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+Project Gutenberg's Simon Eichelkatz; The Patriarch, by Ulrich Frank
+
+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: Simon Eichelkatz; The Patriarch
+       Two Stories of Jewish Life
+
+Author: Ulrich Frank
+
+Release Date: September 13, 2011 [EBook #37419]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SIMON EICHELKATZ; THE PATRIARCH ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was
+produced from scanned images of public domain material
+from the Internet Archive.)
+
+
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+
+
+SIMON EICHELKATZ
+
+THE PATRIARCH
+
+GLOSSARY
+
+
+
+
+Simon Eichelkatz
+
+The Patriarch
+
+Two Stories of Jewish Life
+
+By Ulrich Frank
+
+Translated
+From the German
+
+[Illustration: colophon]
+
+Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication
+Society of America
+
+1907
+
+
+
+
+
+SIMON EICHELKATZ
+
+
+      SEPTEMBER 9, 1900.
+
+To-day I was called to attend an old man who lives at the Flour Market,
+almost opposite the "New" Synagogue. The messenger told me I could not
+possibly miss the house, because the steps leading up to the old man's
+rooms were built on the outside; and this is in peculiar contrast to the
+modern architecture prevailing in the city. In fact, I do not know
+whether another house so curiously constructed is to be seen anywhere
+else in the place. And so I found it without much questioning. At any
+rate, I knew of the New Synagogue. I have never entered it, yet a soft,
+secret wave of religious feeling creeps over me each time I pass it, and
+that happens frequently. The synagogue lies on the road to the extensive
+factory quarter built up by one of the large manufacturers for his
+employees. My professional duties often take me there.
+
+The synagogue!--I always look at the simple structure, devoid of
+ornament, with mixed feelings of veneration and awe. I hold tradition in
+high regard. After all it counts for something that a man is the
+offspring of a pious race, which cherishes learning and _Yichus_. How
+does the Hebrew word happen to come to me? The synagogue keeps its grip
+on what belongs to it--and on me, too! Yet I should not be able to pray
+within its walls--although it was in such a place as this synagogue that
+my father taught the word of God.
+
+In fact, is it possible for us moderns still to pray? And then those
+remarkable Hebrew words, unintelligible to most of us now--_Ovinu
+Malkenu!_ The Church has converted them into the Lord's Prayer, the most
+fervent of its prayers. _Ovinu Malkenu!_ I see myself a little chap
+standing next to my father. How surcharged these words with belief and
+faith and hope when spoken by him: _Ovinu Malkenu chosvenu be-Sefer
+Parnossoh ve-Chalkoloh_--"Give us this day our daily bread!"
+
+Synagogue and church! Hebrew or German or Latin? The shrill call of the
+Shofar, or the soft sense-enslaving tones of the organ? I believe modern
+man can pray only in the dumb speech of the heart.
+
+It seems to me, if I were all alone in a synagogue, a devout mood would
+come over me; I would pray there. In Florence this happened to me once.
+It was very early in the morning; I was alone in a small church on the
+other side of the Arno, Santa Maria del Carmine, whose frescoes, painted
+by Masaccio, declare the joy and jubilation of man over his beauty and
+greatness. But, I remember, the words were Hebrew that sprang up in my
+heart, even if they did not pass my lips. So the dumb language of the
+soul has its familiar tones, its words endeared by association.
+
+Truth compels me to admit that it was Simon Eichelkatz who prompted me
+to put these thoughts of mine down in writing.
+
+My patient at the Flour Market! When I climbed the steep stairway,
+thoroughly scoured and strewn with white sand, I little suspected I
+should soon stand in the presence of one of the most interesting persons
+it had ever been my good fortune to meet. The stairway led directly into
+the kitchen. A long, lank individual received me there, and on my asking
+for Herr Eichelkatz, he answered testily: "I guess he's in the floored
+room." At the moment I could not imagine what he meant. Then I noticed
+that the flooring of the kitchen was only of cement, and I realized that
+he meant to convey that the room in which the patient waited had a
+wooden flooring.
+
+"Will you lead me there?" I asked politely.
+
+"Lead!" with a deprecating shrug of the shoulders. "Why should I lead?
+It's right here. They must be led. These new-fashioned people must be
+led. Can't they walk by themselves?" At these not very friendly words,
+he pushed a door open and bawled in: "The doctor is here--the Herr
+Kreisphysikus. I should lead him to you, Reb Shimme. By himself he would
+never find you. Reb Shimme, should I drive him in with the white or the
+black horse? It's too far for him, Reb Shimme, the new-fashioned people
+want to be led; they want to be announced by a vally. Whether they come
+to a king or to Reb Shimme Eichelkatz, it's all the same, they must be
+announced."
+
+All this was accompanied by scornful chuckles; and he looked at me
+angrily, quite taken aback, when I pushed him aside with a sweep of my
+arm just as he cried out again: "Herr Kenig, the doctor is here!"
+
+I stood in the middle of the room, the "floored" room, and, verily, I
+stood in the presence of a kingly man, I stood before Simon Eichelkatz.
+
+
+      SEPTEMBER 16.
+
+What is it that draws me to this old man? I am almost glad he needs my
+care as a physician. Remarkable egotism this on my part; but fortunately
+the sickness is not serious; a slight indisposition, such as often comes
+in old age. My patient is well on in the seventies, and is really
+wonderfully fresh and vigorous. A sudden spell of faintness induced his
+servant to send for me--the wrathful, snarling servant who received me
+with so little grace on my first visit. Now I am used to Feiwel
+Silbermann's quirks and sallies. I know his intentions are not bad; and
+then his great merit in my eyes is his rare fidelity to Simon
+Eichelkatz. After I had finished examining the patient on my first
+visit, Feiwel crept after me, caught hold of me as I stood on the lowest
+step, and anxiously inquired:
+
+"What is the matter with Reb Shimme? Is he, God forbid, really sick?
+He's never been this way before. I've known him--may he long be
+spared--these twenty years, but as he was to-day--"
+
+Feiwel tried to take my hand. "I must scold, _nebbich_. That's what he's
+used to. And if I were suddenly to come along with fine manners, he
+might think, _Chas ve-Sholem_, it was all over with him. Now, I ask you,
+Herr Kreisphysikusleben, if a man always scolds and means well, isn't
+that as good as if a man speaks softly and is false? A treacherous dog
+doesn't bark. Praised be God, Reb Shimme knows what he's got in me.
+Twenty years I've been with him, since Madame Eichelkatz died. His only
+son is professor at the University in Berlin. A _Meshummed_, Herr
+Doktor. Baptized," he added, his voice growing hoarse. "Since the
+gracious Madame Eichelkatz died, we live here, at the Flour Market. And
+he never saw his son again, Herr Doktor. But now, if he should, God
+forbid, get sick--he's an old man--I don't know what I should do."
+
+Ah! So Simon Eichelkatz has a skeleton in his closet, not an every-day
+skeleton, either. I should not have suspected it from what I saw of the
+gentle, gay-spirited old man. As to Feiwel, I set his worries at rest. I
+told him the illness was not serious, a mere weakness, not unusual in a
+man of Simon Eichelkatz's age, and it would pass without serious
+consequences. Feiwel gave me a look of such devout gratitude that I was
+touched. "Of course," I said, "you must be watchful, and must take good
+care of him, because at his age every symptom must be taken into
+account."
+
+"What, symtohn he has?" Feiwel asked, anxious again. "Can symtohn become
+dangerous? Is it a very bad trouble? Symtohn!" He repeated the word
+several times. "I've heard of people's getting heart disease, or kidney
+trouble, may I be forgiven for my sins, or rheumatiz, but to get
+symtohn!"
+
+I explained the meaning of the word to him, and he breathed a sigh of
+relief.
+
+"Praised be God, if it's nothing more than that--I'll look out for the
+symtohns, you can be sure of that, Herr Kreisphysikusleben."
+
+"I'll come again to-morrow to find out how Herr Eichelkatz is doing," I
+said, "and I hope it won't be necessary to let Herr Professor Eichelkatz
+know--"
+
+At that moment it occurred to me I had never heard of a university
+professor of that name.
+
+"He isn't called Eichelkatz at all," Feiwel whispered with spite in his
+voice. "If a man can have himself baptized, he can throw his father's
+name away, too. Why not? What should a man be named Eichelkatz for if
+he's a professor? If he's a professor, it's better for him _evadde_ to
+be named Eichner--such a name!"
+
+Eichner! Professor Friedrich Eichner, the most powerful of modern
+thinkers, the philosopher of world-wide renown, a son of Simon
+Eichelkatz!
+
+
+      SEPTEMBER 22.
+
+I see the New Synagogue now every day. It was dedicated over forty years
+ago, but it is still called "New." They had a rabbi come from Berlin to
+dedicate it, and that after their own rabbi had worked for ten long
+years to make the building possible, after he had gone to great pains to
+scrape the money together, after his ardent appeals had succeeded in
+warming his people up to the undertaking, after he had removed all the
+difficulties presented by the authorities--after he had brought things
+so far, his congregation found it in their hearts to humiliate him at
+the crowning point of his achievement, they found it in their hearts to
+set him aside at the dedication in favor of another.
+
+Have honor and justice come back to you? Have the years left their
+traces upon you, O ye, whom I love, my brethren in faith? Forty years!
+New generations have blossomed since those days when pride and false
+ambition brought sorrow to a noble spirit, and sought to deprive him of
+the fruits of his labor, blessed and pleasing to the Lord. Another was
+permitted to take his place and consecrate the work he had called into
+being. On the day of his greatest glory they poured gall into his soul,
+filled his heart with bitterness. But he forgave!
+
+Gradually I am learning all sorts of stories about the congregation.
+Simon Eichelkatz tells them to me when I visit him, and that happens
+almost daily. It is now one of my favorite recreations to hunt up this
+old man, this wise old man; for what he says in that easy, simple way of
+his always awakens new thoughts in me. He little suspects the abundance,
+the wealth of ideas that arise and take form in his mind. They all well
+forth so unconsciously, the most profound and the most exalted. One day
+a granite rock of Kantian philosophy towers up before me; the next day
+the trumpet tones of a Nietzsche reveille sound in my ears. And this
+feeble old man, who gives utterance to these deep thoughts, never read
+any other book than the book of life, life in a small town remote from
+the bustle of the world, life in a Jewish community, with its
+intellectual backwardness and provincial peculiarities. The _Khille_, it
+is true, with its concentric circles, its conservatism, its solidarity,
+its self-sufficiency, was rich soil to foster individuality and develop
+reserve strength. Nothing is wasted there, nothing consumed too quickly
+in those communities thrown back upon themselves, leading, forced to
+lead, a life apart from the rest of the world. How much that is of
+import to the world has gone forth from such communities! When the seed
+had grown strong and healthy in its native soil, and was then
+transplanted to fresh soil, how it blossomed forth, fruit-bearing,
+fructifying!
+
+Now it seems to me as though Professor Friedrich Eichner could not
+possibly have been of other parentage. The son, the heir of Simon
+Eichelkatz! With amazement, with rapture we listened to his lectures, to
+which students from all the other departments also crowded; and when the
+world-philosophies he unfolded loomed before our eyes in gigantic
+proportions, a feeling came over us of shuddering awe and admiration.
+Who was this man? A radical, an iconoclast. And now, out of the mouth of
+an old man, I hear ideas, conceptions, truths that might have laid the
+foundations for the philosophy of the other, the younger, man. Not that
+the relation between them was that of teacher and pupil; for Professor
+Friedrich Eichner knew nothing of his father's wisdom, and the father
+knew nothing of his son's philosophic systems. The father does not
+mention his son--he probably is ignorant of his son's life, of his son's
+importance to science. Only once he referred to him, recently, in
+telling me about the "New" Synagogue. Sunk in thought he said:
+
+"The first _Bar-Mitzvah_ that took place there was my son's. I still
+remember the speech our _Rav_ delivered then--about the love of parents
+and fidelity to those who lead us in our youth--Herr Kreisphysikus, our
+Rav was a fine, sensible man, but he did not understand just what a
+child should be. The child should grow away from us, above us, larger,
+stronger, and higher--and we mustn't ask anything of him, and we mustn't
+say to him, 'Come and stay here with me, where it is cramped and stuffy
+for want of air--enough air for an old man, but too little for you. And
+you shall not be my child, not a child, a filly, that neighs for the
+stable where its father and mother roll on the straw like animals. You
+must keep on growing--you must be a man, not a child.'"
+
+Simon Eichelkatz--Friedrich Eichner!
+
+My heart is tender, and I love my dear mother, whom a kindly fate has
+preserved for me unto this day; and I bless and honor the memory of my
+dead father. My opinion about filial and parental relations is entirely
+different from Simon Eichelkatz's; but it seemed to me as though I were
+listening to a chapter of Nietzsche's Zarathustra. Never did this name
+sound in your ears, Simon Eichelkatz. You never left the Khille, and for
+twenty years you have been living alone with your bodyguard, Feiwel
+Silbermann. But your son has written great works concerning the
+Zarathustra doctrine.
+
+
+      SEPTEMBER 24.
+
+The members of the Jewish community here are beginning to look upon me
+as a queer sort of person. In a measure, it is the duty of a new
+physician of the Jewish belief to associate with the "gentry" among his
+co-religionists. That is what is expected of me; and certainly I ought
+long ago to have left my card at the doors of the Jewish families that
+are well-to-do, and, as they think, aristocratic and cultivated. On my
+desk lies a long, imposing list of persons of consequence, and it is my
+firm intention to pay them my respects; my predecessor urgently
+recommended me to do so. "You will get into things most quickly," he
+said, "if you make your way among the well-to-do Jewish families. The
+community has a reputation from of old for setting great store by
+culture and refinement; and what better for you in a small
+out-of-the-way place than a stimulus now and then in the form of a visit
+to some pleasant home? The evenings are long; you can't forever be
+playing Skat." I certainly can't, because I know precious little about
+the game--and so the cultivated Jewish families are my future here. For
+the present I have found something else, which gives me more than I can
+expect from the stimulus of would-be aesthetic Jewish wives and maidens.
+
+I dearly love my fellow-Jews. But my love for them must not blind me to
+their weaknesses, and among their weaknesses I count an assumption of
+culture, a pseudo-refinement of the intellect, which has taken
+increasing hold upon the daughters of our race. How often I was
+disagreeably impressed by them in Berlin when they spoke about anything
+and everything, with that half-culture which produces the feeling that
+they are not concerned with knowledge, but with the effect to be created
+by their apparent "information" upon all subjects. What don't they know!
+What don't they want to know! How often I was tempted to say to one or
+another of them: "The learning of many things does not cultivate the
+mind; learn to believe and to think." And must I repeat the same
+experience here? I am uneasy; my predecessor sentimentalized too much
+about the "educated" Jewesses. Some of them, he unluckily told me, had
+been "finished off" in prominent educational institutions in foreign
+countries. I know all that, and I'm afraid of it, this finishing-off
+process of the ladies' seminaries! But probably there will be nothing
+else for me to do. If the winter evenings here are really so long and
+dreary, I may not be able to resist the torment of hearing young lips,
+soft and rosy for kissing, put the question to me: "What do you think of
+Nietzsche's 'Beyond evil and good,'" or "Do you think the painters of
+the Quatrocento and the Secessionists have anything in common?" How that
+hurts! Almost a physical pain! At all events it has often spoilt my
+taste for kissing soft, rosy lips.
+
+If I would seek wisdom, if I would drink at the source of life, here, in
+this place, I shall not go to youth, but to old age.
+
+I spent some time again with Simon Eichelkatz this afternoon. Outside it
+was raining and storming. A raw, grey day of autumn, the first this
+year. Up to this time the weather has been good. Over the small, quiet
+room a something brooded, something contemplative, genial, spiritual.
+Half dream-like, half meditative. Like the dying away of a great
+melody. I wondered if Simon Eichelkatz had ever heard of _Stimmungen_. I
+longed to put the question to him. "Tell me, Reb Shimme" (that is how I
+call him now), "when you are here all by yourself, in this great
+silence, do you ever have a feeling as if--as if--how should I say?--as
+if you were a part of your surroundings, as if everything that is about
+you helped along to give form to certain ideas in your mind?"
