts," answered the girl +gravely. + +They were silent again. The spindle still turned in Golda's hand, but +less and less swiftly and more quietly. Gusts of wind blew through +the chinks in the wall and caused the yellow flame of the candle to +flicker. + +"Golda," said Meir, "is it not frightful for you in this solitary +cabin, when the long fall and winter drop black darkness over the +earth, and great winds enter through the walls and moan about the +house?" + +"No," answered the girl, "it is not frightful for me, because the +Eternal watches the poor huts standing in the darkness, and when the +winds enter here and moan, I listen to the stories zeide tells me, +and I do not hear their moaning." + +Meir gazed pityingly into the face of the grave child. Golda looked +at him with motionless eyes, which shone like black, fiery stars. + +"Golda," said Meir again, "do you remember the story of Rabbi Akiba?" + +"I shall never forget it to the end of my life," she answered. + +"Golda, could you wait fourteen years, like the beautiful Rachel?" + +"I could wait until the end of my life." + +She said this quietly and gravely, but the spindle slipped from her +hand and dropped. + +"Meir," said she, so softly that the whispering of the wind almost +deafened her words, "you must promise me one thing. When you have a +sorrow in your heart, then come to our house. Let me know your every +grief, let zeide console you with his beautiful stories." + +"Golda," said Meir, in a strong voice, "I would rather cut my hand in +two, as did the prophets of Israel, than act against my heart." + +Having said this he rose and nodded to the girl. + +"Peace to you!" he said. + +"Peace to you," she answered softly, nodding to him slowly. + +He went out, and after a while the girl rose, blew out the yellow +flame of the burned-out candle, and having wrapped herself in some +gray cloth, she lay down on the straw beside the sleeping old man. +She lay down, but for a long time she watched the shining stars. + + + +CHAPTER VII + +Eli Witebski possessed in his mind and character many +diplomatic qualities. He was neither born nor brought up in Szybow, +as were without exception all the inhabitants of the town; but three +years ago had settled there on account of business matters as well as +for various family reasons. Among the population who lived there for +generations he was therefore almost a stranger, and in addition to +that, having spent his whole life in a large city, he brought with +him many new customs which astonished and shocked the ultra-conservative +inhabitants of this lost corner of the world. Among these differences were +the different cut and material of his clothing, the wearing of the +diamond ring, the rejection of the skull cap on his head, the short +clipping of his beard, and the absolute lack in his house of Talmudistic +and Kabalistic books, and, principally, the possession of such a wife +as Pani Hannah, of a daughter who was studying somewhere in a +boarding school, and besides this daughter Mera, only two more +children. These innovations, never seen nor heard of before, should +have been the cause of drawing on the elegant merchant a general +dislike of the population of Szybow. But they did not. It is true that +at first so-and-so whispered to so-and-so that he was a misnagdim, +progressive and indifferent in matters of religion. But these suspicious +notions soon disappeared, stopped chiefly by Eli's extraordinary +affability, amiability, and the power of adapting himself to any +and all circumstances. Always good-natured smiling, and serene, +he never argued with anybody, stood out of the way for everybody, +affirmed nothing, avoided quarrels in order not to be obliged to +take sides with the participants and thus offend the other, and +when he could not avoid so doing, spoke so sweetly and convincingly +that the antagonists, enraptured with his eloquence, became +reconciled, bearing in their hearts gratitude and admiration for him, +and speaking of him with enthusiasm. Ein kluger Mensch! As to rites +and religious rules, Witebski proved to be perfectly orthodox. He +observed the Sabbath, and kept kosher house with the minutest +punctuality. Every time he met the great Rabbi he bowed very low, +and he as no other before could make bright the eyes of the learned +man, by telling him merry stories--taken no one knew whence, and +he always told them in such a way that they possessed something +of a mystic and patriotic character, and pleased even the most +severely religious listeners. He did not spend much time at home, +but continually travelled for business purposes, but every time +he was seen in Szybow he was seen in the Bet-ha-Midrash, listening +with due respect to the learned preaching of Rabbi Todros, or smiling +when numbers of old and young scholars of the community passionately +discussed Pilpul, or spoke of different commentaries, or commentaries +on commentaries, with which twenty-five hundred printed sheets of +Helaha, Hagada and Gemara were filled. He was also always to be seen +in the synagogue, whenever there was occasion for a general +attendance, and although he could not be counted among the most +zealously praying ones, nor the most vehemently swaying ones, his +attitude and the expression of his face were perfectly decent. + +But it must not be thought that Witebski was a hypocrite; not at +all--he was sincerely fond of peace and good understanding, and did +not wish them disturbed for himself nor for others. He was successful +in life; he felt happy and satisfied, and consequently he loved +everybody, and it was a matter of absolute indifference to him +whether the man with whom he had to deal was a Talmudist, a Kabalist, +Hassyd, orthodox, heretic, or even Edomit, provided he was not +obnoxious to him. He learned of the Edomits for the first time in his +life when he came to Szybow, for in the circle in which he lived +Christians were called gojem and that only seldom, and under the +influence of exceptional sentiments of anger or offence. But when he +came to Szybow and learned of the Edomits, he thought, "Let them be +Edomits!" and from that time he spoke of Christians by that name when +in conversation with the inhabitants of Szybow. But in the use of +that name he felt not the slightest hatred nor even dislike. Until +now the Edomits had done him no wrong--then why should he dislike +them? Outside of Szybow he was friendly with them--he was even very +fond of them--but in Szybow he did as everyone else did. He had +received his religious education when he was young, but he afterward +forgot everything amidst entirely secular occupations and cares. He +believed in Jehovah and worshipped him profoundly; he knew the +history of Moses and also something about the Babylonian captivity +and the later history of the Jewish people, but he did not know much +of the deeper meaning of these things. In the main be did not care +what Tanait or some Rabbi said or commanded. But he did not +contradict anything either by word or deed--not even by thought. He +did everything that was commanded, thinking to himself: "There is no +harm in it. Maybe it's only a human invention, but again it may be +God's command--why should I anger Him against me." Thus, acting +diplomatically with the people and with God, he was not afraid of +anything, and he was happy. He would have been completely happy if he +had not brought with him to Szybow that greatest and, for the +inhabitants of Szybow, most astonishing novelty, his wife Hannah. In +the same degree that it was his object while living in the small town +to act as did everyone else there, it was the greatest desire of Pani +Hannah to act differently from everyone else. When they had lived in +a large city there was celestial harmony between them based on mutual +attachment and similarity of taste. Here, however, Pani Hannah became +to her husband the cause of perpetual embarrassment and occasional +fear. + +Pani Hannah was in love with civilisation, which for her assumed the +form of beautiful dresses, her own hair on her head, elegantly +furnished rooms, polite relations with her fellow-men, the French +language and music. Music was her craze. When they dwelt in a large +city she went to the public gardens to listen to it, where, walking +with her friends, clad in a rustling silk gown and plumed bat, gazing +at handsome men and chatting with amiable women, she felt perfectly +happy, and still more proud of her social position. Certain products of +civilisation especially caused her rapture. Once, perceiving in a public +garden a fountain, she admired it for a couple of hours with inexpressible +delight, and on returning to her city, which did not possess a fountain, +she talked to her friends during the whole year of that beautiful +phenomenon. She was also very fond of mirrors, and when she found +herself opposite a large mirror she could not tear her eyes away from it, +and especially from the reflected image of herself, which she found +very handsome, with her big golden earrings, a hat with flowers on it, +and a charming gown. As for religion, she knew still less about it than +her husband. She believed in God, and at the bottom of her heart she +was even very much afraid of Him, and she believed also in the devil, +fearing him even more than God. She also believed that a person who +did not see his shadow on a holiday night would die within a year, and +even that a person who moved a candle on the Sabbath table would +meet with a great misfortune. On the other hand, however, she did not +believe many similar things--calling them superstitions. Being a good +housekeeper, she acknowledged in the depths of her soul that it would +be better if the Jews ate the same meat as the Christians, both because +it would be a great deal cheaper, and because there would not be the +need in the household of having so many kitchen dishes, which every +orthodox household must have in order to keep the food properly +kosher. As for the woven stuffs containing a mixture of wool and flax, +Pani Hannah closed her eyes and ears to all interdictions, and used +them without hesitation, because they were pretty and cheap. When +she came to Szybow she was perfectly horrified. There was not one +sign of civilisation--no public garden no music, no fountain, not even +the shadow of beautiful women and handsome men chatting amiably, +no echo of the French language. Good Heavens! Pani Hannah betook +herself to bed, and buried herself in feather bolsters for two whole +days and nights, lamenting and screaming that she could not stand it, +that she would die and make orphans of her children. She did not die, +however. She left the bed, because it was necessary to unpack things, +to look after the household and dress the children prettily so that when +they went into the streets they should astonish by their beauty and fine +clothes that--as Pani Hannah expressed it, with a gesture of +contempt--"rabble." The children were dressed, went out, and in truth +they did astonish everyone. It was the first consolation which the +unhappy exile from civilisation received in her place of banishment. +Then came other similar consolations. Pani Hannah tried to amaze in +everything she was able--dresses, furniture, manners, speech--and in +doing so, she felt extremely happy. In the main, perhaps she was +happier than in a large city. There she only looked on civilisation +and its products and was proud of being one particle of it. Here she +was civilisation itself--the whole sum of the civilisation existing +in Szybow. + +This love for amazing the people which, after the care of the +children and the household, was the first occupation of Pani Hannah's +mind, and the source of her greatest happiness caused her husband +considerable uneasiness and fear. In the beginning he had heard some +murmurs that he was a misnagdim be learned that the popular +indignation had been aroused against his wife for wearing woven stuff +of mixed flax and wool, and for using a samovar on Sabbath, and for +saying that; "Szybow was not on the earth, but under it." When he +learned of all these things he quaked with fear, and began to war +with his better-half about the stuff of flax and wool, about the use +of the samovar on the Sabbath, and about the situation of Szybow. His +better-half fought for a long time, but the diplomatic husband was +finally victorious regarding the samovar and the stuff. But he could +do nothing regarding the situation of Szybow, because Pani Hannah +could not but respect the place where she herself lived, in spite of +all efforts of her will. Even if she was silent, her disdainfully +half-closed eyes, her proudly smiling mouth, always elaborate dress, +and her manners full of such exquisite courtesy, made it impossible +to find anyone in the whole world more civil than she was, all that +was protesting. In the main, Pani Hannah was perfectly happy with her +meek, though at times decided husband, with pretty, always +beautifully dressed children, and with the sentiment always in her +soul that she was superior to everything surrounding her. She had +only one great sorrow, and that; was the thought that she would never +be able to amaze the inhabitants of Szybow by wearing her own hair; +in the first place, because it was too late to make it grow now, and +then Eli would never permit such a public scandal. Therefore she was +obliged to wear a very pretty wig on her sorrowful head, and she +consoled herself with the thought that the occasion of her daughter +Mera's return from Wilno would be her greatest triumph. Eli was very +uneasy about this, for he feared that he would be accused of being +quite different from all the fathers in Szybow. As for Pani Hannah, +she was beside herself with joy at the thought that she would be +considered a quite different mother from all the other mothers in +Szybow. + +Finally it was accomplished. In a month after Eli's conversation with +Saul there were assembled in Witebski's parlour five persons--two men +and three women. And it was not a common parlour! it was ornamented +with a sofa, having springs and upholstered in green rep--the only +sofa of its kind in Szybow--several armchairs to match it, and a +piano. It is true, it was not very new. In several places the varnish +had been rubbed off, and the narrowness of the keys and the +yellowness of the ivory betrayed its great antiquity. In fact, it was +the only piano in the whole of Szybow. When a year ago it had been +bought for the exclusive use of Mera, it caused a small revolution in +the town and Pani Hannah's heart filled with joy and great pride. +This parlour was also not lacking in lace curtains and several +jardinieres in which grew several--to tell the truth--very ugly and +badly kept cacti and geraniums. But it happened that a year ago one +of the cacti had by some accident bloomed. Pani Hannah immediately +placed it in the window looking on the street, and all the children +in town came to her house to look at the red flower. + +So, then, on the green sofa with springs, sat Pani Hannah and her +sister, the wife of a merchant in Wilno, in whose house Mera had +boarded during her three years of study at the college. She escorted +her niece home personally, bringing with her, in the meanwhile, her +son Leopold. Her figure was imposingly like Pani Hannah's. She wore a +velvet mantilla, much gold jewellery and her own hair. On either side +of the table which stood opposite the sofa, sat the host and Pani +Hannah's young nephew Leopold. Mera, a pretty girl, with yellow hair +and pale complexion, was hovering about the piano, wishing to touch +the keys as soon as possible, and fill the whole house with merry +music, but not daring to because it was Sabbath. + +Mera knew that it was forbidden to play any musical instrument on +Sabbath, but she would not have minded such prohibition had it not +been for the glance of her father which followed her and warned her +against committing a sin. Neither was it allowed to smoke on the +Sabbath, but Leopold, a good-looking, slender youth of about twenty +years, sat in the armchair in a very careless position smoking a +cigarette, from which thin threads of smoke arose and floated through +the open window; Eli rose and shut the window. On Leopold's lips a +disdainful smile appeared, Mera shrugged her shoulders, and Pani +Hannah blushed with shame. + +On a table, on a silver tray, were different dainties prepared from +honey--gingerbread, made with honey and poppy-seeds, sweet wine, and +various other things. Pani Hannah served her guests with these +tit-bits, which completed the dinner, composed of fish cooked the day +before, and a cake also baked the day before. But her sister, the +wife of the merchant from Wilno, was busy with something quite +different from eating sweetmeats. With great admiration she was +looking at the beautiful and precious brooches, rings, bracelets, and +earrings, shining in their satin boxes. All these jewels were +presents of betrothal sent by Saul, in Meir's name, to Mera, +immediately following her home-coming. For two days the mother and +aunt of the betrothed girl had been looking at them, and they were +not yet satisfied. But Leopold's mother was sorry that her son had +brought to Lija, his promised wife, presents which were a great deal +more modest than those received by Mera from Meir. + +"Nu! She is a lucky girl!" she said, tossing her head. "God-gives her +true happiness. Such presents! Such nice people. But why does he not +come here?" she asked her sister. + +"Iii!" exclaimed Pani Hannah, with a disdainful smile, "they are +common people. It is not customary that the bridegroom should visit +his fiancee!" + +"He is young," said Eli, "he is bashful." At that moment Mera sat +down by the table, and leaning her head on her hand became sadly +thoughtful. Leopold, on the contrary, laughed loudly. + +"To be sure, I will not send my presents of betrothal before I have +seen the girl," he said. + +"Nu, you shall see her," said his mother. "We are all going to pay +them a visit." + +"What kind of a girl is she?" asked Pani Hannah's sister. + +"Iii!" answered Pani Hannah, as before, "she is a common girl." + +"Her father, Raphael, gives her fifteen thousand roubles as dowry," +said Eli. + +Leopold frowned. + +"That's not much," he said. "I cannot live on fifteen thousand." + +"You will start some business," remarked the merchant. + +But the mother of the good looking boy turned angrily to her +brother-in-law. + +"Business!" she exclaimed, "he is not brought up for business! Did we +give him a fine education for business? He was through five classes +in the gymnasium (college) and he is now an official. It is true that +he has as yet only a small salary, but who knows what may happen! He +may be appointed to a governorship! Who can tell?" + +Leopold raised his eyebrows significantly, indicating that he was +satisfied at having been born for such honours and that he did not +object to the likelihood of receiving a governorship. + +Eli nodded and said nothing. "It does not matter," he thought, "that +they talk nonsense. Let them talk!" At that moment pretty Mera raised +her head and said to her cousin. + +"Cousin! comme c'est ennuyant ici!" + +"Oui, cousine! cette vilaine petite ville est une place tres +ennuyante!" answered he, whistling. + +The two mothers, seated on the sofa, did not understand a word, but +they looked at each other and blushed for joy, and Pani Hannah +stretched her plump hand across the table and caressed her daughter's +hair. + +"Fischele!" (little fish) said she, with an indescribable smile of +beautitude and love on her lips. + +Even on Eli the French language made some impression. His face, which +had been a little sorrowful, became serene again. He rose and said +cheerfully: + +"Nu, let us be going. It's time." + +In a few minutes they descended from the piazza into the street. +Eli's face had again become sorrowful. Nothing could be more +unorthodox than the dress of his relative. It consisted of a short, +fashionable coat, shining shoes and very widely-open waistcoat, which +showed the entire snowy shirtfront. On his head he wore a small cap, +with the official star, and before going out he had lighted a +cigarette. + +It was a hard thing for Eli to contradict anyone--much more his guest +and the pet of the two women whom he at any rate respected. But when +he went out on the piazza and saw the crowds of people--whom the +Sabbath day brought out in swarms--he could not refrain from warning +the lad. + +"Leopold, listen!" said he, quietly and gently, "you had better throw +that cigarette away. The people are stupid here, but you had better +not irritate them. And perhaps," he added immediately, "God himself +forbad smoking on the Sabbath. Who can tell?" + +Leopold laughed aloud. + +"I am not afraid of anything!" said he, and springing down the steps +of the piazza be offered Mera his arm. + +Leopold and Mera then walked ahead arm in arm. They were followed by +the magnificent mothers in balloon-like dresses, velvet mantillas, +and enormous hats covered with flowers. Eli brought up the retinue, +walking slowly and with a conspicuously sorrowful face and hands +folded behind him. + +If attracting the attention of the numerous crowd could be called a +triumph, the march of the Witebski family across the square of the +town was certainly a triumphal one. In the twinkling of an eye a +crowd of children of all ages and both sexes were following them, +and, in the beginning with muffled exclamation, but finally with loud +shouting, they began to run after them. Soon older people joined the +children, and even more prominent families appeared on the piazzas of +their houses surrounding the square. In the gate of the school-yard +stood the melamed, in his usual primitive dress and as though he +could not believe the evidence of his own widely-open eyes. He looked +at the astonishing show passing the square. + +The greatest attention was drawn by the young couple walking ahead; +Leopold, clad in his elegant coat, and with a cigarette in his mouth, +and Mera, in her very balloon-like bright dress, leaning on her +cousin's arm and drawing herself up in order to show off to advantage +her society manners. + +Eli walked as though on live coals, but Pani Hannah strode forward as +though crowned with laurels. Her sister looked around the dark crowd +with half-closed eyes and head carried high. + +"Zi! Zi! a shejne puryc! a shejne panienkies!" shouted the children, +running, jumping, pointing with their fingers, and raising clouds of +dust with their feet. + +"Who are they? Are they Jews?" asked the older people, pointing at +Leopold's short coat and Cigarette. + +"Misnagdim!" suddenly shouted some voice in the crowd, and a small +stone, thrown by an unknown hand, passed close to Leopold's head. The +young man grew pale and threw away the cigarette--the cause of the +general scandal. Eli frowned. But Pani Hannah raised her head still +higher and said quite loudly to her sister: + +"Nu, we must forgive them. They are so ignorant!" + +Leopold, however, did not forgive the stone thrown at him. This could +be seen by his frightened eyes and tightened lips when he entered the +Ezofowichs' parlour. + +There on the sofa--the place of honour--sat old Saul surrounded by +his sons, sons-in-law, and several older grandchildren. At one of the +windows, as usual, sat the always slumbering great-grandmother. At +the other window stood Meir. + +When Witebski's family entered the parlour, Meir merely glanced at +Mera, as though she was perfectly indifferent to him, but he looked +sharply, inquisitively, at Leopold. He evidently desired to approach +as soon as possible the man who came from the broad world, and +penetrate him through and through. + +For a while only preliminary conversation and loud greetings were +heard Saul did not leave his place on the sofa. His daughter Sarah, +Ber's wife, received the guests, serving them with dainties, loudly +admiring the beauty of the hats and dresses of the ladies. + +Mera sat graciously on the edge of a chair, amused by the bashful, +embarrassed, and at the same time joyful Lija, and glancing askance +at the young man standing at the window, guessing that he must be her +intended husband. But she did not once meet his glance. Meir +seemingly ignored her existence. He looked constantly at Leopold. +Pani Hannah was telling with great animation, and still greater pride +to the women surrounding her, of the fountain which she had once seen +in a large city, and about the music which was played every Sunday in +the public garden in Wilno. In the meantime she was examining the +Ezofowichs' parlour. In fact, the large, clean room with its simple +furniture, possessed an air of thrift and riches, which was a great +deal more attractive than Pani Hannah's speckled salon. There was +also a library filled with large volumes, which, according to the +traditions of the Ezofowich family, were formerly the property of +Michael the Senior. There was a cupboard filled with silver and +china, and on the top of it stood a large samovar, shining like gold. +When Pani Hannah saw this a blush of shame appeared on her face. A +samovar in the parlour of the family of her future son-in-law! It was +contrary to all rules of civilisation of which she knew anything. +Soon, however, from this highly indecent object her glance passed on +to the great-grandmother slumbering in her arm-chair. At that moment +a ray of the setting sun fell on the motionless figure, lighting up +the jewels with which she was covered. Like fiery stars over her +forehead shone the rich gems ornamenting her turban, while her +earrings threw out thousands of sparks, and the pearls on her bosom +took on a faint pink glow. + +Pani Hannah elbowed her sister slightly. + +"Zi," whispered she, indicating the old women by a motion of her +head, "what splendid diamonds!" + +The wife of the merchant of Wilno half closed her eyes in admiration. + +"Aj! Aj!" exclaimed she, "a true treasure. But why does such an old +woman wear so many precious stones?" + +Saul heard the exclamation, and with dignified civility he said, +bending toward his guests: + +"She deserves our respect, and to be covered by us with all the +precious stones in the possession of our family. She was her +husband's crown, and all of us as branches from a tree, take our life +from her." + +He closed his eyes a little and continued: + +"Now she is very old, but she once was young and very beautiful, And +where has her beauty disappeared to? It was erased by the years--by +months and days passing over her like birds flying one after the +other, pick one berry after another, until they have picked them all. +It is true, she has now many wrinkles on her face. But whence come +these wrinkles? I know; for looking at her I see some picture in each +one. When I look at the wrinkles in her eyelids, and around her eyes, +I remember that when I was small, and was ill she sat by my cradle +and sang to lull me to sleep, and the tears poured from her eyes. And +when I look at the wrinkles so numerous on her cheeks, I remember all +the sorrows and griefs she has passed through, when she became a +widow, refused to marry again, conducting business affairs personally +and increasing the wealth of her children. And when I look at the +wrinkle which appears in the middle of her forehead, it seems that I +live again the moment that my father's soul left its body, and my +mother fell to the floor like one dead. She did not cry nor moan, but +only sobbed sweetly, 'Hersh! Hersh! My Hersh!' It was the greatest +sorrow of her life, and left on her forehead that deep line." + +Thus spoke old Saul, with his index finger raised solemnly and a +thoughtful smile on his yellow lips. The women listening to him shook +their heads, half sadly, half affirmatively, and looking at each +other they repeated softly: + +"Hohr! Hohr!" (Listen! Listen!) + +Pani Hannah was moved to tears. She dried them with a lace +handkerchief which she held in her hand, and stretching this hand +toward Saul she said: + +"Danke! Danke!" with a smile of gratitude on her lips. + +"Danke!" (Thanks!) the majority of those present repeated after her. +Then Pani Hannah's sister, Witebski, and two or three other people +not belonging to the family, said in a hushed voice: + +"Ein kluger mensch! Ein ehrlicher mensch!" (A clever man! An honest +man!) + +The filial love and respect manifested by Saul, and his picturesque +narrative, made a pleasant impression on all hearts and minds. + +Only young Leopold, who until now sat silent and gloomy, or spoke in +French with Mera, rose from his chair and went toward the window +where Meir stood. Around the sofa a lively conversation had been +recommenced by Pani Hannah, who expressed a regret that it was +Sabbath, and that there was no piano, for her daughter was thus +prevented from playing such music as melted all hearts, and brought +before the mind's eye the botanical garden of Wilno, where the band +of music played, and different other things which belonged to her +lost paradise of civilisation. + +The two young men remained completely isolated. No one could hear +their conversation. It seemed that Leopold had no intention of +starting a conversation with Meir. He went toward the window with +quite a different motive, which was betrayed by his taking from his +pocket a silver cigarette case. But Meir, when he saw the young man +approach him, advanced a few steps. His face beamed with joy. + +"I am Meir, Saul's grandson," said he, extending his hand to the +guest. "I wish very much to make your acquaintance, to tell you many +things, and ask you many things." + +Leopold bowed to him elegantly but ceremoniously, and barely touched +Meir's warm hand. Meir's eyes, which had been bright with joy, now +saddened. + +"You don't care to know me," said he, "and I don't wonder at it. You +are an educated man, and I--am a simple Jew, who knows the Bible and +Talmud well, but nothing more. But listen to me, at any rate! I have +thoughts of many things, but they are not yet in order. Perhaps you +can tell me how to become wise?" + +Leopold listened to these words, vibrating first with youthful +enthusiasm, with anxiety in which there was a shade of irony. + +"Willingly," said he, "if you wish to learn something from me I will +be glad to tell you. Why not? I can tell you many things, sir!" + +"Leopold, don't call me 'sir.' It hurts me, for I love you very +much." + +Leopold was surprised at this simplicity of sentiment. + +"I am glad of it!" said he; "but it's the first time we have met." + +"It doesn't matter!" exclaimed Meir; "for a long time I have wished +to meet such an Israelite as you are, and say to him, as Rabbi +Eliezer said to the sage in Jerusalem, 'Let me be your pupil, and be +you my teacher.'" + +This time surprise was clearly expressed in the face of the young +fashionable, and his irony increased. It was evident that he did not +at all understand Meir's speech, and that he considered him as being +half a savage. Meir, absorbed in his enthusiasm, did not notice the +impression he had made. + +"Leopold," he began, "how many years did you study in that foreign +school?" + +"What foreign school?" asked Leopold. + +"Nu, in that school where they do not teach Jewish studies." + +Leopold understood now. He half closed his eyes, pursed his mouth, +and answered: + +"Well, I went to the gymnasium for five years." + +"Five years!" exclaimed Meir, "then you must be a very learned man, +if you have gone to school for such a long time." + +"Well," answered the guest, with an indulgent smile, "there are +people in the world who are more learned than I." + +Meir approached his companion still nearer, and his eyes shone more +brightly. + +"What do they teach in the school?" he asked. + +"Different things." + +"What are those different things?" + +Leopold, with an ironical smile, began to enumerate all the subjects +taught in public schools. + +Meir interrupted him, saying with animation: + +"And you know all these subjects?" + +"Yes, I do," answered the guest. + +"And what are you doing now?" + +This question was asked with great anxiety, and astounded the +good-looking chap. + +"What do you mean?" he asked. + +"Nu, I wish to know, I wish to know the thoughts with which these +studies have filled your head, and what you are doing in the world." + +"What I am doing? I am an official in the office of the governor +himself, and I copy important papers." + +Meir thought for a while. + +"That is not what I wished to know about. You copy those papers for +money. Every man must earn. But I wish to know what you think about +when you are sometimes alone, and what those thoughts impel you to +accomplish in the world." + +Leopold opened widely his eyes. + +"Well," he exclaimed impatiently, "what should I think about? When I +leave my office I return home, smoke a cigarette, and think of the +time when I shall marry and get a dowry, and my father will give me +my share, and I shall purchase a house. On the ground floor I shall +fix pretty stores, the second floor I shall let to some rich people, +and I shall live on the third floor." + +This time it was Meir's turn to be amazed. "And you, Leopold, don't +you think of anything else?" + +"Well, of what else should I think? Thank God I have no sorrows. I +live and board with my parents and my salary is sufficient to buy my +clothes." + +Meir looked at the floor, and a deep wrinkle appeared on his +forehead, as was customary with him when he was hurt. + +"Leopold, listen," he said, after a few moments of deep thought, "are +there not many poor and ignorant Jews in your great city?" + +Leopold laughed. + +"There are plenty of them everywhere." + +"And what are your thoughts when you see them?" asked Meir violently. + +"What should they be? I think they are very stupid and very dirty!" + +"And looking at them, do you think of nothing else?" asked Meir, +almost in a whisper. + +Leopold opened his cigarette case, and selected a cigarette. Meir, +plunged in thought, did not notice this. + +"Leopold," he began again, with awakened energy, "you had better not +buy that house in the large city." + +"Why should I not buy it?" + +"I will tell you why. They have promised you, as wife, my first +cousin. She is a good and intelligent girl. She has no education +whatever, but she always wished to have it, and she was very glad +when she was told that she would have an educated husband. You are +going to marry her, and when you have married her, ask permission of +the high officials to open in Szybow a school for the Jews, in which +they will be made to study other things than the Bible and Talmud. I +will help you to conduct such a school." + +Leopold laughed, but Meir, all aglow with the joy of his idea, did +not notice it. He leaned towards the young man and whispered: + +"I will tell you, Leopold. There is great ignorance here in Szybow, +and there are many poor people living in misery. But there are some +people--all of them young--who regret that they do not know another +world, and that they have not other knowledge. They wish to become +familiar with it, but there is no one to help them out of the darkness. +And then the great Rabbi who lives here, Isaak Todros, is very severe, +and he is dreaded by everyone; and the members of the kahal also +oppress the poor people. You must come here and bring with you other +educated people, and help us out of our misery and our ignorance." + +All this was spoken enthusiastically, his head triumphally raised and +his voice filled with warm prayer. But nothing could equal the +astonishment, and in the meantime the irony, with which Leopold +listened to him. As Meir finished he selected a match from a silver +box, bending his head in order to hide the fact that he was laughing. + +"Nu," said Meir, "what do you think of what I have said? Is it a good +idea?" + +Leopold lighted the match and answered: + +"I am thinking that if I were to speak of your plans to my family or +my comrades they would be much amused." + +The light which shone in Meir's eyes was quenched at once. + +"Why would they laugh?" he whispered. + +At that moment Leopold lighted his cigarette and the fragrant smoke +floated through the room to where the company were gathered around +the yellow sofa. Raphael raised his head in astonishment and looked +back at him. Saul also looked toward the window, and rising from +the sofa he said politely but with determination: + +"I beg your pardon, but I cannot permit anything in my house which is +contrary to the holy law." + +Having said this he sat down again looking at Leopold from beneath +his bushy eyebrows. Leopold grew very red, threw the cigarette on the +floor, and crushed it angrily with his foot. + +"Such is your civility!" said he to Meir. + +"And why do you smoke on the Sabbath?" + +"Don't you smoke?" asked the guest satirically looking Meir in the +face. + +"No," answered Meir + +"And you wish to lead human souls out of darkness! And you believe +that it is a holy law not to smoke on the Sabbath!" + +"No, I don't believe it," answered Meir, with as much determination +as before. + +"You wish to cause the people to rebel against the great Rabbi and +the kahal, and you yourself give way before the enemy." + +Meir's eyes shone again, but this time angrily. + +"If it was a question of saving a human soul from obscurity, or a +human body from ignorance, I would not give way, because such things +are important; but when it is a question of denying myself a +pleasure, I give way because it is a trifle. And although I do not +believe that such a law is holy and comes from God, I know that the +old people believe in it, and I think that it would be rude to +contradict them in a trifle like this." + +After this speech Leopold turned away from Meir and walked over to +where Mera sat. For a while Meir followed him with a glance in which +there was a mixture of disappointment and anger. Then he left the +window and went out. + +This sudden disappearance of the young man made a great impression on +the women. The men hardly noticed it, for they thought it very +natural and praiseworthy that the bridegroom, through modesty, +avoided the fiancee chosen for him by the older people. But Pani +Hannah and her sister became gloomy, and Mera whispered to her +mother: + +"Maman, let us go home!" + +In the meantime Meir was on the way to the house of his friend +Eliezer, but he only looked in at the window, and went further, for +the cantor's room was empty; but he evidently knew where to find his +comrades, and he went directly toward the meadow situated beyond the +town. As a few weeks ago this meadow--a true oasis of quiet and +freshness--was all bathed in the pink light of the sunset. It is true +that the grass was no longer so green, for it was a little burned by +the beat of the summer sun, but the bushes were in full bloom, and +the scent of the wild flowers filled the air. + +Near the grove, under the thickly growing birches, sat a group of +young people. Some of them spoke together in low tones, while others +mechanically plucked the wild plants growing around them, and others +still with their faces turned to the blue sky, in which floated +golden clouds, hummed softly. + +The pond, a short way off, was now surrounded with thick bunches of +forget-me-nots and large flowers of the water-plants. On its bank was +seated the motionless figure of a tall slender girl, and beside her, +amid the bushes of sweet-briar, grazed the white goat, plucking the +herbs and leaves. + +Meir approached the group of young people who were evidently awaiting +his arrival with some impatience for those who lay in the grass rose +at once on seeing him and sat looking intently into his face. He did +not greet his comrades and did not even look at them, but threw +himself down upon the trunk of a birch tree which had been overthrown +by a storm. He was sad, but perhaps even more angry. The young people +were silent, and looked at him in surprise. Eliezer, who lay in the +grass with his elbow resting against the trunk on which Meir sat, was +the first to speak. + +"Well, have you seen him?" + +"Have you seen him?" several voices chimed in, "and is he highly +educated and very wise?" + +Meir raised his head and said emphatically: + +"He is educated, but very stupid." + +This exclamation caused great surprise among the young men. After +quite a long silence, Aryel, the son of the magnificent Morejne +Calman, said: + +"How can it be that a man is educated, and at the same time stupid?" + +"I don't know how it can be," answered Meir, his eyes dilating as +though he saw before him a bottomless precipice. + +Then a conversation started, made up of quick questions and answers: + +"What did he tell you?" + +"What was very stupid?" + +"Why did not you ask him about wise things?" + +"I did ask him, but he didn't even know what I meant." + +"Did he not tell you what he thought of?" + +"He told me he thought of how he could best buy a beautiful house +which would bring him an income of two thousand roubles." + +"He can think about the house, but about what else does he think?" + +"He told me he did not think about anything else." + +"And what is he accomplishing in the world?" + +"He is in an office, where he copies some papers and when he returns +home he smokes a cigarette and thinks about the house." + +"And what does he think about Jews who have no education and live in +misery?" + +"He thinks they are stupid and dirty." + +"And what did he say when you told him that we wished to free our +souls from darkness, but could not." + +"He told me that if he were to tell his family and comrades of it, +they would laugh." + +"Why should they laugh?" + +Then there was a long silence, and finally someone said angrily: + +"A bad man!" + +After a while Meir's cousin, Haim--Abraham's son--said: + +"Meir, that knowledge and education for which we wish so eagerly must +be evil, if it makes people stupid and bad." + +Another young man said: + +"Meir, will you explain it to us?" + +Meir looked sadly at his comrades, and dropping his face in both +bands, he said: + +"I don't know anything." + +The answer came with stifled sobs. But at that moment the cantor +raised his white band and pulled from his friend's sorrowful face the +hands which covered it. + +"Your hearts must not be sunk in sorrow," said Eliezer, "I will ask +our master to answer that question for us." + +He took from the ground a large book and with a smile on his lips be +pointed out to his comrades the first leaf of it. On this leaf was +printed the name of Moses Majmonides. + +The young people drew near to him, and their faces wore an expression +of solemn attention. The great Hebrew savant was about to speak to +them through the mouth of their beloved cantor. He was an old master, +forgotten by some, excommunicated by others, but dear and saintly to +them. Since the spirit of that master in the form of several big +volumes brought back by Eliezer on his return home from the outer +world, had breathed upon their minds, they experienced the force of +hitherto unknown streams of thought and rebellion--they were filled +with sorrowful longings and desires. But they were grateful to him +for this grief and longing, and rushed to him in all times of doubt. +But alas! they could not find answers for all their questions-consolations +for all their complaints! Centuries had vanished, the times had changed +and there had passed through the world a long chain of geniuses bringing +new truths. But of this they knew nothing, and when the large book was +opened they prepared themselves with joy and solemnity to receive the +breath of the old truths. + +Eliezer did not begin at once to read. He turned the leaves, looking +for a paragraph appropriate to the circumstances. In the meanwhile, +the girl who had until now remained seated on the bank of the pond, +rose from among the forget-me-nots and white briar and advanced +slowly toward the group of young people. Even from afar her great +eyes could be seen looking into Meir's face. The white goat followed +her. Both disappeared in the grove and then Golda emerged and stood +behind Meir. She came so quietly that no one noticed her. She threw +her arms about the trunk of a birch tree and leaning her head against +the softly swaying branch, she caressed the bent head of Meir with +her looks. She seemed not to see the other people. + +At that moment Eliezer exclaimed in his pure, crystalline voice: + +"Israel, listen!" + +With these words many psalms and sacred writings of the Hebrews +commence. For the young people surrounding Meir this reading of the +old master was a psalm of respect and deep spiritual prayer. + +Eliezer began to read in a chanting voice: + +"My disciples I You ask me what force attracts the celestial beings +of the Heavens, which we call stars, and why some of them rise so +high they are lost in mist, and others float more heavily toward the +sky, and remain far behind their sisters?" + +"I will disclose to you the mystery which you seek to solve." + +"The force attracting the celestial bodies is the Perfection dwelling +on the heights, and called God in the human tongue. The stars, seized +with love and longing for this Perfection, rise continually in order +to approach nearer and take something of wisdom and perfection from +the Wise and Perfect." + +"My disciples, from those celestial beings, which long for the +Perfection, come all changes of the moon. They cause different forms +and images. . . ." + +Eliezer stopped reading, and raised his turquoise-like eyes from the +book, and they shone with joy. + +But the others thought a long while, trying to find an answer to +their doubts in that passage of the master. + +Meir answered thoughtfully: + +"There are men who, like the celestial beings of which the sage +talks, raise their souls toward the Perfection. They know that there +is perfection, and they try to take from it Wisdom and Goodness for +themselves. But there are also people who, like those stars which +float more heavily upward, do not long for the perfection, and do not +rise through such longing. Such people keep their souls very low. . . ." + +Now they understood. Joy beamed from all faces. What a small crumb of +knowledge it took to make joyful these poor, and at the same time +rich, souls! + +Meir seized the book from his friend's hands, and read from another +leaf: + +"The angels themselves are not all equal. They are classed one above +the other, like the steps of a ladder, and the highest among them is +the Spirit producing thought and knowledge. This Spirit animates +Reason, and Hagada calls it Prince of the World--Sar-ha-Olam!" + +"The highest angel is the Spirit producing thought and knowledge, and +Hagada calls it the Prince of the world," repeated the choir of young +voices. + +Their doubts were scattered. Learning had reawakened respect in their +minds, and longing in their hearts, and passed before them in the +form of the Angel of Angels, flying over the world arrayed in +princely purple, with a shining veil wrought by his thought. Reverie +sat on their foreheads and in their eyes. The reverie of a quiet +evening covered the meadow blooming around them. Before them purple +clouds hung above the forest, hiding behind them the shield of the +sun. Behind them the green grove, sunk in dusky shadows, was +slumbering motionlessly. + +Over the meadow and fields floated Eliezer's silvery voice: + +"I saw the spirit of my people when I slumbered," Jehovah's pale +cantor began to sing. + +And it was not known whence came that song. Who composed it? No one +could tell. One verse was given by Eliezer to his friend after a +state of ecstatic unconsciousness which visited him often; the second +was composed by Aryel, Calman's son, while playing on his violin in +the grove. Some of them had their birth in Meir's breast, and others +were whispered by the childish lips of Haim, Abraham's son. Thus are +composed all folk songs. Their origin is in longing hearts, oppressed +thoughts, and instinctive flights toward a better life. Thus was born +in Szybow the song which the cantor now began: + +"Once, while I slumbered, I fancied I saw My people's spirit before +me; And I felt a strange spell stealing o'er me, As I gazed on the +world in awe." + +Here the other voices joined that of the cantor, and a powerful +chorus resounded through the fields and meadow: + +"Did he come toward me in royal array, In purple and gold like the +dawn of day. Ah, no I on his brow there was no golden crown; His +naked knees trembled, hi gray head bowed down." + +Here the choir of singing voices was mingled with a whisper coming +from the birch grove: + +"Hush! Some people are listening!" + +In fact, on the road passing through the grove, several human figures +appeared in the distance. They were walking very slowly. But the +singer heard neither Golda's warning nor the sound of the approaching +steps. The second verse of the song resounded over the meadow: + +"O, my people's spirit, say, where is thy throne? Are the roses of +Zion all faded and gone? Are the cedars of Lebanon all broken down? +O, my people's spirit, say, where is thy crown?" + +The last line of the song was still vibrating when, from the road +passing through the grove, three men entered the meadow. They were +dressed in long, black holiday clothes, and were girded with red +handkerchiefs, because it was not permitted to carry them on Sabbath, +but being used to gird the clothes were considered as part of the +attire, and thus it was not a sin to wear them in that way. + +In the centre was the cantor's father, Jankiel Kamionker, and on +either side were Abraham Ezofowich, Haim's father, and Morejne +Calman, the father of Aryel. Notwithstanding the darkness, the +fathers recognised their sons in the last rays of the daylight. The +voices of the young men trembled, became quiet, and then were +silent--only one voice sang further: + +"Wilt thou never emerge from the darkness, despair? Will thy sweet +songs of thanks ne'er resound in the air?" + +It was Meir's voice. + +The dignified men, passing through the meadow, stopped and turned +toward the group of young men, and at that moment the manly voice was +joined by the pure, sonorous voice of Golda, who, seeing the angry +faces of the men, began to sing with Meir as though she wished to +join him in common courage, and perhaps in common peril. + +And paying no attention to either his comrades' silence or the +threatening figures standing in the meadow the joined voices sang: + +"Let the wisdom of Heaven knock at thy door, And quiet the grief that +has made thy heart sore; And bid the Angel of Knowledge come down, +Restoring to thee thy lost glorious crown. We beseech thee to chase +the dark shadows away, And the light of God's truth will turn night +into day." + +The song had only three verses, so with the last verse the two voices +became silent. The dignitaries of the community turned toward the +town, and talking loudly and angrily they went in the direction of +the Ezofowich house. + +Abraham, Saul's son, was quite different from his brother Raphael. +Tall, dark-haired, and good-looking still, notwithstanding his more +than fifty years, Raphael was dignified and careful, speaking very +little. Abraham was small and bent. He was gray-headed, and had a +passionate temper and sensitive disposition. He spoke very rapidly +and with violent gestures. His eyes were very bright and generally +looked gloomily on the ground. + +Both brothers were learned, and for their learning the high title +of 'Morejne' had been bestowed upon them by the community. But +Raphael studied especially the Talmud, and was considered one of its +best scholars. Abraham, however, preferred the study of the +precipice-like mysteries of the Zohar. He was a close friend of the +two high dignitaries of the kahal, Morejne Calman and pious Jankiel +Kamionker. They transacted business together outside the town, and +while in town they read sacred books together, and together they +walked every Sabbath beyond the boundaries of the place, as far as an +Israelite is permitted to go from his house. Therefore no one saw +them go over two thousand steps, and only very seldom, when they were +attracted by the shadow of the grove, they bent, and on the spot +where their feet reached the two thousandth step they buried in the +ground a crumb of bread. That spot then represented their house, and +they were allowed to go two thousand steps further. Usually they were +silent while walking, for they counted their steps, but the simple +spiritually and bodily poor people, seeing them walking slowly and +with thoughtful faces, admired the wisdom and orthodoxy of these +scholarly and rich men. On seeing them they rose respectfully and +stood until they passed, for it is written: "When you see a sage pass +by, rise, and do not sit until he is out of your sight." + +Moreover on their return they spoke, because it was not necessary to +count their steps. + +But the poor people had never seen the three dignified men walk as +fast as that evening, when on the meadow they had heard the song of +the young men. Even the magnificent Calman himself had not smiled as +usual, and as for Jankiel Kamionker, his movements were so violent +that his long black dress floated behind him like two black wings. +Abraham Ezofowich had ungirded his handkerchief and carried it in his +hand. Calman noticed this sign of senseless excitement and warned his +friend that he was sinning. Abraham was dreadfully frightened, and in +great haste he again girded his loins. When this happened they were +already on the piazza of the Ezofowich house. Then the three men +entered the room in which old Saul was sitting on the yellow sofa, +reading in a large book by the light of two candles, which burned in +two antique silver candlesticks. + +Saul, seeing the entering guests was a little astonished, because it +was already quite late and the time was not suitable for a visit. He +greeted them, however, with a friendly nod, and pointed to the chairs +standing near the sofa. The men did not sit in the places indicated +to them, but stood opposite Saul. Although their faces were animated +by anger, their mein was solemn. Evidently they had come to an +understanding as to how the conversation was to be commenced, for +Kamionker spoke first: + +"Reb Saul," said he, "we come here to complain against your grandson +Meir." + +A painful shiver passed over Saul's face. + +"What has he done?" he asked in a low voice. + +Kamionker began to speak, at first solemnly, and then very violently: + +"Your grandson Meir spoils our sons! He causes their souls to rebel +against the Holy Law; he reads to them excommunicated books, and +sings worldly songs on the Sabbath! Besides this he is bound by an +impure friendship to the Karaimian girl, and we saw in the meadow our +sons lying at his feet as though at the feet of their master, and +over his head the Karaimian girl stood and sang abominable songs with +him." + +He stopped, out of breath from the angry speech, and Morejne Calman, +looking at Saul with his honey like eyes, said slowly: + +"My son Aryel was there, and I shall punish him for it." + +Abraham, looking gloomily on the ground, then said: + +"And my son, your grandson Haim, was also there, and I shall punish +him for it." + +Then all said: + +"You must punish Meir!" + +Saul bent his sorrowful face. + +"Lord of the world," he whispered with trembling lips, "have I +deserved that the light of my eyes should be changed into darkness?" + +Then he raised his head and said with determination: + +"I will punish him." + +Abraham's eyes, fixed on his father's face, were shining. + +"Father," said he, "you must think the most of that Karaimian girl. +That unclean friendship between them is a great shame to our whole +family. You know, father, our custom--no Israelite shall know another +woman save the one his parents have destined for his wife." + +It seemed that Saul's wrinkled forehead was covered with a pinkish +flush. + +"I will soon marry him," he answered. + +Abraham continued: + +"As long as he sees the Karaimian girl he will not care to marry." + +"And what can I do to prevent him from seeing her?" + +The three men looked at each other. + +"Something must be done with her!" said one. + +After a long while of deep thought, the two guests bowed to Saul and +left the house. Abraham remained in the room. + +"Father," said he, "how do you propose to punish him?" + +"I will command him to sit for a whole day in the Bet-ha-Midrash and +read the Talmud." + +"It would not do any good," said Abraham, with an impatient gesture; +"you had better order him to be flogged." + +Saul remained bent over. + +"I shall not do it," he answered. Then he added softly: "Michael's +soul passed into the body of my father Hersh, and my father's soul is +now dwelling in Meir's body." + +"And how can you know this?" asked Abraham, evidently shocked by his +father's words. + +"Hersh's wife, the great-grandmother first recognised this soul, and +then Rabbi Isaak recognised it." + +Saul sighed deeply, and repeated: + +"I will command him to sit in the Bet-ha-Midrash and read the Talmud. +He shall neither eat nor sleep in my house for a whole week, and the +Shamos (care-taker and messenger of the synagogue) shall announce his +shame and punishment through the town!" + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +The Bet-ha-Midrash was a large, well-lighted building standing on the +courtyard close to the synagogue. It served for various purposes: +people congregated there for the less solemn prayers or lectures; the +learned used it for their discussions upon knotty points of the +Talmud, here also were kept the books of the different brotherhoods +or societies, of which there are many in every Jewish community; and +lastly, it served as a place of penance in exceptional cases, when +any of the young men had transgressed the religious or moral laws. +The punishment was not so much a physical discomfort as a moral one, +and left an indelible stain upon the delinquent's character. + +Opposite the Ha-Midrash rose a smaller but equally well-kept +building. It was the Bet-ha-Kahol or Kahol room, where the +functionaries of the town council and the elders held sittings. A +little further was a more modest building, the Hek-Dosh or poor +house, where all those who were unable to work and were hungry had +the right to apply for food and shelter. + +Opposite the house of prayer was the heder or school, where the +learned and much-respected Reb Moshe ruled. The court with all its +buildings, from the synagogue and hospital to the tiny dwelling of +the Rabbi was like the capital of a small realm: everything was there +which could promote the well-being of the public. + +All these buildings had been raised at one time, to embody a great +idea, either to serve God or mankind. In what manner these lofty +ideas had been perverted and served other purposes than those first +conceived is another thing altogether--for this we must go to +history. + +Eight days bad elapsed since the memorable evening when the young men +bad conversed and sung together on the meadow. On the ninth day, +after sunset, Meir left the Ha-Midrash and stood in its high portico. + +Obedient to the order of the head of the family, he had spent the +week in utter solitude, reading the Talmud which he knew so well +already, and for which, in spite of all the doubts which troubled his +mind, he never lost the reverence implanted into him from his +childhood. The penance had not brought him any physical discomforts; +his meals were carried to him from home, where the charitable women +had tried to make them even more palatable than usual. Nevertheless, +he was much changed. He looked paler, thinner, yet withal more manly. +Neither in his expression nor bearing was there any trace of his +former almost childish timidity. Perhaps his intelligence had +rebelled against the injustice of the punishment; it may be the +solitude and the study of the many volumes in the Ha-Midrash had +called forth new ideas and confirmed him in the old ones. The nervous +contraction of his brow and his feverish burning eyes betrayed hard +mental work, all the harder because without help or guide. The +penance inflicted upon him bad missed its aim. Instead of quieting +and soothing the restless spirit, it made him bolder and more +rebellious. + +When Meir descended the steps into the court another feeling took +hold of him--that of shame. At the sight of several people crossing +the courtyard he dropped his eyes and blushed. They were elders of +the Kahol, who seeing Meir, pointed at him and laughed. One of them, +Jankiel Kamionker, did not laugh, and seemingly had not noticed the +young man. He was walking apart from his companions, and his face +looked troubled and preoccupied. Instead of entering into the Kahol +building with the other men, he almost stealthily approached the +almshouse; he only passed it, but it was sufficient to exchange a few +whispered words with a man whose shaggy hair and swollen face +appeared at the open window. Meir knew the man, and silently wondered +what business the rich and pious Jankiel could have with a thief and +vagrant like the carrier Johel. But he did not think much about it, +and directed his steps, not towards home, but to a small passage near +the school, which would bring him out into the fields; he was longing +for space and air. He stood still for a few minutes. An odd murmuring +noise, rising and falling, mixed with an occasional wailing reached +his ear; it was dominated by a thick, hoarse voice alternately +reading, talking, and scolding. + +A peculiar smile crossed Meir's face; it expressed anger and +compassion. He was standing near the school where the melamed Reb +Moshe infused knowledge into the juvenile minds. Something seemed to +attract him there; he leaned his elbows on the window-sill and looked +in. + +It was a narrow, low and evil-smelling room. Between the blackened +ceiling, the wall and the floor full of dirt and litter, which filled +the air with a damp and heavy vapour, there seethed and rocked a +compact, gray mass which produced the murmuring noise. By and by, as +if out of a dense fog, childish faces seemed to detach themselves. +The faces were various, some dark and coarse, as if swollen with +disease; others pale, delicate and finely cut. As various as the +faces were their expressions; there were those who, with mouth wide +open and idiotic eyes stared into vacancy; others twitched and +fretted with ill concealed impatience but most of them, though +suffering, looked patient and submissive. Their outward appearance +showed an equal variety, from the decent coat of the rich man's +child, in gentle graduations to the sleeveless jackets and tatters of +the very poorest classes. + +Some fifty children were crowded into that room which barely +accommodated half that number. They sat almost one upon the other, on +hard dirty benches, closely packed together. This was not the only +school in Szybow but none of the others was so eagerly sought after +by parents as the one conducted by Reb Moshe, known by his piety and +cabalistic knowledge, the favourite of the Rabbi. It must not be +thought that Reb Moshe initiated his scholars into the first steps of +learning; this would have been sheer waste of his capabilities--which +aimed at something higher. + +The children he received were from ten to twelve years old, who had +already been taught in other schools to read Hebrew and the Chumesh +or Five Books of Moses, with all their explanations and commentaries; +after that they came under the tuition of Reb Moshe and were +introduced to the Talmud, with all its chapters, paragraphs, +debatable points, and commentaries above commentaries. + +All this would have been more than sufficient to enlarge or confuse +the minds of those pale, miserable children; but Reb Moshe in his +zeal did not content himself with exercising the memory of his +scholars; he wanted also to develop their imagination, and sometimes +treated them to extracts from the metaphysical Kabala. The reading or +expounding of parts of those books was looked upon by him as a kind +of rest or recreation, which sometimes it proved to be when the +melamed was too deeply absorbed to watch his audience. + +The melamed was thus occupied when Meir looked through the window. He +was bending over a heavy book with an expression of ecstatic rapture, +and rocking his body to and fro with the chair upon which he sat. The +scholars with their books before them were also rocking themselves +and repeating their lessons in a loud murmur, sometimes smiting the +edge of the bench with their fists by way of emphasis, or burying +their hands in their already tangled manes. + +Suddenly the melamed left off rocking himself, took the heavy book in +both hands and struck it with all his might on the table. It was the +signal for silence. The scholars left off rocking and raised their +eyes in sudden alarm, thinking the time bad come to give out their +lessons. + +But the melamed was not thinking of the lessons; his spirit had been +carried away into other spheres altogether, but he was still dimly +conscious of his duties as a teacher, and wanted his scholars to +share in his spiritual rapture. He raised his finger and began to +read a paragraph from the Scheier Koma. + +"The great prince of knowledge thus describes the greatness of +Jehovah: The height of Jehovah is one hundred six and thirty times a +thousand leagues. From the right band, of Jehovah to His left the +distance is seventy-seven times ten thousand leagues. His skull is +three times ten thousand leagues in length and breadth. The crown of +His head is sixty times ten thousand leagues long. The soles of the +feet of the King of Kings are thirty thousand leagues long. From the +heel to the knee, nineteen times ten thousand leagues; from the knees +to the hip, twelve times ten thousand and four leagues; from the +loins to the neck, twenty-four times ten thousand leagues. Such is +the greatness of the King of Kings, the Lord of the world." + +After this last exclamation, Heb Moshe, his hands raised in the air, +remained motionless. Motionless likewise were the children. All, +without exception, the timid and the mischievous, the idiotic and the +sensible ones, stared open-mouthed at the melamed The description of +Jehovah's greatness seemed to have paralysed their minds. + +After a short pause the melamed woke up to the every-day business, +and called out: + +"Go on." + +The children again resumed their murmur and rocking. It would have +been impossible from their confused voices to get an inkling of what +they were learning but Meir, who had passed through the same course +and possessed an excellent memory, understood that they were at the +eighth chapter of Berachot (about the blessing). + +The children, with great efforts that brought the perspiration to +their faces, read in a singing murmur: + +"Mischna, 1. The disputed questions between the schools of Shamai and +Hillel. The school of Shamai says: 'First, bless the day and then the +wine.' The school of Hillel says: 'First bless the wine and then the +day' (the Sabbath)." + +"Mischna 2. The school of Shamai says: 'To wash the hands, then fill +the cup.' Hillel says: 'Fill the cup, then wash the hands.'" + +"Mischna 3. The school of Shamai says: 'After washing, put the napkin +on the table.' The school of Hillel says: 'Put it on a cushion.'" + +"Mischna 4. The school of Shamai says 'Sweep the room, then wash your +hands.' The school of Hillel says: 'Wash your hands, then sweep the +room.'" + +A double knock with the heavy book upon the rickety table reduced the +scholars to silence once more. + +The melamed's round and gleaming eyes wandered around the room as if +in search of a victim. He pointed to one of the hindmost benches, and +called out: + +"Lejbele!" + +A pale and slender child rose at the summons and fixed a pair of +large, frightened eyes upon the teacher. + +"Come here." + +There was a great rustle among the boys, for it was no easy matter to +pass across that dense mass of children. Lejbele at last managed to +squeeze himself through, and holding his book with both hands, stood +within the small space between the teacher's table and the front +bench. He did not look at the melamed, but kept his eyes fixed upon +the book. + +"Why do you look down like a brigand? Look at me!" and the melamed +struck him under the chin. + +The child looked at him, his eyes slowly filling with tears. + +"Well! what does the school of Shamai say, and what the school of +Hillel?" began the melamed. + +There was a long silence. The children of the first bench nudged his +elbow, and whispered: + +"Speak out!" + +"The school of Shamai," began Lejbele, in a trembling voice, says, +"bless the wine. . . ." + +"The day--the day, and then the wine," whispered a few compassionate +voices from the first bench. But, at the same time, the melamed's +hand came into contact with the ear of one of the offenders, and his +yell reduced the others to silence. + +Reb Moshe turned again to the child. + +"Mischna the first. What says the school of Shamai?" + +The answer came in a still more trembling, almost inaudible, voice: + +"The school of Shamai says: 'Bless the wine'. The melamed's fist came +down upon the young Talmudist's shoulder, out of whose hands the +heavy book slipped and fell upon the floor. + +"You bad, abominable boy," yelled the melamed, "you do not learn your +lessons, and you throw your book upon the floor. Did you not read +that the school of Shamai says, 'To bless first the day and then the +wine?'" + +Here a loud and sarcastic voice from the window called out; + +"Reb Moshe, that poor child has never seen wine in his life, and +suffers hunger and flogging every day; it is not easy for him to +remember whether to bless first the day and then the wine." + +But Reb Moshe did not hear that speech, because both his hands were +busy belabouring the head and shoulders of his pupil, who, without +crying out, tried to avoid the blows by ducking on the floor. +Suddenly a pair of strong hands pushed the melamed aside, and he, +losing his footing, fell down, carrying with him the rickety table. + +"Reb Moshe!" called out the same sarcastic and angry voice. + +"Is this not an Israelitish child that you wreak your spite upon it? +Is it not a poor man's child and our brother?" + +His face burning with indignation, he bent down, and raising the +child in his arms, turned towards the door. + +"Reb Moshe, you drive all intelligence out of the children's heads, +kill all the feeling in their hearts; I heard them laughing when you +beat Lejbele." + +Saying this, he disappeared with the child in his arms. + +Only then did Reb Moshe awaken from the stupefaction into which the +sudden assault had plunged him, and disengaging his burly frame from +under the table, he shouted: + +"Assassin! murderer!" and turning towards his scholars, yelled: "Get +hold of him! stone him!" + +But he addressed empty benches; the books lay scattered about and the +seats turned upside down. The scholars, seeing their master prostrate +under the table, and one of their companions rescued by main force, +had all rushed, partly from fright and partly from a wish for +liberty, through the door and dispersed about the town like a flight +of birds released from a cage. + +The school was empty and the court deserted, except for a few grave +looking men who stood in the portico of the Bet-ha-Kahol, and towards +them rushed the frantic melamed, panting and tearing his hair. Meir +in the meanwhile went swiftly on, with the child in his arms, whose +tears fell thick and fast; but the eyes which looked through the +tears at Meir were no longer the tears of an idiot. + +"Morejne!" whispered Lejbele. + +"Morejne!" he repeated, in a still lower voice, "how good you are!" + +At the corner of the little street where the tailor lived, Meir put +the child down. + +"There," he said, pointing at Shmul's house, "go home now." + +The child stiffened, put his hands into his sleeves, and remained +motionless. Meir smiled and looked into his face: + +"Are you afraid?" + +"I am afraid," said the motionless boy. + +Instead of returning as he had intended, the young man went towards +Shmul's hut, followed at a distance by Lejbele. The day was almost +over, and so was work in the little street. The pale and ragged +inhabitants crowded before their thresholds. + +Scarcely had Meir penetrated into the street, where he became aware +of a great change in the attitude of the people towards him. +Formerly, the grandson of Saul had been greeted effusively on all +sides; they had come to him with their complaints, sometimes asked +for advice; others had greeted him from their windows with loud +voices. + +Now scarcely anybody seemed to notice him. The men looked away; the +women glanced at him with curiosity, whispered to each other, and +pointed their fingers at him. One of the woodcutters with whom he had +worked at his grandfather's looked at him sadly and withdrew into his +hut. Meir shrugged his shoulders impatiently. + +"What is it all about?" he thought. "What wrong have I done to them?" +Strange it seemed to him also that the tailor did not rush out to +meet him with his usual effusive flatteries and complainings; +nevertheless he entered the dwelling. Lejbele remained outside, +crouching near the wall. + +The young man had to bend his head in order to enter the low doorway +leading into the dark entrance where two goats were dimly visible, +thence to the room where the air, in spite of the open window, felt +heavy and oppressive. A thin woman with a wrinkled face passed him on +the threshold. It was Shmul's wife, who carried a piece of brown +bread to the child outside, Lejbele's supper when he came home from +school. + +The whole family were eating a similar supper, with the exception of +the elder and grown-up people, who seasoned their bread with pinches +of chopped raw onion, of which a small quantity was lying on a +battered plate. Besides Lejbele, there were two younger boys sitting +on the floor, a two-year-old child crawled about on all fours, and a +baby a few months old was suspended in a cradle near the ceiling, and +rocked by one of the elder girls. Another girl was busy with the +goats, and a third was feeding a blind old woman, Shmul's mother. She +broke the bread in pieces, sprinkled onion upon it, and put it into +the grandmother's hand, sometimes into her mouth. The blind mother +was the only one in the family who possessed a bed; the others slept +on the floor or upon the hard benches. She looked well cared for, the +crossover on her shoulders was clean and whole, and on her head she +had a quilted cap of black satin, profusely trimmed. + +The grand-daughter seemed quite absorbed in task of feeding the old +woman. She patted wrinkled hand encouragingly when she perceived +difficulty in masticating the hard food. + +As in the prosperous household of Saul, so in the dirty hut of the +tailor, Shmul, the mother occupied the first place, and was the +object of general care and reverence. Such a thing as a son, be he +rich or poor, neglecting those who gave him life, is never seen in +Israel. "Like the branches of a tree, we all sprang from her," said +the head of the house of Ezofowich. + +The tailor, Shmul, could not express his feelings like Saul, but when +his mother lost her sight, he tore his long, curly hair in despair, +fasted with his whole family for three days, and with the money thus +saved bought an old bedstead, which he put together with his own +hands against the wall; and when Sarah Ezofowich, Ber's wife, gave +him an order to sew a black satin dress for her, he cut a goodish +piece from the material to make a quilted cap for his mother. + +When Shmul saw Meir coming into the room, he jumped up, bending his +flexible body in two; but he did not kiss his hand as usual, or call +out joyfully: + +"Ai! what a visitor, what a welcome visitor! Morejne!", he exclaimed, +"I have heard of what you have done. The children from school came +running past, and said you had knocked the melamed under the table +and rescued my Lejbele from his powerful hands. You did it out of +kindness, but it was a rash deed, Morejne, and a sinful one, and will +bring me into great trouble. Reb Moshe will not take Lejbele back, +nor receive any of my other boys, and they will remain stupid and +ignorant. Ai! Ai! Morejne, you have brought trouble upon me and upon +yourself with your kindly heart." + +"Do not trouble about me, Shmul; never mind about what I have brought +upon myself, but take pity upon your child, and at least do not whip +him at home; he suffers enough at school." + +"And what if he suffers?" exclaimed Shmul. "His fathers went to +school, and I went there and suffered the same; it cannot be helped; +it is necessary." + +"And have you never thought, Shmul, that things might be different?" +questioned Meir gently. + +Shmul's eyes flashed. + +"Morejne!" he exclaimed, "do not utter sinful words under my roof. My +hut is a poor one, but, thanks to the Lord, we keep the law and obey +the elders. The tailor Shmul is very poor, and by the work of his +hands supports his wife, eight children, and his blind mother. But he +is poor before the Lord, and before the people, because faithfully he +keeps the covenant and the Sabbath, eats nothing that is unclean, +says all his prayers, crying aloud before the Lord. He does not keep +friendship with the Goims (aliens) as the Lord protects and loves +only the Israelites, and they only possess a soul. Thus lives the +tailor Shmul, even as his fathers lived before him." + +When the flexible and fiery Shmul had finished, Meir asked very +gently: + +"And were your fathers happy? and you, Shmul, are you happy?" + +This question brought before the tailor's eyes a vision of all his +sufferings. + +"Ai! Ai! Let not my worst enemy be as happy as I am. The skin sticks +to my bones, and my heart is full of pain." + +A deep sigh, from the corner of the room, seemed to re-echo the +tailor's sorrowful outburst. + +Meir turned round, and seeing a big shadowy figure in the corner, +asked, "Who is that?" + +Shmul nodded his head plaintively and waved his hands. + +"It is the carrier, Johel, come to see me. We have known each other a +long time." + +At the same time a tall, heavy man came into the light, and +approached the two. Johel was powerfully built, but he looked broken +down and troubled. His jacket, without sleeves, was dirty and ragged, +his bare feet cut and bruised, the fiery red hair matted, and the +mouth swollen. There was something defiant in his looks, and yet he +seemed as if he could not look anybody straight in the face. He went +near the table to take a pinch of onion to season the bread he was +holding in his hand. + +"Meir," he said, "you are an old acquaintance. I drove your uncle +Raphael when he went to fetch you, a poor little orphan, and I drove +you and him to Szybow." + +"I have seen you since," said Meir. "You were a decent carrier then, +and had four horses." + +The inmate of the poorhouse smiled. + +"It is true," he said; "bad luck pursued me. I wanted to make a great +geschaft (business), but it did not turn out as I thought it would, +and then another misfortune befell me." + +"The second misfortune, Johel, was a crime. Why did you take the +horses out of the gentleman's stables?" + +The questioned man laughed cynically. + +"Why did I take them out? I wanted to sell them, and make a lot of +money." + +Shmul shook his head pityingly. + +"Ah! ah!" he sighed. "Johel is a poor man--a very poor man. He has +been in prison three years, and now cannot find work, but is obliged +to seek shelter in the poorhouse." + +Johel sighed deeply, but soon raised his