+
+I had to smile as I put the question. "Now say _milieu_," I scoffed at
+myself; and yet I never before felt the significance of the word so
+strongly as in that moment. The old man looked at me as though he wanted
+to find the meaning of the incomprehensible question in my face. His
+gaze, still clear and keen, rested on me thoughtfully, then passed
+quickly through the room, as though this would bring him enlightenment
+upon the relevancy of my question. Finally, he said slowly, as though
+he were formulating his thoughts only with difficulty:
+
+"I hear the silence about me--is that what you mean, Herr Doktor? I hear
+the silence, and so I am not alone. My soul is not deaf, and everything
+about me speaks to me. And the table has a language, and the chair on
+which I sit, and my pipe, Herr Doktor, my long pipe, it talks a good
+deal--and the _Kiddush_ cup here, and the spice-box--I wonder what they
+have lived through and have to tell about--and when the sun shines
+outside and peeps through the window, it's one thing, and when it rains
+like to-day, it's another." He rested his head on his hand. "But the
+silence is never dead--it lives as I live."
+
+Friedrich Eichner's form rose before me, as it looked several years ago,
+when I heard him in his lecture room speak on Zarathustra's "still
+hour."
+
+"That's just what is called _Stimmungen_, Reb Shimme," I said, as in a
+confused dream. He nodded his head several times, but said nothing in
+response.
+
+
+      SEPTEMBER 25.
+
+To-day Simon Eichelkatz told me about Rabbi Dr. Merzbach. This is his
+favorite topic. He finds the most forceful expressions when he gets to
+talking about him. "That was a man!" he exclaims over and over again,
+"fine, clever, good--much too good for the _Parchonim_ in the Khille.
+My, how it did look when he came here! I remember it as though it were
+yesterday. The first _Shabbes_ in _Shul_--it was still the old
+Shul--they little dreamed a time would come when there would be a 'New
+Synagogue.' And _he_ built it. The old one was almost more below the
+ground than above it. And that's the way the people here were, too.
+Black! Black of heart, black of morals! And first he built a new
+synagogue in the spirits of the people, and then he built a synagogue of
+stone and wood, so that they could hold their services in a worthy
+place. That's what he said, Herr Doktor, I can hear him preaching yet;
+and I learned much from what he said, for I never missed a sermon, and,
+besides, he was good and friendly toward me and spoke with me as often
+as he saw me. A great scholar--a real Doktor, not just a _Talmid
+Chochom_; he knew other things, too. On that first Shabbes, the old Shul
+was so full that the people stood out on the street, and they were so
+quiet, you could hear every word. And there he preached, like Mosheh
+Rabbenu when he came down from Mount Sinai to the Children of Israel.
+Not that they were bad, he told them, but that they must become better.
+And that they must not let themselves be ruled by their instincts and
+desires, but that each one must work away at himself to become nobler,
+more intelligent, and that each one could do this, because it was his
+Divine heritage, which was given to every man when God created him in
+His image. And they should be proud to be men, and for that they should
+acquire the dignity of man. It sounded glorious; and even if they didn't
+understand him, they were so touched, they would cry, and say it was
+rare good fortune for the congregation that such a man had become their
+Rav. People came from all the places near here to listen to the sermons
+of Doktor Salomon Merzbach; and in the wine-room of Heimann at the Ring
+you heard about nothing else. Whoever was fine, or wanted to be
+considered fine, stuck to him at first, but still more the plain people
+and the poor and unfortunate, because to them he was like a messenger of
+God."
+
+The narrator paused a while, as though he were letting the past take
+form again in his mind.
+
+"He was gentle with the bad, and friendly and forbearing with the
+hardened and the malicious, and he explained to them, that if it was
+their will, they could be good, because the will was given to man to be
+exerted and to be conquered. I was still young then, and I did not
+understand him; but one thing I did understand, that a great and good
+man had come to preach in our wilderness."
+
+Whence had Simon Eichelkatz taken these metaphors, these conceptions,
+these words? I stood before a great riddle.
+
+"But later," he continued, "I understood what he meant. In ourselves
+there is nothing good and nothing bad; it is only what we do, how we act
+that determines the moral worth of things." I had to suppress an
+exclamation. I jumped up and hastily said good-night. It was positively
+uncanny to hear the new values, the basic principles of good and evil,
+conveyed by one so absolutely unsuspecting of their import. The Jews,
+without doubt, possess philosophic instincts.
+
+When I stepped out into the open air, it was still raining. Impenetrable
+clouds hung low in the heavens, as if the whole world would sink down
+into the cold, trickling mass of fog. The steps leading down to the
+Flour Market were smooth and slippery. I groped my way cautiously.
+
+"Verily, I say unto you: Good and evil that perishes not--there is no
+such thing. Out of itself it must always reconquer itself."
+
+I said these words half aloud. I shivered, and worn and weary I crept
+home.
+
+
+      SEPTEMBER 26.
+
+Now I know about how Dr. Salomon Merzbach looked. Simon Eichelkatz owns
+an old daguerreotype of him, which he cherishes carefully and honors as
+a holy relic. He showed it to me when I was there this morning. On the
+shining, mirror-like surface, the features were almost obliterated; but
+when I shaded it with my hand, they came out more distinctly. A fine,
+noble face, a lovable expression, and endlessly good. In the eyes a
+gleam as of hidden scorn, but benevolence, too, and good humor--perhaps
+some sadness. He looks, not as one who scoffs at the weaknesses of his
+fellow-men, but as one who pities them, sympathizes with them. The
+supernal humor of the wise man plays about the strong mouth with its
+somewhat sensuous lips. In studying the features, one feels the
+greatness and goodness of a pure nature. A narrow line of beard frames
+the face and rounds off under the strong chin, giving the countenance a
+clerical expression, reminding one more of a pastor than of a rabbi.
+
+It was as though Simon Eichelkatz had guessed the tenor of my thoughts;
+for he suddenly said:
+
+"What a fuss there was about the beard! The Orthodox raged, 'A Rav
+should wear a smooth face!' 'He looks as though he were shaved!' they
+screamed, although they knew perfectly well that a smooth skin can be
+gotten without a knife, with _aurum_--excuse me, Herr Kreisphysikus,
+aurum-stinkum is what we always called it when we were children. But
+the Orthodox wouldn't let on they knew anything about--stinkum! And how
+they did bother him on account of his beard and his tolerance! Right
+after his first great speech--I told you of it--they got together in the
+afternoon at _Sholosh Sudes_, at Reb Dovidel Kessler's, and began to
+agitate against him. 'What nonsense,' they screamed, 'there is no good
+and no evil! He's _meshugge!_ What sort of _Chochmes_ is that? And he
+wears a new-fashioned beard, like a--priest, and a gown and a cap--and
+the _Talles_ as narrow as a necktie--that wants to be a Rav.'"
+
+That very day an opposition party was formed, which was against all the
+changes and necessary reforms Dr. Merzbach introduced. They worked in
+secret, like a mole underground, for no opposition dared show itself
+openly, because the richer and more intelligent in the congregation
+stuck to him. The young people especially were his faithful followers.
+On the Saturdays when he preached, the synagogue was always filled to
+overflowing. Besides, in the afternoon he got together in his house all
+who wanted to be enlightened on religious and moral questions; and they
+flocked to him like disciples to their master--to this man, who wanted
+to throw light upon the darkness of their ideas and notions. A nickname
+was soon coined for his opponents; they were called the "Saints." An
+underhand, double-tongued, cringing, vile lot they were in their
+libellous attacks upon Dr. Merzbach.
+
+In telling me these things, even at this late day something like
+righteous indignation came over Simon Eichelkatz, usually so tranquil
+and unruffled.
+
+"And all that the Khille owed him, too!" he exclaimed. "He improved our
+speech; through the power and beauty of his sermons he awakened in us
+the endeavor to cultivate a better, more refined language than the
+jargon we then spoke. Even now, when we get excited over what we're
+saying, it sometimes comes back to us. The younger generation had it
+easy; it glided right into the newer, better times. It was harder for us
+older men--we had little time for learning; but whoever wanted to
+understand him, he could--he could.
+
+"I was already a married man when he came here. I had my business, and
+unfortunately I couldn't go to school any more; yet I did learn from
+him--to speak, Herr Kreisphysikus, and perhaps to think--though that
+came much later. Working and attending to business, you can't get to it.
+But I saw and heard everything the new rabbi undertook, and I followed
+it with interest, even though at that time I couldn't have a say in
+congregational affairs. And do you know what he did then? He started a
+school, a Jewish school, with nothing but trained teachers, the boys'
+school separate from the girls'. And you learned everything there, just
+as in the Christian schools. When he delivered the address at the
+opening of the school, he said that we were enjoying the blessings of
+the year 1848, which had brought us Jews the liberty, as citizens, to
+make use of all the privileges of culture and progress. And around him
+were the boys and girls dressed in their holiday clothes, and the
+parents full of gratitude. But the 'Saints' turned against him in these
+spiritual efforts, too, and the word 'progress' was like a red rag to a
+bull with them."
+
+Simon Eichelkatz had a specially good day to-day. He related everything
+so vividly. It was as though the struggles of that time were still
+stirring in him. Naturally, the young business man, already the head of
+a household, placed himself entirely on the side of the liberals, who
+adhered to the rabbi, while the "others" spoke of the "new-fashioned"
+Rav with scorn and fanatical virulence, and made every attempt to
+overturn the institutions he had introduced.
+
+"The changes he made in the service, above all a choir led by a cantor
+with musical training, also excited their anger. They came forward quite
+openly and arranged their own service under the leadership of Dovidel
+Kessler. But Rabbi Merzbach had consideration and pity for his enemies,
+and paid no attention to the way they threw mud at him. He was nothing
+less than a good, great man, and he would not let himself be hindered in
+his work. And for ten years of wicked struggles and bitter ill-will, he
+built his new synagogue in the hearts of his people, and at last the
+ground was prepared for it. Things became better, and, besides, he gave
+the people a common goal, the building of a new house of worship. Now
+they had an outlet for their energy--but an outlet, too, for their
+ambition and their vanity.
+
+"That's the way it must be, Herr Kreisphysikus. The highest often comes
+forth from the lowest. And finally the synagogue stood there finished.
+What joy there was! And what a reward! But now I ask you, Herr Doktor,
+can't life be without the riff-raff? Is dirt a constituent of
+cleanliness?"
+
+Again those remarkable observations!
+
+"Are poisoned wells necessary, and evil-smelling fires, and foul dreams,
+and maggots in the bread of life?"
+
+Comparisons from Zarathustra are always forcing themselves into my mind.
+Whence this wisdom, Simon Eichelkatz? And do you suspect there is an
+answer to these questions?
+
+"Verily, we have no abiding-places prepared for the unclean. Unto their
+bodies our happiness would be an icy cave, and unto their spirits as
+well. Like strong winds we would live above them, neighbors to the
+eagles, neighbors to the snow, neighbors to the sun; thus do the strong
+winds live."
+
+My eye fell again on the daguerreotype--were you a strong wind, Rabbi
+Dr. Merzbach? You blew away many a crumbling ruin of the past. Yet you
+knew naught of the new values. You did not know that you must call to
+your enemies, to them that spit at you: "Take heed that ye spit not in
+the face of the wind." You lived in the times of the daguerreotype.
+
+I asked Simon Eichelkatz for permission to make a number of copies of
+the picture with my excellent photographic apparatus which I use for the
+Roentgen rays.
+
+
+      SEPTEMBER 28.
+
+The _Rebbetzin_! The word brings a wealth of pictures before my mind. I
+see my good mother living quietly, modestly, in the little town in which
+my father of blessed memory was rabbi. When he died--it was just when I
+was taking the state examination--I wanted to persuade her to move with
+me to Berlin. She would not. "Here I am at home, here is the grave of
+my husband of blessed memory, here are the graves of my dear parents and
+of my brothers and sisters; here lie your two sisters, who died
+young--here is my world. Everybody knows me, and I know everybody. What
+should I do in Berlin among nothing but strangers? I would worry and
+never feel at ease, and I would only hinder you in your profession.
+Leave me where I am. Old trees should not be transplanted. And here I
+can live decently on what I have. In the big city, where living is high,
+it wouldn't hold out. If only you will write often to me, and visit me
+every year, I shall have a happy, blessed old age."
+
+This is the arrangement I have kept up, and hope to keep up many more
+years. My dear little mother is well and robust; and in the modest
+corner she has fitted up for herself, dwell genuine peace and true
+humility. Humility! That is not exactly the characteristic mark of a
+Rebbetzin. The real Rebbetzin, the one who is exactly what a Rebbetzin
+should be, is proud and conscious of her dignity. The more modest and
+simple the Rav, the haughtier and more exigent the Rebbetzin.
+
+"And that's altogether natural," said Simon Eichelkatz to me to-day.
+"The Jews like to lead the people they employ a dance, and they are
+hard-hearted and domineering toward the weak and the dependent."
+
+This is an unexplained trait in the soul of the Jewish race. Possibly,
+it is due to the fact that they are often contentious and want the last
+word in an argument. And then comes a man, fine, tranquil, peace-loving,
+thoughtful, as were most of the rabbis, especially in those days, fifty
+years ago, and immediately the spirit of contradiction stirs in the
+people; and the more they love and respect their rabbi, the more they
+worry and pester him. Everything in which they themselves are
+lacking--Talmudic learning, knowledge and culture, goodness, modesty,
+and self-effacement, the utmost piety and self-sacrifice--all this they
+demand of him.
+
+"In a way he was to take upon himself all the _Tzores_ and wickedness
+and stupidity of the _Baale-Batim_," continued Simon Eichelkatz, "and
+the more aggressions they allowed themselves, the more virtue they
+expected of him. A wonder! _Nu_, Dr. Merzbach held up his end, and
+really atoned for the sins of the 'black' Khille."
+
+At that time conditions were probably similar to these in all places in
+which rabbis of modern culture and academic training began to carry
+light and truth to the minds of the Jews, who through the persecutions
+and oppressions under which they had so long languished had become
+distrustful, secretive, cowardly, and embittered. It was no slight task.
+And many a rabbi, weak and faint-hearted, wrecked himself in the
+attempt. In that case, it was a piece of good fortune if the Rebbetzin
+saw to it that her husband did not suffer all that was put upon him, if
+she stood shoulder to shoulder with him, protecting, guarding him,
+warding off what foolishness, ill-nature, and tyrannical whims hatched
+against him. Usually the relation was this: the Rav they loved but
+vexed, the Rebbetzin they hated but feared. A certain equilibrium was
+thus maintained.
+
+"And our Rebbetzin, Frau Dr. Merzbach, _she_ was their match!" cried
+Simon Eichelkatz. "She was proud, and she looked down on the members of
+the congregation almost disdainfully. They couldn't hold a candle to her
+so far as family and position went; for she was the daughter of one of
+the best and most prominent families; and the piety and learning of her
+father and grandfather were known in all Israel. How could anyone in the
+Khille compare with her in breeding and birth?"
+
+Simon Eichelkatz went on to tell me how these tradesmen and business men
+seemed like vassals to her. That was how she had been used to see the
+members of the congregation approach her father in his house; and she
+knew that was how they had approached her grandfather, with the deepest
+respect and devotion. And so the free way in which the people dared meet
+her husband, this forwardness and familiarity, wounded her beyond
+measure. And fearless and self-confident as she was, she made no secret
+of her feelings. This gave rise to eternal jarring; and again and again
+the Rav tried to reconcile her to the situation. But though she revered
+her husband as a saint and loved him with the self-surrender and
+faithfulness of a Jewish wife, she would not abandon her ground. Perhaps
+just because she loved him. She unconsciously felt that one could not
+get around the "rabble" merely with benevolence and mildness; firmness
+and haughtiness were also necessary in dealing with them. It is not
+unlikely that Dr. Merzbach could not have fought the fight to the finish
+if it had not been for his courageous wife. Certain it is that she kept
+many a slight from him, many an ill-natured offense. They all took care
+to let her alone; and when Frau Dr. Merzbach walked along the Ring, many
+a one slunk off around the corner, because his conscience pricked him on
+account of some gossip, some intrigue, or some petty persecution--these
+were the weapons with which the "Saints" agitated against the noble man.
+With his beautiful nature, he was no match for them, but they trembled
+before the Rebbetzin.
+
+"And believe me, Herr Kreisphysikus," Simon Eichelkatz commented, "she
+was right; nothing else was left for her to do. That was the only way to
+get the better of that lying pack of hypocrites. If they hadn't been
+afraid of her, they would have fought even harder against the man who
+wanted to bring them the blessings of a regulated, proper life. They
+prepared enough bitterness for him, and he would probably have gotten
+tired and discouraged, gone to pieces sometimes, if his life in his own
+home had not weighed in the balance against the lowness of the Khille.
+
+"And that's where the Rebbetzin was remarkable. She was just as clever
+as she was proud; and even her hottest opponents--and not all of them
+were of the Orthodox; some of the 'gentry' were envious of her and
+fought her--well, even her hottest opponents admitted that she was
+intelligent, and knew how to tackle things, that she tried to acquire
+modern culture, and that she gathered the better elements in the
+congregation about her. And her house was gay and refined, people felt
+at home there. Nowhere did one pass one's time so well as at Dr.
+Merzbach's."
+
+The rabbi's house on his Friday evenings became a centre for the
+cultivated people, the people who held high places in the intellectual
+world of the congregation and the city. Christians, too, entered the
+circle.
+
+"You can imagine, Herr Doktor, what bad blood that made. But the
+Rebbetzin didn't concern herself about it, and nobody could get a hold
+on her, because no fault could be found with her piety. Many said she
+was more orthodox than the Rav. There was some truth in this. He, being
+a great Talmudist, might find some freer interpretation of the laws, he
+might open up new ways, while she stuck fast to what had been sacred to
+her in her grandfather's and her father's home. I remember how he once
+came to my office on a very hot day, and took his hat off, and wiped his
+forehead, and then sat there without anything on his head, when suddenly
+his wife appeared outside in the store. He snatched up his hat, smiling
+in an embarrassed way, and said: 'God forbid my wife should see me
+sitting here without my cap.'"
+
+Such trivialities and externalities invested her with glamour. Besides,
+there was her great philanthropy and her public work. Not a charitable
+institution belonging to the city or the congregation but that she was
+at the head of it. And outwardly cold and reserved, always carrying
+herself with great dignity, she still would willingly sacrifice herself
+in a good cause.
+
+"During the cholera epidemic," continued Simon Eichelkatz, "I saw her at
+sick-beds, and I know what a heart she had, for all her fine intellect.
+But the others came no nearer to her, because they judged her according
+to her understanding alone, and that often made her appear hard and
+cold. But she didn't bother about things of that sort. She did not even
+have the wish to come nearer to those people; they seemed rude and
+uncultivated to her, and she was not in sympathy with them. Dr. Merzbach
+sometimes tried to make her change her opinion, but that was the point
+on which she would not yield, perhaps she couldn't. This was probably
+the one dark cloud on their blessed union, and it was a union that
+lasted through forty-three years of perfect agreement, of the purest
+and highest joy, of the greatest contentment.
+
+"The Rebbetzin felt at home only in her own house; to the Khille she
+always remained a stranger. And do you know, Herr Kreisphysikus, when I
+come to think about it, I believe the Rebbetzin is always a stranger in
+the congregation? She can't fit herself in."
+
+I had to smile. I thought of my mother, who was so different. But, to be
+sure, times have changed, and manners with them. And then the narrow
+little community in which my father worked, among friendly, kindly men
+and women! The "Rebbetzin" is probably a phenomenon belonging to a past
+epoch.
+
+
+      _September 30._
+
+Autumn is now completely upon us. Raw, gloomy, chilly, with everlasting
+rains. The city is not beautiful in this garb, and I would certainly
+succumb to my tendency to melancholy, if I did not have my profession
+and--Simon Eichelkatz.
+
+He speaks about every possible thing. Only when the talk takes a
+personal turn, touching upon incidents in his life, he becomes
+monosyllabic and reserved. Consequently, I really know very little about
+him. With the exception of the hints once thrown out by Feiwel
+Silbermann about his "baptized" son Friedrich Eichner, I have learned
+nothing about him. It goes against me to question a servant, but I feel
+sure something lurks behind the sharp, ironic manner in which Feiwel on
+every occasion says "the gracious Madame Eichelkatz." Clearly, Madame
+Eichelkatz did not suit his taste. And I learn nothing from the people,
+either. I have not yet left my card with "the first Jewish families" of
+the congregation, and so I have not yet established any connections. But
+I really want to very soon. At present I feel more at home among the
+dead members of this congregation, all of whom, I hope, Simon
+Eichelkatz will by and by bring to life for me.
+
+This world that has sunk into the past stirs my imagination, and I take
+deep interest in the figures that glided through the narrow streets
+fifty years ago. What constituted incidents in this world, what occupied
+these men, how they lived, loved, and hated--all this has a certain
+historic charm for me, heightened on account of my racial bias.
+
+Yesterday Simon Eichelkatz promised to tell me all sorts of things
+during the fall and winter. I wonder whether I shouldn't wait a little
+while before I present my visiting cards. When once you begin, there are
+invitations and social obligations from which you cannot withdraw--and
+then there would be an end to the long talks with Simon. And I must
+carefully consider whether I am likely to laugh so heartily in the
+"aesthetic _salons_" of the fine Jewish houses as I did yesterday, when
+Simon told me the story of Teacher Sandberg. Scarcely! The young ladies
+would undoubtedly find the affair "shocking." But I want to record it
+here, and I will call it "The Adventure of Teacher Sandberg."
+
+It was on the hottest and longest of Jewish fast days, _Shivoh oser
+be-Tamuz_. The sun glared down pitilessly. Not a breath of air to
+freshen, to quicken the heavy atmosphere. The Khille began the "three
+weeks" with a full fast day, on which the faithful partook neither of
+meat nor drink. The male members of the congregation strictly observed
+the customs, although to be pious was especially hard on this day in
+midsummer, when daylight continues endlessly. The length of the fast has
+become a byword, and a very tall man is said "to be as long as Shivoh
+oser be-Tamuz." But neither heat nor length prevented the faithful from
+keeping the fast recalling the destruction of the sanctuary on Zion. And
+so the congregation made itself penitential; it fasted, prayed,
+perspired, groaned, and denied itself every refreshment. The people
+crawled into the shadow of the houses to escape the heat and the
+tormenting thirst it caused. In vain! The awful sultriness penetrated
+everywhere, and brooded over the streets and dwellings, over field and
+meadow. The fasting men endured it with a certain apathy--after all,
+they were used to it; it repeated itself every year, and no one could
+remember that Shivoh oser be-Tamuz had ever fallen on a cool day. It
+couldn't be otherwise--in midsummer, the season of ripening fruits, of
+the harvest. You just had to accept the situation, and, in addition to
+the tortures of hunger and thirst, suffer those of heat as well. But on
+Shivoh oser be-Tamuz in 1853 a great fright came to swell the list of
+agonies in the Khille at Reissnitz.
+
+Toward noon the report spread that the teacher Sandberg was missing. He
+had been seen in Shul at the morning service, and from there he had
+gone home, but after that he could not be traced further. Two boys who
+had been playing "cat" that morning in the street, declared they had
+seen him in front of his house, and then had noticed him go around the
+corner along the street leading to the so-called "Behnisch" meadows.
+That was the last that could be found out about Teacher Sandberg.
+
+According to Simon Eichelkatz's description, he was a most singular
+individual. Extremely tall, and thin as a broom-stick, with a peculiar
+gait, rather pushing and scraping himself along the ground than walking.
+Summer and winter he wore a black silk cloth about his neck, above which
+showed only a very narrow line of white. His head was usually inclined
+to the left side in talking, and his whole face was cast into shadow by
+his large, beaked nose, ugly beyond belief. This nose of his was the
+butt of his pupils, the alphabet class of the congregational school.
+Sometimes it was a cause of terror to them as well, especially to the
+new pupils, who always needed some time to grow accustomed to it. But
+that happened as soon as Teacher Sandberg looked at them with his
+good-humored eyes, often gleaming with gayety, which allayed the fright
+produced by the uglier organ. In fact, it was the eloquence of his eyes
+that made the teacher a general favorite. Everyone liked the odd fellow;
+and from many a shop and window, sympathetic glances followed his figure
+as, with hands in his trouser pockets, he slouched along to school. One
+can therefore imagine the amazement caused by the news of his
+disappearance. Inquiry was made for him in the houses of neighboring
+families, the synagogue yard was searched,--perhaps he had taken refuge
+there from the heat,--every nook and cranny of his house, including the
+shop and cellar, were carefully investigated, the absurdest surmises as
+to his whereabouts were set afloat. Was he in some saloon? Impossible,
+on this fast day! His wife cried and sobbed, his children bawled--her
+husband, their father--where was he? Gone! As if swallowed by an
+earthquake! Not a single clue as to where he had disappeared. Some of
+the people, his weeping wife at their head, went to the "Behnisch"
+meadows. But he was not there; nor had he been seen by the harvesters
+taking their midday rest on the fresh stacks of hay. And why should he
+be there, in the maddening heat of high noon, hungry and thirsty from
+his fast? The mystery remained unsolved and began to assume a more and
+more terrifying aspect. What had driven him from his room? Whither had
+he wandered? Soon the word "accident" was anxiously whispered from mouth
+to mouth. But what could the nature of the accident be? In awe-stricken
+tones they hinted at murder! Suicide! God forbid that such suppositions
+should reach the ears of the wife and children! Crowds gathered in the
+White Suburb. They looked up and down the Gass, they glanced at the
+windows of Teacher Sandberg's house; they questioned one another, they
+propounded all sorts of theories, they debated and took counsel--Teacher
+Sandberg remained in the land of the unknown.
+
+All forgot hunger and thirst, no one remembered that he was mortifying
+his flesh. What signifies so slight a sacrifice as compared with the
+awful fate that had befallen Teacher Sandberg? Fear and pity crept over
+the spirits of the people. What had happened? All the inhabitants of the
+city joined in the hunt with the relatives and co-religionists of the
+lost man. The whole little world was up and doing, excited, amazed,
+searching--and still Teacher Sandberg remained in the land of the
+unknown.
+
+At two in the afternoon the rumor had spread from the White Suburb to
+the Ring, and penetrated into the quiet study of the rabbi. He
+immediately hurried to Teacher Sandberg's home, accompanied by the
+president, Herr Manasse, and the chairman of the board, Herr
+Karfunkelstein. He was also joined by all the other men in the
+congregation, by many women and children; and all streamed to the place
+excited and terrified, to get news of Teacher Sandberg's fate. The crowd
+in front of the unfortunate man's house was now so great that even the
+highly respected police also repaired thither; now all the citizens had
+assembled, and they talked with bated breath of the "unheard-of case."
+The rabbi and the president went inside the house to get the details
+again from the wife. The crowd waited outside expectantly. The rays of
+the midday sun beat down mercilessly. But no one thought of heat,
+hunger, or thirst. Everyone was occupied with Teacher Sandberg alone.
+
+"Sandberg had to choose exactly Shivoh oser be-Tamuz to get lost on,"
+said little Freund, the dealer in smoked meats. "He himself is as long
+as Shivoh oser be-Tamuz, and he had to have a misfortune just on the
+fast day."
+
+"Just as if you were to put a fur coat on in this heat," said another
+man.
+
+"No jokes," warned a third; "it's a sad business."
+
+At that moment a man pushed his way through the crowd, breathless,
+gasping, in the greatest excitement. He was carrying a bag in which
+something swayed back and forth. The people looked at him with horror on
+their faces, and made way for him, carefully avoiding contact with the
+sack.
+
+"Do you think it can be Sandberg's head that he's dragging in the bag?"
+The little dealer in smoked meat put the question anxiously.
+
+"You can't tell!" answered his neighbor.
+
+The man with the sack stepped into the passage way of the house, and the
+universal gaze was fastened with terrified curiosity upon the entrance.
+Minutes of the greatest expectation! That shuddering sense of
+oppression which precedes some dreadful occurrence had taken hold of
+all present. Not a single remark was passed, no sound was heard; the
+next moment was awaited in sheer breathless tension. A heavy weight
+rested on their spirits, the atmosphere was leaden, as before a storm;
+and yet the blue of the heavens was undimmed, not a single cloud flecked
+the horizon, and the sun's rays flamed with the heat of midsummer. So it
+was from a clear sky that a thunderbolt was to strike the expectant
+throng, and now--the rabbi came out to the top of the steps leading from
+the passage-way down to the street, on each side of him one of the
+directors, and behind him, in the open doorway, the man with the bag,
+now hanging over his shoulder empty. From within came sounds of
+mourning, crying, and sobbing. Expectation had reached its height, and
+the voice of Dr. Merzbach rang out through absolute quiet, as he said
+with deep seriousness:
+
+"Beloved congregation! It has pleased the Almighty Father to let a sad
+and awful event occur in our midst on this fast day. Our highly
+respected teacher, Sandberg, whom we all know and love, the guide and
+instructor of our children, has met with a misfortune, a fact no longer
+permitting of doubt, since this man, a miller's apprentice from the
+Garetzki mill, found a pair of boots near the dam, and a red woolen
+handkerchief, which Frau Sandberg recognizes as unmistakably belonging
+to her husband. The miller met some hay-makers and learned from them
+that search was being made in the city for a lost man, and he came here
+immediately with the articles he had found. There can no longer be doubt
+as to the terrible truth, and we must bear with resignation the severe
+stroke the Lord has sent down upon the unfortunate family, so rudely
+robbed of its support and protection, and upon the community at large.
+On a day of atonement and repentance God has inflicted so hard a trial
+upon us."
+
+At these words the people began to lament and weep. "_Waigeschrieen!_
+God cares nothing for our repentance!" some exclaimed, while others hit
+their breasts and cried: "_Oshamnu, bogadnu_...."
+
+With great difficulty the rabbi succeeded in allaying the excitement.
+"Be sensible; keep quiet; we must see if it isn't possible still to help
+the unfortunate man, or at least we must find his corpse."
+
+The words had an uncanny ring. A dark shadow seemed to creep over the
+bright day, the brilliant sunshine.
+
+"It will be necessary for us to divide into bands to examine the banks
+of the stream from the mill-dam as far as the large sluice gate at the
+miner's dam. The water is shallow because of the drought of the past
+days, so there is still hope that some trace of him may be discovered.
+It would be well to take along a few persons who know how to swim, and
+provide others with poles. Our president will also see to it that the
+police help us in our search, and he will ask Garetzki, the proprietor
+of the mill, to let the water at the dam run off."
+
+These directions, thoughtfully and quietly given, did not fail of their
+effect. Search parties were formed on the instant by Herr Moritz
+Liepmann, and sent in various directions. As they went toward the river,
+the wit of the Khille, Reb Shmul Eisner, even at that critical moment
+could not repress the remark: "The idea of making _Tashlich_ on Shivoh
+oser be-Tamuz."
+
+Many Christians in the city joined the expedition, and the people
+sallied forth in the parching heat to hunt for Teacher Sandberg. The
+rabbi and the two trustees accompanied the crowd as far as the meadows
+bordering on the stream, and here a small posse branched off to go along
+the mill-race, to carry on the search along the tributary stream as
+well. Then Dr. Merzbach and his companions went to the meeting-room of
+the congregation in order to receive word there of the results of the
+investigation. Up and down the river went the people looking for Teacher
+Sandberg in the shallow spots. In vain! With the exception of a few
+irregular foot-prints in the moist soil near the mill-dam, nothing of
+note was discovered. Even the foot-prints were not of much significance,
+since they disappeared a short distance beyond the slope. Teacher
+Sandberg had completely disappeared. But one supposition was possible,
+that he had met with an accident. Probably in the glowing heat he had
+used the handkerchief to wipe away the perspiration, and had taken off
+his boots to cool his feet in the water, and in doing so had stepped
+into a deep spot, or overcome in the water by the heat, he had fainted,
+and drowned. A hundred guesses were made. But what remained the least
+explicable part of the mystery was why the teacher had gone out at all
+in the heat of high noon. In the meantime the day wore on. Hour after
+hour passed by. The searchers returned home dead-tired, hungry, and
+thirsty. In their zeal they had forgotten they were fasting; but at last
+the needs of the body asserted themselves. One by one they returned to
+the city. Each brought back the report of their vain endeavors; and when
+the last came back shortly before sunset, everybody was sure that
+Teacher Sandberg was no longer among the living. The rabbi once more
+went to Frau Sandberg to speak words of comfort to her and her children,
+and then the fateful day neared its end. There was scarcely a _Minyan_
+present at the evening services in the Shul. Pretty nearly every one
+remained at home with his family, doubly alive to the blessing of life
+in the face of this enigmatic death, and relishing the breaking of the
+fast with heightened appetite. For not a soul had lived through a fast
+day such as this before. When late in the evening the full moon hung
+above the houses, casting its white light on the open square and the
+streets, and the evening coolness had freshened the sultry air of the
+day, the people's spirits were re-animated, and they came out of their
+narrow dwellings into the open. All thronged to the Ring, the market
+place.