head almost defiantly. + +"That cannot be helped," he said. "Perhaps I shall soon see my way to +make a big profit." + +The words of the vagrant recalled to Meir's mind the short interview +he had witnessed at the window of the poorhouse between Johel and +Jankiel Kamionker. At the same time, he was struck by the expression +of the tailor's face, which twitched all over as if under the +influence of great excitement. His eyes sparkled and his hands +trembled. + +"Who knows," he exclaimed, "what may happen in the future? Those that +are poor one day may become rich the next. Who knows? The poor tailor +Shmul may yet build a house on the Market Square, and set up in +business for himself." + +Meir smiled sadly. The groundless hopes of these poor outcasts +stirred his compassion. He looked absently around, and through the +windows at the fields beyond. + +"You, Shmul," he said, "will certainly not build big houses; nor you, +Johel, make heavy profits. Is it to be thought of? You are too many, +and there is not enough for you all. I sometimes think that if you +left these narrow, dirty streets, and looked about in the world, you +might find a better way of living; even if you worked like peasants +on the soil your life would be easier." + +He said this in an absent way, not so much addressing the two men +before him as the noisy crowd without. But when Shmul heard these +words, he twice jumped into the air, and twisted his cap upon his +head. + +"Morejne!" he cried out, "what ugly words come from your lips. +Morejne, do you wish to turn Israel upside down?" + +"Shmul," said Meir angrily, "it is true. When I look at your misery, +and the misery of your families, I should like to turn things upside +down." + +"Ai! ai!" cried the impressible and lively Shmul, holding his head +with both hands. "I would not believe what the people said of you, +and called them liars; but now I see myself that you are a bad +Israelite, and the covenant and customs of your forefathers are no +longer dear to you." + +Meir started, and drew himself up. + +"Who dares to say that I am a bad Israelite?" he exclaimed. + +Shmul's excited face took a quieter but more solemn expression, and +he came close to Meir. Nobody would hear him, as the inmates of the +room had gone into the street, and Johel retired into his corner to +finish his meal. All the same, he spoke in an impressive whisper, as +if about to disclose a terrible secret. + +"Morejne, it is no use asking who said it. People whisper, like the +leaves on a tree. Who is to say which special leaf has whispered, or +which mouth? Everybody speaks ill of you. They say you break the +Sabbath, read accursed books, sing abominable songs, and incite young +men to rebellion, that you do not pay due respect to the learned and +wealthy members of the community, and,"--here he seemed to hesitate, +and added in a still lower voice--"and that you live in friendship +with the Karaitish girl." + +Meir listened like one turned to stone. He had grown very pale, and +his eyes were flashing. + +"Who dames to say that?" he repeated in a choking voice. + +"Morejne!" replied Shmul, waving both hands, "you were sent for a +week into the Bet-ha-Midrash to do penance. When the poor people in +this street heard of it, there was a great commotion. Some wanted to go +to your grandfather Saul and to the Rabbi to ask them not to put you to +shame. The woodcutter Judel wanted to go, the carrier Baruch--well, the +tailor Shmul, too. But soon afterwards people began to talk, and we heard +why you had been punished; then we remained quiet, and said to each +other: He is good and charitable, never proud with poor people, and has +helped us often in our misery; but if he keeps not the covenant, his +grandfather Saul is right to punish him." + +He stopped at last, out of breath with his rapid speech, and Meir +fixed his penetrating eyes upon him, and asked: + +"Shmul, if the learned and wealthy people ordered me to be stoned, +would you also think they were right?" + +Shmul retreated a few steps in horror. + +"Ugh!" he exclaimed, "why should you think of such terrible things?" +and then added, in a thoughtful voice: "Well, Morejne, if you do not +keep the holy covenant--" + +Meir interrupted, in a louder tone: + +"And do you know yourself, Shmul, what is the covenant? How much of +it is God's law, and how much people's invention?" + +"Hush!" hissed Shmul, in a low voice. "People can hear, and I should +not like anything unpleasant to happen to you under my roof." + +Meir looked through the window, and saw several people sitting on the +bench before Shmul's house. They did not seem to listen, but talked +among themselves; at the last words of Meir and Shmul they had raised +their heads and looked through the window with a half-astonished, +half-indignant expression. Meir shrugged his shoulders impatiently, +and without saying good-bye turned towards the door. He had almost +crossed the threshold when Shmul rushed after him, stooped down, and +kissed his hand. + +"Morejne," he whispered, "I am sorry for you. Think better of it; +reflect in time, and do not cause scandal in Israel. Your heart is +made of gold, but your head is full of fire. Remember what you did to +the melamed to-day! If you were not under such a terrible cloud, +Morejne," he went on, raising a nervous twitching face up to Meir, "I +should have opened my heart before you, for Shmul is in sore trouble +to-day. I do not know what to do! He may remain poor all his life, or +he may become rich; he may be happy or very wretched. A great fortune +is coming to him, and he is afraid to take it because it looks like +misfortune." + +Meir looked in silent amazement at the poor man, who evidently was +trying to convey some secret to him; but at the same time from beyond +the blackened stove came Johel's deep voice: + +"Shmul, will you be quiet! Come here, I want you!" The tailor, with +his face troubled, rushed towards him, and Meir, deeply musing, went +out into the street. + +It was evident from the clouded mien of the men and their scanty +greetings that he was not so welcome to them as he used to be. Nobody +rose when he passed, or approached him with a friendly word. Only the +child got up as he went by, pushed his hands into the sleeves of his +garment, and followed him. + +Walking one behind the other, they crossed a long, narrow street, and +found themselves in the fields which divided Abel Karaim's hut from +the town. + +It was now almost dark, but no flickering light was to be seen in +Abel's window. They were not asleep yet, as Meir could see the dark +outline of Golda near the window. + +They greeted each other with a silent motion of the head. + +"Golda," said Meir, in a low and rapid voice, "have you met with any +unpleasantness lately? Has anybody molested you?" + +The girl pondered a little over his question. "Why do you ask me +that, Meir?" + +"I was afraid some injury might have been done to you. People have +spread some foolish slander about us." + +"I do not mind injury; I have grown up with it. Injury is my sister." + +Meir still looked troubled. "Why have you no light burning?" he +asked. + +"I have nothing to spin, and zeide prays in darkness." + +"And why have you nothing to spin?" + +"I carried the yarn to Hannah Witebska and Sarah, Ber's wife, and +they did not give me any more wool." + +"They have not insulted you?" asked Meir angrily + +Golda was again silent. + +"People's eyes often say worse things than tongues," she replied at +last quietly. + +Evidently she did not want to complain, or it may be her mind was too +full of other things to heed it much. + +"Meir," she said, "you have been in great trouble yourself lately?" + +Meir sat down upon the bench outside and leaned his head upon his +hand with a weary sigh. + +"The greatest trouble and grief fell upon me to-day when I found that +the people had turned away from me. Their former friendship has +changed into ill feeling, and those that confided in me suspect me +now of evil." + +Golda hung her head sadly, and Meir went on: + +"I do not know myself what to do. If I follow the promptings of my +heart, my people will hate and persecute me. If I act against my +conscience I shall hate myself and never know peace and happiness. +Whilst I was sitting in the Bet-ha-Midrash I had almost made up my +mind to let things be, and to try and live in peace with everybody; +but when I had left the Ha-Midrash my temper again got the better of +me, and rescuing a poor child I offended the melamed, and through him +the elders and the people. That is what I have done to-day. Arid when +I come to think of it, it seems to me a rash, useless act, as it will +not prevent the melamed from destroying the poor children's health +and intelligence. What can I do? I am alone, young, without a wife +and family, or any position in the world. They can do with me what +they like, and I can do nothing. They will persecute my friends until +they desert me; they have already begun to injure and insult you, +because you gave me your heart and joined your voice with mine on the +meadow. I shall only bring unhappiness to you; perhaps it would be +better to shut my eyes and ears to everything, and live like other +people." + +His voice became lower and lower, and more difficult from the +inward struggle with doubts and perplexities. + +Both remained silent for a few minutes, when suddenly a strange +noise, seemingly from the other side of the hill, reached their ears. +First it sounded faint and distant, like the passing of many wheels +upon a soft and sandy soil. It grew louder by degrees, till the +grating of wheels and stamping of many human feet could be heard +quite distinctly. All this amidst the dark silence of the night gave +it a mysterious, almost unreal appearance. + +Meir stood straight up and listened intently. + +"What is that?" he asked. + +"What can it be?" said Golda, in her quiet voice. + +It seemed as if a great many carts were passing on the other side of +the hill. + +"I thought something rumbled and knocked inside the hill," said +Golda. + +Indeed, it sounded now like human steps inside the hill, and as if +some heavy weights were being thrown down. There was fear in Meir's +face. He looked intently at Golda. + +"Shut the window, and bolt your door," he said quickly; "I will go +and see what it is!" + +It was evident that he feared only on her account. "Why should I +fasten either window or door? A strong hand could easily wrench them +open." + +Meir went round the base of the hill, and soon found himself on the +other side. What he saw there filled him with the greatest +astonishment. + +In a half-circle, upon the sandy furrows, stood a great many carts +laden with casks of all sizes. Around the carts a great many people +were moving--peasants and Jews. The peasants were busy unload-the +carts and rolling the casks into a cavern, which either nature or +human hands had shaped in the hill. + +The Jews, who were flitting in and out among the carts and looking at +the casks, or sounding them with their knuckles, finally crowded +round a man who stood leaning his back against the side of the hill, +and a low-voiced, but lively discussion followed. Among the Jews, +Meir recognised several innkeepers of the neighbourhood, and in the +man with whom they conversed, Jankiel Kamionker. The peasants whose +task it was to unload the carts preserved a gloomy silence. A strong +smell of alcohol permeated the air. + +The astonishment of Meir did not last long. He began to see the +meaning of the whole scene, and seemingly had made up his mind what +to do, as he moved a few steps in Jankiel Kamionker's direction. + +He had not gone far when a huge shadow detached itself from a +projection of the hill and barred the way. + +"Where are you going, Meir?" whispered the man. + +"Why do you stop me from going, Johel?" replied Meir, as he tried to +push him aside. + +But Johel grasped him by the coat tails. + +"Do you no longer care for you life?" he whispered. "I am sorry for +you, because you are good and charitable; take warning and go at +once." + +"But I want to know what Reb Jankiel and his innkeepers are going to +do with the casks," persisted Meir. + +"It does not concern you," whispered Johel. "Let neither your eyes +see nor your ears hear what Reb Jankiel is doing. He is engaged in a +big business; you will only hinder him. Why should you stand in his +way? What will you gain by it? Besides, what can you do against him?" + +Meir remained silent, and turned in another direction. + +"What can I do?" he whispered to himself; with quivering lips. + +Passing near Abel Karaim's hut, he saw Golda still standing at the +window. He nodded to her. + +"Sleep in peace." + +But she called out to him: + +"Meir, here is a child sitting on the floor asleep." + +He came nearer and saw, close to the bench where he had been sitting, +the crouching figure of a child. + +"Lejbele!" he said, wonderingly. He had not seen the lad, who had +quietly followed him and sat down close to him. + +"Lejbele!" repeated Meir, and he put his hand upon the child's head. + +He opened a pair of half-unconscious eyes and smiled. + +"Why did you come here?" asked Meir, kindly. + +The child seemed to collect his thoughts, and then answered: + +"I followed you." + +"Father and mother will not know what has become of you." + +"Father sleeps, and mother sleeps," began Lejbele, rocking his head; +"and the goats are sleeping," he added after a while, and at the +remembrance of those, his best friends, he laughed aloud. + +But from Meir's lips the slight smile had vanished. + +He sighed and said, as if to himself: + +"How shall I act? What ought I to do?" + +Golda, with her hands crossed above her head, looked thoughtfully up +to the starry sky. After a while she whispered timidly: + +"I will ask zeide; zeide is very learned; he knows the whole Bible by +heart." + +"Ask him," said Meir. + +The girl turned her head towards the dark interior, and called out: + +"Zeide! What does Jehovah command a man to do, from whom the people +have turned away because he will not act against his conscience?" + +Abel interrupted his prayers. He was accustomed to his +grand-daughter's inquiries, and to answer them. + +He seemed to ponder a few minutes, and then in his quavering but +distinct voice, replied: + +"Jehovah says: 'I made you a prophet, a guardian over Israel! Hear my +words and repeat them to the people. If you do this, I shall call you +a faithful servant; if you remain silent, on your head be the woes of +Israel.'" + +The old voice became silent, but Meir listened still, with glowing +eyes. Then he pointed into the dark room and said: + +"He has said the truth! Through his mouth has spoken the old covenant +of Moses, the one true covenant." + +Tears gleamed in Golda's eyes; but Meir saw them not, so deeply was +he absorbed in thoughts which fired his whole being. He gently bent +his head before the girl and went away. + +She remained at the open window. Her bearing was quiet, but silent +tears one after another rolled down her thin face. + +"They beheaded the prophet Hosea, and drove the prophet Jeremiah out +of Jerusalem," she whispered. + +At a distance from the hut, Meir raised his face to heaven: + +"Rabbi Akiba died in great tortures for his convictions," he +murmured. + +Golda's eyes followed him still though she could see him no longer; +and folding her hands, she murmured: + +"Like as Ruth said to Naomi, I wilt say to the light of my soul: +'Whither thou goest I will go; where thou diest, I will die!'" + +In this way these two children, thoroughly imbued with the old +history and legends of Israel, which represented to them all earthly +knowledge, drew from them comfort and courage. + + + +CHAPTER IX + +The day had scarcely begun to dawn when, in Kamionker's house, +everybody, with the exception of the little children, was awake and +stirring. It was an important day for the landlord of the inn, as it +was that of the principal fair, which brought crowds of people of all +sorts to the town. Both Jankiel's daughters, two strong, plain, and +slatternly girls, with the help of the boy Mendel, whose stupid, +malicious face bore the traces of Reb Moshe's training, were busy +preparing the two guest rooms for the arrival of distinguished +customers. Next to the guest rooms was the large bar-room, where, +during the fair, crowds of country people were wont to drink and to +dance. The servant pretended to clean the benches around the wall, +and made a scanty fire in the great black stove, as the morning was +cool and the air damp and musty. In Jankiel's room, the first from +the entrance, the window of which looked upon the still empty +market-square, were two people, Jankiel and his wife Jenta, both at +their morning prayers. + +Jankiel, dressed his everyday gabardine with black kerchief twisted +round his neck, rocked his body violently and prayed in a loud voice: + +"Blessed be the Lord of the world that he hath not made me a heathen! +Blessed be the Lord that he hath not made me a slave! Blessed be the +Lord that he hath not made me a woman!" + +At the same time Jenta, dressed in a blue sleeveless jacket and short +skirt, bent her body in short, jerky motions, and in a voice much +lower than her husband's, began: + +"Blessed be the Lord of the world that he has made me according to +his will!" + +Rocking to and fro, she sighed heavily: + +"Blessed be the Lord who gives strength to the tired and drives away +from their eyes sleep and weariness!" + +Then Jankiel took up the white tallith with the black border, and, +wrapping himself in its soft folds, exclaimed: + +"Blessed be the Lord who enlightened us with his law and bade us to +cover ourselves with the tallith!" + +He put the philacteries, or holy scroll, upon his forehead and +wrists, saying: + +"I betroth myself for ever, betroth myself unto truth, unto the +everlasting grace." + +Both husband and wife were so absorbed in their prayers that they did +not hear the quick step of a man. + +Meir Ezofowich crossed the room where Jankiel and his wife were +praying, and the next, which was full of beds and trunks, where the +two smaller children were still asleep, and opened the door of his +friend's room. + +There was as yet only a dim light in the little apartment where +Eliezer stood at the window and prayed. He recognised his friend's +step, but did not interrupt his prayers, only raised his hands as if +inviting him to join: + +"O Lord of Hosts, how long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of +thy people?" + +Meir stood a few steps apart and responded, as the people respond to +the singer: + +"Thou feedest them with the bread of stones, and givest them tears to +drink in great measure." + +"Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbours, and our enemies laugh +among themselves," intonated Eliezer. + +In this way the two friends sang one of the most beautiful complaints +that ever rose from earth to heaven. Every word is a tear, every word +a melody expressing the tragic history of a great people. + +There were as different expressions in the faces of the two young men +as their characters were unlike each other. Eliezer's blue eyes were +full of tears, his delicate features full of dreaminess and rapture; +Meir stood erect, his burning eyes fixed on the sky, and his brow +contracted as if in anger. They both prayed from the depths of their +hearts until the end, and then their formally united souls parted. +Eliezer intoned a prayer for the Wise Men of Israel: + +"O Lord of heaven! guard and watch over the Wise Men of Israel, their +wives, children and disciples, always and everywhere! Say unto me +Amen!" + +Meir did not say Amen. He was silent. + +The singer seemed to wait for a response, when Meir, slightly raising +his voice, said, with quivering lips: + +"Guard, O Lord, and watch over our brethren in Israel that live in +sin and darkness, always and everywhere; bring them from darkness +into light, from bondage to freedom! Say unto me Amen!" + +"Amen!" exclaimed Eliezer, turning towards his friend; and their +hands met in a hearty grasp. + +"Eliezer," said Meir, "you look changed since I saw you last." + +"And you, Meir, look different." + +Only a week had passed over their heads. Sometimes one week means as +much as ten years. + +"I have suffered much during the week," whispered the singer. + +Meir did not complain. + +"Eliezer," he said, "give me 'More Nebuchim.' I came to you so early +to ask for that book. I want it very much." + +Eliezer stood with his head hanging down dejectedly. + +"I no longer have the book," he said, in a low voice. + +"Where is it?" asked Meir. + +"The book which brought us light and comfort is no more. The fire has +devoured it, and its ashes are scattered to the winds." + +"Eliezer!" burst out Meir, "have you got frightened and burned it?" + +"My hands could never have committed the deed; even had my mouth +commanded it, they would not have obeyed. A week ago my father came +to me in great fury and ordered me to give up the accursed book we +had been reading on the meadow. He shouted at me, 'Have you that +book?' I said, 'I have.' He then asked me, 'Where is it?' I remained +silent. He looked as if he would have liked to beat me, but did not +dare, on account of my position in the synagogue, and the love people +bear me. He then ransacked the whole room, and at last found it under +the pillow. He wanted to carry it to the Rabbi, but I knelt before +him and begged him not to do so, as he would not allow me to sing any +more, and would deprive me of people's love, and of my singing. +Father seemed struck by my remark, for he is proud that a son of his, +and one so young in years, holds such a position, and he thinks, +also, that, when his son sings and prays before the Lord, the Lord +will prosper him in his business, and forgive all his sins. So he did +not take the book to the Rabbi, but thrust it into the fire, and, +when it burned and crackled, he leaped and danced for joy." + +"And you, Eliezer, you looked on and did nothing?" + +"What could I do?" whispered the singer. + +"I should have put the book on my breast, protected it with my arms, +and said to my father, 'If you wish to burn it, burn me with it.'" + +Meir said this with indignation, almost anger, against his friend. + +Eliezer stood before him with downcast eyes, sad, and humbled. + +"I could not," he whispered. "I was afraid they would deprive me of +my office, and denounce me as an infidel. But look at me, Meir, and +judge from it how I loved our Master; since he was taken away from me +my face has shrunk, and my eyes are red with tears." + +"Oh, tears! tears! tears!" exclaimed Meir, throwing himself upon a +chair, and pressing his throbbing temples with both hands; "always +those tears and tears!" he repeated, with a half-sarcastic, +half-sorrowful voice. "You may weep for ever, and do no good either +to yourself or to others. Eliezer! I love you even as a brother; but +I do not like your tears, and do not care to look at your reddened +eyes. Eliezer, do not show me tears again; show me eyes full of fire. +The people love you, and would follow you like a child its mother." + +Scolding and upbraiding his friend, Meir's eyes betrayed a moisture +which, not wishing to betray, he buried his face in both hands. + +"Oh, Eliezer, what have you done to give up that book? Where shall we +go now for advice and comfort? Where shall we find another teacher? +The flames have consumed the soul of our souls, and the ashes have +been thrown to the winds. If the spirit of the Master sees it he will +say, 'My people have cursed me again,'" and tears dropped through his +fingers upon the rough deal table. + +Suddenly he stopped his laments, and, changing his position, fell +into a deep reverie. + +Eliezer opened the window. + +The sandy ground of the market-square seemed divided in long slanting +paths of red and gold by the rays of the rising sun. Along one of +these shining paths, towards Kamionker's house, came a powerful +bare-footed man. His heavy step sounded near the window where the two +young men were sitting. Meir raised his head; the man had already +passed, but a short glimpse of the matted red hair and swollen face +was enough for Meir to identify him as the carrier, Johel. + +A few minutes later two men dressed in black passed near the window. +One of them was tall, stately, and smiling; the other, slightly +stooping, had iron-gray hair and a wrinkled brow. They were Morejne +Calman and Abraham Ezofowich. Evidently they had not crossed the +square, but passed along the back streets almost stealthily, as if to +avoid being seen. Both disappeared in the entrance of Kamionker's +house, where Johel had preceded them. + +Eliezer looked up from the book which he had been reading. + +"Meir," he said, "why do you look so stern? I have never seen you +look so stern before." + +Meir did not seem to have heard his friend's remark. His eyes were +fixed upon the floor, and he murmured: + +"My uncle Abraham! My uncle Abraham! Woe to our house. Shame to the +house of Ezofowich!" + +In the next room, divided from Eliezer's by a thin wall, loud voices +and bustle were audible. Jankiel shouted at his wife to go away and +take the children with her. Jenta's low shoes clattered upon the +floor, and the suddenly-roused children began to squall. By degrees +the noise sounded fainter and farther off. Then the floor resounded +with the steps of men, chairs were drawn together, and a lively +discussion in low but audible voices began. + +Meir suddenly rose. + +"Eliezer," he whispered, "let us go away." + +"Why should we go away?" said the young man, raising his head from +the book. + +"Because the walls are thin," began Meir. + +He did not finish, for from the other side of the wall came the +violent exclamation from his uncle Abraham: + +"I do not know anything about that; you did not tell me, Jankiel." + +The mirthless, bilious cackle of Jankiel interrupted. "I know a thing +or two," he exclaimed; "I knew that you, Abraham, would not easily +agree to it. I shall manage that without your help." + +"Hush!" hissed Calman. The voices dropped again to a whisper. + +"Eliezer, go away!" insisted Meir. + +The singer did not seem to understand. "Eliezer! do you want to +honour your father, as it is commanded from Sinai?" + +Kamionker's son sighed. + +"I pray to Jehovah that I may honour him." Meir grasped him by the +hand. + +"Then go at once--go! if you stop here any longer you will never be +able to honour your father again!" He spoke so impressively that +Eliezer grew pale and began to tremble. + +"How can I go now, if they are discussing secrets there?" + +The voice of Jankiel became again distinctly audible: + +"The tailor Shmul is desperately poor; the driver Johel is a thief. +Both will be well paid." + +"And the peasants who carted the spirit?" asked Abram. + +Jankiel laughed. + +"They are safe; their souls and bodies and everything that belongs to +them is pledged to my innkeepers." + +"Hush!" whispered again the phlegmatic, therefore cautious, Kalman. + +Eliezer trembled more and more. A ray of light had pierced his dreamy +brain. + +"Meir! Meir!" he whispered, "how can I get away? I am afraid to cross +the room; they might think I had overheard their secrets." + +With one hand Meir pushed the table from the window, and with the +other helped his friend to push through. In a second Eliezer had +disappeared from the room. Meir drew himself up and murmured: + +"I will show myself now, and let them know that somebody has +overheard their conversation." + +Then he opened the low door and entered into the next room. There, +near the wall, on three chairs closely drawn together, sat three men. +A small table stood between them. Kalman, in his satin garment, +looked calm and self-possessed. Jankiel and Abraham rested their +elbows on the table. The first was red with excitement and his eyes +glittered with malicious, greedy light; the latter looked pale and +troubled, and kept his eyes fixed on the floor; but nothing was +capable of disturbing the smiling equanimity of Kalman. When Meir +entered the room, he heard distinctly his uncle's words: + +"And if the whole place burns down with the spirit vaults?" + +"Ah! ah!" sneered Jankiel, "what does it matter? One more Edomite +will become a beggar!" + +Here the speaker stopped and began to quiver as if with rage or +terror; he saw Meir coming into the room. His two companions also saw +him. Kalman's mouth opened wide. Abraham looked threatening, but his +eyes fell before the bold, yet sorrowful glance of his nephew, and +his hands began to tremble. + +Meir slowly crossed the room and entered into the next, where Johel +stood near the stove staring absently at his bare toes. + +Jankiel sent a malediction after the retreating figure; the two +others were silent. + +"Why did you bring us in such an unsafe place?" asked Kalman at last, +in his even voice. + +"Why did you not warn us that somebody might hear from the other side +of the wall?" asked Abraham impetuously. Jankiel explained that it +was his son's room, who did not know anything about business and +never paid the slightest attention to what was going on around him. + +"How should I know that cursed lad was there? He must have entered +like a thief, through the window. Well!" he said, after a while, +"what does it matter if he heard? He is an Israelite, one of us, and +dare not betray his own people." + +"He may dare," repeated Kalman; "but we will keep an eye on him, and +if he as much as breathes a syllable of what he heard we will crush +him." + +Abraham rose. + +"You may do what you like," he said impulsively. "I wash my hands of +the whole business." + +Jankiel eyed him with a malicious expression. + +"Very well," he said, "in that case there will be all the more for us +two. Those who risk will get the money." + +Abraham sat down again. His nervous face betrayed the inward +struggle. Jankiel, who had a piece of chalk in his hand, began +writing on a black tablet: + +"Eight thousand gallons of spirit at four roubles the gallon make +thirty-two thousand roubles. These divided into three make ten +thousand six hundred and sixty-six roubles sixty-six and one third +kopecks. Six hundred roubles to each of the two, Johel and Shmul, and +there remains for each of us ten thousand and sixty-six roubles, +sixty-six and one third kopecks." + +Abraham rose again. He did not speak, but twisted his handkerchief +convulsively with both hands, Then he raised his eyes and asked: + +"And when will it come off?" + +"It will come off very soon," said Jankiel. + +Abraham said nothing further, and without saying good-bye, swiftly +left the room. + +The large market-square showed signs of life. Long strings of carts +and people began to arrive from all directions. Inside the houses and +shops everybody was busy preparing for the day's business. + +In Ezofowich's house the inmates had risen earlier than usual to-day. +The part of the home occupied by Raphael and Ber with their families +resounded with gay and lively conversation. Various objects of trade, +with their corresponding money value, were mentioned. Sometimes the +calculations were interrupted by remarks in feminine voices, which +occasioned laughter or gay exclamations. Everything showed the peace +and contentment of people who strove after the well-being of their +families and lived in mutual confidence and harmony. + +The large sitting-room smelt of pine branches, which were scattered +upon the even more than usually clean floor. On the old-fashioned, +high-backed sofa, before a table spread with fine linen, sat old Saul +and sipped his fragrant tea. The huge samovar had been taken down +from the cupboard and gleamed with red coals and hissed and steamed +in the next room, where a large kitchen fire illuminated the long +table and white, scrubbed benches. The steaming of the samovar, the +great kitchen fire and fresh curtains everywhere, together with the +unusual stir of all the inmates, showed distinctly that many visitors +were expected and preparations made accordingly. + +But it was yet early in the day, and Saul sat alone, evidently +relishing the atmosphere of well-being and orderliness and the sounds +of the busy life filling the house from top to basement. It was one +of those moments, not by any means rare in Saul's life, when he +realised the many blessings which the Lord had bestowed upon his +house with which to gladden his old age. + +Suddenly the door opened and Meir entered. The happy expression +vanished from Saul's wrinkled face. The sight of his grandson +reminded him of the thorn which lurked amidst the flowers. The very +look of the young man acted as a false or stormy discord in a gay and +peaceful melody. Trouble was depicted on his pale face, and his eyes +looked indignant and angry. He entered boldly and quickly, but +meeting the eyes of his grandfather, he bent his head and his step +became slower. Formerly he was wont to approach his father and +benefactor with the confidence and tenderness of a favourite child. +Now he felt that between him and the old man there arose a barrier, +which became higher and stronger every day, and his heart yearned for +the lost love and for a kind look from the old man, who now met his +eyes with a stern and angry face. He approached him timidly, +therefore, and said in a sad, entreating voice: + +"Zeide! I should like to speak with you about important business." + +The humble attitude of the once favourite child mollified the old +man; he looked less stern, and said shortly but gently: "Speak out." + +"Zeide, permit me to shut the door and windows so that nobody hears +what I have to say." + +"Shut them," replied Saul, and he waited with troubled face for the +grandson to begin. + +After closing the door and windows Meir came close to his grandfather +and began: + +"Zeide! I know that my words will bring you trouble and sorrow, but I +have nobody to go to; you were to me father and mother, and when in +trouble I come to you." His voice shook perceptibly. + +The grandfather softened. + +"Tell me everything. Though I have reason to be angry with you, +because you are not what I should like to see you, I cannot forget +that you are the son of my son who left me so early. If you have +troubles I will take them from you; if anybody has wronged you I will +stand up for you and punish him." + +These words soothed and comforted the young man. + +"Zeide!", he said, in a bolder tone, "thanks to you I have no +troubles of my own, and nobody has wronged me; but I have come across +a terrible secret, and do not know what to do with it, as I cannot +keep it concealed. I thought I would tell you, so that you, Zeide, +with the authority of your gray hair, might prevent a great crime and +a great shame." + +Saul looked at his grandson half-anxiously, half-curiously. + +"It is better people should not know any secrets or trouble about +any; but I know that if you do not speak to me, you will speak to +someone else, and troubles might come from it. Say, then, what is +this terrible secret?" + +Meir answered + +"This is the secret: Jankiel Kamionker, as you know, zeide, rents the +distillery from the lord of Kamionka. He distilled during the season +six thousand gallons of spirits, but did not sell any as prices were +low. Now prices have risen and he wants to sell; but he does not want +to pay the high government taxes." + +"Speak lower," interrupted Saul, whose face betrayed great +uneasiness. + +Meir lowered his voice almost to a whisper. + +"In order not to pay the taxes Kamionker last night carted away all +the spirits to the Karaite's hill, where his innkeepers from all +parts came to bargain for it and buy it up. But he thought what would +become of him if the government officials came down to visit the +vaults and did not find the spirits--he would be held answerable and +punished. Then he hired two people. Zeide! he tempted two miserable +outcasts to--" + +"Hush!" exclaimed Saul, in a low voice. "Be quiet; do not say a word +more. I can guess the rest." + +The old man's hands trembled, and his shaggy eyebrows bristled in a +heavy frown. + +Meir was silent, and looked with expectant eyes at his grandfather. + +"Your mouth has spoken what is not true. It cannot be true." + +"Zeide!" whispered Meir, "it is as true as the sun in heaven. Have +you not heard, zeide, of the incidents that happened last year and +last year but one? These incidents are getting more and more +numerous, and every true Israelite deplores it and reddens with +shame." + +"How can you know all this? How can you understand these things? I do +not believe you." + +"How do I know and understand it? Zeide, I have been brought up in +your house, where many people come to see you: Jews and Christians, +merchants and lords, rich and poor. They talked with you and I +listened. Why should I not understand?" + +Saul was silent, and his troubled countenance betrayed many +conflicting thoughts. A sudden anger toward the grandson stirred his +blood. + +"You understand too much. You are too inquisitive. Your spirit is +full of restlessness, and you carry trouble with you wherever you go. +I felt so happy to-day until my eye fell upon you, and black care +entered with you into the room." + +Meir hung his head. + +"Zeide," he said sadly, "why do you reproach me? It is not +about my own affairs I came to you." + +"And what right have you to meddle with affairs that are not your +own?" said Saul, with hesitation in his voice. + +"They are our own, zeide. Kamionker is an Israelite, and as such +ought not to cast a slur on our race; besides, they are our own, +still more because your son, zeide, Abraham belongs to it." + +Saul rose suddenly from the sofa and fell back again. Then he fixed +his penetrating eyes upon Meir. + +"Are you speaking the truth?" he asked sternly. + +"I have seen and heard it all myself," whispered Meir. + +Saul remained thinking a long time. + +"Well," he said slowly, "you have the right to accuse your uncle. He +is your father's brother, and from his deed shame and ignominy might +come upon our house. The family of Ezofowich never did dishonourable +things. I shall forbid Abraham to have anything to do with it." + +"Zeide, tell also Kamionker and Kalman not to do it." + +"You are foolish," said Saul. "Are Kamionker and Kalman my sons or my +daughters' husbands? They would not listen to me." + +"If they do not listen, zeide," exclaimed Meir "denounce them before +the owner of Kamionka or before the law." + +Saul looked at his grandson with flaming eyes. + +"Your advice is that of a foolish boy. Would you have your old +grandfather turn informer, and bring calamity upon his own brethren?" + +He wanted to say something more, but the door opened to admit several +visitors; they were Israelites from the country, respectable +merchants or farmers from the neighbouring estates, arrived for the +great fair. Saul half-rose to welcome his guests, who quickly +stepping up to him, pressed his hand in hearty greeting, and +explained that it was not so much business as the desire to see the +wise and honoured Saul which had brought them to town. Saul answered +with an equally polite speech, and asked them to be seated round the +table, and without leaving his own seat on the sofa clapped his bony +hands. At the signal a buxom servant girl came in with glasses of +steaming tea, which filled the whole room with its subtle aroma. The +guests thanked him smilingly, and then began a lively conversation +about familiar subjects. + +Meir saw that he would have no further opportunity of seeing his +grandfather alone, and quickly left the room and went into the +kitchen. This also was full of visitors, but of a different class +from those in the pitting-room. Upon the benches by the wall sat some +fifteen men in old worn-out garments; and Sarah, Saul's daughter, and +Raphael's wife, Saul's daughter-in-law, conversed with them and +offered tea or mead and other refreshments. + +The men responded gaily, if somewhat timidly, and accepted the +refreshments with humble thanks. Most of them were inn-keepers, dairy +farmers, or small tradesmen from the country. Their dark, lean faces +and rough hands betrayed poverty and hard work. The smallest expense +for food during their stay in town would have made a difference to +them. They went, therefore, straight to Ezofowich's house, the doors +of which were always hospitably open on such days, as had been the +custom of the family for hundreds of years. + +The two women in their silk gowns and bright caps flitted to and fro +between the huge fireplace and the grateful guests. Outside the house +there was another class of visitors. Those were the very poorest, who +had not come to buy or to sell at the fair, but to obtain some wine +and food out of the charity of their wealthier brethren. To these the +servant carried bread and clotted milk and small copper coins. The +murmur of their thanks and blessings penetrated to the kitchen, where +the two busy women smiled yet more contentedly, and produced more +small coins from their capacious pockets. + +In another part of the roomy kitchen stood the children of the house, +pleased with their pretty dresses and coral necklaces, eating sweets. +The elder boys listened to the conversation of the men, and a few of +the younger children played on the floor. Close to this group sat the +great-grandmother, Freida. Days like this conveyed to her clouded +memory pictures of the past, when she herself, a happy wife and +mother, looked after the comforts of her numerous guests. Her +great-granddaughter had roused her earlier than usual to-day, and +dressed her in the costliest garments, and now, before she would be +led into the sitting-room to her chair near the window, they were +completing her toilette. The black-eyed Lija fastened the diamond +star into her turban; her younger sister arranged the pendants; +another put the costly pearls around her neck and twisted the golden +chain cunningly among the soft folds of her white apron. Having done +this they smiled and drew back a little to admire the effect of their +handiwork, or peeped roguishly into the great-grandmother's eyes and +kissed her on the forehead. + +The men sitting round the wall nodded their heads sympathetically, +looked reverentially at the old lady, and now and then exclamations +of wonder and pleasure at seeing her surrounded by such tender care +escaped from their lips. + +The other part of the house, which had been so lively early in the +morning, was now silent and deserted. Meir crossed the narrow passage +that divided the house, and opened the door of his Uncle Raphael's +room, meeting his friend and cousin Haim upon the threshold. The +youthful, almost childish face, surrounded by golden hair, looked +beaming and excited. + +"Where is Uncle Raphael?" asked Meir. + +"Where should he be? He is at the fair, together with Ber, buying +bullocks." + +"And you, Haim, where are you going?" + +But the lad did not even hear the question. Trilling a gay song, he +had rushed off where the stir and lively spectacle of the fair +attracted him. + +Meir went out into the porch and looked around. The fair had scarcely +begun, but in the midst of some forty carts he saw Ber discussing the +prices of the cattle with the peasants. A little further on he saw +Raphael standing in the porch of a house, surrounded by merchants, +evidently talking and arranging business, as all their fingers were +in motion. To approach these two men, who, after his grandfather, had +the greatest, authority in the family, and engage them in private +talk was impossible. Meir saw that, and did not even try. + +The sight of the motley crowd, where everybody was engaged upon some +business of his own, looked strange and unreal. His thoughts were so +different from any of the thoughts that moved that bustling multitude. + +"Why should it trouble me?" he murmured. "What can I do?" And yet it +seemed to him impossible to wait in passive inactivity until a red +glare in the sky should announce that the nefarious design had been +accomplished. + +"What wrong has the man ever done us?" he said to himself. He was +thinking of the owner of Kamionka. + +His dull, listless eyes rested on the porch of Witebski's house, and +he saw the merchant himself standing and leisurely smoking a cigar. +He was looking at the lively scene with the eyes of a man who had +nothing whatever to do with it. The fact is, he dealt in timber, +which he bought in large quantities, from the estates; therefore the +fair had no special attraction for him. Besides, he considered +himself too refined and thought too highly of his own business to mix +with a crowd occupied with selling and buying corn or cattle. + +Meir descended the steps and went towards Witebski, who, seeing him, +smiled and stretched out a friendly hand. + +"A rare visitor! A rare visitor!" he exclaimed. "But I know you could +not come sooner to see the parents of your betrothed. We have heard +how your severe grandfather ordered you to sit in Bet-ha-Midrash to +read the Talmud. Well, it does not matter much; does it? The zeide is +a dear old man, and did not mean it unkindly, just as you did not +mean to do any wrong. Young people will now and then kick over the +traces. Come into the drawing-room; I will call my wife, and she will +make you welcome as a dear son-in-law." + +The worldly-wise merchant spoke smilingly, and holding Meir by the +hand, led him into the drawing-room. There, before the green sofa, he +stood still, and looked into Meir's face and said: + +"It is very praiseworthy, Meir, that you are bashful and shy of your +future wife. I was the same at your age, and all young men ought to +feel like it; but my daughter has been brought up in the world, where +customs are somewhat different. She is wondering that she does not +even know the fiance who is to be her husband within a month. I will +go and bring her here. Nobody need know you are together. I will shut +the door and window, and you can have a quiet talk together and make +each other's acquaintance." + +He was moving towards the door, but Meir grasped him by the sleeve. + +"Reb!" he said. "I am not thinking of betrothals or weddings; I came +to you on a different errand altogether." + +Witebski looked sharply at the grave and pale face of the young man, +and his brow became slightly clouded. + +"It is not about my own affairs I have come to you, Reb--" + +The merchant quickly interrupted: + +"If it be neither your affair nor mine, why enter it?" + +"There are affairs," said the young man, "which belong to everybody, +and it is everybody's business to think and speak about them." + +He was thinking of public affairs, but though he did not express +himself in these words, he felt all their importance. + +"I have come across an awful secret to-day." + +Witebski jumped up from the easy-chair where he was sitting. + +"I do not want to hear about any awful secrets! Why should you come +to me about it, when I am not curious to know anything?" + +"I want you, Reb, to prevent a terrible deed." + +"And why should I prevent anything; why do you come to me about it?" + +"Because you are rich and respected, and know how to speak. You live +in peace and friendship with everybody; even the great Rabbi smiles +when he sees you. Your words could do much if you only would--" + +"But I will not," interrupted Witebski in a determined voice and with +clouded brow. "I am rich and live in peace with everybody;" and +lowering his voice, he added: "If I began to peer into people's +secrets and thwarted them, I should be neither rich nor live in peace +with anybody, and things would, not go so well with me as they are +going now." + +"Reb!" said Meir, "I am glad that everything is prospering with you: +but I should not care for prosperity if it were the result of +wrong-doing." + +"Who speaks about wrong-doing?" said Eli, brightening up again. "I +wrong no man. I deal honestly with everybody I do business with, and +they are satisfied and feel friendly towards me. Thanks to the Lord, +I can look everybody in the face, and upon the fortune I leave my +children there are no human tears or human wrongs." + +Meir bent his head respectfully. + +"I know it, Reb. You are fair and honest, and carry on your business +with the wise intelligence the Lord gave you, and bring honour upon +Israel. But I think if a man be honest himself, he ought not to look +indifferently upon other people's villainy; and if he do not prevent +it when he can, it is as bad as if he had done it himself. I have +heard that a great wrong is going to be done by an Israelite to an +innocent man. I can do nothing to prevent it, and I am looking for +somebody who might be able to save this innocent man from a great +calamity." + +Here a loud and jovial laugh quite unexpectedly interrupted Meir's +speech, and Witebski patted him playfully on the shoulder. + +"Well, well," he said, "I see what you are driving at. You are a +hot-headed youth, and want to take some trouble out of your own head +and put it into mine. Thank you for the gift, but I will have none of +it. Let things be. Why should we spoil our lives when they can be +made so pleasant? There, sit ye down, and I will go and bring your +bride. You have never heard her play on the piano. Ah, but she can +play well. It is not the Sabbath, and she will play and you can +listen a little." + +He said this in his most lively manner, and moved towards the door; +but again Meir arrested his steps. + +"Reb!" he said, "listen at least to what I have to say." + +There was a gleam of impatience in Witebski's eyes. "Ah, Meir! what +an obstinate fellow you are, wanting to force your elders to do or +hear things they do not want to! Well, I forgive you, and now let me +go and bring the young woman." + +Meir barred the way + +"Reb," he said, "I will not let you go before you have heard me. I +have no one else to go to; everybody is occupied with business or +visitors. You alone, Reb, have time." + +He stopped, because the merchant laid his hand upon the young man's +shoulder; he was no longer smiling, but looked grave and displeased. + +"Listen, Meir," he said. "I will tell you one thing. You have taken a +wrong turning altogether. People shake their heads and speak badly of +you; but I am indulgent with you. I make allowance because you are +young, and because I am not of the same way of thinking as the people +here, and know that many things in Israel are not as they ought to +be. I think it; but do not speak about it or show it. Why should I +expose myself to their ill-feeling? What can I do? If it be the Lord +who ordered it so, why should I offend Him and make Him turn against +me? If it be people's doing, other people will come in time to set it +right. My business is to look after my family and their well-being. I +am not a judge or a Rabbi either; therefore I keep quiet, try to +please God and the people, and be in nobody's way. These re my +principles, and I wish they were yours also Meir. I should let you go +your own way, and not give advice to you either; but since you are to +be my son-in-law, I must keep my eye upon you." + +"Rob!" interrupted Meir, whose eyelids quivered with suppressed +irritation, "do not be angry with me or think me rude, but I cannot +marry your daughter. I shall never be her husband." + +Witebski turned rigid with amazement. + +"Do we hear aright?" he said, after a while. "Did not your +grandfather pledge you to her and send the betrothal gifts?" + +"My grandfather agreed with you about it," said Meir, in a trembling +voice; "but he did it against my wish." + +"Well," said Witebski, with the greatest amazement, "and what have +you to say against my daughter?" + +"I have no feelings against her, Rob; but my heart is not drawn to +her. She also does not care for me. The other day, when passing your +house, I heard her crying and lamenting that they wanted her to marry +a common, ignorant Jew. It may be I am a common, ignorant Jew, but +her education likewise is not to my taste. Why should you wish to +bind us? We are not children, and know what our heart desires and +what it does not desire." + +Witebski still looked at the young man in utter bewilderment, and +raising both hands to his head, exclaimed indignantly: + +"Did my ears not deceive me? You do not want my daughter--my +beautiful, educated Mera?" + +A hot flush had mounted to his forehead. The gentle diplomatist and +man of the world had disappeared, only the outraged father remained. + +At the same time the door was violently thrown open, and upon the +threshold, with a very red face and blazing eyes, stood Mistress +Hannah. + +Evidently she had been at her toilette, which was only partly +completed. Instead of her silk gown she wore a short red petticoat +and gray jacket. The front of her wig was carefully dressed, but a +loose braid fastened by a string dangled gracefully at her back. She +stood upon the threshold and gasped out: + +"I have heard everything!" + +She could not say any more from excitement. Her breast heaved and her +face was fiery red. At last she rushed with waving arms at Meir, and +shouted: + +"What is that? You refuse my daughter! You, a common, stupid Jew from +Szybow, do not wish to marry a beautiful, educated girl like my Mera! +Fie upon you--an idiot, a profligate!" + +Witebski tried in vain to mitigate the fury of his better half. + +"Hush, Hannah, hush!" he said, holding her by the elbow. + +But all the breeding and distinguished manners upon which Mistress +Hannah prided herself had vanished. She shook her clenched fist close +in Meir's face: + +"You do not want Mera, my beautiful daughter! Ai! Ai! the great +misfortune!" she sneered. "It will certainly kill us with grief. She +will cry her eyes out after the ignorant Jew from Szybow! I shall +take her to Wilno and marry her to a count, a general, or a prince. +You think that because your grandfather is rich and you have money of +your own you can do what you like. I will show your grandfather and +all your family that I care for them as much as for an old slipper!" + +Eli carefully closed the door and windows. Mistress Hannah rushed +toward a chest of drawers, opened it and took out, one after the +other, the velvet-lined boxes, and throwing them at Meir's feet, +exclaimed: + +"There, take your presents and carry them to the beggar girl you are +consorting with; she will be just the wife for you." + +"Hush!" hissed out the husband, almost despairingly, as he stooped +down to pick up the boxes but Mistress Hannah tore them out of his +hands. + +"I will carry them myself to his grandfather, and break off the +engagement." + +"Hannah," persuaded the husband, "you will only make matters worse. I +will take them myself and speak with Saul." + +Hannah did not even hear what he said. + +"For shame!" she cried out; "the madman, the profligate, to prefer +the Karaite's girl to my daughter! Well, the Lord be thanked we have +got rid of him. Now I shall take my daughter to Wilno and marry her +to a great nobleman." + +It was about noon when Meir left Witebski's house, pursued by the +curses and scoldings of its mistress and the gentle remonstrances and +conciliatory words of Eli. The fair was now in full swing. The large +market square was full of vehicles of all kinds, animals and people, +that it seemed as if nobody could pass or find room any longer. In +one part of the square where the crowd was less dense, close by the +wall of a large building, sat an old man surrounded by baskets of all +shapes and sizes. It was Abel Karaim. + +Though the day was warm and sunny, his head was covered with a fur +cap, from under which streamed his white hair, and his beard spread +like a fan over his breast. The sun fell upon the small and thin +face, scarcely visible from under his hair, and the fur which fell +over the shaggy eyebrows gave but little protection to the dim eyes +blinking in the sunlight. + +Close to him, slim and erect, stood Golda, with her corals encircling +the slender neck, setting off the clear olive of her complexion, and +her heavy tresses falling down her back. A few steps in front of +these two stood long rows of carts full of grain, wood, and various +country produce; between the carts bullocks and cows lowed, calves +bleated, horses neighed and stamped, small brokers and horse-dealers +flitted to and fro bargaining with the peasants. In this hubbub of +voices, in midst of bargaining and quarrels, mixed with the shrill +voices of women and squalling children, sounded the quavering voice +of old Abel unweariedly at his task of reciting. The surging elements +around did not distract him; on the contrary, they seemed to +stimulate him, as his voice sounded louder and more distinct. + +"When Moses descended from Mount Sinai, a great light shone from his +face, and the people fell down on their faces and called out as in +one voice: Moses, repeat to us the words of the Eternal. And a great +calm came upon the earth and the heavens. They grew silent, the +lightning ceased, and the wind fell. And Moses called the seventy +elders of Israel, and when they surrounded him, as the stars surround +the moon, he repeated to them the words of the Eternal." + +At this moment two grave men, poorly dressed, came from the crowd and +passed close by him. + +"He is reciting again," said one. + +"He is always doing so," said the other. + +They smiled, but did not go further. An old woman and some younger +people joined them. The woman stood listening and asked: + +"What is it he is telling?" + +"The history and the covenant of the Israelites," replied Golda. + +The young people opened their mouths, the woman drew nearer, the men +smiled, but all stood still and listened. + +"When the people heard the commandments of the Lord, they called out +as in one voice: We will do all that the Lord commands. And Moses +erected twelve stones against the Mountain of Sinai, and said unto +the people: Keep therefore the words of this covenant; your captains +of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, with all the men of +Israel." + +"Your little ones, your wives, and the stranger that is in thy camp, +from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water." + +"He says beautiful things, and speaks well," said one. + +"And the hewer of thy wood and the drawer of thy water," repeated the +two poorly dressed men as they raised their shining eyes to heaven. +The woman, who had listened attentively, drew from her shabby gown a +dirty handkerchief, and undoing one of the knots, deposited a big +copper coin on Abel's knees. + +A few more had joined the little group which surrounded Abel, Jews, +Christians, and young people. These few had torn themselves from the +noisy, haggling crowd, and listened to other words than those of +roubles and kopecks--the sounds of the far past. It seemed almost as +if Abel felt the attention of the people, and as if all these eyes +upon him warmed his heart and stirred his memory. His eyes shone +brighter from under the half-closed eyelids; the fur cap pushed at +the back of his head, and the long white hair falling upon breast and +shoulder, gave him the air of a half-blind bard who, with national +songs, rouses and gladdens the spirit of the people. In a louder and +steadier voice he went on: + +"When the Israelites crossed the Jordan, Joshua erected two great +stones, and wrote upon them the ten commandments. One half of the +people rested under Mount Gerisim, the other half under Mount Ebal, +and the voice spoke unto all men: He breaks the covenant of the Lord +who worships false gods, he who does not honour his father and +mother. He breaks the covenant who covets his neighbour's property +and leads astray the blind. He breaks it who wrongs the stranger, the +orphan, and the widow; he who putteth a lie into his brother's ear, +and sayeth of the innocent, Let him die. And when the people of +Israel heard it they called out, as if in one voice: All that thou +commandest, we will do." + +"Amen," murmured around Abel the voices which a short time before had +haggled desperately over their small bargains. A peasant woman pushed +through the little group, picked up one of the baskets and asked the +price. Golda told her, after which the woman began to bargain; but +Golda did not answer again, not because she did not want to, as +rather that she did not hear the shrill voice any longer. Her eyes +were fixed upon one point in the crowd, a hot blush suffused her +features, and a half-childish, half-passionate smile played upon her +lips. She saw Meir making his way through the crowd and coming near +where she stood; but he did not see her. His face looked troubled and +restless, and presently he disappeared within the precincts of the +synagogue. This was almost as crowded as the market square, but not +so noisy. + +Meir went towards the dwelling of the Rabbi Todros; all the people +were moving in the same direction. Close to the Rabbi's little hut +the crowd was still denser; but there was no noise, no pushing, or +eyes shining with the greediness of gain; a grave silence prevailed +everywhere, interrupted only by timid whispers. Meir knew what +brought the people here and where they came from. There were scarcely +any inhabitants of Szybow amongst them, as these could always see the +Rabbi and come to him for advice. They came mostly from the country +around; some from far distant places. There was a slight sprinkling +of merchants and well-to-do people, but the great bulk bore the stamp +of poverty and hard work in their lean, patient faces, and upon their +garments. + +"Why should I go there?" said Meir to himself; "he will not listen to +me now; but where else can I go?" he added after a while, and he +again mixed with the crowd, which bore him onwards until he found +himself before the wide-open door of the Rabbi's dwelling. + +Beyond the door, in the entrance hall, people stood closely pressed +together like a living and breathing wall; no other sound than their +long-drawn breaths were audible. Meir tried to push his way through, +which did not present much difficulty, for many of the poor people +had been humble guests at Ezofowich's, and recognised Saul's grandson +and made way for him. They did this in a quick, absent-minded way, +their eyes being riveted on the room beyond; they stood on tip-toe, +and whenever they caught a broken sentence, their faces glowed with +happiness as if the honoured sage's words were balm for all the +sorrows of their lives. + +The interior of the room, which Meir beheld from the open door, +presented a singular appearance. In the depth of it, between the wall +and a table, sat Rabbi Todros in his usual worn-out garments with his +cap pushed to the back of his head. The upper part of his body bent +forward; he sat perfectly motionless except for his eyes, which +roamed along the people, who looked at him humbly and beseechingly. +There was a small space between the sage and those who stood before +him, which none dared to cross without his permission. The whole +scene was lighted up by the rays of the sun streaming in through the +window, on one side; on the other by the lurid and fitful flames in +the fire-place. Near the latter crouched the melamed, feeding the +fire with fresh fuel and putting various herbs into steaming vessels. + +Besides the function of apothecary he had also the office of crier. +He called out the names of the people who, according to his opinion, +were entitled to appear before the master. + +He now raised his thick forefinger towards the entrance, and called +out: + +"Shimshel, the innkeeper." + +The summoned man whose name, Samson, time and custom had transformed +into Shimshel, did not in the least resemble his namesake, the Samson +of history. He was slender and red-haired, and bent almost to the +ground before the Rabbi. + +"Who greets the Wise Man bows before the greatness of the Creator," +he said in a timid, shaking voice. It was not only his voice which +trembled, but all his limbs, and his blue eyes roamed wildly about +the room. + +Isaak Todros sat like a statue. His eyes looked piercingly at +the little red-haired man before him, who, in his terror, had lost his +tongue altogether. + +"Well?" said the sage, after a lengthy pause. + +Shimshel raised his shoulders almost to his ears and began: + +"Nassi! let a ray of your wisdom enlighten my darkness. I have +committed a great sin, and my soul trembles while I am confessing it +before you. Nassi! I am a most unfortunate man; my wife Ryfka has +lost my soul for ever, unless you, oh Rabbi, tell me how to make it +clean again." + +Here the poor penitent choked again, but gathering courage, +proceeded: + +"Nassi! I and my wife Ryfka and the children sat down, last Friday, +to the Sabbath feast. On one table there was a dish of meat, on the +other a bowl of milk which my wife had boiled for the younger +children. My wife ladled out the milk for the children, when her hand +shook and a drop of milk fell upon the meat." + +"Ai! Ai! stupid woman, what had she done! She had made the meat +unclean." + +"Well, and what did you do with the meat?" The questioned man's head +sank upon his breast, and he stammered: + +"Rabbi, I ate from it, and so did my wife and children." + +The Rabbi's eyes flashed with anger. + +"Why did you not throw the unclean food on the refuse heap? Why did +you make your mouth and the mouths of your family unclean?" shouted +the Rabbi. + +Shimshel choked again, and stopped. The sage, still motionless, +asked: + +"Nassi! I am very poor, and keep a small inn that brings but little +profit. I have six children, an old father who lives with me, and two +orphaned grandchildren, whose parents died. Rabbi it is difficult to +find food for so many mouths, and we have meat only once a week. +Kosher meat is very dear, so I buy three pounds every week, and +eleven people have to keep up their strength, on it. Rabbi! I knew we +should have nothing during the week, except bread and onions and +cucumber. I was loth to throw that meat away and so ate from it, and +allowed my family to eat from it." + +Thus complained and confessed the poor Samson, and the master +listened with clouded brows. + +Then he spoke, transfixing the sinner with angry eyes. He explained +in a long and learned speech the origin of the law of clean and +unclean food. How great and wise men had written many commentaries +about it, and how great the sin of a man was who dared to eat a piece +of meat upon which a drop of milk had fallen. + +"Your sin is abominable in the sight of the Lord," he thundered at +the humble penitent. "For the sake of greediness you have broken the +covenant which Jehovah made with his people, and transgressed one of +the six hundred and thirteen commandments which every true Israelite +is bound to keep. You deserve to be cursed even as Elisha cursed the +mocking children, and Joshua the town of Jerico. But since it was +only your body which sinned, whilst the spirit remained faithful, and +you came to me and humbled and confessed yourself, I will forgive +you, under the condition that you and your family abstain from meat +and milk during four weeks, and the money saved thereby be +distributed among the poor. And after four weeks, when your souls +will be clean again from the abomination, you may dwell in peace and +piety among your brethren Israelites." + +"Say everybody Amen." + +"Amen," called the people within the room and without, and those who +pressed their eager faces against the window. + +The little red-haired Samson, relieved of the burden that had +oppressed his conscience, though otherwise burdened with a +four-weeks' fast, murmured his thanks and retreated towards the +entrance. + +Reb Moshe again raised his finger and called out: + +"Reb Gerson, melamed." + +At his summons a round-backed, middle-sized man, with shaggy hair and +clouded mien, appeared. He was a colleague of Reb Moshe, a teacher +from a small town, where he enlightened the Israelitish youths. He +stood in the middle of the room, holding a heavy book with both +hands, After greeting the master, he began in these words: + +"Rabbi! my soul has been in trouble, Two days ago my children read +that evening prayers ought to be said until the end of the first +watch. The children asked me: 'What is the first watch?' I remained +mute, for I did not know how to answer, and I come to you, Rabbi, for +a ray of wisdom to enlighten my mind. Tell me, oh Rabbi, what are the +watches according to which every Israelite has to regulate his +prayers. Where are they, so that I may give an answer to the +children?" + +The round-backed man stopped, and all eyes rested with excited +curiosity upon the sage, who, without changing his position, +answered: + +"What should it be but the angels' watch? And where do they watch? +They watch before the throne of the Eternal, when the day declines +and night approaches. The angels are divided into three choirs. The +first choir stands before the throne and keeps watch till midnight. +Then is the time to say evening prayers. The second comes at midnight +and keeps watch until dawn; when you see the sky turn rosy-red and +pale-blue, the third choir arrives, and then it is time to say +morning prayers." + +The master stopped, and a low murmur of admiration and rapture was +heard among the crowd. But the melamed did not retire yet; his eyes +fixed upon his book he began anew: + +"Rabbi, give me another ray of wisdom to carry back to my scholars. +Near our little town lies the estate of a great lord. Sometimes the +children go there and hear all sorts of things. Once, coming thence, +they told in town that the origin of thunder had been explained to +them. They were told that thunder comes from heaven when two clouds +meet and give out a force they called electricity. I never heard of +it before: is it true that such a force exists and that it originates +thunder?" + +During Reb Gerson's speech the Rabbi's face twitched with suppressed +impatience, and he smiled scornfully. + +"It is not true!" he exclaimed. "There is no such force, and not from +there comes thunder. When the Roman emperor destroyed the Temple, and +dispersed the people of Israel, there was thunder. Where did it come +from? It came from Jehovah's breast, who wept aloud over the +destruction of his people. And now the Lord weeps over his people, +and his moans are heard upon earth as thunder; his tears fall into +the seas and make them heave and rise, and shake the earth to its +foundations, and send forth fire and smoke. I have told you now +whence come thunder and earthquakes. Go in peace and repeat to your +children what I have told you." + +With a humble bow and thanks the melamed retired into the crowd. At +the same time from beyond the door the loud wail of a child became +audible. + +Reb Moshe called out: + +"Haim, dairy farmer from Kamionka, and his wife Malka." + +From the crowd came a man and a woman. Both looked pale and troubled +The woman carried a sick child in her arms. They knelt before him, +and holding up to him the child, wasted with disease, asked for his +help and advice. Todros bent tenderly over the fragile little body +and looked long and attentively at it. Reb Moshe, squatting on the +floor, looked at the master for orders, mixing and stirring the +decoctions. In this way, one by one, came the people to their +teacher, sage, physician, prophet almost, plied him with questions +and asked for advice. A troubled husband brought his comely, buxom +wife, and asked for judgment by help of a certain water, called the +water of jealousy. If the wife be guilty of infidelity, the efficacy +of the water is believed to cause death; if innocent, it will enhance +her beauty and give her health. Another man asked what he was to do +if the time for prayers came during a journey and he could not turn +his face to the east, because the storm and dust would blind his +eyes. A great many came crying and bewailing their miserable lives, +and asked the sage to look into the future and tell them how long it +would be till the Messiah arrived. The greater part of the people did +not want anything, asked neither questions nor came for advice; they +simply wanted to see the revered master, breathe the same air with +him, and fill their souls with the words that dropped from his lips, +and see the light of his countenance. + +It was evident that Isaak Todros felt and appreciated his high +position. He attended to all their wants with the greatest gravity, +zeal, and patience. He explained, and put the people right in points +of law, inflicted penances upon sinners, gave physic to the sick, +advice to the ignorant--without changing his position--only fixing +his either stern or thoughtful eyes upon those who came to him. +Several times when the people wailed and complained, entreating him +to foretell the coming of the Messiah, his dark eyes grew misty. He +loved those who came to him with their troubles and felt for them. +Big beads of perspiration stood upon his forehead, and his breath +came hard and fast; still he went on with his ministrations, in the +deep conviction that he was doing his duty, with a fervent faith and +belief in all that he was achieving and teaching, and the +disinterestedness of a man who wants nothing for himself, except the +little black hut, a scanty meal, and the tattered garments he had +worn for many years. + +In the meanwhile a man passed rapidly through the court of the +synagogue, looking around him as if in search of something or +somebody. It was Ber, Saul's son-in-law. He looked at the people +crowding round the Rabbi's dwelling; at last his eyes lighted on +Meir, and he grasped him by the sleeve of his coat. + +The young man awoke, as from a trance, and looked round absently at +his uncle. + +"Come with me," whispered Ber. + +"I cannot go away," said Meir, in an equally low voice. "I have +important business with the Rabbi, and shall wait till all the people +have left so that I may speak with him." + +"Come away," repeated Ber, and he took the youth by the shoulder. + +Meir shook him off impatiently, but Ber repeated: + +"Come with me now; you can return later when the people have +gone--that is, if you wish it, but I do not think you will." + +Both left the crowded hut. Ber walked swiftly and silently, leading +his companion to a quiet part of the precincts where, under the +shadow of the walls of Bet-ha-Midrash, nobody could overhear, their +conversation. + +Meir leaned against the wall. Ber stood silently before him, looking +intently at his young kinsman. + +Ber's outward appearance did not present any striking features; many +would pass him without taking particular notice, yet the student of +human nature would find in him a character worth knowing. He was +forty years old, always carefully dressed, yet according to old +customs. His delicately moulded features and blue eyes had a dreamy +and apathetic expression, which only lighted up under the excitement +of business speculations. A deep yearning after something, and +carefully suppressed dreams and stifled aspirations gave to his mouth +an expression of calm resignation. Sometimes, when the ghost of the +past appeared before him, two deep furrows appeared across his +forehead. It was evident that some fierce conflicts had raged under +that quiet exterior, and left wounds and scars which now and then +would remind him painfully of the past. + +He now stood opposite the young man whom he had dragged away from the +crowd almost by force. + +"Meir," he said at last, "an hour ago your grandfather had a long +talk with his son, Abraham. He left his visitors on purpose to speak +with him, and bade me to be present at their conversation. Rest in +peace, Meir; your uncle will have no hand in the vile deed which will +be perpetrated." + +"Will be perpetrated?" interrupted Meir passionately. "Not if I can +prevent it." + +Ber smiled bitterly + +"How can you prevent it? I guessed you wanted to speak about it to +the Rabbi, and I went after you to warn you and save you from the +consequences of such a step. You thought that if you put the case +before him, he would rise in anger and forbid any one to do such an +infamous deed If he did that they would obey him; but he will not." + +"Why should he not?" exclaimed Meir. + +"Because he does not understand anything about it. If you questioned +him about clean or unclean food, whether it was allowed to snuff a +candle on the Sabbath, or gird the loins with pocket-handkerchiefs, +he would answer readily enough. He would tell you whether to bless +first the wine or first the bread, or how the spirits transmigrate +from one body to another, how many Sefirots emanate from Jehovah and +how to transpose the sacred letters in order to discover fresh +mysteries, or about the arrival of the Messiah. But if you began to +speak to him about distilleries, taxes, estates, and things in +connection with them, he would open his eyes widely and would listen +to you like a man struck with deafness, because these things are to +him like a sealed letter. For him, beyond his sacred books, the world +is like a great wilderness." + +Meir bent his head. + +"I feel the truth of what you say; yet if I asked him whether it be +right for the sake of gain to wrong an innocent man?" + +Ber answered: + +"He would ask you whether the innocent man were an Edomite or an +Israelite." + +Meir looked intently at the sky, thinking deeply, and evidently +puzzled. + +"Ber," he said at last, "do you hate the Edomites?" + +The questioned man shook his head. + +"Hatred is like poison to the human mind. Once, when I was young, I +even thought of going to them and entreating them to help us. I am +glad now that I did not do it and remained with my own people, but I +have no ill-feeling towards them." + +"And I have none," said Meir. "Do you think Kamionker hates them?" + +"No," said her decidedly. "He makes use of them. They are his milch +cows. He may despise them, because they do not look after their +business but allow themselves to be cheated." + +"And Todros; does he hate them?" questioned Meir. + +"Yes," said Ber, very emphatically; "Todros hates them. And why does +he hate them? Because he does not live in the Present; he still lives +in the Past, when the Roman emperor besieged Jerusalem and drove the +Israelites out of Palestine. He breathes, thinks, and feels as if he +were living two thousand years ago. He does not know that from the +time of his ancestor, Halevi Todros, other wise people have lived, +and that times are changed, and that those who hated and persecuted +us once have since then stretched out their hands in peace and +goodwill. How can he know anything? He never left Szybow since he was +born; never read anything but the books left by his forefathers; has +never seen or spoken to any one out of Israel." + +Meir listened, and nodded his head in sign that he agreed with his +companion. + +"I see that it is of no use at all going to him," he said, +thoughtfully. + +"It is not," said Ber; "therefore I came in search of you. He will +not prevent Kamionker from wronging the lord of Kamionka, who +represents to him the people of Ai, with whom Joshua went to war, or +the Roman nation who destroyed the Temple, or the Spaniards who, five +hundred years ago, burned and despoiled the Jews. He would not even +listen to you, and would denounce you as an infidel. If he has not +brought his hand down upon you, it is owing to the love and respect +the people bear towards your grandfather, Saul. If you accused +Kamionker before him, Kamionker would set him, against you, as +already does Reb Moshe. Meir! be careful! there are rocks ahead. Save +yourself before it is too late." + +Meir did not reply to the warning. + +"Ber," he said, "I am sure that man, blind and revengeful as he is, +possesses a great soul. Look how patiently he sits night and day over +his books, how