+
+They felt the need of talking over the day's event. Before their doors
+sat the fathers of families, on green-painted benches, smoking their
+pipes, and discussing all the circumstances of the case. The women
+collected in groups, sympathizing with Frau Sandberg and breaking their
+heads over the problem as to what she would do, nebbich, now she was
+robbed of her supporter. The young people promenaded up and down,
+chatted in an undertone, and tried to be serious, in accord with the
+gravity of the situation, though they did not always succeed in
+banishing their youthful spirits. On the corner of Tarnowitzer Street
+stood Reb Shmul Eisner, the wit of the congregation. Half aloud he said
+to his neighbor: "Everybody is certainly happy not to be so famous as
+Teacher Sandberg is to-day."
+
+The rabbi also came to the Ring, and with him the Rebbetzin. He wanted
+to go once again to the wife of the unfortunate man, and the Rebbetzin
+would not absent herself from a place where help and comfort were
+needed. Near the great fountain, called the _Kashte_, next to the city
+hall, the rabbi was detained by some members of his congregation.
+Everyone was eager to hear something about the day's happenings directly
+from his mouth. At the same time the mayor and two aldermen came down
+the steps of the city hall. When they noticed Dr. Merzbach, they went up
+to him to tell him that it had just been decided to let the water off at
+the dam early the next morning, through the large sluice, in order, if
+possible, to recover the corpse of Teacher Sandberg; for it was not
+likely that with the water so shallow, the body had been carried down
+stream; it had probably been caught somewhere in the canal. A shudder
+ran through the crowd. Those standing near the mayor listened to what he
+said with bated breath and passed on his words to their neighbors. Like
+wildfire it spread through the crowd: "To-morrow they'll recover the
+body of Teacher Sandberg." From the Kashte rose the primitive figure of
+a Neptune, trident in hand; and the silver moonlight gleamed on the
+large fountain and the listening throngs about it.
+
+"To-morrow they'll recover the body of Teacher Sandberg."
+
+All of a sudden a shrill cry rang out and was echoed by the mass of
+human beings, stirred to the highest pitch of excitement. Horror-struck
+they scattered in confusion and took to their heels, only now and then
+looking back fearsomely at a gruesome vision which presented itself to
+their sight. In one second the Ring was vacated, every one had hidden in
+the houses. There--slowly and meditatively, like a ghost, Teacher
+Sandberg stalked across the square, in the garb in which the good Lord
+had created him. He was absolutely naked, not a shred of clothing upon
+him; his hands at his legs, as though in his usual fashion he were
+hiding them in trouser pockets, his feet scraping along the ground.
+
+The Ring looked as though it had been swept. Only the rabbi, the two
+trustees, the mayor, the aldermen, and the Rebbetzin remained at the
+Kashte. The Rebbetzin, when the singular figure approached, faced about
+in confusion and eagerly contemplated the Neptune, who, although a river
+god, wore much more clothing than Teacher Sandberg. The moonlight
+glistened on the trident and bathed the entire tragi-comic scene in its
+pale light. The teacher shuffled close up to the gentlemen, who regarded
+him with glances of astonishment mixed with disapproval. Was this object
+Sandberg or his ghost? How could he be wandering about through the city
+across the Ring past all these people in so scanty a costume? The thing
+was unheard of; the like of it had never been seen. Presumably the man
+was dead, and here he was strolling about--and in what a state!
+
+Some of the bolder spirits crept out of their houses again, and here and
+there a curious face bobbed up behind the window panes. The situation
+was tense. The Rebbetzin still had her back turned to the group; and the
+Neptune looked very shy, as if to say: "We barbarians are better people
+after all; none of us would dare saunter about the Ring in bright
+moonlight without a shred of clothing on."
+
+Finally the rabbi recovered enough self-possession to address the man
+standing before him in the garb in which the Lord had fashioned him.
+
+"Is that you, Sandberg?" he asked in a tone of mingled severity and
+mildness.
+
+"Yes, Herr Rabbiner, it's I," came the plaintive reply.
+
+"Your wife, your children, the congregation, the city, all are mourning
+you as dead."
+
+"God forbid!" the teacher exclaimed. "Why should I be dead? I am alive,
+Herr Rabbiner, praised be God, even if something very disagreeable did
+happen to me."
+
+"He will catch cold, if he doesn't look out." Shmul Eisner, who had come
+up in the meantime, tossed the joke to another bystander. But no one
+thought of offering the naked man a bit of clothing. The amazement was
+still too great. So the audience was continued, and Teacher Sandberg, in
+the primitive garb in which he was, related his adventure before a
+college of judges consisting of the rabbinate and the municipal
+authorities.
+
+In the morning he had gone to take a bath, and had undressed behind some
+bushes at the edge of the stream near the Petershof dam, where not a
+soul passes at that hour of the day. He dived into the refreshing
+depths. The water was delicious. Forgotten the torturing heat, forgotten
+the hunger and thirst of the fast day! He struck off down stream and let
+himself be carried along by the soft waves, gently warmed and brightened
+by the sun. After half an hour, possibly longer, he swam back to the
+spot where he had undressed--but horror of horrors! his clothes had
+disappeared. Not a thing had been left behind, not even a shirt to cover
+his body. Utterly distraught, he ran up and down the bank, hunting for
+his clothes, calling, crying out, imploring, beseeching help from
+somewhere. Nothing stirred. Had someone played a trick on him? Had
+tramps passed by and taken the clothes along as profitable booty? He was
+absolutely ignorant of how the thing had happened. But one thing was
+clear; he must hide himself until night, and then find some way of
+creeping home. He reckoned on the probability that the people, tired
+out by the fast, would go to bed earlier than usual. So, resigned and
+thoroughly worn out by the excitement of the fearful adventure, he slid
+into a field of corn in full ear, ripe for harvesting, and crawled way
+into its depths to hide himself completely. He dropped down exhausted;
+the corn-stalks waved high over his head, the crickets chirped, the
+ragged robins and wild poppies nodded about him. He again began to
+meditate upon his peculiar position. What happened after that he could
+not remember. He must have fallen into a deep sleep, and so failed to
+hear the call of the search parties. When he awoke, the moon was high in
+the heavens. He did not know what time it was; but he supposed it must
+be late at night, for he was chilled to the marrow, and dew lay upon the
+field from which he emerged. Then he wended his way homeward, through
+the meadows wrapt in solitude and nocturnal quiet. With beating heart he
+slipped past the houses along the deserted streets. It was like a city
+of the dead. He thought it must be long past midnight, that everybody
+was buried in sleep. It could not occur to him that the people, because
+of his disappearance, had congregated at the Ring. Emboldened by the
+quiet, he stepped along at a livelier pace, and even calculated that by
+crossing the Ring and going down Rybniker Street he could reach his home
+sooner. He was not in the least afraid of meeting anyone at that time
+except the nightwatch, to whom he could easily explain his plight. So he
+came through a narrow side street, which ran from the Flour Market and
+opened right on the Ring and landed--where his appearance was welcomed
+as a ghost by the excited crowd. And now he was standing before the
+gentlemen, and he could not have done otherwise, so help him God--Amen!
+
+His savior in need was the Rebbetzin. With averted face she listened to
+the half-comic, half-pitiful narrative, and suddenly she let her large
+black mantilla fall to the ground behind her. Shmul Eisner, who noticed
+the act, and immediately perceived its purpose, sprang forward, picked
+up the shawl, and hung it about the teacher's trembling limbs. Then,
+draped in the Rebbetzin's black mantilla, the teacher was led to the
+shelter of his home, to wife and child.
+
+"Won't Frau Teacher Sandberg be jealous, though," exclaimed Reb Shmul,
+the joker, "when she sees him coming home with nothing on but the
+mantilla of the Rebbetzin."
+
+"The chief thing is, he is here," replied his companion. And that is
+what the whole congregation thought, when it sought its well-deserved
+rest.
+
+
+      OCTOBER 6.
+
+My position keeps me very busy. In a mining district accidents occur
+almost daily. Besides, the whisky fiend has to be reckoned with,
+leading, as it does, to all sorts of excesses, brawls, and murderous
+assaults. Scarcely a day passes but that I have to make trips into the
+country, which offers small cheer now in the grey autumn weather and in
+this dispiriting region. My disposition, naturally inclined to be
+sombre, becomes still more melancholy; and when I ride through the
+rain-soaked country, past forges, furnaces, and culm heaps, covered with
+a thick pall of smoke, with the immediate prospect of seeing dead or
+injured victims, and having to set down a record of human misery and
+woe, my mood becomes ever blacker and blacker. I never find time to
+attend to patients among the upper classes. I believe I am given up as a
+hopeless case--a Jewish Kreisphysikus, sans wife, who doesn't seek
+introductions, must be either an abnormality or a capricious, stuck-up
+fool, at any rate a person not to be reckoned with seriously. My
+colleagues probably have the same opinion of me. After the inevitable
+initial formalities, I did not come in contact with them; if chance
+brings us together, we give each other a cool if courteous greeting.
+
+This exclusiveness has its advantages. The time left free from my duties
+belongs to me entirely, and I do not spend it thriftlessly in society to
+which I am indifferent. It has not been my experience that intercourse
+with many people is of any profit. One gets so little, and gives so
+much, much too much of what is best and noblest in one's nature,
+especially if one is a man of feeling, intellect, and ardent
+temperament. The strongest chord is almost never touched. In the most
+favorable circumstances, the exchange of courtesies is purely formal,
+and the acts of friendship are entirely perfunctory. These merely
+external amenities make men vulgar and untrue, I would not like to use
+an even stronger expression and say dishonest. Heine's words occur to
+me:
+
+    Weisse, hoefliche Manschetten,
+    Ach wenn sie nur Herzen haetten,
+    Herzen in der Brust und Liebe,--wahre Liebe in den Herzen,
+    Denn mich toetet ihr Gesinge von erlogenen Liebesschmerzen.
+
+Perhaps such principles produce loneliness; but they strengthen one; at
+all events they do not embitter the mind and spirit, as some maintain. I
+have never been sadder than in the midst of many people, among whom I
+did not find--one human being! And nothing has a happier influence on me
+than to find a human being where I least expect one--Simon Eichelkatz,
+for example.
+
+Yesterday, after an interval of several days, I went to see him late in
+the evening. I was worn out and unnerved by my official visit to a
+neighboring place, the centre of the Silesian coal-mining district. Two
+workmen had gotten into a fight in a tavern, and the host, in trying to
+separate them and smooth over their differences, himself became enraged
+and threw out the more aggressive of the two. The reeling, sodden wretch
+lost his balance, and, tumbling down the steps, knocked his head on a
+stone. His skull was crushed, and he died in a few minutes from
+contusion of the brain. When I reached the spot, a mob of wild, excited
+forms had gathered about the scene of the drama. Policemen stood on
+guard; and a cloth covered the corpse, which was not to be disturbed
+until after an inspection by the officials of the locality. I could do
+nothing more than affirm that the victim was dead, the examination
+showed that death had occurred as a result of a fall caused by violent
+mishandling. The author of the deed was a Jew. He was immediately
+imprisoned, and with great difficulty was withdrawn from the summary
+lynch-justice of the enraged crowd. Defrauded of the prisoner, they
+turned against his family and his property. The windows of his house
+were smashed in; the shop was utterly destroyed, and the whisky--that
+ruinous, unholy "dispeller of cares "--flowed from the casks into the
+street. His wife and children tried to save their goods and possessions
+from the fury of the vandals, but received kicks and blows for their
+efforts. It was a horrid scene. The policemen did not succeed in
+restoring order and quiet for some time. Is it possible they had not
+received sufficient power from the authorities? Was there some other
+reason? At any rate I had to interpose and try to allay the turmoil. At
+last the crowd dispersed; but ever and again the echo reached my ears of
+assassin--murderer--Jew--assassin--dirty thief--cheat--Jew--Jew--liar.
+
+All this had utterly depressed and unnerved me. I really wanted to stay
+at home; but I reconsidered and decided it was better to substitute a
+pure, peaceful picture for these torturing impressions, and I went to my
+old friend. I found him gay and friendly as ever, despite the lateness
+of the hour. But my mood did not escape his searching gaze; and on his
+questioning me, I told him what had happened. As was his wont, he rubbed
+his forehead with his forefinger and thumb, and looked thoughtfully into
+space. Finally he said:
+
+"That's the way it is to-day, and that's the way it's always been. If a
+man of some other religion commits a wrong, it's a bad man that did it;
+but if it happens among our people, then it's the 'Jew'! That's a bitter
+pill we have to swallow, Herr Doktor, a very bitter pill. But it _is_
+so, and it doesn't change, even though the world is said to be so
+cultured and progressive, and humane--the Jew remains a Jew! In the eyes
+of the _Goy_ he's something peculiar, something disgraceful! And for
+that reason the Jews must stick to the Jew; because the others don't,
+and never did, and never will. We have nothing to expect or hope from
+them--and we needn't be afraid of them, neither, we Jews, if we stick
+together. Then, if something should happen as to-day, Herr
+Kreisphysikus, it's a misfortune, but not a calamity. Because the man
+who did it, is a wicked brute who by accident is a Jew, and might just
+as well have been a Goy. What has religion to do with these matters,
+anyhow? Does a Goy do something bad because he's a Christian, or a Jew
+because he's an Israelite? Religion teaches both of them to be good,
+upright, and pious; and if they aren't, how can religion help it?
+Religion is not to be blamed; only good can result from religion.
+Whether Jew or Christian, it remains the same. Each can learn from his
+own religion; for there is something moral in every religion; and for
+that reason everybody should honor his own religion and stick to it. The
+deeds of men must be judged according to the nature of each man, not
+according to his religion. Because, if the Jew at Raudnitz chucked out
+the _Shikker_ so roughly that he died, the Jew did it because he has an
+angry, wild, ungovernable temper. Do you suppose he was thinking of his
+religion? If he only had! The Shikker would be alive if he had. Because
+the Jewish belief forbids the Jew to be sinful or violent, and to kill;
+just as their belief forbids the Goyim. And the world won't be better
+until all understand that a man must have respect for his neighbor,
+because he is a man. When each and everyone feels that he is master of
+his honor and his dignity, he will also find his rights--not as a Jew
+and not as a Christian, but as a man!"
+
+I stared at the old man fixedly. Whence these ideas on the rights and
+dignity of man? Whence these opinions animated by the spirit of
+humanitarianism? Here, in the Jewish community? If he had suddenly begun
+to unriddle the problem of "the thing in itself," I should scarcely have
+been astonished. Notions had arisen in the mind of this simple man, on
+the philosophy of human rights and the philosophy of religion, worthy of
+a great scholar, although he had never heard a word of the notable
+thinkers who had constructed these ideas into an enduring cosmic
+edifice.
+
+
+      OCTOBER 11.
+
+The affair in Raudnitz had a sad sequel, and gave me a great deal to do.
+The prisoner hanged himself in jail. The coroner's inquest and the
+attendant formalities occupied most of my time. I was compelled to drive
+repeatedly to Raudnitz, and I became acquainted with the unfortunate
+family of the accused who had taken justice into his own hands. The
+wife, well-mannered, had a rather hard expression; the two daughters
+were educated and well-bred; the aged mother of the man was pathetic in
+her old Jewish humility and pious resignation. A fearful fate had
+overtaken the unsuspecting folk who a few days before had been living
+in quiet happiness. I asked the woman what could possibly have driven
+her husband to his desperate deed. In the most unfavorable circumstances
+he would have been punished for homicide through carelessness, and the
+sentence would certainly have been light, since he could have proved
+that the fatal fall of the victim was primarily due to his drunkenness.