full of pity and compassion are his eyes when he +listens to the poor people and comforts them, and does not want +anything for himself. Ber! his faith is so sincere!" + +Ber smiled at his words, and turned his dreamy eyes to heaven. + +"You speak thus about the Rabbi, Meir; what do you say about the +people who, in the midst of misery, hunger, and humiliation still +thirst for wisdom and knowledge. Never mind whether it is the true +wisdom or true knowledge, but look how they raise themselves above +their narrow lives by their faith and reverence for their Wise Men. +Do you think that this narrow, bigoted, greedy people have a great +soul?" + +"Israel has a great soul, and I love it more than my life, my +happiness, and my peace." He stopped for a minute, then grasped Ber +by the shoulder. "I know what is wanting in Todros to make him a +great man, and what is wanting in the Israelitish people to show +their greatness to the world. They ought to come out of the Past, in +which they persist to dwell, into the Present. They want Sar-Ha-Olam, +the angel of knowledge, to touch them with his wings." + +Whilst the young man spoke thus, his face glowing with excitement, +Ber looked at him thoughtfully. + +"When I look at you, Meir, and listen to you, I see myself as I was +at your age. I felt the same anger, the same grief, and I wanted--" + +He stopped, and passed his hand over his brow, marked with two deep +lines, and his eyes looked far away as if into the future. + +Anybody seeing their animated faces and lively gesticulation as they +stood near the wall of the Bet-ha-Midrash, would have concluded that +they were discussing bargains. What else did people like them live or +care for? Yet they think and suffer, but nobody guesses it or wishes +to penetrate the mystery of their thoughts. It is like the depth of +an unfathomable sea--its depths unknown even to those who are +perishing in it. + +"Come home with me," said Ber. "Your grandfather will soon be sitting +down to dinner with his guests and be displeased at not seeing you at +table. There is already a storm brewing for you, because Mistress +Hannah has returned the betrothal gifts, broken off the engagement, +and given Saul a piece of her mind in presence of all the visitors." + +Meir carelessly waved his bands. + +"I wished for it," he said. "I shall ask my grandfather's pardon. I +can only think about one thing now: where to go next." + +Ber looked wonderingly at the speaker. "How obstinate you are," he +remarked. They were near the entrance gate when Ber suddenly stopped. + +"Meir, whatever you do, don't go to the government authorities." + +Meir passed his hand over his forehead. + +"I thought of that," he said, "but I am afraid. If I reveal the whole +truth, they will not only punish Kamionker, but also those poor +wretches he tempted with his money. Poor people, ignorant people, I +am sorry for them--" + +He suddenly paused, and looked fixedly in one direction. An elegant +carriage, drawn by four horses, crossed the market-square. Meir +pointed at the carriage, which stopped before Jankiel Kamionker's +inn, and his eyes opened wider, for a sudden idea took hold of his +mind. + +"Ber!" he exclaimed, "do you see him? That is the lord of Kamionka." + +The sun was declining towards the west when, in the porch of Saul's +house, stood a group of men gaily conversing among themselves. They +were Saul's visitors who, after having feasted at his hospitable +board, were now saying good-bye, and pressing the old man's hand, +thanking him for his kind reception; then, by twos and threes, they +mounted the waiting carts, their faces still turned towards their +venerable host, who stood in the porch. + +In the sitting-room the women, with the help of the servants, were +busy clearing the table, and putting away the dinner service. + +The fair was also drawing to an end; the carts grew fewer by degrees, +so did the people upon the square. All the noise and liveliness +concentrated itself now in the several inns where the people were +drinking and dancing. Jankiel Kamionker's inn was by far the most +frequented and noisiest, No wonder. + +The crafty dealer rented several distilleries and some seventy inns +about the country, and ruled over a small army of subtenants and +inn-keepers, of the Samson kind, who bought meat once a week, and +starved on other days. They depended entirely on Kamionker, who, if +he did not treat them generously they, on their side, were not +generous towards the peasants, whom they plied with drink. Through +his subordinates, Kamionker held thousands of peasants' families +under his thumb. Therefore they all came to his inn. He did not +himself look after his humble customers, but left them to his wife +and his two strong and ugly daughters, who carried bottles and +glasses round the tables, together with salted herrings, and +different kinds of bread. Nobody could have guessed, seeing the faded +woman, shabbily dressed, moving in that stifling atmosphere of +alcohol and human breath, that she was the wife of one of the +wealthiest men in the country. + +Neither did the man in his musty garments who stood humbly at the +door of the guest's room, look like a great capitalist and financier. + +He stood near the threshold, and his guest, the lord of Kamionka, +reclined in an easy-chair smoking a cigar. The young gentleman was +tall and handsome; his dark hair fell upon a white forehead, though +the other part of his face was slightly browned by the sun. He had a +good-natured and thoughtful face. + +The gay playfulness with which his eyes twinkled was evidently caused +by the sight of the nimble Jew, whose body seemed to be made of india +rubber, and the two corkscrew curls behind his ears of a fiery red, +seemed to dance to and fro with his every motion. + +Then he became thoughtful again, because the red-haired Jew spoke +about important business. The young nobleman did not know anything +about the man himself with whom he dealt. + +He was to him a Jew, and the tenant of his distillery. Thus he might +be also a prominent member of a powerfully organised body, a greatly +respected and pious person, a mystic deeply versed in sacred +knowledge, and finally a man who, in those dirty, freckled hands, +held the entangled threads of many Jewish and Christian families; of +all this the lord of Kamionka knew nothing. Therefore it never +occurred to him to invite the Jew to draw nearer or sit down. Reb +Jankiel likewise did not think of such a thing. He had been +accustomed to stand humbly, as his fathers had done before him; +nevertheless, his pale blue eyes were full of malice whenever the +young gentleman turned his look elsewhere and could not see him. It +may be Reb Jankiel did not realise his own feelings, yet he could not +help seeing the contrast between his present humble attitude and the +proud position he occupied in his own community. Such feelings, +though ill-defined, if united to a bad heart, could produce no other +results than hatred and even crime. + +"You bore me, Jankiel, with your everlasting bargains and +agreements," said the nobleman carelessly, twisting his cigar between +his fingers. "I stopped at your inn for a few minutes to rest my +horses, and you get me into business discussions at once." + +Reb Jankiel bowed nimbly. + +"I beg the gracious lord's pardon," he said smilingly, "but the +distillery will be starting work next month, and I should like to +renew the agreement." + +"Of course you will be my tenant, as you have been these last three +years; but there is plenty of time." + +"It is better to arrange everything beforehand. I shall have to +buy a hundred head of cattle for fattening purposes, and I cannot +afford the outlay unless I am sure of the tenancy. If the gracious +lord permits, I shall come to-morrow to write the agreement." + +The young nobleman rose. + +"Very well, come to-morrow, but not in the morning, as I shall not be +at home." + +"The gracious lord thinks of spending the night in the +neighbourhood?" asked Jankiel, his face twitching nervously. + +"Yes, in the near neighbourhood," answered the nobleman, and was +going to say something more when the door behind Jankiel's back +opened gently, and a young Jew, with a pale face and burning eyes, +entered boldly. + +At the sight of the newcomer Jankiel drew back instinctively, and an +expression of terror came into his face. + +"What do you want here?" he asked in a choking voice. + +The nobleman glanced carelessly at the young Jew. + +"Do you want to speak to me, my friend?" he asked. + +"Yes, with the gracious lord," said the newcomer, and he advanced a +few steps nearer. But Jankiel barred him the way. + +"Do not permit him to come nearer, gracious lord, and do not speak +with him. He is a bad man, and interferes with everybody." + +The lord of Kamionka waved the frantic Jankiel aside. + +"Let him speak if he has any business with me. Why should I not speak +with him?" + +Saying this, he looked with evident curiosity at the youthful face of +the intruder. + +"The gracious lord does not know me," began the young man. + +"And why should the gracious lord know such a good-for-nothing +fellow?" interrupted Jankiel. But the lord of Kamiorika bade him be +silent. + +"I have seen you, gracious lord, at my grandfather's, Saul, whose +son, Raphael, buys your corn." + +"So you are Saul's grandson?" + +"Yes, gracious lord, I am his grandson." + +"And the son of Raphael Ezofowich?" + +"No; I am the son of Benjamin, the youngest of Saul's sons, who died +long ago." + +Meir did not speak Polish very fluently, yet he made himself +understood. He had heard it spoken by those who came to deal with +members of his family, and had learned it of the Edomite, who had +also taught him to read and write. + +"Did Raphael send you to me?" + +"No; I came on my own account." + +He seemed to collect his thoughts, then boldly raised his head. + +"I came to warn you, gracious lord. Bad people are preparing a great +misfortune for you--" + +Jankiel rushed forward, and, with outstretched arms, placed himself +between the two. + +"Will you hold your tongue," he shouted. "Why do you come here to +disturb the gracious lord with your foolish talk?" and, turning +towards the nobleman, he said: + +"He is a madman and a villain." + +It was not the lord now who waved Jankiel but Meir himself. With +heightened colour, breathing quickly, he pushed him away, said: + +"He will not allow me to speak, but I will say quickly what I have to +say. Do not trust him, gracious lord; he is a bad man, and your +enemy. He wants to do you a grievous harm--guard yourself and guard +your house like the apple of your eye. I am not an informer; +therefore I came to say it in his presence, and warn the gracious +lord. He will revenge himself upon me, but that does not matter. I am +doing my duty, as every true Israelite ought to do, for it is +written: 'The stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as +one born among you,' and it is further said: 'If thou remainest +silent, upon thy head be the woes of Israel.'" + +The young nobleman looked at the speaker with some interest, but his +eyes twinkled. The quotation from Scripture, beautiful in itself, but +easily marred by faulty pronunciation, appeared more ridiculous than +interesting. + +"I perceive that old Saul has a grandson who is well grounded in the +Scriptures, and has a prophetic gift; but tell me clearly, and +distinctly, my young prophet, what misfortune is threatening me, and +why this honest Jankiel, who has been dealing with me for years, has +suddenly become my enemy?" + +Jankiel stood close to the easy-chair, and, bending closer to the +lord, whispered smilingly: + +"He is mad. He always foretells all sorts of terrible things, and he +hates me because I laugh at him." + +"Oh! then I shall not laugh at him and make him hate me," said the +nobleman gaily; and turning towards Meir, he asked: "Tell me what is +the misfortune that threatens me. If you tell me the truth, you will +be doing a good deed, and I shall be grateful for it." + +"You ask me a difficult thing, gracious lord; I thought you would +understand from a few words. It is hard for me to speak more +clearly," and he passed his hand over his brow which was wet with +perspiration. "Promise me, gracious lord, that if I speak out, my +words will fall like a stone into water. Promise me to make use of my +information, but not to go to law." + +The nobleman looked amused, yet curious. + +"I give you my word of honour that your secret will be safe with me." + +Meir's burning eyes turned towards Jankiel, his whole frame shook, he +opened his mouth--but the words refused to come. Jankiel, seeing his +emotion which momentarily deprived him of his tongue, suddenly +grasped him by the waist and dragging him towards the door, shouted: + +"Why do you enter my house and disturb my honoured guest by your +foolish talk? The gracious lord is my guest, has known me for years; +there! off with you at once." + +Meir tried to get out of Jankiel's hands, and though he was the +taller and stronger, Jankiel was nimbler, and despair redoubled his +energy. Struggling and panting, both rolled towards the door, and the +young gentleman looked at the struggle with an amused expression. +Meir's pale face towering above Jankiel's red head suddenly flushed. + +"Do you laugh at me, gracious lord?" he said brokenly. + +"You do not know how difficult it is for me to speak, but guard your +house from fire!" + +At these last words he disappeared through the door, which the +panting Jankiel slammed after him. + +The lord of Kamionka still smiled. The struggle between the nimble, +red-haired Jankiel and the tall young Jew looked very funny. During +the battle the long coat tails had flapped about like wings, and +Jankiel, in his desperate efforts to get rid of the intruder, had +performed the most extraordinary acrobatic feats. It was a ridiculous +scene altogether--the more ridiculous as the combatants belonged to a +race at which it was an old, time-honoured custom to laugh. How could +the young nobleman understand the deeper meaning of the play enacted +before him? He saw before him a young Jew who spoke in broken Polish, +the grandson of a merchant, and who would be, in his turn, a +merchant. That he was a noble spirit in rebellion against everything +mean and dishonest, a despairing spirit longing for freedom and wider +knowledge, that coming to him as he did he had done an heroic action +that would destroy his whole future--of all this the nobleman had not +the slightest suspicion. + +After a short pause he looked at Jankiel, and asked: + +"Explain to me now; what did it all mean? What kind of a man is he +really?" + +"What kind of man?" said Jankiel, who seemingly had regained his +composure. "It was a stupid affair, and I beg the gracious lord's +pardon that it should have happened to him under my roof. He is a +madman and very spiteful. He went mad from mere spitefulness." + +"Hm!" said the young gentleman. "He did not look like a madman. He +has a handsome face and an intelligent one." + +"He is not altogether mad--" began Jankiel, but the lord interrupted +him. + +"He is the grandson of Saul Ezofowich?" he asked, thoughtfully. + +"He is Saul's grandson; but his grandfather does not like him." + +"Whether he likes him or not, I could scarcely ask his grandfather +about him." + +"On the contrary, ask him, gracious lord, what he thinks of his +grandson," exclaimed Jankiel triumphantly. "Ask his uncles; I will go +and bring his uncle Abraham." + +"No need," said the nobleman shortly. + +He rose, and looked thoughtful, then fixed his eyes upon Jankiel's +face. + +Jankiel boldly met his searching glance. "Listen, Jankiel," said the +lord of Kamionka, "you are a man of years, a respectable merchant, +and father of a large family. I ought to trust you more than a young +man whom I have seen to-day for the first time, and who may be wrong +in the head for anything I know; but there must be something at the +bottom of what he tells me. I must get some information about him." + +"The gracious lord can get that information very easily," said +Jankiel, shrugging his shoulders contemptuously. + +The owner of Kamionka thought a little, and then asked: + +"Is that celebrated Rabbi of yours in town?" + +"Where should he be?" said Jankiel. "He has never been out of the +town during his life." + +"A steady man, your Rabbi," said the nobleman, reaching for his hat. +"Now, Jankiel, show me the way, and, if I do not hear anything new, I +shall at least have seen and spoken with that celebrated man." + +Jankiel opened the door for his distinguished guest, and followed him +into the square, which was now almost deserted. Half-way across they +met Eli Witebski, whom the lord of Kamionka greeted affably. By his +manner and appearance the wealthy merchant came a little nearer to +the civilised sphere in which the landowner moved himself. + +"Has the gracious lord come to town on business?" asked Eli. + +"No; I am only passing." + +"And where might the gracious lord be going now?" + +"To see your Rabbi, Witebski." + +Witebski looked astonished. + +"To see the Rabbi! And what business can the noble lord have with the +Rabbi?" + +"It is a ridiculous story, Witebski. There, tell me, do you know Saul +Ezofowich's grandson?" + +"Which of them?" asked Eli. "Saul has many grandsons." + +"What is his name?" asked the nobleman, half-turning his head toward +Jankiel. + +"Meir, Meir, that worthless fellow!" + +Witebski nodded his head as a sign that he understood. + +"Well," he said, with an indulgent smile, "I would not quite call him +a worthless fellow. He is young, and will mend; he is hot-headed +though." + +"What! a little wrong here?" laughed the gentleman, pointing to his +forehead. + +"Well," said Eli, "he is not mad, but rash and impulsive, and just +now had done a very foolish thing, and put me into a most awkward +position. Ai! Ai! what trouble and vexation I had through him, and +shall have still--" + +"Oh, that's it!" said the lord. "He is a kind, of half-witted +mischief-maker, who does not know what he wants, and gets in +everybody's way?" + +"The noble lord has guessed it," said Eli, but he added at once. "He +is very young, and will yet be a decent man." + +"Which means that he is not a decent man at present? I see." + +"This way, please," said Jankiel, showing the gates of the synagogue +court. + +"And where does your Rabbi live?" + +Kamionker pointed to the little black hut close to the synagogue. + +"What, in that little cottage?" + +And he went towards it with Jankiel alone, as Witebski, guessing that +some unpleasant business had brought them hither, directly took his +leave, and, bowing politely, left them. + +The door of the hut was already closed, but a little group of +worshippers still lingered at the open window. It was very silent +within; but the Rabbi did not rest, he never rested, as the few hours +spent in broken sleep could scarcely be called by that name. He was +bending over his books, which he knew by heart, but still pondered +over, and of which he strove with his whole mind and soul to +penetrate the mystery. + +Reb Moshe rested, but not altogether. He sat in the corner of the +fireplace, his knees drawn up to his chin, and his hands buried in +his beard. He looked fixedly at the Master, not unlike a fanatic +savage worshipping his fetish, or as a scientist watches the +universe. The eyes of Reb Moshe expressed deep veneration, wonder, +and utter devotion. + +Suddenly the door opened, and upon the threshold stood the lord of +Kamionka who, turning to Jankiel, said: + +"Remain outside; I will speak alone with the Rabbi." + +Saying this, he stooped in order to enter the low doorway, and then +looked around. + +Opposite him, near the wall, sat a man with a mass of coal-black hair, +slightly tinged with gray, about him a worn-out garment, and with a +yellow, wrinkled face, who, looked at the intruder with amazed and +piercing eyes. In a far corner squatted another man, only dimly visible; +upon him the young gentleman bestowed only a passing glance. +It did not even enter his mind that the man in the tattered clothes and +with the piercing eyes could be the celebrated Rabbi, whose fame, +spreading over the Jewish communities, had sent a faint echo into the +Christian world. + +He approached the man very politely. "Could I see the Rabbi of Szybow +for a few minutes?" + +There was no answer. + +The man sitting near the wall craned his long yellow neck, and opened +his eyes and mouth wider. + +The sudden amazement, or perhaps other feelings, gave him the +appearance of stupidity, almost idiotism. + +No wonder that Isaak Todros looked like one turned to stone at the +sight of the nobleman standing before him. He was the first Edomite +who had ever crossed his threshold--the first he had ever seen +closely, and the first time he had heard the sonorous language, which +sounded strange and unintelligible to his ears. If the angel +Matatron, the heavenly patron and defender of Israel, or even the +foremost of the evil spirits had stood before him, he would have been +less appalled: with supernatural beings he was in constant though not +direct communication. He studied them--their nature and their +functions. But this tall, stately man, in his abominable garment +which reached barely to his knees, with the white, effeminate +forehead and unintelligible language, who was he? Was he a +Philistine? a cruel Roman, or perhaps a Spaniard--one of those that +murdered the famous Abrabanel family, and drove his ancestor Todros +out of Spain? + +The lord waited a few minutes, and not getting an answer, repeated +the question: + +"Could I speak with the Rabbi of Szybow?" + +At the sound of the somewhat raised voice the squatting figure in the +corner moved and rose slowly. Reb Moshe, with open mouth and stupid, +glaring eyes, came into the light, and in his hoarse voice uttered +the monosyllable "Hah!" + +At the sight of the man dressed in such primitive and now-a-days +unseen simplicity, the lord's face twitched all over with suppressed +merriment. + +"My good sir," he said, turning to the melamed, "is that man deaf and +dumb? I asked him twice whether I could see the Rabbi of Szybow, and +got no answer." + +Saying this, he pointed at Todros, who, craning his neck in the +melamed's direction, asked: + +"Was sagd er? Was will er?" (What does he say? What does he want?) + +Reb Moshe, instead of answering, opened his mouth still wider. At the +same time murmurs and whispers became audible from the open window, +and the young gentleman, looking in that direction, saw a cluster of +faces peeping into the room: the faces looked inquisitive, and a +little frightened. He turned towards them and asked: + +"Does the Rabbi of Szybow live here?" + +"He does," said some voices. + +"Where is he, then?" + +A great many fingers pointed at the bench near the wall. + +"What! That man is your wise and celebrated Rabbi?" + +The faces framed in the open window radiated with a peculiar +blissfulness, and nodded. + +The young man made an heroic effort to control his risible muscles, +and with twinkling eyes he pointed at the melamed. + +"And who is this?" + +"He is the melamed," said several voices; "a very wise and pious +man." + +The nobleman turned again to Todros. + +"Reverend sir," he said, "could I speak alone with you for a few +minutes?" + +Todros remained silent as the grave, but his breath went faster and +his eyes grew fiercer. + +"Mr. Melamed," said the nobleman to the barefooted man in the long +coarse shirt, "perhaps this is a day when your Rabbi is not allowed +to speak?" + +"Hah?" asked Reb Moshe drawlingly. The nobleman, half-amused, +half-angry, turned towards the people. + +"Why do they not answer?" + +There was a momentary silence. The faces looked perplexedly at each +other. One of them at last said: + +"They only understand the Jewish language." The owner of Kamionka +looked at them in open-eyed amazement; he could scarcely believe that +he heard aright. + +"What! You don't mean to say they do not understand the language of +the country they live in?" + +"Well, they do not understand it." + +There was some indefined resentment in the voice that said that. + +At this moment Isaak Todros drew himself up, and raising both arms +above his head, began to speak quickly: + +"And a day will arrive when the Messiah, who sleeps in Paradise, will +wake up and descend to the earth. Then a great war will spread over +the world. Israel will stand up against Edom and Ishmael, until Edom +and Ishmael will fall at his feet like shattered cedars." + +His gestures were at once solemn and threatening, his eyes blazing, +and catching his breath, he repeated again: + +"Edom and Ishmael will lie at the feet of Israel like broken cedars, +and the thunderbolt of the Lord will fall upon them and crush them to +powder." + +It was now the Edomite's turn to look astonished, for he did not +understand a word. He looked not unlike a tall, stately cedar as he +stood there, but not like one that could be easily crushed to powder. +His face was rippling over with laughter, which he carefully tried to +suppress. + +"What does he say?" he asked the people at the window. + +There was no answer. All eyes were riveted upon the sage, and on the +melamed's face there was an expression of ecstatic rapture. + +"My good people, tell me what he said," repeated the nobleman. + +A deep voice, as if in sarcastic retribution, answered with another +question. + +"Did the gracious lord not understand?" + +This ingenuous question put an end to the young man's self-control, +and he burst out into a peal of laughter and turned towards the door. + +"Savages!" he murmured to himself, and he still laughed as he crossed +the precincts, and the people who crowded round the Rabbi's window +looked after him with astonished and deeply-offended eyes. The young +man laughed, tickled by the ludicrous aspect of the whole scene; yet +under his apparent merriment there was an under-current of resentment +and anger, that the Wise Men of Israel should have shown themselves +to him like savages, who did not even speak the language of the +country whose air they breathed, and that had nourished them for many +centuries. The people around the Rabbi's hut followed him with looks +of displeasure almost amounting to hatred, because he had blasphemed +what they loved and revered beyond anything. Poor sages of Israel +with their worshippers! Poor Edomite laughing at the sage and his +worshippers! But poorest of all, the country, the sons of which after +journeying together for so many centuries do not understand each +other's heart and language. + +At the gate of the precincts Jankiel Kamionker met the young +nobleman. + +"Well, Jankiel," he said, "you have indeed a wise and learned Rabbi." + +Jankiel did not reply to this, but began at once to speak about the +agreement and the Kamionka distillery. He spoke glibly and easily, +and did not appear to remember what had occurred or refer to it. +Neither did the lord of Kamionka, upon whom the whole scene had left +an impression of astonishment and amusement. The young prophet, and +Jankiel with his red curls trying to evict him; the Rabbi, who only +spoke the Jewish language, and his companion in the wonderful +costume: it was as good as a play. How his friends would enjoy his +description; how the good-natured Sir Andrew would laugh, and his +daughter, the beautiful Hedwiga, of whom he thought night and day as +the believer in his paradise, would smile! + +Thinking of her he jumped into the carriage, and looking at the west, +he exclaimed: + +"How long you have kept me!" + +He nodded to Jankiel and called to the coachman: + +"Drive on." + +The four grays and the light carriage carried him swiftly through the +town till he disappeared in a cloud of golden dust. In the western +sky the red clouds died gradually away, and the transparent dusk of +an August evening enveloped the town and darkened the sitting-room in +the Ezofowich house. Loud and angry cries had reverberated in that +usually peaceful household. The shrillest and angriest among them was +that of Reb Jankiel, who abused all the members of the family one +after the other, who answered either angrily or quietly according to +their different characters. After that, the accusing and threatening +man, shaking with fury, or perhaps terror, had rushed out of the +house towards the Rabbi's dwelling; and those who remained behind sat +silent and motionless, as if riveted to their chairs by their angry +and perplexed feelings. + +Saul sat on the sofa with his head sunk upon his breast, his hands +lying motionless upon his knees, and sighed loudly and heavily. +Around him sat on chairs Raphael, Abraham, and Ber. The wives of +Raphael and Ber, the much-respected and beloved women, entered +quietly and sat down behind their husbands. In a corner of the room, +not noticed by any one, sat young Haim, Abraham's son and Meir's +devoted friend. + +It was Saul who interrupted the silence. + +"Where is he gone to?"--meaning Jankiel. + +"He is gone to denounce him before the Rabbi," said Abraham. + +"He will bring Meir before the ecclesiastical tribunal," said +Raphael. + +Saul rocked himself and moaned aloud: + +"Ai! ai! my poor head! Did I live to see a grandson of mine brought +up to judgement like a thief or robber?" + +"It is as informer he will appear before the judges," said Abraham +swiftly and passionately. + +"Something must be done with Meir, father." + +"Think of it and tell us what to do with him. Things cannot remain as +they are. He will ruin us and our sons and bring shame upon the whole +family. Father! people used to say that it was always an Ezofowich +who tried to undermine the faith of Israel: that the house of Todros +and the house of Ezofowich are like two rivers than run in opposite +directions, but meet now and then, and struggle to see which is the +stronger, and to push the other underground. This talk had subsided, +people began to forget, till Meir stirred it up again. Something must +be done. Think of it, father, and we will do as you command us." + +Two red spots appeared on Saul's face. + +"What is to be done with him?" he asked in a voice that sounded like +a smothered sob. + +Raphael said: + +"He must be married as quickly as possible." + +Ber, who had until now remained silent, observed: + +"Why not send him into the world?" + +Saul thought a long time, and then replied: + +"Your advice is not good. I cannot punish him severely. What would my +father Hersh say to it, in whose footsteps he wishes to go, and whom +I am not at liberty to judge. I cannot marry him quickly, because the +child is not like other children--he is proud and sensitive, and does +not brook any fetters. Besides, he is so disgraced and openly rebuked +already that no wealthy or respectable Israelite will give him his +daughter in marriage." + +Again Saul's voice shook. He had lived to see his grandson, the most +beloved of all his children, come down so low that no respectable +family would receive him as son-in-law. + +"I cannot send him away either," he continued, "because I am afraid +that in the world he will lose all that is left of his father's +faith. I am in the position of the great and wise Rabbi of whom it is +written that he had a reckless son who ate pork in secret. People +advised him to send his son out into the world and expose him to +misery and a wandering life. But he replied: 'Let my son remain at +home. The sight of his father's troubled and sorrowful face may +soften his heart and lead him to a better life; stern misery would +change it into hard stone.'" + +Saul became silent--all around were silent; nothing was heard but now +and then a sigh from the women. + +The room became darker and darker. + +After a while, in a subdued, almost timid, voice, Ber began: + +"Allow me to open my heart before you to-day. I speak but seldom, +because as often as I want to speak the remembrance of my younger +years seems to rise before me and smother my voice; therefore it is +the voice least heard of all the voices in the family. I left off +speaking or advising, and looked only after my business and my +family. But I must speak now. Why trouble so much about Meir? Give +him his liberty; let him go into the world, and do not punish him +either by your anger or by dooming him to poverty. What wrong has he +done? He keeps all the commandments faithfully; has studied the holy +books; all the members of our family, and even the poor, ignorant +people love him like their own soul. What do you want from him? What +has he done? Why should you punish him?" + +Ber's speech, delivered in a lazy, half-timid voice, made a deep +impression on all those present. His wife Sarah, evidently +frightened, pulled him by the sleeve and whispered: + +"Hush, Ber! hush! they will be angry with you for your rash words." + +Saul raised his head several times arid bent it down again. One might +have said that gratitude for Ber's defence of his grandson struggled +with his rising anger. + +"Ber, your own sins have spoken through your mouth. You stand up for +Meir because you were once what he is now," said the passionate +Abraham. + +Raphael, with his usual gravity, said: + +"You say, Ber, that he has not sinned against the ten commandments. +That is true; but you forget that the covenant does not stand alone +upon the ten commandments which Moses brought from Sinai, but also +upon the six hundred and thirteen which the great Tanaites, Amoraits +and Gaons, with other Wise Men, have put down in the Talmud. We not +only owe obedience to them, but also to the six hundred and thirteen +of the Talmud; and Meir has transgressed many of them." + +"He has sinned greatly," called out Abraham, "but the greatest and +blackest sin be committed to-day, when he denounced a brother +Israelite before the stranger, and thus broke the solidarity and +faith of his people. What will become of us if we accuse each other +before the stranger? Whom shall we love and shield if not our +brethren, who are bones of our bones and our blood. He felt more +sorry for a stranger than for a brother Israelite, and for that he +ought to--" + +The violent and impulsive man broke off his sentence in the middle +and remained open-mouthed, like one turned to stone. + +He sat opposite the window, at which he stared fixedly with stupefied +eyes. + +"What is that?" he called out in a trembling voice: + +"What is that?" said everybody; and all except Saul rose from their +seats. + +The room, which had been quite dark, became suddenly lighted up, as +if by the reflection of thousands of torches from without; not only +the house of Ezofowich, but the whole sky above was illuminated by a +red glare. + +The men and women stood spell-bound in the middle of the room, and +looked silently at the fiery volumes, which rose higher and higher +into the heavens above. + +"How quickly he has done the deed!" said Abraham. + +Nobody answered. + +The little town, so quiet a moment before, became suddenly very noisy +and tumultuous. No nation in the world is so easily carried away by +sensations of any kind. This time the sensation was a powerful one. +It was aroused by the mighty element which carries destruction upon +earth and lifts its blood-red banner up to the skies, The noise of +thousands of running feet re-echoed in the streets like the rushing +of many waters. The square was black with a dense crowd, which +swiftly and noisily moved in one direction. Above the din of all the +voices single words were heard now and then more distinctly. + +"Kamionka! It is the Kamionka estate!" exclaimed those that knew the +country. + +"Hear! hear! it is Kamionka!" took up a chorus of voices. + +"Ai! Ai! such a fine place! such a magnificent place!" + +Those were the last words that reached the inmates of Ezofowich's +house. The crowd streamed on, and the voices sounded faint and far +off. + +Then Saul rose from the sofa, and, his face turned towards the +window, he stood silent and motionless. + +Then he raised his trembling hands and said, in a faltering voice: + +"In my father Hersh's time and in my own, such things did not happen, +and sins like this were not in Israel. Our hands used to spread gold +and silver over the land, but not fire and tears." + +He paused a few moments, gazing thoughtfully at the window. + +"My father Hersh and his grandfather lived in friendship; they often +conversed together about important affairs, and the lord of +Kamionka--he wore then a gold brocaded sash and a sword at his +side--said to my father Hersh: 'Ezofowich, you are a large-hearted +and a far-seeing man; if our side win we will make a nobleman of you +at the Diet.' His son was not quite like his father, but he always +spoke courteously to me, and I bought his corn for thirty years. +Whenever he wanted money I was always ready, because his estate +brought much gain to me. The lady of Kamionka--she is still +living--liked my mother Frieda very much; she used to say: 'Mistress +Frieda has a great many diamonds and I have only one.' She called her +son, who was as the apple of her eye, her diamond--the same son whose +house is now in flames," and he pointed at the fiery columns with a +silent gesture of grief and horror. + +Then Raphael spoke. + +"When I was last time at Kamionka, the old lady was sitting with her +son upon the balcony, and when I began to speak about business, she +said to him: 'Remember, Sigismond, never sell your corn to anybody +but to an Ezofowich; they are amongst the Jews the most honest and +friendly towards us.' And after that she began to ask whether old +Frieda was still alive, and her son Saul, and if he had many +grandchildren. Then she looked at her son and said to me: 'Raphael, I +have no grandson!' And I bowed politely and said: 'May the gracious +lady live a hundred years and see a great many grandsons of her own!' +I did not put a lie into her ear; I sincerely wished her well. Why +should I not wish her well?" + +Raphael left off speaking, and Saul, turning towards him, asked: + +"Raphael, has he ever wronged you?" + +Raphael thought a little and then replied: + +"No. He has never done me the slightest wrong. He is a little proud, +it is true, and does not look sharp after his business; he is fond of +amusements, and when an Israelite bows to him he gives a careless nod +and does not try to make a friend of him . . . but his heart is good, +and his word is his bond, and in business he is more likely to wrong +himself than anybody else." + +Sarah, who stood near her husband, wrung her hands, and rocking her +body gently, sighed mournfully: + +"Ai! all such a handsome gentleman to have such a misfortune happen +to him." + +"Such a fine young man, and he was going to marry such a beautiful +young lady," said the wife of Raphael. + +"And how will he be able to marry now, when he is ruined?" said Saul, +and he added in a lower voice: + +"A great sin has been committed in Israel!" + +"A great shame has fallen to-day on Israel's head," said Raphael. + +From a corner of the room where the glare penetrated least, came or +rather crept forth Abraham. Bent almost in two, and trembling in +every limb, he kissed his father's hand. + +"Father," he said, "I thank you that you saved me from it." + +Saul raised his head. The colour came back to his face, and energy +gleamed in his eyes. + +"Abraham," he said, in a commanding tone, "have your horses ready at +once, and drive as quickly as you can to the estate where the young +lord is staying. He cannot see the conflagration from there; drive +quickly and tell him to come and save his property and his mother." + +"You, Raphael, go at once to the Jankiel's and Leisor's inns where +the peasants are drinking. Tell them to drive home quickly to save +their lord's property." + +Obedient as two children, Saul's two sons left the room at once and +the women went into the porch. Then Ber came close to Saul. + +"Father! what do you think now of Meir? Was he not right to warn the +lord of Kamionka?" + +Saul bent his head, but did not answer. + +"Father," said her, "save Meir! Go to the Rabbi, and to the judges, +and elders; ask them not to bring him before their tribunal." + +For a long while Saul did not answer. + +"It is very difficult for me to go," he said at last. "The hardest +task to humble my gray head before Todros," but he added after a +pause, "I will go tomorrow--we must stand up for the child--though he +be rash and does not pay due reverence to the faith and customs of +his father." + +While the foregoing took place in the house of Ezofowich, the little +meadow close to the town was covered with a waving, murmuring and +compact mass of people. From this spot, the terrible conflagration +could be seen most distinctly; therefore the whole population, eager +and greedy for sensation, congregated there. + +The reflected light of the fire rose above the pine forest, which was +enveloped in a ray light and so transparent that every branch and +stem could be seen distinctly. The wide half-circle of the glare, +dark red below, grew paler and paler above, till the golden yellow +light lost itself in the pale blue sky. The stars twinkled with a +feeble, uncertain light, and on the opposite side, beyond the birch +wood, rose the red ball of the moon. + +Among the population, sentences and words, quick and sharp, whizzed +about like pistol shots. Somebody was telling that when Jankiel +Kamionker heard about the fire, he had gone off to the estate tearing +his hair like a madman, wailing and lamenting over the loss of the +spirits which he had there in such quantities. Hearing this, many +people smiled knowingly; others shook their heads compassionately at +the supposed heavy losses of Jankiel; but the greater part of the +people remained silent. They guessed the truth; here and there +somebody knew about it; but nobody dared to meddle in a business so +full of danger, even with an unwary word. + +A full hour after the first gleam of the fire had been noticed a +light carriage and four gray horses were seen in full gallop across +the streets in the direction of the meadow. + +It was not the regular road to Kamionka, in fact, there was no road +at all; but by driving across the meadow, the young owner shortened +his way considerably. He did not sit in the carriage, but stood +straight up, holding on by the box, seat, and kept his eyes fixed +upon the red glare of the flames, where his mother was, which was +consuming the house of his fathers. + +When the horses came to the meadow and he saw the crowd, he shouted +to the coachman: + +"Be careful; do not hurt the people." + +"A good man," said one in the crowd; "at such a moment he still +thinks of other people." + +Some groaned aloud. + +A few heads clustered together, whispering. The name of Jankiel was +whispered low--very low. + +But there was a spot, not on the meadow, but in the little street +close by, where people talked aloud. Near Shmul's hut, upon the bench +before the window, stood Meir. Thence he looked at the meadow, black +with people, and at the red glare of the fire; around him in the +street stood a dozen or more young men, his friends. Their faces +looked excited and indignant. + +Haim, the son of Abraham, who an hour before had been an unseen +witness to Saul's conversation with his sons, told his friends about +it. Carried away by his indignation, he repeated in a loud voice +every word that had passed and his friends re-echoed them. The young +and usually timid spirits grew bolder under the pressure of shame and +exasperation. Only one voice was missing among the chorus of +voices--the most prominent of all, because he was the leading spirit +of the young people. Eliezer was not among those who crowded round +Meir; he sat apart, leaning against the black wall of the hut, His +elbows rested on his knees and his face was buried in his hands. He +looked like one petrified in this position; full of grief and shame. +From time to time he rocked his body slightly. The dreamy, timid man +was overwhelmed with bitter arid desperate thoughts. + +Presently, from beyond the corner of the street, a black thin shadow +glided swiftly along the walls; and close by the group of young men, +the heavy panting, almost moaning, of an exhausted human being became +audible. + +"Shmul!" said the young men. + +"Hush!" said Meir, in a low voice, jumping down from the bench. "Let +nobody utter the name of the miserable man, so as not to bring him +into danger. I have been standing here to watch for his return. Go +away from here, and remember that your eyes have not seen Shmul +coming from that direction, not seen--" + +"You are right," whispered Aryel; "he is our poor brother," + +"Poor brother, poor, poor!" they repeated all round. + +They dispersed at once. Near the hut remained only Meir and Eliezer, +whom nothing could rouse from his stupor. + +Shmul ran into the hut, now deserted by every one except the blind +mother and the smallest children. + +There he threw himself at full length upon the floor and beat his +forehead in the dust; sobbing and moaning, he uttered in broken +sentences: + +"I am not guilty, not guilty, not guilty. I did not fire it. I did +not hold the vessel full of oil. He, Johel, did it all; I stood on +watch in the fields--when I saw the fire--Ai! ai! I understood what I +had been doing--" + +"Hush!" said a low, sorrowful voice close to the despairing, almost +senseless, man. "Hold your tongue, Shmul, till I shut the door and +window." + +Shmul raised his face, but again dropped it on the dusty floor. + +"Morejne," he moaned, "morejne, my daughters were growing up; it was +necessary to marry them; I had no money to pay the taxes with for the +whole year!" + +"Get up and calm yourself," said Meir. + +Shmul did not listen. With his lips sweeping the dusty boards, he +kept on moaning. + +"Morejne! save me. I am lost, body and soul." + +"You have not lost your soul, Shmul. The Eternal will weigh your +poverty against your sin; that is if you do not take the money with +which bad people tempted you." + +This time Shmul lifted his face from the floor. The lean and +ashy-pale face, covered with dust and twitching with nervous terror, +presented a picture of the deepest human misery. + +He looked at Meir with despairing eyes, and pointing at the miserable +room, he groaned: + +"Morejne! how shall we be able to live without that money?" + +Fully half-an-hour passed before Meir left the cottage, where the +outcast Shmul accused himself, wailed and moaned in a voice that +gradually became lower till it almost sank to a whisper. The ruddy +glow from the street fell upon one corner of the dark entrance. +There, coiled up between the goats, his head resting upon a +projecting board, with the red light of the fire upon his face, slept +Lejbele. Neither noise nor the glare of the fire, not even the +lamentations of his unhappy father, had disturbed his innocent sleep +among his friends, the goats. + +Next morning an unusual stir prevailed amongst the inhabitants of the +town. The common topic of all their conversation was the +conflagration at the Kamionka estate. The whole house was reduced to +ashes; nearly all the outbuildings had been burned down; the barns +and ricks with all the year's harvest had been devoured by the +flames. + +The old lady, the mother of the lord of Kamionka, was very ill, and +had been carried into a neighbour's house. + +To discuss these and other items of news, people stood in groups +about the streets or before their houses; all the ordinary business +of their every-day life seemed suspended for the time being. + +Now and then among the groups a single question was heard repeatedly: + +"What will become of him?" + +The question had nothing whatever to do with the ruined young +nobleman, but referred to Jankiel. + +Some pitied the former sincerely, as also some blamed the latter; but +the landowner was to them a perfect stranger, known to most of them +only by sight. Jankiel Kamionker was connected with them by a +thousand threads of common interest and friendship; besides that, he +was surrounded by the halo of wealth and the reputation of ardent +piety. No wonder that even those who blamed him trembled for his +safety. + +"Will they suspect him?" asked somebody here and there. + +"Nobody would dream of suspecting him, but for Meir Ezofowich putting +bad thoughts into their heads," was said here and there. + +"He has broken the solidarity and the covenant of Israel." + +"What else could you expect? He is a kofrim, a heretic!" + +"He dared to raise his hand against Reb Moshe!" + +"He lives in friendship with the Karaite's girl!" + +Those who spoke cast ominous, threatening glances in the direction of +Ezofowich's dwelling. + +The house was unusually quiet and lifeless. The windows looked upon +the square, which, as a rule, were open in summer-time so that +anybody could see the daily life of people who had nothing to +conceal, were shut to-day. No one had remembered to open them, or to +straighten the sitting-room--as a rule kept in such perfect order. +The women wandered aimlessly from one place to another; their caps +were crushed and in disorder from their frequently putting their +hands upon their heads; they stood before the kitchen fire and sighed +distractedly. Sarah's eyes were red; her husband, Ber, had two deep +wrinkles on his forehead, a sure sign to her that he suffered +grievously. He did not open his lips to her, but sat with his head +resting upon his hand, looking vacantly at his brothers-in-law. +Raphael had his account books before him, but his thoughts were +elsewhere as he raised his head frequently and looked at his +brothers. Old Saul sat on the sofa reading the sacred books; but, +judging by his countenance, derived but little comfort from them. + +Near the window in her deep easy-chair sat the great-grandmother, +dozing. Hers was the only face that did not show any change, or lose +any of its usual serenity. She opened her eyes now and then, then +dozed off again. Soon after twelve o'clock the women busied +themselves with arranging the table for dinner. + +The door opened softly. Meir entered the room, and standing close to +the wall, his eyes looked around at all faces. It was a troubled +look, almost timid and very sorrowful. Those present raised their +eyes at him for a second only; but in that short instant a heavy load +of mute reproaches fell upon the young man. It was the reproach of +people used to a quiet, peaceful life, for past troubles and troubles +still to come; there was some pity in it for the offender, and also a +threat of casting him off. + +Only the great-grandmother opened her eyes when she saw him, and with +a smile, murmured: + +"Kleineskind!" + +Meir's eyes rested tenderly and thoughtfully upon her face. At this +moment there came a sudden dash and a heavy thump. From among the +groups that looked angrily at Ezofowich's house, somebody had thrown +a heavy stone, which, breaking the window, flew close over Freida's +head and fell into the middle of the room. + +Saul's face became of a dull red; the women arranging the table +screamed in terror; Raphael, Abraham, and Ber jumped up suddenly. All +stared at the broken window, but presently their attention became +concentrated upon their great-grandmother Freida, who stood straight +up and looked attentively at the stone in the middle of the room, and +then called out in her loud, tuneless whisper: + +"It is the same stone! They threw it through the window the same when +Reb Nohim quarrelled with Hersh because he wanted to live in +friendship with the strangers. It is the same stone--at whom did they +throw it now?" All the wrinkles in her face quivered, and her eyes +for the first time wide open, travelled about the room. + +"At whom did they throw it?" she repeated. + +"At me, dear bobe," replied, from the opposite wall, a voice full of +unspoken grief. + +"Meir!" exclaimed the great-grandmother--not in her usual whisper, +but in a loud, almost piercing voice. + +Meir crossed the room, stood before her and took the little wrinkled +hand caressingly in his own. He looked at her eyes full of +tenderness, and as if in mute entreaty. She seemed to feel his look, +for her eyelids flickered tremulously and restlessly. Saul rose from +the sofa. + +"Raphael," he said. "Give me my cloak and hat." + +"Where are you going, father?" asked both sons simultaneously. + +"I am going to humble my head before the Rabbi; to ask him to delay +his judgment on my headstrong child until the anger in the hearts of +the people has subsided." + +Presently the gray-headed patriarch of the greatest family in the +town, dressed in his long cloak and tall shiny hat, was seen slowly +and gravely crossing the market-place. The groups standing about made +way for him, bowing respectfully. + +Somebody said loudly + +"Poor Reb Saul, to have such a grandson!" The old man did not reply, +but pressed his lips closer together. + +More than an hour had elapsed ere Saul returned from his errand. He +found all the elder members of the family in the same position as he +had left them. Meir sat close to the easy-chair of the great-grandmother, +who tightly clutched him by the coat sleeve. + +Sarah met her father and relieved him of his hat and cloak. + +"What news do you bring, father?" asked Raphael. + +Saul breathed heavily, and looked gloomily on the floor. + +"What could I bring from there," he said after a momentary silence, +"but shame and humiliation? The hearts of Todros rejoices over the +misfortune of the house of Ezofowich. Smiles, like reptiles, are +writhing and crawling over his yellow face." + +"And what did he say?" asked several voices. "He said he had been far +too forbearing towards my godless, insolent grandson--that Reb Moshe, +Kamionker, and all the people were urging him to sit in judgment upon +Meir; at my intercession he would put off the trial until to-morrow +after sunset, and said if Meir humbled himself and asked his and his +people's pardon, the sentence would be less severe." + +All eyes turned towards Meir. + +"What do you say to it?" asked a chorus of voices. + +Meir looked thoughtfully down. + +"Give me time--till to-morrow," he pleaded. "I may perhaps find a way +out of it." + +"How can you find a way?" they exclaimed. "Allow me not to answer you +till to-morrow," repeated Meir. + +They nodded and became silent. It was mute consent. + +In all their hearts fear and anger were struggling with family pride. +They felt angry with Meir, yet trembled for his fate, and the very +thought that a member of their family should humble himself publicly +before the Rabbi and the people seemed unbearable. + +"Who knows," whispered Raphael, "he may find a way to avoid it?" + +"Perhaps his mother will appear to him in his sleep and tell him what +to do," sighed Sarah. + +The belated dinner, passed off in gloomy silence, interrupted only by +the sighs of women and a smothered sob from the children, who had +been forbidden to laugh and chatter. + +The grieved and mournful faces looked now and then at Freida, who +showed an unusual restlessness. She did not speak, neither did she +doze during the meal; but moved uneasily in her chair, looked at +Meir, then at the shattered window, and in the middle of the room on +the spot where the stone had fallen. + +"What ails her?" asked the members of the family of each other, in a +perturbed voice. + +"She is recalling something to her mind," others replied. "She is +afraid of something. She wants to speak, but cannot find words." + +When the dinner was over, two great-granddaughters wanted to help +Freida into the next room and lay her down to rest as usual, but she +planted her feet firmly on the floor and pointed to the easy-chair by +the window. Presently the inmates of the room began gradually to +disperse. + +Raphael and Ber went driving away to a neighbouring estate, where +they had some important business to transact. Abraham shut himself up +in his room to look after his accounts, or perhaps to read. Saul gave +orders to his daughter to keep the house quiet, and sighing wearily, +lay down upon his bed. The women, after raking out the fire in the +kitchen, shut the door of the sitting-room and betook themselves with +their needlework to the courtyard, where they watched the children at +play, and conversed together in a low voice. The great-grandmother +remained alone in the sitting-room. + +Strange to say, though perfect silence reigned in the house, she did +not fall asleep or even doze for a moment. + +She sat in the easy-chair with her eyes wide open, and looking at the +broken window, her lips kept moving continually as if she were +speaking to herself. Sometimes she rocked her head, heavy, with the +voluminous turban, and the diamonds flashed out and glittered in the +sudden motion, and the pendants jingled against the links of the +golden chain. Her lips moved incessantly. Presently her hands also +moved quickly. It seemed as if she spoke with somebody; with the +spirits of the Past, who came forth from her clouded memory. Suddenly +she rocked her head, and said aloud: + +"It was the same way when my Hersh found the writing of the +Senior--bad people threw stones at him." + +She stopped; great tears gathered in her eyes and ran down her +withered cheeks. + +Meir rose from the bench where he had been sitting, crossed the room +quickly, sat down on the low stool where the old woman rested her +foot, and putting his folded hands upon her knee asked: + +"Bobe! where is the writing of the Senior?" + +At the sound of the voice which, as well as the face, reminded her of +the man she had loved so well, and the days of her youth and +happiness, she smiled. Her eyes full of tears did not look at her +great-grandson, but somewhere far beyond, and she began to whisper: + +"The day he quarrelled with Reb Nohim and angered the people, he came +home and sat down sorrowful upon the bench and called his wife, +Freida. Freida was then young and beautiful; she wore a white turban +and stood before the kitchen fire, looking after the servants; but +when she heard her husband's voice, she went at once and stood before +him, waiting for his words. 'Freida!' he said, 'where the writing of +the Senior?'" + +Then suddenly the whisper ceased. The young man sitting at her feet +pressed his hands convulsively together and asked again: + +"Bobe! where is the writing of the Senior?" + +The old woman gently swayed her head, and her lips moved. + +"He asked: 'Where is the writing of the Senior? Did the Senior bury +it in the ground? No! he could not have buried it, as dampness and +worms would have destroyed it. Did he hide it in the walls? No! he +knew that fire might destroy the walls. Where did he hide it?' Thus +asked Hersh, and his wife Freida pondered over his words and then +pointed at the bookcase where the Senior's old books were preserved, +and said: 'Hersh my Hersh! the writing is there.' When Freida said +that, Hersh rejoiced and said: 'You, Freida, have a wise head, and +your soul is as beautiful as your eyes.'" + +And smiling at the dim pictures of her youthful days, she whispered: + +"Then he said: 'A virtuous woman is far above rubies and her husband +doth trust her!'" + +The young man looked at her with entreating eyes, and again asked: + +"Bobe! what did Hersh do with the writing?" + +The old woman did not answer at once, but her lips moved silently as +if she spoke with an invisible being, and then took up the thread of +her tale again: + +"Hersh came back from a long journey, deeply grieved, and said to +Freida: 'Everything is lost. We must bide the Senior's writing again; +it is no use now.' Freida asked: 'Hersh! where will you hide the +writing?' Hersh replied: 'I will hide it where it was before, and you +alone, Freida, will know the secret.'" + +Meir's eyes sparkled with sudden joy. + +"Bobe! is the writing there?" And he pointed at the old bookcase. + +Freida gave no answer, but continued in a whisper: + +"He said: 'You alone will know the secret. And when the time is +drawing near and your soul is about to leave your body, tell it to +the son or grandson who resembles most your husband'--'and which of +my sons or grandsons is most like my husband Hersh?' 'It is Meir, the +son of Benjamin, who is like him as two grains of sand are like each +other. He is my child, the dearest of all. Freida will tell him the +secret.'" + +Meir took both the hands of his great-grandmother in his own, and +covered them with kisses. + +"Bobe," he whispered, "Is the writing there?" pointing at the +bookcase. But the old woman still followed the thread of her musings. + +"Hersh said to Freida: 'If the elders of the family raise their hands +against him and the people throw stones at him, you, Freida, tell him +the secret. Let him take the writing of the Senior to his heart, and +leave everything, his house and wealth and family, and go forth into +the world; for that writing is more precious than gold and pearls. It +is the covenant of Israel with the Present, which flows like a great +river over their heads and with the nations which tower around him +like great mountains.'" + +"Bobe! the elders of the family have risen up against me; the people +have thrown stones at me--I am that dearest grandson of whom your +husband Hersh spoke--tell me, is the writing among those old +volumes?" + +A broad, almost triumphant, smile lit up the wrinkled face. She shook +her head with a feeling of secret joy, and whispered: + +"Freida has watched over her husband's treasure and guarded it like +her own soul. When she became a widow, Reb Nohim Todros came to her +house and wanted to have the bookcase and the volumes put into the +fire; then Reb Baruch Todros came and wanted to burn the books; but +whenever they came, Freida screened the bookcase with her own body, +and said: 'This is my house, and everything in it is my own.' And +when Freida stood before the bookcase, Freida's sons and grandsons +stood before her and said: 'It is our mother; we will not let her be +harmed.'" + +"Reb Nohim was very angry and went away--Reb Isaak did not come, +because he knew from his fathers that as long as Freida lives nobody +touched the old bookcase--Freida has watched over her husband's +treasure; it remains there and sleeps in peace." + +With these last words the old woman pointed her thin hand at the +bookcase, which stood not far from her, and a quiet laugh, a laugh of +joy and almost childish triumph, shook her aged breast. + +With one bound Meir reached the bookcase, and with a powerful hand +shook the old, rusty lock. The door flew open and a cloud of dust +burst forth which covered Meir's head as it had once--long +ago--covered Hersh's golden hair and Freida's white turban. He did +not heed it, but plunged his hand amongst the books from which his +ancestors, had drawn their wisdom and where that lay hidden which was +to direct him on his way. + +At the sight of the open bookcase and the clouds of dust Freida +stretched forth both arms and called out: + +"Hersh! Hersh! my own Hersh!" + +It was not the usual tuneless whisper, but a loud cry wrung from the +heart, full of the joys and griefs of the past. She had forgotten the +great-grandson, and thought the tall, golden-haired youth, covered +with dust, was her husband come back to her from unknown worlds. + +Meir turned his excited face and burning eyes to her. + +"Bobe!" he said breathlessly, "where is it? On the top? Below? In +this book--that--or that?" + +"In that," said the woman, pointing at the book upon which Meir's +hand rested. + +Presently a roll of yellow papers rustled under the parchment cover +of the volume. Holding them in both hands, Meir fell down before his +great-grandmother and kissed her hands and feet. + +Freida smiled, and touched his head gently; but by and by her eyelids +drooped, and her whole face took the expression of sweet dreaminess +again. Tired with the strain upon her clouded memory, looking still +into the bright dreamland of the past, the centenarian had fallen +asleep--touched, as it were, by a gentle wave of the eternal sleep. + +The passionate outpouring of thanks did not rouse her again. Meir hid +the precious papers in his breast and went swiftly upstairs towards +the top of the house, where his young cousins dwelt. + +During the whole of the evening, and the greater part of the night, +the large window near the pointed roof flickered with an uncertain +light, and people were seen moving about constantly. At early dawn, +some people came out of the house by a side door and went in +different directions. + +Soon afterwards strange news began to circulate about the town. The +news was undefined, vague, told and explained in different ways; but, +such as it was, it excited the greatest curiosity among the people. +The everyday work seemed to go on as usual, but in the midst of the +dashing and rattling of implements of handiwork a continual hum of +conversation was going on. Nobody could point out the source from +which sprung all the rumours which filled the public mind; they +seemed to be floating in the air, and pervading all the streets and +alleys. + +"To-day, after sunset the elders of the Kahol and the judges, with +Rabbi Isaak at their head, will sit in judgment upon Meir Ezofowich." + +"How will they judge him? What will they do to him?" + +"No; there will be no judgment. The bold grandson of Reb Saul will +come to the Bet-ha-Midrash and confess his sins before the Rabbi and +the people, and ask forgiveness!" + +"No, he will not humble himself or ask forgiveness." + +"Why should he not?" + +"Ah, ah, it is a great secret, but everybody knows about it, and +everybody's eyes burn with curiosity. Young Meir has found a +treasure!" + +"What treasure?" + +"A treasure that has been buried for five hundred years--a thousand +years--ever since the Jews came into this country, in the house of +Ezofowich. The treasure is the writing of one of their ancestors, +left as a legacy to his descendants." + +"What does the writing say?" + +"No one knows for certain." + +All the inhabitants of the poorer streets had heard something about +it from their fathers and grandfathers; but everybody bad heard it +different. Some said it was the writing of a wise and saintly +Israelite, who lived long ago, and who wanted to make his nation +powerful and wise. Others maintained that this same ancestor of +Ezofowich was an unbeliever, bribed by the stranger to destroy the +name of Israel and the holy covenant from the face of the earth. + +"The writing was to teach people how to make gold out of sand, and it +tells poor people how to get rich." + +"No! it teaches how to drive away the evil spirits, so that they +cannot touch you, and how to transpose the letters of God's names +into a word with which you can work miracles." + +"The writing teaches how to make friends out of your enemies, and to +enter into a covenant of peace with all nations. Somebody heard that +it showed the way how to bring Moses back to life again, and call on +him to bring his people out of bondage into the land that flows with +gold and wisdom." + +"Why did they not search for the treasure sooner?" + +"They were afraid. It is said that whoever touches that writing will +be scorched with fire and burned into powder. Serpents will twist +themselves around his heart! His forehead will become as black as +soot! Happiness and peace will go from him for ever! Stones will fall +upon him like hail! His forehead will be branded with a red mark! +Long, long ago, there still lived people who remembered it, the great +merchant, Hersh Ezofowich, Saul's father, had touched that writing." + +"And what became of him?" + +"The old people said that when he touched the papers serpents coiled +round his heart and bit him, so that he died young." + +"And now young Meir has found that writing?" + +"Yes, he has found it, and is going to read it before the people in +Bet-ha-Midrash after sunset." + +Going to and fro amongst the people who exchanged the above opinions, +was Reb Moshe, the melamed. He appeared first in one street, then in +another; was seen in one court, and near another's window; always +listening intently; he smiled now and then and his eyes gleamed, but +he said nothing. When directly appealed to by people, and urged to +give an opinion, he shook his head gloomily and muttered +unintelligible sentences. He could not say anything, as he had not +spoken to the master yet, to whom, out of fanatical faith and mystic +personal attachment he had given himself up body and soul. Without +definite orders from the revered sage he dared not give an opinion or +settle things even in his own mind. He might unwittingly act against +his master's wish, or transgress any of the thousands of precepts; +though he knew them all by heart, yet he might fail to catch their +deeper meaning without the guiding spirit. The melamed was fully +conscious of his own wisdom, yet what did it mean in comparison with +the Rabbi's, whose mind pierced the very heavens? Jehovah looked upon +him with pleased eyes, and wondered how he could have created such a +perfect being as Rabbi Isaak Todros. + +About noon, when his mind and ears were full of what he had heard, he +glided silently into the Rabbi's hut. He could not get the Rabbi's +ear at once, because he was conversing with an old man, whose dusty, +travel-stained garments showed that he had come a great distance; he +now stood leaning on his stick before the Rabbi, looking at him with +humble, and at the same time radiant, eyes. + +"I dearly wished," he said, in a voice trembling with age and +emotion, "to go to Jerusalem to die in the land of our fathers; but I +am poor and have no money for the journey. Give me, O Rabbi, a +handful of the sand which they bring to you every year from there, so +that my grandchildren may scatter it upon my breast when the soul is +about to leave my body. With that handful of soil, I shall lie easier +in my grave." + +The Rabbi took some white sand out of a carefully, wrapped-up bag and +gave it to the old man. + +The man's whole face lighted up with joy; he carefully secured the +precious relic under his ragged garments, and then kissed the Rabbi's +hand with fervent gratitude. + +"Rabbi," he said, "I have nothing to pay you with." + +Todros craned his yellow neck towards him: + +"You have come from a far country, indeed, if you do not know that +Isaak Todros does not take payment. If I do good to my brethren, I +ask only for one reward: that the Almighty may increase by one drop +the wisdom I possess already, but of which I can never have enough." + +The old man looked with admiring eyes at the sage, who, so full of +wisdom, yet wished for more. + +"Rabbi," he sighed, "allow me to kiss your benevolent hand." + +"Kiss it," said the master gently, and when the old man bent his head +covered with white hair, the Rabbi put his arm round him and kissed +him on the forehead. + +"Rabbi!" exclaimed the old man, with a burst of happiness in his +voice, "you are good--you are our father--our master and brother." + +"Blessing upon you," replied Todros, "for having preserved your faith +until your old age, and the love for our fatherland which makes you +prize a handful of its soil more than gold and silver." + +Both their eyes were full of tears. It was the first time they had +ever met, and yet their hearts were full of brotherly love and mutual +sympathy. + +Reb Moshe, who sat in his usual corner waiting for the end of the +interview, also had tears in his eyes. When Isaak Todros was alone be +still waited a little, and then said in a low voice: + +"Nassi!" + +"Hah?" asked the sage, who was already buried in mystic speculation. + +"There is great news about the town." + +"What news?" + +"Meir Ezofowich has found the writing of his ancestor, the Senior, +and is going to read it to-day before the assembled people." + +The Rabbi was now fully awake, and craning his neck towards the +melamed, exclaimed: + +"How did you come to hear of it?" + +"Ah! the whole town is full of it. Meir's friends since early morning +have been among the people spreading the news." + +Todros did not say a word; but his eyes had a keen, almost savage +expression. + +"Nassi! will you allow him to do this?" + +Todros was silent. At last he said in a determined voice: + +"I will." + +Reb Moshe gave a convulsive start. + +"Rabbi!" he exclaimed, "you are the wisest man that ever was, or will +be on this earth; but has your wisdom considered all the +consequences, and that this writing may detach the people from you +and the covenant?" + +Todros looked at him sternly: + +"You do not know the spirit of the people if you can speak and think +like that. Have not I and my fathers before me tried to mould and +educate the people and make them faithful to their religion? Let him +read the papers--let the abomination come forth from its +hiding-place, where it has lain till now; it will be easier to fight +against it and crush it down, once and for ever. Let him read it: +the measure of his transgressions will then be full, and my +avenging hand will come down upon him!" + +A long silence followed upon these words. The master was absorbed in +thought, and the humble follower looked at him in silent adoration. + +"Moshe!" + +"What is your will, Nassi?" + +"That writing must be taken from him and delivered into my hands." + +"Nassi! how is it to be taken from him?" + +"That writing must be taken and delivered into my hands!" repeated +the Rabbi decisively. + +"Nassi! who is to take it from him?" Todros fixed his glaring eyes +upon his follower. "That writing must be taken from him and delivered +into my hands," he repeated for the third time. + +Moshe bent his head. + +"Rabbi!" he whispered, "I understand. Rest in peace. When he reads +the abomination before the people such a storm will break over his +head that it will lay him in the dust." + +Again there was silence. The Rabbi interrupted it: + +"Moshe!" + +"Yes, Nassi!" + +"When is he going to read that blasphemous writing?" + +"He is going to read it in the Bet-ha-Midrash after sunset." + +"Moshe! go at once to the shamos (messenger) and tell him to convoke +the elders and the judges in the Bet-ha-Kahol for a solemn judgment." + +Moshe rose obediently, and went towards the door. The Rabbi, raising +both arms, exclaimed "Woe to the headstrong and disobedient! Woe to +him who touches the leper and spreads contagion!" + +Saying this, his whole face became suffused with a wave of dark, +relentless hatred. And yet, a quarter of an hour ago the same face +was full of brotherly love; the same mouth spoke gentle and +comforting words, and the eyes were full of tears. + +Thus gentleness and wrath, love and relentless hatred dwelt side by +side in the same heart; virtues and dark crimes flow from the same +source. Charity goes hand in hand with persecution and neighbour +often stands for enemy. Man, who tended to human suffering and healed +the sick, with the same hand lit the stakes and prepared the +instruments of torture. + +What mysterious influences rule such dual lives?