+
+"But the shame, Herr Doktor, the shame. For months he would have been in
+jail undergoing examination and cross-questioning; then he'd surely have
+remained in prison a couple of years--for they would never have
+acquitted him entirely. He didn't want to live through all that--the
+shame, Herr Kreisphysikus, shame before his children, and the sorrow for
+his mother. It would have lasted years, long, long years; and so he
+ended it at one stroke. He knew me, and he felt sure I wouldn't lose my
+head, and would provide for the children. He was certain of it, and
+knew he would be a greater burden to his family if he was buried alive
+in prison than if lying dead beneath the earth. It is terribly painful,
+but there is an end of it; the other would have been an eternal shame.
+That is the way he reasoned; he killed himself for the sake of his
+children."
+
+I shuddered, when I heard the affair discussed so rationally and
+cold-bloodedly. Was it heartlessness or keensightedness that made them
+so hard and unloving? Hadn't the woman loved and respected her husband?
+Yet did she not judge his deed as the outcome of reasoned consideration,
+his voluntary death as a sacrifice to his family, as a martyr's death?
+
+A question rose to my lips.
+
+"But tell me, my dear Mrs. Schlochauer, your husband must surely have
+thought that he would hurt you deeply, you with whom he lived happily
+and whom he certainly loved and respected. And he must have felt that
+he would give his old mother infinite pain."
+
+An odd smile drew the corners of her mouth, and some moments passed
+before she roused herself from a sort of trance, and said: "His mother
+is very old, Herr Doktor, eighty-two years old; she hasn't much more to
+expect from life, I am sure he thought of that. And as for his love for
+me "--she hesitated--"he was always considerate of me, and respectful,
+but love? In a decent Jewish family the love of man and wife is their
+love for their children."
+
+What had moved the soul of this woman to such conclusions on married
+life?
+
+Yesterday I learned by chance that she was the daughter of a teacher in
+Beuthen, and had herself been trained as a teacher. The community had
+granted her a scholarship, to complete her course for the teacher's
+examinations at the Seminary in Breslau. There she became acquainted
+with a young painter, a Christian, and a love affair, as pure as it was
+ardent, developed between them. When her parents heard of the affair,
+they made her come home immediately. Her studies were interrupted, and
+she took up life again in her parents' house, the fountain of her
+emotions sealed, the bitter sorrow of an unhappy love swelling her
+heart. What was her inner development after this first, hard
+disillusionment, this spiritual conflict? Who can tell?
+
+When, some years later, the first flush of youth past, her father
+expressed to her his wish that she marry Schlochauer in Raudnitz, the
+well-to-do proprietor of a distillery, in order to lighten his own
+troubles in bringing up his numerous offspring, she obeyed without a
+murmur. Her husband respected her, and offered no objection to her
+assisting her family and so enabling her brothers to study. He loved
+her, too--for she presented him with four children. Two died young--and
+as for the two remaining daughters, she would provide for them
+carefully. Her husband would not be deceived in her; the sacrifice of
+his life was not made in vain.
+
+"When everything is settled, Herr Kreisphysikus, I am going to sell the
+business and the house, and move to Berlin. We have some means, Herr
+Doktor; my husband was a good manager. In Berlin we are not well known;
+and grass grows over everything that happens. No matter if a person here
+and there knows something about it; it is quickly forgotten. People have
+no time there to gossip about private affairs. I have three brothers in
+Berlin, all in respected positions. So, in the large city, I shall live
+free from care with my daughters; they are still young and will get over
+the pain and horror of the present."
+
+"And you, Frau Schlochauer?" I hastily asked.
+
+"I? I shall do my duty."
+
+The words sounded so natural, yet it made a painful impression on me to
+see how collected she was, how quietly and circumspectly she looked into
+the future from out of the confusion and distress of the moment. Perhaps
+she divined the course of my thoughts, for suddenly she continued:
+
+"Don't wonder that I speak of this matter so calmly. You become
+accustomed to such things if for twenty years you live with a business
+man in this neighborhood, among such rude, rough folk. You learn to be
+on the lookout, to be careful and practical. And you forget that once
+you regarded the world with different eyes."
+
+She uttered the last words softly, with downward glance. When I heard
+the history of her youth yesterday, I saw her in my mind's eye again,
+and a feeling of boundless pity for this woman swept over me--not for
+what she was suffering now--now that she was steeled and
+experienced--but for her youth, the youth she had lost because
+practical considerations and hindrances determined the course of her
+life.
+
+But now I must tell about a remarkable acquaintance I made yesterday,
+the man who told me what I know of Frau Schlochauer's history. He
+introduces some humor into the affair.
+
+"Herr Jonas Goldstuecker."
+
+The visiting card with this name printed in large Roman characters lies
+before me and seems to throw a crafty and comical smile at me. In fact
+my new acquaintance is very amusing. The card was brought in to me at
+the end of my afternoon office hours. Herr Jonas Goldstuecker! I thought
+it was a patient, and had him admitted even though the time for
+receiving patients was past. A few moments later an elderly man sat
+before me, well-preserved and decently dressed. He was perfectly open in
+letting his curious gaze rove through my room, and I felt that in a
+minute period of time he had a thorough survey. His inventory took in
+all the objects in the room, myself included. His sly eyes seemed ever
+to be investigating and inspecting, and although he frequently pressed
+them shut, or glanced into space over his nickel-plated _pince-nez_, one
+felt correctly catalogued and pigeonholed. Herr Jonas Goldstuecker began
+to interest me. Without waiting for me to ask his business, he said:
+
+"I knew, Herr Kreisphysikus, that you always stay at home a little while
+after your office hours, and that's the reason I chose this time for
+coming to you; I thought we would not be disturbed now."
+
+So he was acquainted with my habits, with something about my private
+life; he wanted to speak to me without outside interruption--did this
+man know of some secret? Did a matter calling for discretion lead him to
+me? But he gave me no time for surmise, and added:
+
+"You certainly don't run after practice among well-to-do patients; no
+one can reproach you with that--you live like a hermit; and outside of
+Simon Eichelkatz no one has had the honor of seeing you at his home."
+
+My face must have looked very stupid, or it must have expressed great
+amazement at his intimate tone and his familiarity with my affairs;
+because he laughed and said:
+
+"Yes, Herr Kreisphysikus, in a little town you get to know people, and
+all about them."
+
+"But I don't know _you_," I interrupted, my patience at last exhausted.
+
+"I am Jonas Goldstuecker."
+
+"So your card tells me. But I should like to permit myself the question,
+to what I owe the honor of your visit."
+
+"O, you'll soon find out, Herr Kreisphysikus. I am not sick, as you see.
+Quite another reason brings me to you. But if I should need medical
+advice, I shall not fail to come to you, although Sanitaetsrat Ehrlich
+has been treating me for six years--since the time his daughter Annie
+married Herr Rechtsanwalt Bobrecker of Leobschuetz. An excellent match.
+Any day Bobrecker might have gotten sixty thousand marks, and Loewenberg,
+the wool manufacturer in Oppeln, would have given him as much as
+seventy-five thousand, but he wanted to marry a girl from an educated
+family, and no other. Well, the daughter of Sanitaetsrat Ehrlich is no
+vain delusion."
+
+My breath was completely taken away by this information regarding
+private matters.
+
+Next came the abrupt question:
+
+"In general, Herr Kreisphysikus, are you in favor of wet or dry
+treatment in rheumatism?"
+
+A patient after all! I breathed more freely. Herr Jonas Goldstuecker had
+given me a creepy sensation.
+
+"I don't understand what you mean by that."
+
+"I mean, are you in favor of massage and electricity or in favor of
+baths?"
+
+The impudent assurance of the question utterly astounded me, and I
+wanted to give him a brusque reply, when he continued:
+
+"Sanitaetsrat Ehrlich is an excellent physician; but he's a bit
+antiquated already, Herr Kreisphysikus. The young doctors of to-day make
+a much more lymphatic impression."
+
+Doubtless, he meant "emphatic," because a few moments later another
+pretentious word was incorrectly applied.
+
+"But Sanitaetsrat Ehrlich after all has the largest practice in the
+congregation; and people would look on it as bigamy if anyone were to
+say anything against him."
+
+I was only slightly acquainted with my colleague, and I did not know
+that doubt of his powers would be regarded as blasphemy--probably what
+Jonas Goldstuecker meant to say. The humor of the situation at last began
+to dawn upon me, and I awaited the further utterances of my remarkable
+guest in amused curiosity.
+
+"And his house, Herr Kreisphysikus, his house! Really, very fine. The
+Frau Sanitaetstraetin knows how to do the honors and to keep her
+distance."
+
+What he meant by this was not exactly clear to me; but I learned that
+the youngest daughter of my colleague Ehrlich was a ravishing maiden, as
+Herr Jonas Goldstuecker assured me.
+
+"Very highly educated, speaks every language, plays the piano as well as
+Leubuscher (I didn't know of the performer), and only Chopin,
+Rubinstein, Offenbach, Brahm."
+
+"Brahms, Herr Goldstuecker, Brahms."
+
+"Why, yes, I said Brahm, Herr Kreisphysikus. And what she doesn't know,
+besides! And quite a housekeeper, too; she learned cooking. No, not a
+soul can find a thing to say against Miss Edith--Edith, a pretty name,
+Herr Kreisphysikus, Edith."
+
+He was silent for a moment. I was on the point of telling him that all
+this had very little interest for me, and that he should come to the
+real object of his visit; but he continued to impress me as a man of the
+better classes, with fairly decent manners, calling for a certain amount
+of consideration. So I maintained my attitude of expectancy, and
+listened to his digressions and discourses on this theme and that. In
+the course of his remarks he exclaimed:
+
+"It's really a shame that you don't visit at Sanitaetsrat Ehrlich's,
+though I can imagine you haven't very much time. And now you must be
+having a good deal of annoyance with that affair in Raudnitz. A terrible
+misfortune, terrible. That Herr Schlochauer must have had a fearful
+temper; because it isn't so easy to throw a man out of your place and
+kill him outright. It must be very trying to his wife; she is an
+educated woman, daughter of the teacher Weiss, in Beuthen. She never
+thought she would marry a thoroughly uneducated saloon-keeper. But he
+got along very well, and you never heard any talk about her not living
+happily with him. She always had what she needed, and much more. She
+could help her own family and give her two daughters a good
+education--very different from what would have happened if she'd gotten
+her painter. What a sad picture they'd have made, she and her
+picture-maker."
+
+He laughed complacently at his pun, and I meditated over the ideal
+Jewish marriage. Then I was made acquainted with the story of Frau
+Rosalie Schlochauer's youthful love.
+
+"But that he should have gone and taken his life! It's really awful to
+bring about a misfortune so deliberately. However, a sister-in-law of
+Frau Schlochauer, a cousin of my wife, married to the book-dealer
+Grosser, told me that the widow is remarkably calm. Frau Grosser herself
+is half dead from the excitement, and she can't possibly comprehend how
+Frau Schlochauer can be so collected. The idea of hanging himself in
+prison! Absurd! If he had waited, for all we know he might have been set
+free. At any rate he would not have gotten more than three or four
+years. In no circumstances would he have been put into the penitentiary.
+Herr Rechtsanwalt Cassirer told me yesterday that the jury would
+certainly have agreed on _dolus eventualiter_."
+
+Of course, what Herr Jonas Goldstuecker wanted to say was _dolus
+eventualis_. But a little thing like that didn't matter to him, and I
+continued to wonder how he came to know everybody and associate with the
+best families. He was evidently on a most intimate footing with the
+heads of the community.
+
+"Frau Schlochauer," he said, after a while, "will doubtless move away
+from Raudnitz. Life for her there in these circumstances is impossible.
+And what should she do with two daughters, who are almost grown up and
+will soon be marriageable? She will certainly go to Berlin. Her brothers
+live there; one of them is a lawyer, another is a physician, and the
+third owns a large shirtwaist factory. There she will have someone to
+cling to."
+
+I had a mental picture of Frau Schlochauer, quiet in her grief, earnest,
+thoughtful, as she unfolded to me her plans for the future. And this man
+knew it all. He had guessed it and now expressed his opinion on events
+in the life of a stranger.
+
+"In Berlin people don't bother about such stories. There Frau
+Schlochauer is the sister of the lawyer Weiss and the doctor Weiss; she
+is the rich Frau Schlochauer with two pretty, well-bred daughters.
+That's enough. The girls will make very good matches. They say the
+property amounts to a great deal, much more than you'd think by looking
+at Herr Schlochauer. There he was working all day and thinking of
+nothing but how to serve his customers. He left culture and education
+to his wife--and now the money, in addition. The sale of the big house
+and the distillery may bring in as much as four hundred thousand marks.
+Yesterday Rothmann, the banker, told me Schlochauer had been well off,
+almost rich. Some of his money he placed with Rothmann, the rest with
+the Breslau Diskonto Bank; and Rothmann knows the amount of his
+deposits. If Frau Schlochauer, when the time comes, will give each
+daughter one hundred thousands marks--for the present she won't use more
+than the interest on her money--she will be able to do very well with
+them. Of course, she won't get the sort of person that looks out for a
+so-called fine family. People like that ask after every possible thing,
+and are sure to find out about the detention in prison and the suicide.
+There are some who won't suffer the tiniest speck on the family
+name--but there are enough young people, too, who haul in without
+questioning and think, 'Let by-gones be by-gones.' Sometimes even
+physicians and lawyers aren't so particular about 'antecedents.'"
+
+I looked at my watch. The act should have been an indication to him that
+I was getting impatient, and was displeased with the familiarity of his
+talk; but he seemed not to comprehend the delicate hint. For he suddenly
+broke out with:
+
+"Herr Rabbiner Gruenbaum in Loslau was a brother of your mother, wasn't
+he, Herr Kreisphysikus? I knew him very well. I'm from Loslau, too. A
+fine man, and very good and friendly. He was very much loved in the
+Khille, and my blessed mother always used to say: 'Fine as silk, fine as
+silk.' I knew your father, too, Herr Kreisphysikus; once when he was in
+Loslau, at the funeral of your uncle, I saw him, and I heard the sermon
+he delivered. Great, really great! So touching! The whole congregation
+shed tears. Your father must have been a splendid pulpit orator. A pity
+he was in such a small congregation. He belonged in Breslau or Berlin.
+But, God bless me, good can be accomplished in the smallest of places;
+and he certainly did do good. Herr Doktor Feilchenstein was in
+Johannisbad with me this summer, and he couldn't get through telling me
+about your parents, Herr Kreisphysikus, and what a pious, good old lady
+your mother is. No wonder, either, if she's a sister of Herr Rabbiner
+Gruenbaum, of Loslau. And Doktor Feilchenstein told me of you, too. You
+know, I mean your cousin from Frankfort-on-the-Oder. When he heard that
+I was from Raudnitz, he asked after you, and sent his regards. He
+refused to believe that I hadn't met you, when you'd been here since
+April. But, dear me, in summer everybody, of course, is away, and it's
+no time for visiting. But now, Herr Kreisphysikus, it's October already,
+and you haven't made any visits yet."
+
+What gave the man the right to remonstrate with me on this subject? To
+be sure, he seemed well acquainted with my family affairs--my cousin
+sent messages by him. I pondered a while; the name "Jonas Goldstuecker"
+was not on my visiting list. Curious! All I said was: "You must leave me
+to judge of that."
+
+"But I beg of you, Herr Kreisphysikus, you misunderstand me. I assure
+you I did not mean to instruct you in matters of social form. How could
+you think such a thing? All I meant was, how should families here get to
+know and appreciate you, if you keep yourself at such a distance? And
+your cousin, Doctor Feilchenstein, told me what an excellent person you
+are, how earnest and thorough, and how you had opened up a career for
+yourself when you were comparatively young. Not out of the thirties and
+a Physikus already--and how much pleasure you are giving your old
+mother."
+
+Since I last saw my cousin he must have developed into a garrulous old
+woman. What had possessed him to tell an utter stranger so much of my
+life, to praise me, and speak of my relations with my quiet, reserved
+little mother? I couldn't believe my ears, and I was about to give
+expression to my amazement when he continued:
+
+"And how happy your dear mother would be if you would soon present her
+with a nice daughter-in-law! If the girl is fine and educated, your
+mother might even live with you, and end her days under your roof. Many
+young girls, to be sure, are not in favor of such an arrangement; but
+that depends, and Edith Ehrlich is such a clever person...."