--asks the perplexed +student of human nature. + +But for these mysterious undercurrents which lead human brains and +hearts into awful error, Rabbi Isaak might have been a great man. + +Let us be just. He would have been a great man but for those that +raised the weapons of fire and sword, and the still more deadly +weapons of scorn and contempt, against his brethren, and thus +confined them in the narrow, dark,--a spiritual and moral Ghetto! + +The sun had set, and the earth was wrapped in the dim light of a +summer evening. The large court of the synagogue swarmed with a +crowd. The interior of Bet-ha-Midrash was already full of people. +There could be seen heads of old men and fair locks of children, long +beards, black like crow's wings and blonde like hemp. They all moved +and swayed, necks were craned, beards raised, and eyes glowed in +anticipation of some new sensation. Everything appeared in shadow. +The large room was lighted by a small lamp, suspended at the entrance +door, and a single tallow candle in a brass candlestick, which stood +on a white table; this, with a solitary chair close to the high and bare +wall, constituted the platform from which the speaker was wont to +address the people. In Israel, everybody, young or old, and of whatever +social position, had the right to speak in public, according to the +democratic principles prevailing in the ancient law. Every Israelite had +the right to enter this building, whether for the purposes of praying, +reading, or teaching. + +The people who crowded outside the building looked often in at the +windows of the room where the elders and judges held their +conferences. In the entrance hall the lamp was being lit, and burning +candles were placed upon the long table. Presently people well-known +to the inhabitants ascended, the steps of the portico. Singly or in +twos arrived the judges of the community--all of them men well on in +years, fathers of large families, wealthy merchants, or house owners. +There ought to have been twelve in number, but the bystanders counted +only up to eleven. The twelfth judge was Raphael Ezofowich. People +whispered to each other that the uncle of the accused could not sit +in judgment against him; others said that he would not. After the +judges arrived, the elders, amongst whom was Morejne Calman, with his +hands in his pockets and the stereotyped, honeyed smile on his lips, +and Jankiel Kamionker, whose face looked very yellow, and whose eyes +had the hunted look of a criminal. The last, but not least of them, +was Isaak Todros, who glided in so swiftly and silently that scarcely +anybody in the crowd noticed him. + +At the same time, from the depth of Bet-ha-Midrash, a clear, resonant +voice reached the ears of the surging crowd without: + +"In the name of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, hear, O +Israel!" + +The murmur of the crowd within and without increased, and almost rose +to a tumult. For a few moments the voice of the speaker was drowned +in the general hubbub, and his few sentences sounded indistinct and +broken. + +Suddenly somebody from the crowd shouted: + +"Silence and listen, for it is said: 'You shall listen to whosoever +speaketh in the name of Jehovah!'" + +"That is true," murmured voices. "He began in the name of the God of +Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." + +Then everything became quiet, except for the rustle of those near the +door, who tried to get a better view of the speaker. They did not see +anything unusual. Behind the white table, pale and grave, stood Meir +Ezofowich. He was much paler than usual, and his eyes burned +feverishly. His emotion was not the outcome of fear or doubt, but of +a powerful conviction and radiant hope. In his hands he held a few +sheets of old yellow paper, which he raised now and then, to show +whence he took his words. + +"O Israel!" he read out, in a clear and thrilling voice, "you are a +great people! You were the first among nations who recognised one God +in heaven, and heard on earth, amid the roar of thunder and flashes +of lightning, those ten great commandments, which, like ten rocks, +helped you and other nations to climb towards the sun of perfection. +Israel! blind from his birth, or blinded by malice, must be the man +who fails to recognise the greatness of your mission. Dry from its +birth, or dried by the searching breath that comes from the nether +world, must be the eye that does not shed a tear at the sight of your +sufferings. Ill-fated he who, looking at you, calls you contemptible. +May the Lord pity him and forgive him, as he possesses not the +balance in which are weighed a nation's virtues and crimes, possesses +not the wisdom which shows how pain and degradation produce sin. +Israel! of you were born Moses, whose love was like the flaming bush, +David with the golden harp, the beautiful Esther, weeping over the +misery of her people. The Maccabees with their mighty swords came +from among you, and the prophets who died for their faith. Whilst +living happily in the land of your fathers, you loathed to bind a +brother into slavery; upon your fields you left the tenth sheaf to +the poor and needy, and gave a hearing to anybody who spoke to the +people. Humbling yourself only before Jehovah, you said: 'We are all +alike in the eyes of our Father.' And when, in after years, +ill-fated, vanquished, covered with the blood of your sons who +defended the land of their fathers, you stood an outcast amongst +nations, and suffered from contempt and persecution, you yet remained +faithful unto your God and the memory of your fathers, and taught +other nations who suffered like you how to defend themselves without +weapons. The Lord hath made you intelligent, pure, and charitable, O +my people; but it is nigh two thousand years since you possessed the +one necessary thing on earth--a fatherland." + +Here the voice of the speaker gave way, and he paused for a minute. +The crowd had caught his emotion, and a low tremor seemed to pass +through the people. A few subdued voices murmured: + +"Let us listen! Let us listen! It is the writing of a true Israelite +who tells of the glory of his people." + +They listened in silence, and Meir went on: + +"Woe to the people who have no fatherland! The soul of the people +clings to the soil as a child clings to its mother's breast which +gives it nourishment, health, and relief from sickness. The Lord +ordained it thus; but the people acted against His will and tore your +soul, O Israel, from the soil to which it was attached. As an outcast +you went and knocked for charity at the very doors of those that had +despoiled you; your head bent down under laws from which your mind +recoiled; your tongue tried to imitate their speech, and the roof of +your mouth dried up in exceeding bitterness; your face darkened from +wrath and humiliation, and you lived in fear lest your faith and the +name of Israel should be obliterated from the face of the earth. Then +under torments and awful sorrows your greatness fell from you; your +sins and transgressions began to grow and multiply, and Jehovah your +Lord, looking down upon you said: 'Is this my chosen people with whom +I made the covenant of Truth and Grace? Can he not keep it except +with the words of his mouth, which do not agree with the deeds of his +hands? Does he see the covenant only in his offerings; songs, +prayers, and incense, and forget the high ladder I showed my servant +Jacob in his dream to teach the people in all times how to reach me, +who is Perfection and Understanding.'" + +Here the voice of the reader became drowned again in a low, +ever-increasing murmur. + +"What is it he is reading?" they asked each other. "It is the writing +of a bad Israelite who throws ugly words at his people." + +"Which are those sins that have been multiplying amongst us? And how +are we to praise the Lord if our songs and, prayers have no value in +His eyes?" + +Meir grew pale when he found his voice powerless against the +increasing tumult. But he would not stop now, and went on reading. By +and by curiosity prevailed over discontent and they became silent +once more. + +They listened to the tale of Michael Senior's life; how, by order of +the king, and out of love for his people, he had stood at the head of +their affairs, and wanted to lead them into new ways, at the end of +which he saw the dawning of a happy future; how he had been thwarted +in all his undertakings, and the heart of the people turned away from +him. + +"Great thoughts crowded into my brain which I could not utter, +because my old friends and my pupils abandoned me! In my breast there +was fire, at which they would not warm themselves, but said it had +been kindled by evil spirits. Then my body wasted away, the light of +my eyes became dim, and the sleep of death drew near. I cried out in +anguish: 'Lord of the world! do not forsake thy messenger! Give him a +voice powerful enough to reach the ears of those that are not born, +since those that live will listen no longer.' And I opened the Holy +Book and read:" + +"'Though he be dead, he yet speaketh.' Son of my sons, you who have +found this writing, read it to the people to let them know what I +desired from them. The first thing I asked from them was; +Forgetfulness. Did I want them to forget their Lord Jehovah, or the +name of Israel which produced the greatest men of the past? No, I +could not ask them to forget it because the remembrance is dear to me +and rejoices my heart." + +"I asked my people to forget the wrongs and sorrows of the past. Do +not remember injuries! Do not say an eye for an eye! Mar Zutra every +day, before he lay down to rest, said, 'I forgive all those that have +saddened me.' Mar Zutra was a great man." + +"When you begin to forget Israel, you will approach the flame which +you speak of as alien, and which belongs to all nations. The alien +flame, from which you fly in your blind hatred, has been kindled by +Sar-ha-Olam, the angel of knowledge, who is the Angel of Angels and +the prince of the world. The knowledge of religion is sacred, but +other knowledge has equally been created by him who dwells in perfect +wisdom. Good is the apple of paradise, but are we therefore to refuse +other products of the earth? A time will come when the world will be +full of knowledge, as the sea is full of water." + +"Thus spoke and wrote the sage whom your teachers hold accursed. His +name was Moses Majmonides, a true prophet, who did not look into the +past but into the future, for he knew that a time would come when all +those who did not gather around the flame of wisdom would fall into +the dust, and their name become a by-word of contempt and derision. +He was the second Moses; he was my teacher from whom came all my joy +and all my sorrow." + +Here the reader dropped the hands that held the papers, and an +expression of rapture shone in his face. + +"He was my teacher from whom came all my joy and all my sorrow." +Strange coincidence! Both he and his ancestor who had died three +hundred years ago had listened to the same teacher. In the hearts of +both he had kindled the heroic, self-sacrificing love, the greatest +upon earth--the love of the ideal. But the descendant who read these +words which one by one dispersed all his doubts, felt no sorrow; +nothing but a great joy and hope. + +A hoarse and thick voice shouted from the crowd: + +"Hear! hear! he praises alien flames! He calls the accursed heretic a +second Moses!" + +All heads turned towards the door to see who had spoken. It was Reb +Moshe, who had climbed upon the bench near the door and was thus +raised above the crowd; he shook his head, laughed derisively, and +fixed his malignant eyes upon Meir. But the people's curiosity was +not yet satisfied; under their ragged garments many hearts were +beating with a new, and by themselves undefined sensation. + +"He speaks to us through the mouth of his descendant. Listen to him +whose soul dwells already amongst the Sefirots." + +An old man with stooping back, who leaned upon his stick, raised his +white head and said to Meir, plaintively: + +"How could Israel warm himself at the sun of knowledge when he was +driven away from it by his enemies? And we once had, Reb, famous +physicians and wise men who were ministers at the courts of kings; +but when they thrust us from the portals of knowledge we went forth +and said: Henceforth Israel will hold aloof from the stranger, like +an elder brother whom the younger brethren have offended." + +Meir looked at the old man with a gentle, half-triumphant smile. + +"Reb!" he replied, "the voice of my ancestor will give an answer to +your question:" + +"A time will come when wrong and injustice will disappear from the +earth. The gates of knowledge will be thrown open wide before you. +Enter quickly with a joyful heart, because understanding is the +greatest weapon given by the Lord who rules the world by the eternal +laws of wisdom." + +"They do not wish to behold the works of the Creator; of such it is +said: 'A fool hath no delight in understanding.'" + +"The second thing I asked from my people is: Remembrance. Rava asked +Raba, the son of Moro, the origin of the proverb! 'Do not throw mud +into the fountain from which thou drinkest.' Raba answered with the +words of the Scriptures: 'Thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian, because +thou wast a stranger in his land.' Eliezer the son of Azalrya, said: +'The Egyptians did not invite the Israelites into their country from +self-interest, therefore the Lord rewarded them.' Since the country +whose bread you eat did not treat you as cattle to plough his field, +but as a tired brother to rest on his bosom, how have you rewarded +it, O Israel?" + +"It is not said, Thou shalt despoil the stranger, but 'One Law shall +be for him that is home-born and unto the stranger that sojourneth +among you.'" + +"When I was holding the office bestowed upon me by the king, two base +Israelites were found who had gone to the enemy's camp and betrayed +the king's secrets and brought calamity and trouble upon the kings +troops. What did I do with these base subjects? I ordered it to be +published by the sound of trumpets, all over the country, that these +two, traitors to their God and their country, were for ever expelled +from the bosom of Israel. I did this because when contemplating their +deed my heart boiled over with wrath. I saw, as if in a dream, the +second Moses, who said: 'Thrust them out of Israel, for they have +betrayed those that received them as guests into their land.'" + +"Not only for the good of your souls did I ask you for remembrance +and gratitude, but also for your earthly welfare. When I sat in the +great Synod assembled at the wish of the king and nobles, in the rich +town of Lublin, I advised and urged the wise and honest men to send +out a proclamation that would shake the hearts and brains of the +people, even as the gardener shakes the trees to make the ripe fruit +fall." + +"In this proclamation we said: 'Be useful to the country wherein you +live and the inhabitants will respect you. This is the first step +towards happiness, because contempt is bitter and respect sweet to +the human heart.'" + +"But there are still other things which I have in my mind: He who is +the servant of the soil, hath bread in abundance. How is the soil to +nourish you if you treat it, not as a faithful servant, but as a +stranger who only cares for the present day?" + +"Rabbi Papa said: 'Do not engage in trade, but cultivate the soil, +though both are good things; but the first is blessed by men.' If you +come into the land, plant all kinds of trees that produce fruit." + +"There will come a time when wrong-doing will disappear from the +earth, and the nations will call out to the sons of Israel: 'Take the +plough into your hands and cultivate the land, that you and your sons +may eat your bread in peace.' But false prophets will raise their +voice and tell you not to till the soil in the land of bondage." + +"Oh, my descendant who reads this, tell the people to beware of false +prophets! Call out to them in a loud voice: The false prophets have +brought you low, O Israel!" + +It was evident that the descendant fulfilled the command of his +ancestor with conviction and unspeakable joy. Had he not himself felt +the deep hatred towards the false sages? Why he considered them as +such, he could not have told. His tongue was tied by want of +knowledge, and his spirit, longing for light, had beaten against the +walls of darkness in the midst of which he was imprisoned. Now he +knew and understood; therefore from the depth of his heart he called +out: + +"Do not believe, O Israel, in your false sages." + +The crowd grew noisy. + +"Of whom does he speak?" + +"Who are the false sages and prophets in Israel?" + +"He speaks of our rabbis and learned men; abominable blasphemy comes +out of his mouth." + +"He throws only blame upon the children of Israel!" + +"He bids us plough the soil in the land of bondage." + +"Rabbi Nohim, the grandfather of Rabbi Isaak, said to our fathers: +'You shall not till the soil with your own hands in the land of +bondage.'" + +"Rabbi Nohim was the wisest of wise men; his wisdom lighted up the +whole earth." + +"Hersh Ezofowich quarrelled fiercely with Reb Nohim." + +"Hersh Ezofowich was a great sinner!" + +"Why, does he not tell us how to make poor people rich?" + +"He said we ought to become servants of the soil on which we live. +When the Messiah comes and takes us to the promised land, we shall +leave this one. Why should we become its servants?" + +"It was said the writing would teach us how to change sand into +gold!" + +"And how to drive out evil spirits." + +"How to bring Moses to life again." + +"They have told us lies; there is nothing wise or pleasing to the +Lord in the writing." + +Questions and mutterings followed rapidly one upon the other, +accompanied by the scornful laughter of those that had been balked in +their hopes and expectations. The melamed, towering above the crowd, +threw out insulting remarks, or burst into harsh laughter full of +venomous malice. Under the second wall opposite the melamed stood Ber +on a bench. These two men, standing opposite each other, presented a +striking contrast. The melamed shook his head and waved his arms, +wildly shouting and laughing; Ber stood silent and motionless, his +head thrown back, resting against the wall, and from his blue eyes +that looked into the far, far distance, tears fell in thick drops. +Close to Meir in a compact body stood a dozen or more of young men, +who looked with rapt attention at the reader. They breathed quickly, +smiled now and then, and raised their arms and sighed. They seemed +not to see or hear the crowd; their spirits, longing for truth and blindly +searching for it, had fastened upon the new thoughts. A thin, quavering +voice was heard from the crowd: "They talked much about that, long, +long ago; when I was young." A deep sigh accompanied the young man's +words. Perhaps he was one of Hersh's friends. Young boys who pushed +their heads between the people laughed and shouted, then disappeared +again. + +The old yellow papers began to tremble in Meir's hands; upon his pale +face appeared two red burning spots. He looked half angrily, half +entreatingly at the public. + +"Be quiet!" he called out. "Let me read the words of the great man to +you to the end. He has chosen me as his messenger, and I must obey his +commands." + +His voice was loud and authoritative; his whole frame seemed to +expand under the influence of a new power. + +"Be quiet," shouted the melamed. "Let him read the abomination which +hitherto has lain in hiding. Let it come forth that we may stamp it +out all the easier." + +"O Israel!" began the youthful voice once more. "O Israel, the third +thing I ask from you is Discernment." + +"In ages past, the learned men among us were called Baale Tressim or +armour-bearers. What was their armour? Their armour was the +understanding of the covenant. Why were they armed? To protect Israel +from annihilation. They said: Israel shall not disappear from the +surface of the earth, for we will give him a strong hold from the +covenant of 'Moses. Thus said the Tanaim. And the Sanhedrin where +they sat, and the schools in which they taught became as the arsenal +where they ground and prepared their weapons. Gamaliel, Eliezer, +Joshua, Akiba, and Jehuda were amongst them like suns among the +stars. Others followed in their footsteps, and through five hundred +years they compiled, explained and wrote the great book which they' +named the Talmud, and which through centuries was a bulwark to the +Israelites, shielding them from the devouring elements From its pages +the sons of Israel drew wisdom and comfort, and during the great +dispersion they were never divided, because their thoughts and sighs +went towards it and gathered round it, like children round their +mother." + +"But is everything which is good in itself equally perfect?" + +"This book, which during five hundred years was written and composed +by wise and loving men, cannot be a foolish or a bad book. He who +speaks thus of it, tell him to clean his heart from evil, and then +open it and read." + +"There are clouds in the sky, and in the purest heart the Lord +discerns a flaw. Did Jehovah himself write the books of Our Law? Did +the angels write them? No; people wrote them. Has there ever been a +man during all the ages who did not know what it meant to go astray? +Is there any human work which is adequate or all times and all ages?" + +"The throne of the Pharaohs has been shattered; Nineveh fell into +ruins; Rome which ruled over half the world broke asunder; and +Greek wisdom has made way for other wisdom. The desert spreads now +where once were rich and powerful cities; and cities are rising where +formerly was desert. Thus human works, the greatest of them, pass +away and others take their place." + +"Israel! the nourishment which sustained your soul through many +generations contains grain, but also chaff. In your treasure hoards +there are diamonds and worthless sand." + +"The books of your Law are as the pomegranate which the foolish man +ate with the rind, which left a bitter taste in his mouth. When Rabbi +Meir saw him doing this, he plucked fruit from the tree, threw away +the bitter rind and ate the luscious fruit. I wished to teach you as +Rabbi Meir taught the man who ate the pomegranate. I wished for you +the gift of discernment, for the books of your faith. Wished that you +might use your intelligence as a sieve in order to separate the grain +from the chaff, the diamonds from the sand; so that you may keep the +pure grain and the diamonds." + +"You have thrust me off for this my request; your hearts became +hardened against me because of the fear and hatred towards things +new. And yet it is written: 'Do not look at the vessel, but look at +its contents.' There are new pitchers full of old wine, and old ones +that are empty." + +"Meir," whispered Ber, "look at the people!" and then he added in a +still lower voice: "Depart from this place as quickly as you can." + +Meir looked around at the seething, muttering crowd; a smile +half-angry, half-sad came on his lips. + +"I did not expect this; I expected something quite different," he +said in a low voice, and he bent his head; but he raised it again +almost instantly and called out: + +"I am the messenger of my ancestor. He has chosen me to read his +thoughts to you. I must obey him." + +He drew a deep breath, then added in a still louder voice: + +"He penetrated the doubts which were to arise in those who were not +born, and gave an answer to them. He penetrated into the inner life +of the human soul, which thirsts after truth and knowledge, and +offers you freedom and happiness through my mouth. I love him as if +he had given me life. I bow down before the greatness of the man who +has worked out his own immortality and dwells now in Jehovah's glory. +I think as he thought; I wish for you as he wished. I am like him; I +am the child of his spirit." His clear voice shook with emotion, and +smiles and unshed tears were together on his mobile features. + +"My ancestor says to you that all nations are moving on towards +knowledge and happiness; but our heads are so full of little things +that there is not room for great thoughts; that the study they call +Kabala, and which you consider, is a cursed science, for it kills the +Israelite's intellect and leads him away from true science." + +His voice became drowned in the general uproar, laughter and +groaning, so that only broken sentences reached the small, +inattentive audience. Yet he did not cease speaking, but went on +quicker and quicker, with heaving breast. It almost seemed as if +recognising the futility of his efforts, he tried to stand at his +post as messenger of the dead as long as he could. Perhaps he had not +lost hope altogether. + +"Woe I woe!" called out voices in the crowd. "Heresy and sin have +entered the house of Israel! Out of the mouths of children comes +blasphemy against holy things." + +"Listen, listen!" cried Meir. "It is still far to the end of my +ancestor's writing." + +"Let us stop his mouth and drive him from the spot where only true +Israelites should speak." + +"Listen, it is written here that Israel should leave off expecting a +Messiah in the flesh." + +"Woe! woe! he will take from the heart of this only hope and +comfort." + +"Because he will not come upon earth in the shape of man, but in the +shape of Time, bringing to all people knowledge, happiness and +peace." + +"Meir, Meir, what are you doing? You will be lost! Look at the +people! Go away while there is time," whispered those around him. + +Ber stood at his side. Eliezer, Aryel, Haim, and a few others +surrounded him; but he neither saw nor heeded anything. Large beads +of perspiration stood on the proudly-raised brow, and his eyes looked +despairingly and angrily at the tumultuous crowd. + +Suddenly a dull thump was heard near the entrance door. The melamed +had jumped down from the bench, and, with his naked feet, stamped +several times upon the floor. Then, in a few bounds, he cleared the +crowd, which made way for him, and with a violent jerk of his arm +threw down the brass candlestick with the yellow candle. At the same +time someone climbed on the bench and blew out the lamp near the +door. Except for the pale streaks of moonlight, which came through +the windows, the whole room was plunged into darkness, and amidst +that darkness seethed and boiled the raging element--an exasperated +populace. + +Nobody could have singled out any individual expression. Words, +curses, groans, came down like hailstones, and mixed together in a +chaos indescribable. At last, from the wide open door of the +Bet-ha-Midrash poured the dark stream of people which, outside in the +court, was met by another of those who had not found room within, and +were less noisy, though equally excited. A large wave of moonlight +lit up the open space and the Bet-ha-Kahol with its closed door and +shuttered windows. On the portico steps, motionless and silent, his +elbows resting on his knees, sat the shamos (messenger) awaiting +orders from the interior of the building which, in the midst of the +uproarious mob stood dark and mute like the grave. + +The crowd broke up into many groups. One of these, the largest, +crossed the gates of the precincts; shouting and struggling, it +poured into the moonlit square, where it looked like a monster bird +flapping its huge wings It was mostly composed of poorly-dressed men +with long beards and maliciously gleaming eyes. Children of different +ages flittered to and fro among them, picking up stones and mud. They +all thronged towards one point; a single man surrounded by a +bodyguard of friends. Pushed and knocked about, they resisted with +their arms and shoulders until, yielding to the pressures they +finally gave way, and were swallowed up by the crowd. Then a shower +of stones fell upon the back of the man whom, until now, they had +screened; dozens of hands grasped his garments and tore them into +strips; upon his bare head fell mud and handfuls of gravel picked out +of the gutter. In his ears thundered the yells and groans of the +infuriated mob; before his face flashed the clenched fists and +inflamed faces of his assailants, and beyond, as if veiled in a +blood-red mist, silent and closely shuttered, appeared the house of +his fathers. + +Towards that house, as if to a haven of salvation, he directed his +steps as quick as the grasping hands and the children crowding round +his feet would let him. From his compressed lips came no sound either +of complaint or entreaty; he did not seem to feel the hands that +smote him or the stones, which pelted his body, and which might maim +or kill him at any moment. With breast and shoulders he tried +desperately to push aside the mob. It was not himself he defended, +but the treasure he carried; now and then he touched his breast to +make sure it was still there. Suddenly a burly figure, dressed in a +coarse shirt, and with a thick stick in his bands, barred his way, +and shouted: + +"Fools, what are you doing? Why do you not take the loathsome writing +from him? The Rabbi Isaak has ordered it to be torn from him; he has +bidden it in his breast!" + +In an instant the young man, who had been assailed from the back and +sides only, found himself attacked in front also. Rough and dark +bands reached at his breast; his convulsively clenched arms were +wrenched asunder, and they began to tear his garments. Then he raised +his pale face towards the moonlit sky with a despairing cry: + +"Jehovah!" + +He felt a lithe and supple body creep up from under his feet, and a +pair of hot lips were pressed to the hand which hung down powerless. +A wonderful contrast this single kiss of love in the midst of all +that hatred and fury. With a last, almost superhuman effort, he +pushed off his assailants, stooped down, and, before anybody had time +to rush at him again, lifted a child up in his arms. It threw its +arms around his neck, and looked with streaming eyes dilated with +terror at the people. + +"It is my child! it is my Lejbele! do not hurt him!" called the +frightened voice of the tailor Shmul from the crowd. + +"Reb!" called out several voices to the melamed, "he is shielding +himself behind the child--the child loves him!" + +"Take away the child and tear from him the writing!" yelled the +melamed. + +But nobody obeyed him. They still pulled at his clothes at his sides +and behind, a few stones whizzed over his head; but he saw a clear +space in front of him, and, with a few bounds, he reached the porch, +which an invisible hand opened quickly, and as quickly bolted after +he had entered. + +Meir put the child down in the dark passage, and he himself entered +the sitting-room, where, by the light of the lamp, he saw the whole +family assembled. Panting and breathless, he leaned against the wall, +and his dull eyes looked slowly round the room. All were silent. +Never since the house of Ezofowich had existed in the world had a +member of that family looked like the pale, panting youth whose head +was covered with dust and mud, and whose garments hung in tatters +around him. The forehead, moist with the dew of mortal anguish, was +marked across with a red scar, caused by a rough stone, or perhaps +some blunt instrument in the darkness of the Bet-ha-Midrash. + +But for the expression of pride and undaunted courage in his face, he +might have been taken for a begging outcast or a hunted criminal. + +Saul covered his face with both hands. Some of the women sobbed +aloud. Raphael, Abraham, and other grave members of the family rose +from their seats, stern and angry, and called out in one voice: + +"Ill-fated lad!" They were about to surround him, and to speak to +him, when suddenly the shutters flew open with a crash, the windows +shattered into bits, and heavy stones thundered against the furniture +from beyond the broken windows, yells and shouts arose, over which +dominated the hoarse voice of the melamed. They called for Meir to +give up the writing, heaped abuse and insults on the family, and +threatened them with heaven's and the people's wrath. + +The members of the family stood motionless, as if turned to stone +with terror and shame. + +Saul took his hands from his face, drew himself up proudly, and went +quickly towards the door. + +"Father, where are you going?" cried the men and women in terror. + +He pointed his shaking hand at the window, and said: + +"I will stand in the porch of my house, and tell the foolish rabble +to be quiet, and take itself off." + +They barred his way. The women clung around his shoulders and knees. + +"They will kill you, father!" they moaned. + +Suddenly the raging tumult ceased. Instead yells, a low murmur passed +from mouth to mouth. + +"The shamos! the shamos! the shamos!" It was indeed the same man who, +silent and motionless, had sat on the steps of the Be-ha-Kahol +waiting for orders, and who now approached the house of Ezofowich to +proclaim the sentence of the tribunal before the family of the +accused. The crowd, stirred by ardent curiosity to hear the sentence, +pressed close to the windows, in which not a single pane of glass +remained. Others, scattered over the square and in the neighbouring +streets, drew nearer, and surrounded the house like a dark, living wall. +The door of the house was opened and shut again, and the shamos +entered the sitting-room. + +He looked anxiously, almost suspiciously around, and bowed very low +before Saul. + +"Peace be with you," he said in a low voice, as if he himself felt +the bitter irony of the greeting. + +"Reb Saul," he began, in a somewhat more assured voice, "do not be +angry with your servant if he brings shame and misfortune into your +house. I obey the commands of the Rabbi, the elders, and the judges +who sat in judgment upon your grandson Meir, and whose sentence I am +ordered to read out to him and you all." + +A deep silence followed upon his words. At last Saul, who stood +leaning upon the shoulder of his son Raphael said in a low voice: + +"Read." + +The messenger unrolled the paper he was holding in his hand, and +read: + +"Isaak Todros, the son of Baruch, Rabbi of Szybow, together with the +judges and elders of the Kahal, who constitute the tribunal of the +community of Szybow, heard the following accusations, confirmed by +many witnesses, against Meir Ezofowich, son of Benjamin:" + +"Meir Ezofowich, son of Benjamin, is accused, and found guilty, +of the crime of breaking the Sabbath. Instead of giving himself up to +the study of holy books, he watched and defended the dwelling of the +heretic Abel Karaim, and raised his hand in anger against Israelitish +children." + +(2.) "That Meir Ezofowich was seen reading the accursed book, 'More +Nebuchim,' by Moses Majmonides, the false sage, excommunicated by +many saintly rabbis and learned men; read this same book aloud to his +companions, thus teaching them heresy and other abominations." + +(3.) "That Meir Ezofowich held rebellious speeches against the +covenant and the wise men of Israel, perverting thus their youthful +minds." + +(4.) "That under pretext of charity and pity for the poor of the +town, he gave them criminal and foolish advice, saying, they ought to +see what the elders did with the money they received from them; and +further, they should distinguish in the covenant between God's work +and people's invention; finally, told them to work in the fields like +peasants." + +(5.) "That having hair growing on his face, he refused to get +married, and broke his engagement with the Israelitish girl Mera, +daughter of Eli, and showed thereby his resolution to avoid the +married state." + +(6.) "That he lived in impure friendship with Golda, the +granddaughter of a heretic, who, not belonging to the faithful, had +been allowed to live in his place through the great charity of the +Rabbi and the elders. Meir, the son of Benjamin, has been seen in +their dwelling, and meeting the girl Golda in lonely places, taking +flowers from her, and joining his voice with hers in worldly songs on +a Sabbath." + +(7.) "That he has not paid due respect to the learned men, and has +raised a sacrilegious hand against the melamed Moshe, whom he knocked +down, throwing the table upon him, causing, thereby, bodily harm to +the melamed and great scandal to the community." + +(8.) "That in his great, unheard-of malice, he denounced a brother +Israelite, Reb Jankiel Kamionker, before an alien, thereby breaking +the solidarity of his people, and bringing Reb Jankiel into trouble +and perhaps danger." + +(9.) "That in his boundless audacity he extracted the writing of his +ancestor, Michael Senior, from its hiding-place, where it should have +rotted away, and with criminal insolence read it to a large crowd of +people, thereby endangering the old law and customs of the +Israelites; and as the writing, we have been told, contains +blasphemous and pernicious doctrines we consider the reading of the +said document as the greatest of his crimes. Therefore, according to +the power given us by our law over the sons of Israel, we decree:" + +"That to-morrow after sunset, a great and terrible curse will be +pronounced against the audacious and disobedient Meir Ezofowich, son +of Benjamin, through the mouth of Rabbi Isaak, son of Baruch, for the +hearing of which all the Israelites of Szybow and the environs will +be summoned by the messenger; and Meir Ezofowich will be thrust out +and ignominiously expelled from the bosom of Israel. All of you who +remain faithful unto the Lord and the covenant live in peace and +happiness with all your brethren in Israel." + +The shamos had finished; and putting the paper under his coat, bowed +low, and swiftly left the room. + +For several minutes a deadly silence prevailed within and without. + +Suddenly Meir, who had stood like one entranced, threw his arms +wildly above his head and uttered a heart-broken cry: + +"Expelled from Israel! cursed and expelled by my own people!" His +voice died away in a loud sob. With his head pressed against the wall +he sobbed in great anguish. It was enough to hear one of these sobs, +which shook his whole frame, to guess that he had been wounded in the +most vital part of his soul. + +Then approached his uncles, their wives and daughters, with voices of +entreaty, anger, threats, and prayers, beseeching him to give up the +writing of the Senior, to let it be burned publicly, and perhaps the +decree of the elders would be mitigated. The men crowded round him; +the women kissed him. + +Still shaken by sobs, and his face closely pressed to the wall, deaf +to all the voices of entreaty and anger, his only answer was a motion +with his head and the short monosyllable: + +"No! No! No!" + +This single word, thrown out amidst his sobs, was more eloquent than +the longest speech: it expressed such deep suffering, love, and +undaunted courage. + +"Father," exclaimed Raphael, turning towards Saul, who sat alone and +motionless, "Father! why do you not command him to humble himself? +Bring him to reason; tell him to give up the writing to us, and we +will carry it to the Rabbi and ask him to relent!" + +When Raphael said this, Meir uncovered his face and turned it towards +his grandfather. + +Saul raised his head, stretched out his hands as if blindly groping +for support, and then rose. The previously dull eyes became all at +once singularly restless, till they met with the fixed look of his +grandson. He opened his mouth, but no words came. + +"Speak, father! command him!" urged several voices. + +The old man seemed to totter on his feet. A cruel struggle was taking +place within him. Several times he tried to speak, but could not. At +last in a heavy whisper, he said: + +"He is not cursed yet--I am still allowed:" + +"In the name of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob I bless you, son +of my son!" + +And trembling in every limb, his eyes full of tears, he sank back in +his chair. + +Those present exchanged glances of amazement and reverence. Meir +bounded forward and threw himself at the feet of the old man. In a +low, feverish voice he spoke of the love he bore him--about the +Senior's legacy to his descendants, and that he would go into the +world and come back sometime. Then he rose from his knees and quickly +left the room. + +At this moment there was nobody near the windows of the house. The +great crowd of people had retreated towards the middle of the square, +and there they stood almost motionless, quietly whispering with each +other. A singular thing happened. Scarcely had the messenger finished +reading the sentence when the storm of wrath and anger suddenly +subsided. What had happened to them? Their emotional nature which, +like a stringed instrument, answered to the slightest touch, quivered +under a new feeling. It was respect and sympathy for the misfortune +of an ancient and charitable family. The crowd, which such a short +time before had yelled and cursed and was ready to tear everything to +pieces, became suddenly quiet and subdued, and began to disperse +peacefully. Here and there still sounded malicious laughter or +insulting epithets, but more voices were heard in gentle pity. + +"Yet he was good and charitable!" + +"He never was proud!" + +"He fed my foolish child and kissed it!" + +"He saved my old father when the cart had fallen upon him!" + +"He worked with us like a common man, and sawed wood!" + +"His face shone with beauty and intelligence!" + +"All eyes rejoiced looking at his young age!" + +"Herem!! Herem! Herem!" (Excommunicated) repeated many. + +Then they shook their heads in wonder, faces paled with horror, and +breasts heaved with sighs. + + + +*** + +Three shadows glided swiftly over the moonlit deserted fields which +separated the town from the Karaite's Hill. The first belonged to a +tall, slender man; the second to a child who clung to the sleeve of +his garment; these two shadows were so close together that often they +formed but one; the third shadow showed the outline of a burly +figure, which kept carefully in the distance, now and then stood +still or doubled up, at times disappearing altogether behind palings, +shrubs, or trees. It was evident the shadow wanted to hide itself, +and was looking for something, listening and watching for something +or somebody. + +At the open window of Abel's cottage a low voice called out: + +"Golda! Golda!" + +From the window bent a face, whitened in the moonlight, and +surrounded by waves of black hair. A low passionate whisper sounded +in the still evening air: + +"Meir! Meir! I heard a terrible noise and awful voices! My heart +trembled in fear; but it is nothing now you are here." + +Two arms were stretched forth towards the approaching young man. The +corals on her neck quivered under the throbbing emotion where sobs +mingled with laughter. + +Suddenly she uttered a piercing cry. + +Meir stood before her, and she saw his torn garments and the red scar +on his forehead. + +She moaned, and put her hand gently on his brow, and caressingly +touched the dusty hair and ragged clothes with the almost motherly +feeling that longs to comfort and soothe. Meir sat on the bench in +the posture of a man deadly tired. He leaned his head against the +window-frame, and seemed to draw in the mild evening breeze. The moon +reflected herself in the mournful eyes that were raised in question +towards the silvery clouds. After a while he straightened himself and +said quickly, in a low voice: + +"Golda, people may search for me; if they find me they will take my +treasure. I will give it to you to hide it, and then I will go into +the fields and woods to cry out unto Jehovah for mercy." + +The girl, too, stood straight and grave. "Give it to me," she said +quietly. The leaves of the paper rustled in Meir's hands, and, giving +them to the girl, he said: + +"Hide it in your breast, and guard my treasure as the apple of your +eye. It contains the precious words of my ancestor, which have +removed all blindness from my eyes. They will be my passport which +will open to me the doors and hearts of wise men. It is quiet here, +and safe--nobody sees or suspects. When I am ready I shall come and +ask you for it." + +Golda took the paper. + +"Rest tranquil about your treasure," she said. "I would rather lay +down my life than give it up to anyone but you. It is safe here, it +is quiet, nobody will suspect." + +Meir rose from the bench. + +"Sleep in peace," he said. "I must go; my soul is full of cries; I +must walk, walk. I shall go and throw myself down among the trees, +and send my prayers up to Jehovah with the evening breeze. I must +unburden my mind of the heavy load." + +He was going away, but Golda held him by the sleeve. + +"Meir," she whispered, "tell me what has happened. Why did the people +beat and hurt you? Why must you go out into the world?" + +"People have beaten and stoned me," replied Meir gloomily, "because I +would not go against the truth, and would not agree to what the +people agree. I must go, because to-morrow a terrible curse will be +pronounced against me, and I shall be excommunicated and expelled +from Israel." + +"Herem!" (the curse) shrieked the girl, and she threw her folded +hands in horror above her head. She stood thus for a moment; then a +gentle, thoughtful smile came on her face. + +"Meir!" she whispered, "zeide is cursed and I am cursed; but the +mercy of the Lord is greater than the greatest terror and His justice +vaster than the vastest sea. When zeide reads this, he leaves off +grieving and says: 'The cursed ones are happier than those that +curse . . . because a time will come when the justice of the Lord will +enter into the human heart, and then they will bless the names of +those that have been cursed.'" + +Meir looked at the girl, whose deep-set eyes glowed with inspiration. + +"Golda!" he said softly, "you are the second half of my soul. Come +with me into the world as my wife; holding each other's hands, we +will bear the curse together and live so that people shall bless our +names." + +A great wave of fire passed over Golda's face and left it radiant +with ineffable joy. + +"Oh, Meir!" she exclaimed. She wanted to say something more, but +could not. She bent her lithe figure very low and hung upon his arm. + +He put his arm around her neck and pressed his lips to the wavy black +hair. It was only for a moment. The girl straightened herself, and +with the hot blush still dying her face, she said softly: + +"And zeide?" + +Meir looked at her like a man suddenly aroused from sleep. She went +on in the same low voice: + +"His feet are so weak that he could not go with us, and besides he +would never leave the graves of his fathers. How can I leave him? How +could he live without me, whom he brought up with his hands, taught +to spin, to read the Bible, and told all his beautiful stories? Who +would feed him if I went away? Who during the cold winter nights +would lie at his feet and warm his cold limbs? And when the soul is +about to part from his body, who will rock the old head to its +eternal sleep? Meir! Meir! you have a grandfather whose hair is white +as snow, and who will rend his garments when you are gone. But your +zeide has many sons, daughters, and grandchildren; he is rich and +respected by everybody. My zeide has only this poor hut, his old +Bible and granddaughter Golda." + +Meir sighed. + +"You are right, Golda; but what will become of you when your +grandfather dies, and you remain alone in the world, exposed to +poverty and human scorn?" + +Golda sat down because her limbs trembled. She passed both her hands +over her hot face, and with upraised eyes replied: + +"I shall sit before the door of this hut, spin my wool and tend my +goats, looking along the road whence you will come back!" + +It was an adaptation from the story of Akiba. + +Meir asked dreamily: + +"And what will you do if people come and laugh at you and say: 'Akiba +is drinking at the spring of wisdom whilst your body is consumed with +misery and your eyes are dull from weeping?'" + +A voice stifled with emotion replied to him: + +"I shall answer this: 'Let misery consume my body, and my eyes run +over with tears; yet truly will I guard my husband's faith.' And if +he stood before me and said: 'I have come back because I did not wish +you to weep any longer,' I should say to him: 'Go and drink more.'" + +Meir rose. There was no despair on his face now, but hope and courage +depicted in his whole bearing. + +"I will come back, Rachel," he exclaimed. "Jehovah will give me +strength, and good people will help me if I show them my hard +yearning after knowledge and the writing of the Senior, which is the +covenant of peace between Israel and the nations. I shall drink long +and eagerly at the spring of wisdom; then come back and teach my +people, and for all the misery and contempt which you suffer, I shall +put a golden crown upon your head." + +Golda shook her head. The expression in her face showed she had been +carried away by a wonderful dream. She dreamt she was Rachel, +greeting her husband Akiba. With passionate eyes and a far-away +smile, she whispered: + +"And I shall embrace your knees, and with eyes that have regained +their former beauty I shall look at all your glory and say: 'Lord and +Master! your glory be my crown.'" + +They looked long at each other, and through their tearful eyes there +shone a love as deep and earnest as their hearts were pure and +heroic. + +A low, childish laughter reached their ears. They looked astonished +in the direction whence it came. Upon the threshold of the hut sat +Lejbele, holding in his arms a snow-white kid. The kid had been +purchased at the fair with the money Golda had taken for the baskets. +The child had seen it in the entrance, brought it out on the +threshold, and nestled his face to the soft white hair and laughed +aloud. + +"The child always follows you," said Golda. "He kissed me to-day, +when everybody beat and stoned me; with him I shielded my treasure +against their strong hands," replied Meir. Golda disappeared from the +window and stood upon the threshold. She bent over the child, her +flowing hair covered his head and shoulders, and she kissed him on +the forehead. Lejbele was not frightened; he seemed to feel safe +here. He had seen the girl before, whose luminous eyes looked at him +with an expression of great sweetness. He raised his grateful, now almost +intelligent, eyes to her, and whispered: + +"Let me play with this little goat?" + +"Will you have some milk?" said Golda. + +"Yes," he said; "please give me some." + +She brought a bowl full of milk and fed the child; then asked: + +"Why do you leave your father and mother, and follow Meir?" + +The child rocked his head and replied: + +"He is better than daddy, and better than mammy. He fed me and patted +my head, and saved me from Reb Moshe." + +"Whose little boy are you?" asked Golda. Lejbele remained silent and +kept on rocking his head. He evidently tried to collect his confused +thoughts. Suddenly he raised his finger and pointed after the +retreating figure of Meir, and said aloud: + +"I am his." + +And he laughed: but it was no longer the laugh of an idiot, only the +expression of joy that he had found the way to clothe in words the +thoughts of his loving little heart. + +Golda looked in the direction where Meir had disappeared, and sighed +heavily. Presently she rose, wrapped herself in a gray shawl, went +half-way up the hill, and sat down under a dwarfed pine-tree. Perhaps +she wanted to look down and watch his return from the woods. Her +elbows resting on her knees--her face buried in her hands, she sat +motionless, like a statue of sorrow; the black hair which covered her +like a mantle, glittered and shone in the bright moonlight. + +At the same time the low door of the Rabbi's hut was softly opened +and Reb Moshe crept in, looking worn, ashamed and troubled. He +squatted down near the fireplace and looked anxiously at Isaak Todros +who sat in the open window, his eyes fixed on the sky. + +"Rabbi!" he whispered timidly. + +"Rabbi!" he said a little louder, "your servant will look guilty in +your eyes--he has not brought the abominable writing. The storm was +fearful, but his friends defended him; he resisted himself, and then +a little child shielded him. The foolish people tore his clothes, +beat, abused and stoned him; but did not take the writing from him." + +"Nassi! your servant is ashamed and troubled; have mercy upon him, +and do not punish him with the lightning of your eyes." + +Todros, without taking his eyes from off the sky, said: + +"The writing must be taken from him and delivered into my hands." + +"Nassi! the writing is no longer in his hands." + +"And where is it?" said the Rabbi, in a louder voice, without turning +round. + +"Rabbi! I should not have dared to appear before you, had I not known +what became of it. I followed him--my whole soul entered into my eyes +and ears. I saw how he gave the writing to the Karaitish girl to hide +it; I heard how he called it his treasure, and his passport to go +into the world with, and which would open for him the hearts of the +people." + +Todros shuddered convulsively. + +"It is true," he whispered angrily. "That writing will be to him a +shield and weapon, on which our sharpest arrows will have no effect. +Moshe!" he said, in a more determined voice, "the writing must be +taken from the Karaitish girl." + +The melamed crawled to his master's knees, and raising his face to +him said, in a low voice: + +"Rabbi! the girl said she would sooner lay down her life than part +with the writing." + +Todros was silent for a moment, and then repeated: + +"The writing must be taken from her." + +The melamed remained, silent and thoughtful for a long time. + +"Rabbi!" he said in a very low whisper, "and if anything happens to +the girl?" + +Todros did, not answer at once. At last he said: + +"Blessed is the hand that removes garbage from the house of Israel!" + +The melamed seemed to drink in the words eagerly and ponder over +their meaning. Then he smiled. + +"Rabbi!" he said, "I have understood your wish--depend upon your +servant; he will find men whose hands are strong and whose hearts are +steel. Rabbi!" he added, entreatingly, "let a gentle ray from your +eyes fall upon your servant; let him see your wrath is softened +towards him. My soul without your love and favour is like a well +without water or a dark prison where no love enters." + +Todros replied: + +"No gentle ray will come from my eye, nor will my wrath be softened +till the writing has been torn out of the accursed hands." + +Moshe groaned: + +"Rabbi, the writing shall be in your hands tomorrow." + +The moon fell bright upon the faces of both men, of whom one looked +at the heavens, the other into his master's face. The master searched +the heavens for the silvery streaks which are the ways the angels +travel from star to star through eternity; the pupil looked into the +master's eyes for the reflection of the supernatural light. + +In both their minds the name of the angel of death whom they had +called up was present--yet both their hearts were full of love and +boundless admiration. + + + +CHAPTER X + +A great and unusual emotion prevailed among the population of the +little town. From all parts they thronged towards the large brown +house of prayer, where, under the three-storied roof covered with +moss, the row of high and narrow windows blazed with light. The sky +was covered with stars twinkling feebly and paling before the full +moon. + +The interior of the temple, large and roomy, would easily hold +several thousand people. The high and smooth walls, forming a perfect +square, were cut across by a long, heavy gallery, divided into +niches, not unlike private boxes, and surrounded by a high, open-work +grating. Wooden benches, standing closely together, filled the body +of the synagogue from the entrance door up to the raised platform, +which was surrounded by a highly ornamental grating. There was a +table on the platform, used for unfolding the leaves of the Tora on +days when extracts from it were read to the people. It served also as +a pulpit when, on solemn days, speeches or religious discourses were +delivered. Here also stood the choir of young men or grown-up +children, who united their voices or answered to the intonating +singer. + +The platform was about a dozen feet from the principal part of the +building, which looked very impressive in its dignity and blaze of +colour. It was the altar, or the place where the holy of holies was +preserved. The top of the altar reached to the ceiling, and consisted +of two great tables incrusted with lapis-lazuli and covered with +white letters, like strings of arabesques, in a rich and fantastic +design, in which the initiated eye could read the Ten Commandments. +The tables of lapis-lazuli were supported by two gilt-bronze lions of +huge size, resting on two heavy columns of the intensest blue, +surrounded with white garlands of vine-leaves and grapes. All this +rose from a heavy stone foundation, the large surface of which, from +top to bottom was covered with inscriptions from the Bible. The two +columns stood like guards on either side of a deep recess, veiled +entirely with a red silk curtain richly embroidered with gold. Behind +this curtain, only raised at certain times, lay the holy of holies, +the Tora, a great roll of parchment covered with costly silk and tied +with ribbons embroidered in gold and silver. + +Seven chandeliers of a hundred lights each, illuminated the gallery +above, showing behind the transparent grating innumerable +female figures in bright coloured dresses; below were the benches, +where the men were sitting on their soft white talliths. Around the +necks of the more prominent members gleamed large silver bands worked +in delicate bas-relief. The costliest and largest of the seven +chandeliers hung suspended by heavy silver cords before the red silk +curtain and reflected in the heavy gold embroidery, and showed the +delicate design of the vine leaves twining round the columns. Here +stood Eliezer, the singer who intoned the old psalms, the limitless +melodies of which resound with all the voices of human joy, +suffering, and entreaty. Never had the beautiful voice produced +richer or mellower tones; never had it vibrated with such deep +emotion. It almost seemed as if that evening a superhuman power had +taken possession of him. Now and then his voice died away in a low +wail; then it rose again with such voluminous power of entreaty as if +it carried him on its wings before the throne of Jehovah--to plead +for something or somebody. + +The whole building was filled with the sound, in which the choir of +young voices joined from time to time. There was a deep silence among +the congregation. Here and there some one whispered: + +"It is like the angel Sandalphon, who offers to Jehovah the garlands +made from human prayers." + +Others shook their heads sadly. "He is pleading for his friend, who +is to be excommunicated to-night." + +Suddenly the singer's voice was interrupted by a heavy thump, +repeated several times. It ceased, as if the golden string had been +torn asunder by a brutal hand. The choir disappeared from the +platform, and in their place stood one man, whose dark, piercing eyes +looked more baneful than ever. In his hands he held a heavy book, +with which he struck the table as a sign for silence. Throughout the +building everything was quiet, except in the portico, where some +twenty people surrounded a young man who, with a deathly pale face +and compressed lips, stood leaning against the wall. + +Whisperers crowded around him. + +"It is still time. Have mercy upon yourself and your family! Run +quick, quick, throw yourself at the feet of the Rabbi! Oh, Herem! +Herem! Herem!" + +He did not seem to listen. His arms were crossed over his breast. The +contracted forehead, marked with the red scar, gave him the +expression of inward pain, but also of inflexible courage. + +"In the name of the God of our fathers," sounded the loud voice of +Isaak Todros. + +A long sigh like a tremor seemed to shake the whole congregation, and +then everything was silent. + +Isaak Todros spoke slowly and impressively: + +"By the force and power of the world, in the name of the holy +covenant and the six hundred and thirteen commandments contained in +the covenant; with the malediction of Joshua against the town of +Jericho; with the malediction of Elisha against the children who +mocked him; with the shamanta used by the great Sanhedrims and +Synods; with all the herems and curses used from the time of Moses to +this day; in the name of the God eternal; in the name of Matatron, +the guardian of Israel; in the name of the angel Sandalphon, who from +human prayers wreathes garlands for the throne of Jehovah; in the +name of the archangel Michael, the powerful leader of the heavenly +army; in the name of the angels of fire, wind, and lightning; in the +name of all the angels conducting the stars on their courses, and all +the archangels who are spreading their wings above the throne of the +Eternal; in the name of Him who appeared in the burning bush, and by +the power of which Moses divided the waters; in the name of the hand +who wrote the tables of the holy law, we expel, disgrace, and curse +the strong, disobedient, and blasphemous Meir Ezofowich, son of +Benjamin." + +He paused a little, then, with a vehement motion, raised both his +arms above his head, and, amidst the deepest silence, he went on +faster and louder: + +"Be he accursed by heaven and earth; by the angels Matatron, +Sandalphon, and Michael; by all the angels, archangels, and heavenly +orbs. Be he accursed by all pure and holy spirits which serve the +Lord; accursed by every power in heaven and upon earth. Let all +creation become his enemy, that the whirlwind crush him and the sword +smite him. Let his ways be dangerous and covered with darkness, and +let the greatest despair be hi only companion thereon. Let sorrow and +unhappiness waste his body; let his eyes look upon the heavy blows +falling upon him. Let the Lord never forgive him; nay, let the wrath +and vengeance of the Lord eat deep into his marrow. Let him be +wrapped up in the curse as in a garment; let his death be sudden, and +drive him into utter darkness." + +Here Todros paused again to draw breath into his exhausted lungs. His +voice had become every minute more laboured, and his sentences more +broken. His face was burning, and his arms waved wildly over his +head. + +"From this moment," he shouted again, "from this moment the curse has +fallen upon him; let him not dare to approach the house of prayer +nearer than four yards. Under the threat of excommunication, let no +Israelite approach nearer to him than four yards distance, nor open +to him his house, nor give him bread, water, or fire, though he see him +dying with thirst, hunger, and disease; nay, let everybody spit upon him, +and throw stones under his feet, that he may stumble and fall. Let him not +have any fortune, either what he has earned himself or what comes from his +parents; let it be given up to the elders of the Kahal, to be used for the +poor and needy." + +"This curse which has fallen upon him, let it be made public +all over Israel wherever you go, and we will send the tidings of it +to all our brethren to the farthest confines of the world." + +"This is our decree, and you all who remain faithful unto the Lord +and his covenant, live in peace." + +He had finished; and, at the same time, by some prearranged +contrivance, all the lights in the seven chandeliers grew dim, and in +the four corners of the edifice trumpets began to sound in a low, +mournful wail, in which joined a chorus of sobs and loud moans. A +heart-rending cry came from the portico, which was all the more +terrible as, it came from the breast of a young and powerful man. +There was the noise of many feet, and the sound of somebody driven +out. Meir disappeared from the house of prayer. Among the benches +near the altar came the sound of rent garments, and grave men fell on +their faces. + +"In the dust lies the mighty house of Ezofowich," said several +voices, pointing at them. + +From the gallery came the loud sobs and wailing, of women, and in the +background of the edifice people without silver ribbons round their +talliths wrung their hard, work-stained hands. + +Todros wiped the perspiration from his brow with his ragged sleeve, +and, leaning upon the balustrade with heaving breast and twitching +lips, looked at the singer. He did not leave the platform, for, +according to the prescribed rules, a blessing for all the people +ought to follow the curse. It was the singer's duty to intonate it. +Todros waited for it. Why did the singer delay so long? Why did he +not take up his last words, "Live in peace," and intonate the +blessing? Eliezer stood with his face turned to the altar. Whilst the +Rabbi pronounced the curse his whole frame had shook under the folds +of the tallith. By and by he grew quieter, stood motionless, and his +eyes seemed to look far, far in the distance. At last he raised his +arms. It was the sign for silence and prayer. The trumpets, which had +kept on the low, mournful wailing, grew silent, the human sobs and +cries ceased. The dim light blazed up again, and amidst the deepest +silence, interrupted by some stifled sobs, rose the pure and silvery +voice of Eliezer: + +"O Lord, who blessed our fathers, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, +Aaron, David, the prophets of Israel, and all righteous people, pour +down thy blessing upon the man who this day has been injured by an +unjust curse." + +"God in thy mercy shield and guard him from all unhappiness, prolong +the years of his life, and bless all his undertakings. Release him +from distress, and darkness, and fetters, together with all his +brethren in Israel." + +"Do this, O Lord. Say all unto me, Amen." He stopped, and there was a +short silence of stupefaction, and then out of several hundred +throats came the cry, "Amen!" "Amen!" called out the members of the +Ezofowich family who rose from the floor, shaking the dust from their +rent garments. "Amen!" called out the group of poor people who had +wrung their black, work-stained hands. + +"Amen!" came from the voices of the weeping women in the gallery. +"Amen!" repeated at last a chorus of young voices. + +The Rabbi took his hands off the balustrade, and looked around the +congregation with amazed eyes. + +"What is that? What does this mean?" + +Then Eliezer turned his face to him and the people. The hood of his +tallith had slipped from his head on to his shoulders. His face, +usually white, was flushed, and his blue eyes glowed with anger and +courage. He raised his band, and said, in a loud voice: + +"Rabbi, it means that our ears and our hearts will not listen to any +such curses any more!" + +These words were like the signal for battle. Scarcely had he finished +speaking when some fifty young men ranged themselves on either side +of him. Some were the excommunicated man's personal friends; others +had only seen him from a distance; among them were even those who had +blamed him and condemned his rashness. + +"Rabbi!" they called out, "we will hear such curses no more!" + +"Rabbi! your curse has made us love the accursed!" + +"Rabbi! with that herem you have laid a burden upon a man who was +pleasant in the sight of God and man!" + +With a mighty effort Todros seemed to rouse himself from the numbness +into which the unexpected rebellion had plunged him. + +"What is it you want?" he shouted. "What are you speaking of? Has the +evil spirit bewitched you? Do you not know that our Law commands us +to curse those who rebel against the holy covenant?" + +Not from among the young men, but from the benches where the elders +were sitting, came a grave voice: + +"Rabbi! do you not know that when the old Sanhedrim were in fierce +debate whether to adhere to the teaching of Hillel or Shamai, a +mysterious voice, 'Bat Kohl,' taken for the voice of God himself, was +heard, 'Listen to the Law of Hillel, for it is full of charity and +gentleness.'" + +All heads were craned in the direction whence the speech had come. It +was from Raphael, the uncle of the excommunicated. + +At this moment Ber made his way through the crowd and stood at the +side of the young men. + +"Rabbi!" he exclaimed, "have you ever counted the intellects you and +your forefathers crushed with your despotism; all the souls eager for +knowledge that you thrust into darkness and suffering?" + +"Rabbi!" said a youthful almost childish voice, "will you and those +that stand by you always keep from us all knowledge after which our +minds are yearning?" + +"Why do you not, Rabbi, teach the people to use their intelligence as +a sieve, to divide the grain from the chaff, and the pearls from the +sand? Rabbi! you have made us to eat the pomegranate with the bitter +rind; we begin to feel the acrid taste of it and it causes pain." + +"Unhappy, misguided youths! Reprobates!" shouted Todros passionately. +"Did you not see with your own eyes that the people hated him, stoned +him, and marked his forehead with a red scar?" + +Proud and scornful laughter answered his speech. "Do not agree with +everything the people say," and one voice continued: "The curse you +pronounced against him has softened many hearts and opened many +eyes." + +"Malicious promptings stirred up hatred against him; but to-day all +hearts are full of compassion, because with your curse you have +killed his youth." + +"It is worse than death, Rabbi; for amongst the living he will be +like one dead." + +"And is it not written in the statutes of the great Sanhedrim: 'The +tribunal which once in seventy years pronounces a sentence of death +will be called the tribunal of murderers?'" + +"In the Sanhedrim, did not childless and stony-hearted men sit?" + +"Who soweth wrath, reapeth sorrow!" + +Such and similar were the sentences which fell like hail around the +Rabbi, accompanied by threatening looks and indignant gestures. + +Todros answered no more. He remained quite motionless and, with his +mouth open and eyebrows raised, presented the picture of a man who +does not understand what is going on around him. Suddenly, the +melamed rushed from the crowd, jumped over the balustrade, and +spreading out his arms as if to shield the beloved master, confronted +the people and shouted in angry tones: + +"Woe! woe! to the insolent who does not reverence those who serve +them before the Lord!" + +Eliezer replied: + +"No wall is to be raised between the Lord and his people. We +appointed men from amongst us to study the Law in order to teach it +to the ignorant. But we did not, tell them: 'We deliver our souls +unto you in bondage'; because every Israelite is free to search for +the Lord in his own heart and to explain His words according to his +intelligence." + +Others exclaimed: + +"In Israel there are no higher or lower grades. We are all brethren +in the eyes of the Creator; no one has the right to fetter our will +and intellect." + +"The false prophets have lost us, because they separated us from +other nations, that we are even as prisoners in the dark, left in +loneliness." + +"But a time will come when Israel will shake off his fetters, and the +blind and proud spirits shall fall down from their heights and the +imprisoned souls will regain their liberty." + +Isaak Todros raised his hands slowly to his head, as a man who tries +to rouse himself from sleep; then he leaned again on the balustrade, +raised his eyes, and sighed deeply: + +"En-Sof!" he said in a dreamy whisper. + +It was the kabalistic name of God which whirled across his despairing +mind. But as if in protest against the doctrines which had encumbered +the pure Mosaic faith, a chorus of voices answered: + +"Jehovah!" + +The melamed's body shook as in a fit of ague. With violent speech and +gesture he called upon the people to stand up for their beloved sage, +and punish the audacious rebels. But the more he spoke, the more +amazed he grew. Nobody moved. The rich and prominent of the community +sat silent, their foreheads supported on their hands, their eyes +riveted to the floor. They were in deep meditation. The bulk of the +people remained motionless and mute. + +The melamed understood at last that all efforts to rouse them were +useless. He became silent, but his eyes opened wider in great wonder; +he could not understand why they did not listen. + +But through the misty brain of Isaak Todros passed a ray of light, +and he got a glimpse of the terrible truth. Something whispered to +him that in the young breasts all the dormant desires and aspirations +of which the excommunicated man had been the interpreter, had stirred +into life. The young man was, then, not the only one; but he was +bolder, more enterprising and proud. He heard another whisper. The +young heads whose fearless attitude bad made him powerless to-day, +had been touched by the wings of the angel of Time, which, as he +perceived in a dull, indistinct way, was full of rebellion and +upheaving and would break down the barriers he had raised between +them and the highest truth. And he heard again why the people had not +stood up for him, because the angel of Time, who carries with him +rebellion, and battle, also brings charity and forgiveness, and +sweeps away curses and hatred with his powerful, yet soft, wings. + +All this Todros heard in a dim and vague way; but it was enough, to +benumb his heart, full of petrified faith and pride. + +"Bat Kohl," he whispered. + +The voice of his own conscience he took for the mysterious voice said +to be heard in great crises by the lawgivers and priests of Israel. + +"Bat Kohl," he repeated with trembling lips, and turned his gaze +around the building. + +The interior of the synagogue was half-empty. The people dispersed +slowly and silently, as if they were seized by a great sorrow and +doubt. The poor and rich, until now great admirers of the Rabbi. +There was the rustle of the belated women in the gallery, and then +everything was quiet and deserted. + +As in times of yore, Joseph Akiba was coming back in the moonlit +night, to his shepherd's hut, so Meir pale and trembling approached +the house of his fathers. + +He went there, but without the intention of entering it again. He +knew that he would have to go away, to pursue in loneliness and +misery the great aim he saw in the far, far distance, and which was +so difficult to reach. He wanted to see the house once more, but did +not intend to cross its threshold. Among the many darkened windows, +he saw one where a light glimmered. He stood still and looked at it. +Through the window he saw the motionless figure of his great-grandmother +in her easy chair. A wave of moonlight made the diamonds sparkle. + +Meir slowly ascended the steps of the porch and touched the door +latch. It yielded to the pressure; contrary to the usual custom the +door was unlocked. He entered the narrow passage and stood at the +door of the sitting-room, which was wide open. The whole house was +wrapped in darkness and silence. + +Was everybody asleep? Not likely; but not the slightest noise was to +disturb the last farewell between the great-grandmother and her +great-grandson and drive him from her knees. It was the last time he +rested under the roof of his fathers. + +"Bobe," he said softly, "Elte Bobe!" + +Freida slept peacefully as a child: the rays of the moonlight played +on the wrinkled face like childish dreams. + +"I shall never see you again, never any more." + +He pressed his lips to the dear old hand that had given him the +treasure which was his salvation and ruin, life and death. + +Freida's head moved gently. + +"Kleineskind!" she whispered, without opening her eyes. + +Meir lost himself in thought. His forehead resting on his +great-grandmother's knees, he said farewell to everything and +everybody around. + +At last he rose and slowly left the room. + +In the dark passage he suddenly felt two strong arms closing around +him, and a heavy object was put in his pocket. + +"It is I, Ber. Your grandfather looked around the family for a +courageous man who would give you a handful of money on the way; and +found me. Everybody in the house mourns for you; the women have taken +to their beds, crying; your uncles are angry with the Rabbi and the +elders; the grandfather is almost beside himself with grief--but +nobody will see you any more. It is thus with us; reason drags one +way; the old faith the other. They are afraid. But Meir, do not +grieve! You are happy. I envy you! You have not been afraid to do +what I did not dare to do, and you will win. To-day your friends +stood up for you, and the people were silent and did not defend the +Rabbi. It is the beginning; but the end is still far off. If you +showed yourself to-morrow before the people, their wrath would flare +up again. Go! go into the world. You have youth on your side and +courage; life is before you." + +"Sometime you will come back and put an end to our sins and darkness. +We have many diamonds, but they want sifting. Go forth now, to +conquer. Be like Baale Tressim, armour-clad like our ancestors; and +my blessing and the blessings of those who, like me, wished, but +could not--longed, but did not obtain what they longed for--be with +you." + +They exchanged farewells, and Ber disappeared as silently as he had +come. The deep silence of the whole house seemed to bid the +excommunicated youth to go hence. + +When he left the house it had begun to dawn. The market square and +the adjacent streets were asleep. The whole town was wrapped in the +gray mist of an almost autumnal morning. + +He swiftly crossed the mist-covered fields to get away, and say +farewell to her who had promised to be a faithful Rachel to him, and +to claim from her his treasure. + +The door and window of the little hut stood wide open. + +"Golda!" he called softly, "Golda!" + +There was no answer. + +He repeated his call, but the silence remained unbroken. He drew +nearer, and looked at the spot where old Abel was wont to sit. It was +empty. + +A strange, undefined dread took hold of him. + +He looked around, up the hills and along the fields, and called in a +loud voice: + +"Golda!" + +There was a slight rustle not far off. It came from a wild rosebush, +from among the branches of which rose the sleepy figure of little +Lejbele. + +Meir went quickly up to him. The child disengaged himself from the +branches, and put his hand under his coat. + +"Where is Golda?" asked Meir. + +Lejbele did not answer, but handed him the roll of papers. + +Meir bent towards the child. + +"Who gave you that?" + +"She," answered Lejbele, pointing to the hut. + +"When did she give it to you?" + +The child answered: + +"When the people were coming she rushed out of the hut, woke me, and +put the roll under my coat, and said, 'Give it to Meir when he +comes.'" + +Meir began to tremble. + +"And afterwards?" he asked, "afterwards?" + +"Afterwards, Morejne, she hid me in the bush, and went back to the +hut." + +"How many people were there?" + +"Two, Morejne, three--ten--I don't know." + +"And what did they do? What did the people do?" + +"The people came, Morejne, and shouted and screamed at her to give up +the writing; and she screamed that she would not, and the goat in the +entrance ran about and bleated." + +Meir trembled in all his limbs. + +"And then what happened?" + +"Morejne, she took the spindle into her hands and stood before her +zeide. I saw it from the bush. She was so white, and the spindle was +white, and the people were black, and the goat kept on running +amongst them and bleating." + +"And then--and then?" + +"Then, Morejne, I did not look any longer, but cowered down in fear, +because there was such a noise in the hut--such moans. Then the +people went away, and carried her, and carried her grandfather, and +the goat ran up the hill bleating, and I do not know where it has +gone." + +Meir straightened himself, and looked up to the sky with stony eyes. +He knew everything now. + +"Where did they carry them?" he asked in a dull whisper. + +"There." + +The outstretched arm of the child pointed in the direction where, in +the gray mist, the meadow was dimly visible--and the pond. Beyond the +pond were marshes and bogs, where two lifeless bodies would easily +sink. There, beyond the meadows, where in spring she had gathered +yellow lilies among the rushes, and unconsciously betrayed her fresh +and innocent love--there, hidden from all human eyes, she was lying +at the feet of her grandfather, wrapped in the wealth of her black +hair. + +A threefold cry of Jehovah rang out in the still morning air, and +only Lejbele remained before the door, holding in his raised hand the +scroll of paper. + +Meir had gone into the hut. + +What a terrible story was revealed to him! The straw lying about +Abel's couch, and amongst it, like drops of blood, Golda's red +corals. The broken spindle and the old Bible torn in shreds told +their tale. It was a long and cruel tale to which the young man +listened, his head pressed against the wall--a tale so long that +hours passed over his head, and he still listened with beating heart +and trembling limbs. + +When he stood again on the threshold, the sun was shining brightly. +How terribly changed he looked. The forehead, marked with a red scar, +was seamed and corrugated as if long years of suffering bad ploughed +the once smooth surface. The half-shut eyes had a dull despairing +lustre, and his arms hung down limp and powerless. He stood thus a +few minutes, as if listening intently for the sound of the voice he +should never hear more, when a weak hand tugged at his clothes, and a +small voice said: + +"Morejne." + +Lejbele stood before him, his mournful eyes raised to his, and +stretched out a roll of paper. It seemed as if the sight of the +papers reminded Meir of something, roused him from sleep, and told +him to do something that was sacred and important. He passed both +hands over his forehead, and then took the Senior's legacy from the +child's hands, and at the touch of it he raised his head, and his +eyes seemed to regain their old power and courage. He looked at the +town waking up from sleep, and murmured something in a low +voice--something about Israel, its greatness in the past, and its +great sins, and that he would never desert it, and not give back +curses for curses; that he would carry the covenant of peace to other +nations, drink at the source of wisdom, and come back sometime-sometime, +he repeated, thinking of the far future; and with a last look embracing the +poor little hut, as if in farewell to his short and pure dream of love, +he slowly ascended the hill. + +The child, standing motionless near the door, looked after the +retreating figure of the young man. His wide open eyes became +suffused with tears. When Meir was about half-way up the hill, one +convulsive sob burst from the child, and he began to run. At first he +moved very fast, but finding they were about a dozen steps apart, he +slackened his speed, and tucking his hands under his sleeves, walked +slowly and gravely after him. + +Thus walking, one after the other, the excommunicated youth and the +child of the poor man, they disappeared beyond the hill, where they +beheld a broad, sandy road leading into the wide, unknown world. + +Has the humiliated, excommunicated, and despised youth reached the +aim after which he strove so ardently? Has he found in the world +people ready to open their hearts and doors, and help him on the road +to learning? + +Has he, or will he come back, and bring with him forgiveness, and +that light, by the power of which the soil on which now grows nought +but thorns--will it produce cedars of Lebanon? I do not know. + +The story is too recent to have its end yet--for stories like this +have no end. But as it is similar to many of the same kind of +stories, reader! of whatever race, or country, or religion, if you +meet this obscure apostle on your way, give him cordially and quickly +your brotherly hand in friendship and help. + +THE END. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of An Obscure Apostle, by Eliza Orzeszko + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN OBSCURE APOSTLE *** + +***** This file should be named 28400.txt or 28400.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/4/0/28400/ + +Produced by Andrew Leader of www.polishwriting.net + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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