+
+I jumped from my seat, and came near laughing out loud. At last the
+mystery was solved. Herr Jonas Goldstuecker, who honored me with so
+curious and intimate a visit, was a _Shadchen_, the marriage broker of
+the congregation!
+
+It was highly entertaining. But apparently he did not care to notice
+that I took the matter as a joke, for he remained quietly seated and
+continued:
+
+"And Herr Sanitaetsrat prefers a physician, who might take up his
+practice later...."
+
+"Marry into the profession, so to speak," I interjected.
+
+"Yes, Herr Kreisphysikus. But that's only by the way. In addition he
+will give his daughter fifty thousand marks, just as much as
+Rechtsanwalt Bobrecker got, and if you--you might pay a visit there
+anyway--I am sure if you once get to know Miss Edith, you will see that
+the description I gave of her is true from head to foot. She has a
+beautiful head of chestnut brown hair...."
+
+The association of ideas was delicious.
+
+"She has a fine figure, medium size, and when I think how glad your old
+mother would be...."
+
+I do not know whether I politely showed Herr Jonas Goldstuecker the door,
+or whether he went voluntarily. At all events he was gone. But this
+very day I mean to write a letter to my cousin, Doktor Feilchenstein,
+and give him a piece of my mind.
+
+
+      OCTOBER 10.
+
+"Do you know what a _Roshekol_ is?" Simon Eichelkatz asked me with a
+mischievous smile, when I visited him this afternoon.
+
+"A Roshekol is the head of a congregation," I answered. He laughed a
+gentle, chuckling laugh, which was the usual expression of good temper
+with him, and said:
+
+"A Roshekol is a disagreeable fellow."
+
+"But not always, Herr Eichelkatz?"
+
+"Almost always, at least if you get your idea of him from the rabbi and
+the cantor, nebbich, or even from the Khille in general. He is generally
+arrogant, disputatious, autocratic, and ambitious. As he hasn't anything
+else to rule, he wants to rule the congregation at least, and he insists
+the poor officials shall depend upon his good-will entirely. He suffers
+no contradiction, and as for the opinion of another, it doesn't occur to
+him that it is entitled to any respect. He commands and the others must
+agree with him. For they are nearly all dependent upon him, and,
+therefore, are either for or with him. On the one side is his
+_Mishpocheh_, on the other, people who stand in business or personal
+relations with him. If he happens to have a so-called academic
+education, matters are still worse, because on the strength of it he and
+the Khille as well put on an extra touch of pride. He has some standing
+in the city, too, is on good terms with the Goyim, and is generally a
+city alderman. This makes a tremendous impression on the Khille, and it
+doesn't occur to the _Narronim_ that they themselves made him alderman.
+They say with pride: 'Our Roshekol must be a very intelligent man; he's
+an alderman also!' The Roshekol, it is true, usually is an intelligent
+person; but he lacks character and genuine goodness and humanity. It's
+all on the surface--fine phrases, long words, but within cold, hollow,
+and calculating. All he thinks of is to show himself off in the best
+light and hurt other people's feelings."
+
+I shook my finger at Simon laughingly and said:
+
+"Reb Shimme, I think you are looking at things through dark spectacles;
+they can't be so bad as you paint them."
+
+"Just live in a Khille fifty years, and you'll know whether or not I'm
+exaggerating. If you'd have known the president of the congregation,
+Krakauer, _Doktor_ Krakauer, saving your reverence, you'd have said at
+least what I say, that a Roshekol is a disagreeable fellow. Perhaps
+you'd have said even more. Lots of people in the Khille were vexed at
+his treatment of the poor officials, nebbich, and made a fist at him
+behind his back. But they were too weak to do anything. I, too, Herr
+Kreisphysikus. What can a single person do? But when I think of it even
+now, my gall rises."
+
+"Now, now, my dear Reb Shimme, if you excite yourself, I won't allow you
+to speak one word about it." I tried to soothe him.
+
+"Why? If one speaks from the heart, it doesn't hurt. Just let me tell
+you quietly about Herr Doktor Krakauer, saving your reverence. I won't
+make it a reproach against him that he came of a thoroughly ordinary
+family. There are many Jews of low extraction who work themselves up
+into a fine, noble manhood. Besides, if we recall our common stock,
+everyone is justified in regarding himself as a nobleman of the most
+ancient lineage. But then one should act accordingly, which most of us
+unfortunately fail to do. Herr Doktor Krakauer, saving your reverence,
+certainly did not behave like a nobleman. His father was a dealer in
+raw hides in Peiskretscham, an industrious, decent sort of a Jew, who
+couldn't read or write. His mother was a simple woman, formerly the cook
+at Herr Bernhard Markus's. They were not young when they married, and
+when a son was born to them, they were overjoyed. They decided to make
+something remarkable of the child. The parents now had only one aim, and
+the boy, who was a studious pupil, made it possible for them to fulfil
+their desire. He was to study, become an educated, learned gentleman, a
+doctor. Whatever the dealer in raw hides and his wife lacked, was to
+appear in the son, and more, too. And they lived to experience the joy
+of seeing him ashamed of them. After he had taken up the profession of
+physician, and had received positions of trust in the city and the
+congregation, he was very careful to keep the dealer in raw hides and
+the Jewish cook hidden away. He was their son on the quiet and in
+secret. To be known as their son might have hurt him in the eyes of the
+world, and reflect on his public position. So the two old people, who
+had worked untiringly day and night to put their only child on a higher
+level than themselves, could watch the results of their efforts only
+from afar. For his greed, his energy, his cunning, and his disregard of
+other people had actually advanced him to a dazzling height. He married
+into a well-to-do family; but the girl was so shy and stupid that she
+yielded to his autocratic will, in constant terror lest she displease
+him.
+
+"Now, then, Herr Kreisphysikus, imagine such a man a Roshekol for years.
+He oppressed and injured the whole Khille; it didn't have the courage to
+oppose him. Everyone trembled before him. The old janitor of the
+synagogue, the Shabbes Goy Marek, who died last year, always used to
+say: 'When Krakauer comes to Shul, holding his head so high you'd think
+he was trying to bump against the _Mogen Dovid_, and expanding his chest
+as if to beat for _Al Chet_ upon it, the whole Khille trembles, because
+he's so swell and eats _Trefa_, and treats the people like cattle.'
+Marek was right, he was a sensible man. And more than the members of the
+Khille, nebbich, those who were dependent upon him trembled before him.
+But two people did not tremble, Rabbi Doktor Merzbach, who was too
+aristocratic by nature, and still less, the 'haughty Rebbetzin,' who
+openly called Doktor Krakauer an upstart, and returned his greeting so
+condescendingly that he always took the other side of the street when he
+saw her coming. By way of return he never failed when the occasion
+offered to do harm to the rabbi and wound his feelings.
+
+"His desire for vengeance was incredible; and the more he tried to keep
+it from showing in his outward manners, the more it fermented in his
+coarse-grained heart; and wherever it was possible to injure Doktor
+Merzbach, he did it. No one seeing the tall, heavily-built,
+broad-shouldered man with his ingratiating smile, his assumption of
+aristocracy, and his courtly manners, would have supposed his exterior
+concealed so black a soul. Well, his day of reckoning came after all.
+But in the meantime he continued to gain influence; and he also had an
+excellent practice, which later, to be sure, was sliced away a bit by
+Sanitaetsrat Ehrlich. May no one suffer the fate they invoked on each
+other--but before the world the best of friends. On one point they were
+always agreed, to worry and annoy those who were under their control,
+the officials of the congregation, nebbich! Herr Sanitaetsrat Ehrlich was
+also a trustee; and the two ruled in the congregation for more than
+thirty years. The first ugly trick they played on Dr. Merzbach was at
+the dedication of the New Synagogue. I think I've told you about it
+already, Herr Kreisphysikus. The building of the New Synagogue was due
+entirely to Dr. Merzbach's efforts. Who would have paid any attention to
+Herr Dr. Krakauer, saving your reverence? Dr. Merzbach's name had a good
+sound, and one is not a son-in-law of Reb Salme Friedlaender of Posen for
+nothing. That's exactly what Dr. Krakauer, saving your reverence, could
+not forgive him, although he always performed his difficult duties
+quietly and simply. The Rebbetzin, it is true, very clearly showed what
+she thought of the son of Isaac Krakauer, dealer in raw hides, and Frau
+Yetta, once cook at the house of Bernhard Markus. There's no denying it,
+the Rebbetzin was proud. But in spite of that she was charitable and
+noble, and all the poor people in the community loved her. She stood at
+the beds of the sick and the dying. In the awful cholera time she
+courageously went with her husband from place to place, showing no sign
+of fear. She brought comfort to the sufferers, and took the helpless and
+the orphaned under her wing. It was only to people like Krakauer that
+she showed her scorn for upstarts, if, as she said, they did not also
+elevate their minds and their morals. You can imagine, Herr
+Kreisphysikus, that there were always 'decent' people in the Khille who
+reported to the president every word the Rebbetzin said, only
+exaggerated and adorned with extra flourishes. There were two
+especially, fine men, Herr Meyer Nathanson and Herr Saul Feuerstein.
+Nathanson was the _Shammes_ and treasurer of the Khille. He was called
+the 'Caretaker of the Khille,' because he concerned himself about
+everything, and was Dr. Krakauer's right-hand man. Feuerstein was a
+well-known _Pleitegeher_, a professional bankrupt, and made a good
+living from his profession. These two men acted as spies to ferret out
+and report every word, every act of Frau Dr. Merzbach's. She didn't
+concern herself about them; and sometimes she may have been glad that
+the people learned what she thought of them. But there was always some
+disturbance and annoyance; and finally the good Herr Rabbiner was the
+one to suffer. I can scarcely get myself to speak to you about the way
+Dr. Krakauer, saving your reverence, and his assistants imposed their
+will on the meetings of the committee, and how, when the New Synagogue
+stood there completed, all the difficulties overcome, they sent for a
+rabbi from Berlin to hold the dedication speech. Did you ever hear of
+such a thing? As though a rabbi were a prima donna! He comes and
+preaches the dedication sermon and pushes aside our own rabbi! Dr.
+Krakauer, and Meyer Nathanson, the caretaker of the Khille, and Saul
+Feuerstein, the professional bankrupt, triumph; and with them the
+'Saints,' whom the whole business of the New Synagogue doesn't suit
+anyhow. I believe Dr. Merzbach suffered very much at the time; his
+feelings must have been bitterly hurt; but he did not complain, and he
+did not lose his joy in his work. When he stood in the pulpit on the
+first Shabbes after the dedication, and thanked God for having permitted
+the congregation to erect their new house of worship, and also thanked
+the congregation for having made sacrifices and patiently awaited the
+completion of the difficult work, which he recommended to their
+protection, their fidelity, and their piety, as a place of upliftment,
+of edification, comfort, and faith, the eyes of all were filled with
+tears, and everyone felt that the real dedication sermon had not been
+delivered until that Shabbes. Marek, the janitor of the synagogue and
+Shabbes Goy, said that when the people came out of the synagogue, they
+nodded significantly to one another: 'Even if the other man did come
+from Berlin he's not a Dr. Merzbach.' But what they said in an
+undertone, was publicly declared by the Rebbetzin when she left the
+synagogue, proudly drawing up the black mantilla that had once been
+draped about the shoulders of Teacher Sandberg:
+
+"'The dedication of the New Synagogue did not take place until to-day,
+praised be God, through the efforts of him who for ten years spent his
+whole strength for the success of the work.'
+
+"She said this as she stood on the top of the steps leading down from
+the side portal to the street; and so loud that the 'caretaker of the
+Khille,' who was standing near the steps, could hear the words, probably
+was intended to hear them. By the afternoon he had already reported them
+to the president, and the result was that the deputy to the convention
+soon after held in Berlin was not the rabbi, but Herr Dr. Krakauer,
+saving your reverence, and two other ignorant _Amrazim_."
+
+"That's what you call punishment for the sake of discipline," I
+interpolated laughingly.
+
+"I don't know what you call it, but I know it's a shame that so large a
+congregation as ours should not have been represented at the convention
+by its rabbi, a fine Talmid Chochom, with a good name of the greatest
+Yichus, but by an _Amhorez_ who did not know more of _Yiddishkeit_ than
+a coarse dealer in hides and a Jewish cook could show him."
+
+He came to a sudden stop.
+
+"It sickens me and makes my gall rise to think of these things, Herr
+Kreisphysikus. And I had to look on and let it all happen, because I was
+weak and without influence. Nothing could be done."
+
+A thoughtful, wearied look came into his eyes. I seized the moment to
+take leave, because, in spite of my interest in his narratives, I did
+not want him to exert himself any more for the present. Outside I
+advised Feiwel Silbermann to see to it that his master go to bed as soon
+as possible.
+
+
+      OCTOBER 18.
+
+At last I have learned something of Simon Eichelkatz's life history. As
+if utterly forgetful of himself, he ransacked the store-house of his
+brain for recollections of the past, but since his own life was closely
+bound up with that of the congregation, he came to speak of himself
+involuntarily. I admit, that without wishing to be indiscreet I brought
+him to do it. For greatly as the figures and events he describes
+interest me, yet they belong in the past and have an historical
+significance. But this old man rises out of the past, as a passive
+observer, it is true, more than an active doer. Yet, a portion of his
+being flourishes and develops on the soil of science, in the most
+modern, most progressive province of spiritual endeavor. What an
+evolution from Simon Eichelkatz to Friedrich Eichner! I hope to become
+acquainted with this life which leads from the narrow confines of a
+Jewish community out into the broad world.
+
+Yesterday my old friend was very talkative. I felt it pleased him to
+glance back at his own life; and _he_ probably felt that it was not
+vulgar curiosity but true sympathy that led me to him. When I began my
+diary, I thought it would record the deeds and events of the day
+happening here, the most recent news; it has turned out to be a book of
+the recollections of an old man. It's better so. Daily life here is dull
+and monotonous. The people, as far as I know, seem to be conventional.
+Those typical characteristics which Simon Eichelkatz reveals to me are
+lacking in the present generation. The more the Jews are acclimatized,
+the more they lose of their individuality; and if this is not to be
+deplored in general, yet it is at the expense of much originality, in
+both a good and a bad sense. Whatever originality has been saved for
+present times has taken the form of individualism, which plays a large
+and significant role in modern life; and I believe that if strong
+individualities are found among Jews, they are traceable to the time
+when the community at large was concerned with the preservation of
+individuality and race characteristics. Nowadays the Jews strive for
+exactly the opposite ideal. But I want to put the past on record. Simon
+Eichelkatz draws some remarkable though not always agreeable pictures.
+Yet if viewed in the softening perspective of time and distance, they
+evoke a feeling of reconciliation and mild tolerance.
+
+Was not an impress laid on the Jews by the narrowness of their life, its
+one-sided interests, the lack of a wide outlook, and the failure to take
+a broad view of the world based on fixed ethical principles? Were the
+large mass of them not rendered doubly small and inferior because the
+great men among them were entirely too great? Was it not a necessary
+consequence that crudities and deformities should grow out of these
+contrasts, which were all the worse because they arose under oppression,
+in malicious, underhand ways? When I think of it all in the right
+light, my sympathy overcomes my repugnance for those who in the old
+communities crucified and burned at the stake the men who furthered the
+idea of reform in Judaism. Remarkable saints! Meyer Nathanson, the
+caretaker of the Khille; Saul Feuerstein, the professional bankrupt, and
+their savory crew, and alongside of them Dr. Krakauer, Dr. Ehrlich, and
+their colleagues. Alas for the miserable Khilles! Yet I am moved by the
+recollections of the scenes enacted in the past on this ground where
+fortune has cast me. Instead of the land of sun, in which the famous
+ancestor of my great-grandmother in Brody, Dr. Abarbanell, served his
+Master, the black coals of upper Silesia and the winds of the Beskides;
+instead of converse with scholars and artists, intercourse with the rude
+folk here; instead of stimulating activity, dissections and grubbing
+into the mental state of murderers, perjurers, etc.--such is my life
+and work; yet I have something to give me inner satisfaction--Simon
+Eichelkatz.
+
+Yesterday, he said to me: "What the Herr Rabbiner did for the
+congregation as a whole when he came to this 'black' Khille cannot
+compare with what he gave to each person separately. He came here in
+1849, soon after the great revolution. Shortly before, in the company of
+a deputation from Posen--he had been rabbi in Unruhstadt--he had stood
+before the king, in order to give expression to the 'most humble' thanks
+of the Jews for the rights granted them. You can imagine, Herr
+Kreisphysikus, how that impressed the people here--a Rav who had stood
+before the King, a Rav who spoke High German and was a doctor. I tell
+_you_ there was a to-do when they went to receive him and his Rebbetzin;
+they rode as far as Kandrzin and met him there. Herr Dr. Krakauer,
+saving your reverence, had then been president for two years, and, to
+give the devil his due, it was Dr. Krakauer who brought a new Rav here
+and insisted on his being a man with an academic education. But when he
+saw that the Rav was independent, and wasn't willing to dance to the
+tune of his fiddle, he became the Herr Rabbiner's worst enemy. But on
+the rabbi's arrival Dr. Krakauer delivered the address of welcome in
+Kandrzin, and rode here in the same carriage with the rabbi and the
+Rebbetzin. The fourth person in the carriage was the goldsmith Manasse,
+who was then vice-president, a decent sort of a man. That's the way they
+entered town; the whole Khille had assembled before the rabbi's house,
+in the old school building next to the _Mikveh_. Well, and then they
+went up into his apartments, which had been entirely refurnished by
+Joseph, the cabinet-maker, and Manasse attempted to deliver a speech
+there. He was no orator, and embarrassment robbed him of his words. It
+is reported he stammered so that he couldn't get past the first words,
+and Dr. Merzbach said: 'Respected friends, I do not need words to be
+convinced of your sentiment and your kindly feelings for me. I feel that
+I belong to you, and I came gladly. I hope that in this congregation my
+activity will find a large field, which perhaps has hitherto been lying
+fallow, but on which the seeds of fine, noble thoughts, ethical
+principles, and the idea of forming a worthy communal life, will sprout
+and bear rich, glorious fruit. I know what you wanted to say to me,
+respected Herr Vorsteher, even if the emotion of the occasion
+overpowered you. Whoever looks into your true, good eyes feels that he
+is facing a kindly man; and so we all have the desire to cling to one
+another faithfully, and not in words but in deeds work for the weal of
+this precious congregation.'
+
+"Manasse repeated this speech to me a hundred times. When the reception
+committee came down to the rest of the people at the end of half an
+hour, Dr. Krakauer looked so exasperated that Marek, the Shabbes Goy,
+immediately remarked: 'Something has gotten onto his nerves.' But Saul
+Feuerstein, professional bankrupt, and later leader of the 'Saints,' did
+not see why the formation of a 'worthy communal life' was necessary,
+since they had been _davvening_ so long, and everything had been all
+right. Did he think they had been waiting for him to shape communal
+life? As for what he said about 'ethical principles,' you'd have to look
+it up in an encyclopedia before you could understand it. Besides it was
+a _Chutzpeh_ in him to speak of a fallow field. The Khille had managed
+to exist without a sign of a Dr. Merzbach. Under such auspices the new
+rabbi assumed office--among Amrazim and coarse fellows, all of them, the
+well-educated Herr Dr. Krakauer, saving your reverence, and Dr. Ehrlich
+with his fine ways on top. Only two men understood the rabbi better,
+Karfunkelstein, the book-dealer, whose father had been rabbi, and
+Schlesinger, the old iron monger. And then there was another who might
+have if he had wanted to; a sensible, amiable, good, intelligent, and
+witty man. He joked about the entire congregation and had a great deal
+of influence, because they were afraid of his keen judgment. He was the
+new _Chazen_, the cantor Elias, who had been appointed a short time
+after the rabbi.
+
+"Now, isn't it so, Herr Kreisphysikus, isn't it more of a misfortune
+than a shame if one hasn't had the opportunity to learn? But it is a
+shame if one hasn't respect for the knowledge of others, and if one
+hurts the feelings of those to whom one should look up with respect.
+Cantor Elias once said to Dr. Merzbach: 'If you want to remain friends
+with the Parchonim here, my dear Herr Doktor, you must learn Klabberjas,
+and Franzefuss, and Sixty-six. Here cards are more important than the
+pages of the _Gemoreh_.'
+
+"He was right, Herr Kreisphysikus, and the worse he thought and spoke of
+the people, and the more disrespectfully he treated them, the better
+they were to him. He could always carry his point. Every year an
+increase in salary. And they let him do what he wanted. When he stood
+before the _Omed_ on Shabbes and _Yontef_ and began to sing, they were
+all in transports. He sang! Such a voice, such a way of singing! I don't
+know if there is anything like it now. He touched people to the very
+marrow of their bones. Perhaps sounds are more affecting than words.
+What do you think, Herr Kreisphysikus? At any rate he had more influence
+and power over the Khille than the rabbi. If the rabbi told them
+something, they had to think about it first; but they only had to hear
+what the cantor sang to them. Then, after Shul, he went with them to
+drink a glass of wine at Heimann's, or lunch with them at Schaefer's. Reb
+Shaefer would stand at the door and declare, when the Herr Kantor came,
+his heart laughed in his body. When the cantor was present, there was
+always fun and merriment. He was the most popular man. He would play a
+little game with the people, he lunched with them, and did not despise
+Heimann's Hungarian wine. He told the men rugged truths, and he teased
+the women. No one suspected how genuinely he despised them all, how high
+he was raised above them. In a few clever words he himself told what he
+thought about everything.
+
+"'Do you know what our Rav is?' Once when I was present he asked the
+question of some Baale-Batim with whom he was playing Klabber. 'A pearl
+cast before swine.'
+
+"'And the Rebbetzin?' some one asked in the midst of their laughter.
+
+"At this he suddenly became quite serious, and said: 'She is a pearl
+picked from the coronet of a princely family. But you don't understand;
+why should you? You know _Malkeh_ and _Melech_ only on cards.' Then he
+threw down the ace and said: 'I'll take the king and queen with the
+diamond; they're in better hands than with you.'
+
+"Often he used to say to me: 'You're right, Eichelkatz, for sticking to
+the rabbi. If anyone can help you, he's the man, for he knows, yes, he
+knows what is going on in the souls of men--and--the Rebbetzin!'
+
+"And I, I really did need someone who understood what was going on in my
+soul. I myself hardly understood."
+
+He paused and looked into space, engrossed in thought. I regarded him in
+silence; then he began with a voice that sounded like an echo from a
+great distance:
+
+"Do you know what an unhappy marriage is, Herr Kreisphysikus? But how
+should you? You're a bachelor. You've seen and heard of the thing, but
+that's nothing. One must live through it oneself, one must experience it
+in one's own person; then only can you realize that it's the saddest,
+most fearful thing that can happen to a human being. Both parties are
+to blame; it's always the fault of both. For neither has the courage to
+admit the truth, to confess, We've made a mistake; we don't suit each
+other. They drag through their entire lives in sorrow and deception; and
+again and again the heart is bruised, and one's own life and the life of
+others is embittered. And when you finally see into it all, it's too
+late. When your understanding comes, you're too old. And then you think,
+it doesn't pay to begin anew for the few years that are left. But the
+few years are long. Each year has twelve months; each month, thirty
+days, and some have even thirty-one; each day, twenty-four hours; each
+hour, sixty minutes; each minute, sixty seconds; and in each second you
+grieve and fret and live your whole trouble again."
+
+His face took on a thoughtful expression.
+
+"Do you know, Herr Kreisphysikus, they say man's life is short; and
+what are seventy, or, at the extreme, eighty years in the infinity of
+time? As a moment. But I tell you, every man who reaches his maturity
+lives a thousand years, because an entire life is condensed in every
+moment in which he has an experience. I don't know if you understand me,
+Herr Doktor. I do not mean those experiences that make up our ordinary
+life, our habits, and our needs. I mean the things our souls live
+through. And every sensation of the soul is a whole world in itself, a
+whole life; everything in us awakens at one blow, and leaps into life,
+and experiences the entire thing with us. We feel it with all our parts.
+And now imagine, Herr Kreisphysikus, how many moments each man lives
+through, how many thousands of lives. This is the standard we should use
+for measuring our age. And if a man reaches the end of the seventies,
+like myself, Herr Doktor, and has gone through so many things, his life
+has not been short, but a thousand years long and more."
+
+Again I stood before the riddle: how did this plain old man arrive at
+philosophic deductions covering every field of thought, and with
+singular strength of reasoning lightly solve the most difficult
+problems, unconsciously, led only by intuition, which clearly and firmly
+guided him along a path where others groped for the way of truth? Did he
+not instinctively arrive at the correct thing, when he measured the
+extent of life by intensity, and not by number of years?
+
+What _had_ Simon Eichelkatz lived through?
+
+As though he read the question on my face he continued:
+
+"And now see, Herr Doktor, do you know an unhappy marriage is an
+eternity of heartache? And whoever has lived through one is so old--so
+old--Methuselah is a mere boy compared with him. Nowadays you hear of
+divorces. In my days they were considered a shame. A divorced woman was
+regarded as something low, an outcast; and people didn't think very
+highly either of a man who gave a _Get_. A divorce always had a
+disgusting flavor. And here in the Khille, once you were mated, there
+was no way out. Always dragging the yoke, always dragging it along! So
+believe me God, I really don't want to say anything against Madame
+Eichelkatz--I am sure she suffered as much from it as I did--but there
+was no getting away from it, we just didn't suit each other. My simple
+nature, my straightforwardness, and my lack of education were certainly
+as obnoxious to her as her culture, her fine manners, and her
+aristocratic desires were to me. She didn't like my having to stand
+behind a counter, and I didn't like her speaking French with the Herr
+Oberstleutnant Von Boddin. Now tell me, Herr Kreisphysikus, do you think
+it is proper for a _bekovet_ Jewish woman to drop curtseys, to laugh
+loud, and amuse herself with the officers in front of her husband's
+store when they pass by toward evening? It was 'gnaedige Frau' and
+'Madame Eichelkatz' and a chattering and laughing and always that
+'Madame Eichelkatz.' She refused to see that they were having fun at her
+expense and made mock of the name Eichelkatz, my good, honest name, Herr
+Kreisphysikus."
+
+Poor Simon Eichelkatz! So jealousy was his life's woe.
+
+As if endowed with clairvoyance and the ability to read my thoughts, he
+looked at me sharply and said:
+
+"You must not think that I was jealous, not what one understands by that
+word. Upon my honor, I was not. When I married my wife, Friederike,
+_nee_ Boehm, there was no talk of love between us. We married as all
+people married then. I had entered Joseph Boehm's business as clerk, and
+later I married into it, because Boehm could not continue to carry it on
+alone. He himself came to me and said: 'Simon, if you want to marry my
+daughter Friederike, we needn't pay a Shadchen, you needn't and I
+needn't. You know the business. It's gone backward within the last year;
+but if you look after it, you will advance it again. You know it once
+was a good business, and I can no longer keep up against the competition
+of others; but you can.'
+
+"It flattered my ambition that Herr Joseph Boehm, one of the chief
+wholesale dealers in Silesia, should offer his daughter to me himself,
+to me, who only three years before had entered his business as a poor,
+unknown clerk. Simon Eichelkatz, who was Simon Eichelkatz? Born in
+Tarnow, of poor, decent folk, I came to Reissnitz and made my fortune
+there. Just think! The son-in-law of Joseph Boehm! Such a thing had never
+been! But to become a son-in-law you must have a wife; and I took
+Friederike Boehm, who was aristocratically brought up, and could speak
+French."
+
+To-day it particularly struck me what it was that so peculiarly
+characterized his manner of narrating. As soon as he spoke about
+personal matters or told stories of the Khille, he fell into the jargon
+and the intonation of the Jews of former times.[*] But when he dealt
+with generalities and gave expression to ideas and speculations, his
+speech acquired a swing, his expressions became almost choice, and the
+form scarcely ever detracted from the matter. He grew, as it were,
+beyond his own bounds; and I thought I saw before me not a simple old
+Jew, but a sage.
+
+     [*] The translator has found it impossible to convey this subtle
+     distinction in English. It shows itself in the German by slightly
+     mispronouncing words, for instance, _Leit_ instead of _Leute_;
+     using _ae_ instead of the article _ein_ (an), and very slightly
+     changing the correct order of the words.
+
+"What did they know at that time of such notions? They harnessed two
+human beings together and said, Now see how you get along with each
+other." A shadow flitted over his countenance, usually so mild.
+
+"And yet," I interposed, "Jewish marriages as a whole were seldom
+unfortunate."
+
+"That was because husband and wife were confined to their own homes,
+their children, and at most to their Mishpocheh. Nothing strange, from
+the outside, came to disturb them. Life passed in the closest relation
+of two human beings. Nowadays it's different. But if it happened to be
+different in my time, it was a calamity--and it was a calamity that Frau
+Friederike Eichelkatz, _nee_ Boehm, had learned to speak French. During
+the first year things went pretty well. To be sure, even then she spoke
+scornfully of having married an uneducated man, who knew nothing but
+whether cloths were bad or good, who could tell at the first glance
+whether a piece of cloth came from Cottbus or from Bruenn, whether it was
+manufactured in Germany or in England, whether the woof was wool or
+thread, and whether the wool was pure or mixed. All this was of value in
+business, but not in marriage. Marriage requires other knowledge to
+create happiness. And when my wife would ask me so mockingly: 'Do you
+suppose anyone in Tarnow knows French?' I had enough for a whole week.
+
+"But I always answered back; and that's what made the trouble. I didn't
+have peace and quiet until I realized that it's best not to say a word,
+not one word. By the time I found this out it was too late. I believe,
+Herr Doktor, one always is too old by the time one learns sense. It
+doesn't do yourself any good any more, and the young folk want to get
+their own foolish experiences. And so it's really no use to get
+sensible."
+
+"How can you say anything like that, Herr Eichelkatz? Haven't I the
+pleasure of listening to so many experiences of yours which interest me
+and give me food for thought? Don't your stories of the congregation
+give me a picture which is significant to everyone who loves his people,
+loves them faithfully and with sorrow at the heart? Besides, wasn't it
+through the events and incidents of your life that you arrived, whether
+early or late, at that state of peace and calm which beautifies your old
+age?"
+
+He listened to me attentively, and a melancholy smile played about his
+mouth.
+
+"Peace and calm, Herr Kreisphysikus, are to be found only after pain has
+been gotten rid of in life. But to get rid of pain you must _have_ it
+first. I have had much pain, much pain, and great Tzores; and now when
+sitting here so quietly, you know--believe me--Herr Kreisphysikus, you
+by and by become accustomed to that other peace, without end, and you
+think of it without dread or horror. Sometimes you even--well, we won't
+speak of it, Herr Doktor. Praised be God for having bestowed such a long
+life on me. My wife has been dead twenty years and--"
+
+I waited in a state of tense expectation that he would say something
+about his son; but he hesitated for only an instant and continued:
+
+"We lived together thirty-three years. Do you know what that means, Herr
+Kreisphysikus, if she looked down on and despised her husband in the
+very first year of her marriage? Because he wasn't so fine as she,
+merely an immigrant from Galicia? Because his Mishpocheh were poor
+people, and his father wasn't a wholesale dealer, but merely a peddler,
+and because he didn't know French? Even though I showed them later that
+I knew something and was something, and even though all the others
+appreciated me, in the eyes of Madame Eichelkatz I always remained a
+creature of a lower order, an intruder, an upstart. And she never
+forgave her father for having made me his son-in-law. The better I
+succeeded in business, and the wealthier we grew, the prouder and more
+arrogant she became. I was good enough to earn a living, and she had no
+fault to find with my business career; but as to the trouble I took to
+cultivate my mind, she paid no attention to that. For her I always
+remained Simon Eichelkatz from Tarnow, an employee in her father's
+business, a person with an absurd name and no manners, whom she had
+married at her father's wish and command. 'How did you happen to marry
+such a husband?' the Oberstleutnant Von Boddin once asked her, while
+standing in front of the shop door. 'It's a genuine _mesalliance_.' I
+was standing behind the counter, and I felt that what the Oberstleutnant
+was saying was a great insult to me, even though I didn't know the
+meaning of the word. But I couldn't go and knock him down. Now could I,
+Herr Kreisphysikus? I, a Jew, and he an Oberstleutnant? But I made a
+mental note of the word, and I kept repeating it to myself:
+_mesalliance_, _mesalliance_. Then, the next Shabbes, after _Mairev_, I
+went to the Herr Rabbiner and asked him what it meant. When he explained
+it to me, I all of a sudden became real quiet and thought to myself, why
+the Herr Oberstleutnant after all is perfectly right. It _was_ a
+_mesalliance_. A failure of a marriage, I tell you, Herr Doktor, and it
+didn't get any better through the birth of our son in the second year.
+As long as her father, Joseph Boehm, was alive, she had a little
+consideration; but after his death that stopped. She sought company of
+her own. She associated with the Goyim, with the Frau Rechnungsrat and
+the Frau Kanzleirat, and more such aristocratic _Shnorrers_, who
+accepted many a little favor here and there from their well-to-do
+friend. Then came the misfortune with the Oberstleutnant and the
+officers, who had their sport with the handsome Jewess. She became more
+and more conceited and foolish; she was ashamed of her husband; and one
+day she had visiting cards engraved with 'Madame Eichelkatz, _nee_
+Boehm.' The name stuck to her in the Khille. They began to despise her
+and to pity me."
+
+It had gotten late. I had another professional visit to pay, and I took
+leave of my old friend. I am looking forward eagerly to his future
+revelations. As I crossed the Ring past the shops, I suddenly saw, in my
+mind's eye, an industrious man, humbled by his lot, standing behind the
+counter, and before the door a handsome woman. And I murmured to myself:
+"Madame Eichelkatz, _nee_ Boehm."
+
+
+      OCTOBER 23.
+
+Late this afternoon I hunted up my old friend in the expectation that he
+would continue the story of his life. Mention had been made of his son,
+though only _en passant_, and I cherished the secret hope that Simon
+Eichelkatz would return to him now that he had once begun to pour out
+his heart to me. But to-day he didn't say anything bearing on what had
+gone before. When I entered, I found him in a gay mood; and before I
+crossed the threshold he called out to me:
+
+"It occurred to me to-day that I wanted some time or other to tell you a
+_Maaseh_, which is half funny, half sad."
+
+And he only recounted anecdotes. Not one word about the events in his
+life--only the story of the great dearth and famine. Simon Eichelkatz
+was right; it is a tragi-comic history.
+
+"It was a year of famine after the war of '59; sickness everywhere; bad
+harvests, bad business; the potatoes rotting in the ground on account of
+heavy rains and floods. Herr Kreisphysikus, to understand the misery of
+the people thoroughly, you must live through such a year here.
+
+"All over the mining district typhus, for which the stupid workmen and
+peasants thought there was only one remedy, the whisky flask. The women
+and children died miserably on their foul, ill-smelling straw heaps, the
+men in the ditches. Herr Kreisphysikus, happily it is different now;
+conditions have improved, it cannot be denied, since forty years ago.
+Any one might be satisfied to have the difference expressed in money
+added to his fortune. On that account it's silly always to talk of the
+good old times. The world's gotten much better, much better. That's what
+this old man tells you. The winter was terrible that year. To be sure,
+the typhus grew less severe when the cold set in; but the poor people
+suffered from the cold instead. Every day you found bodies frozen to
+death in the ditches by the roadside. Of course they were usually
+drunkards; nevertheless they were human beings, and such occurrences
+aroused horror among us. The members of families gathered closer
+together, they doubly realized the comfort of a heated room and the
+blessing of a well-ordered existence. Every sign of well-being was
+regarded with heightened interest; and one day the greatest excitement
+was caused by the appearance of a new winter coat on the back of the
+wife of the vice-president. She wore it to Shul for the first time on
+_Sukkoth_. Frau Wilhelm Weinberger was the wife of a well-to-do man who
+had brought her the garment from the Leipsic Fair. I can see it now, as
+though it were yesterday it happened. And you may be sure the other men
+had it impressed on their memory, too; for you can imagine, Herr
+Kreisphysikus, it aroused as much envy as excitement; and after Shul
+most families were probably discussing the coat of Frau Wilhelm
+Weinberger. It was dark blue, of the finest buckskin, lined with white
+and light blue striped cloth, and bordered at the bottom with a band of
+black lambskin. The collar and cuffs were also of lambskin. I tell
+_you_, Herr Kreisphysikus, it was a marvel."
+
+He chuckled as he always did when something tickled his sense of humor.
+I did not know whether it was the winter coat of Frau Wilhelm Weinberger
+which amused him so greatly after the lapse of forty years, or other
+recollections suggested by it. He paused for a long while before
+continuing his narrative.
+
+"Besides Teacher Sandberg there were two other teachers in the
+congregational school at that time, Teacher Deutsch and Teacher
+Herrnstaedt, and two assistants for the lowest classes. All were married
+and blessed with children; unfortunately, they were not blessed with a
+corresponding income. The Khille was not in a position to give them
+sufficient salaries; as it was, its budget for the officers that
+conducted the services was considerable. So the teachers were extremely
+hard put to it to support their families in a bekovet way; and in bad
+times, when it is particularly difficult to get extra jobs, like giving
+private instruction, they had no smooth road to travel, nebbich.
+Sandberg had it a little easier, because on his free afternoons he was
+employed as secretary to the congregation and he kept the minutes of the
+meetings. But Deutsch had a hard time of it. He had two daughters, and a
+son who worked in a dry goods store in Breslau. His wife and daughters
+were very industrious. They did embroidery for the shops, and tried in
+every possible way to add to the small income of their father. The son
+also contributed to the support of the family, so that to all outward
+appearances they seemed to be more than the children of the other
+teachers. Besides, they always associated with the wealthier families in
+the congregation. But exactly this was their misfortune. People with
+daughters were annoyed that the daughters of Teacher Deutsch were always
+so well-dressed--not like children of a poor teacher, but like those of
+rich Baale-Batim. The teachers in meeting had decided to ask for a raise
+of their salaries because of the increased cost of living on account of
+the famine. They couldn't go on in the old way. The price of bread,
+potatoes, coffee, and sugar was exorbitant. As it was, they ate meat
+only once a week, on Shabbes; and it was impossible to obtain the fuel
+needed during that severe winter. In a very emphatic and touching
+petition drawn up by Teacher Herrnstaedt, the matter was brought to the
+attention of the president and the board, who were requested to grant an
+increase to the teachers for the coming year."
+
+At this point Feiwel Silbermann entered with a large cup of coffee and a
+freshly filled pipe. Simon sipped the hot drink with evident enjoyment,
+puffed at his pipe several times, and said:
+
+"Yes, at that time things didn't go very well with us, Herr
+Kreisphysikus. Feiwel, do you still remember the year 1859?"
+
+"Why shouldn't I remember it, Herr Eichelkatz? Am I going to forget how
+we starved and froze? It wasn't anything, wasn't it? That was a year!
+The snow lay for four weeks. You wouldn't think there could be such
+cold, and Teacher Deutsch's daughters got new winter coats."
+
+With this he shambled out of the room and Simon said:
+
+"Yes, the cold was frightful. But in spite of it we were greatly
+astonished to see Caroline and Lenchen Deutsch, the teacher's daughters,
+cross the Ring on Christmas day in new winter coats. Of course, we ought
+to have been glad that the girls had warm clothing in such freezing
+weather. But human nature is not so indulgent, and the Khille rather
+bore them a grudge. Everyone ran to the window to make sure of the
+wonderful fact. 'Look at them,' they called to one another, 'Caroline
+and Lenchen Deutsch have new coats on. In such bad times! Really, you
+wouldn't believe it. Chutzpeh!' But the worst of it was that the coats
+in cut and color, in goods and trimming, were exactly like Frau Wilhelm
+Weinberger's--blue buckskin and black lambskin--the latest style. The
+excitement caused by Frau Wilhelm Weinberger's garment wasn't a
+circumstance to what Caroline and Lenchen Deutsch's called forth. And
+the consequences, Herr Kreisphysikus, the consequences!" Again he
+laughed softly. "I don't believe blue buckskin and black lambskin have
+ever produced such consequences. On the day after Christmas there was a
+meeting of the committee. The first matter for consideration was the
+petition of the teachers for a raise in salary. The committee almost
+unanimously agreed that there was reason in the request. It wasn't
+fitting that men intrusted with the education of the young should suffer
+want. In order to have a proper influence upon children teachers should
+have a free mind and a light heart. Thus spoke Dr. Ehrlich, with great
+eloquence; and he moved that the petitioners be granted a raise of
+thirty dollars for the year of famine. Hereupon our honorable friend,
+Herr Doktor Krakauer, saving your reverence, arose and said he had an
+addition to make to the proposition: 'to exclude Teacher Deutsch from
+the benefit of the raise, because for two days his daughters have been
+flaunting about in winter coats of blue buckskin with black lambskin,
+coats exactly like the one which Frau Wilhelm Weinberger wears. If
+anyone can afford that, he needs no raise.'"
+
+A dumbfounded expression probably came on my face, because Simon looked
+at me, and with that furtive smile of his he said:
+
+"Every word of what I tell you is true, Herr Kreisphysikus. Herr
+Manasse, _Zichrono livrochoh_, tried to oppose him in vain. He assured
+the committee that he himself had brought the cloaks with him from
+Breslau, where the son of Teacher Deutsch, a clerk at Immerwahr's, had
+given them to him, because he wanted to save the expense of expressing
+them. They had been lying there ever since the beginning of November,
+and Teacher Deutsch's son had bought them way below the regular
+selling-price from a travelling salesman, who had brought them to
+Breslau as samples months before; one of them in fact was quite damaged.
+But all that didn't help matters any. Blue buckskin with lambskin
+remained a crime. It was no use to urge that a good son and brother had
+pinched himself to give his parents and sisters a pleasure, and that he
+was able to do it only because the cloaks were cheap and underpriced.
+Other objections made by two members beside Manasse were also refuted.
+They say Manasse almost cried when, at the end, he called out: 'But for
+heaven's sake, they can't eat blue buckskin and black lambskin to
+satisfy their hunger!' Even that was of no use. Our amiable Dr.
+Krakauer, saving your reverence, carried his motion, and Teacher
+Deutsch's petition was refused."
+
+Simon looked into space, then said: "Do you know the real meaning of the
+word '_nebbich_' Herr Kreisphysikus?"
+
+"Yes, I do, _nebbich_."
+
+
+      OCTOBER 29.
+
+Autumn this year is very disagreeable. It rains a great deal, and the
+damp, foggy atmosphere has a bad effect on health, both in the city and
+the country. I have had a great deal to do. Simon Eichelkatz was also
+indisposed for several days. At his age every disturbance of the
+physical state is serious. But Feiwel Silbermann is so touchingly
+attentive that the care he bestows upon the old man quickly carries him
+through his trouble. My medical instructions are obeyed by Feiwel so
+punctually and accurately that I can be sure of their effect. We stuck
+our patient into bed for a few days, but to-day he is sitting up, and
+this afternoon I allowed him to smoke his pipe. That raised his spirits
+immediately, and he became more talkative. A light veil of
+sentimentality still lay on his soul, often the case with convalescents,
+and he at last returned to the narrative of personal experiences. He
+remembered a sickness he had had in 1867, late in the summer--a sort of
+dysentery or _cholera nostras_, then epidemic. "The real illness lasted
+only a few days, but afterwards," he said, "I was so weak, I couldn't
+stir a finger. I remember it as though it happened to-day, how I sat
+before the shop in the sun, to draw some warmth again into my bones.
+They fairly rattled. I didn't have a Feiwel Silbermann to look after me
+then."
+
+"And your wife?" I asked.
+
+"My wife wasn't at home. She was in Warmbrunn with our son, who was to
+recuperate there. He had just passed his final examinations at the
+Gymnasium. He passed them splendidly, Herr Kreisphysikus. They even
+excused him from a part of his oral examinations. The whole city spoke
+of it; and when Herr Professor Lebeck came in the afternoon to buy cloth
+for a pair of trousers, he said to me: 'You may be proud of your son,
+Herr Eichelkatz; he does credit to you and to our Gymnasium. It's been a
+long time since we've had so gifted and industrious a pupil.' Lebeck's
+red nose glistened as though he had come directly from Heimann to me. Of
+course, I sold him the goods very cheap; and as he went out he repeated:
+'Yes, your son, he'll be something extra some day.'"
+
+Simon Eichelkatz looked down thoughtfully, then he blew a thick cloud of
+tobacco smoke into the air and added:
+
+"Fortunately, it passed quickly; only the after-part, until I got back
+my full strength--but still it wasn't necessary to disturb my wife in
+her holiday, and my son. At first Herr Doktor Merzbach wanted to write
+to her; but when I explained to him why I didn't want him to, he gave
+up the idea. Why? Herr Kreisphysikus! Madame Eichelkatz would probably
+have come back, if news of my illness had been sent to her; but she
+wouldn't have brought love into my house, and no good will, and no
+devotion, just what a weak, sick man needs. On that account I preferred
+not to have her here, but to let her amuse herself there with her
+company. It had just then come into style to go away in the summer; and
+this was the first time Madame Eichelkatz, _nee_ Boehm, had followed the
+fashion. And there she met her good friends. I told this to the Herr
+Rabbiner, and he thought the matter over and asked: 'Can nothing be
+done, Eichelkatz, to bring peace into your married life? Now that your
+son is grown up and ready to go to the university?' I felt as though the
+Herr Rabbiner were reproaching me. And then for the first and last time
+I opened out my heart freely. Perhaps because I was so weak and alone. I
+told him what vexations and humiliations I had endured for twenty
+years. And always carrying the trouble in secret, so as not to give
+offense and for the sake of the child. He was not to see how matters
+stood with us, and besides he was greatly attached to her and loved her
+tenderly, for she had taken him entirely to herself. I ask you who was
+Simon Eichelkatz of Tarnow? At most a decent, industrious fellow, who,
+however, didn't trust himself to say what he thought. It was the custom,
+you know, in Jewish homes for the women to concern themselves with the
+house and with the bringing up of the children, and for the men to earn
+a living. But there was perfect understanding between husband and wife,
+real harmony; and the mother taught the children that the father, who
+looked out for them and worked for them, was the centre of the
+household. This was utterly lacking with Madame and myself. I always
+remained a stranger to both mother and child. She chose his companions
+from among the Christians with whom she associated, and she estranged
+him from Jewish ways exactly as she had estranged him from his father.
+She kept up the necessary appearances before the outside world; but
+within our home it looked very bad. The boy was not put on a sure, sound
+basis for the future. I know it now, Herr Kreisphysikus. Earlier in life
+I could not see things so clearly. But when Dr. Merzbach came to me that
+time, I realized all; and I told him everything, even that it was too
+late to change matters, since my son was almost nineteen years old and
+would leave home. Dr. Merzbach recognized the truth of what I said,
+because he didn't say anything in reply. Then I went on and said:
+'Believe me, Herr Rabbiner, if two human beings are yoked together and
+do not go in exactly the same way, hand in hand, but one pulls to the
+left, the other to the right, they cannot reach a common goal. For that
+matter they have no common goal.' The Herr Rabbiner shook his head and
+asked: 'How about your son's future?'
+
+"'Each of us will probably wish for a different future,' I answered. And
+that's the way it was, Herr Kreisphysikus. What _she_ wished came to
+pass. Her son became a very renowned man. She didn't live to see his
+greatness, and I who did, I hadn't longed for it."
+
+He paused, as though revolving his words in his mind and added:
+
+"You mustn't misunderstand me, Herr Kreisphysikus. But what has our
+personal happiness to do with external success? What can one ever
+receive from others that does not exist in oneself? Hasn't every
+happiness a different form? Hasn't every happiness a different name?
+Honor is happiness to one man, wealth to another, beauty to a third,
+fame to a fourth. Hasn't happiness a thousand names and forms? And have
+you ever seen two beings who call the same thing happiness? There may
+be a few things that are looked on as happiness--contentment, health,
+fulfilment of duty, wealth--but, my dear Herr Kreisphysikus, that only
+sounds nice--it may be a part, but it is not the whole. That which all
+men wish to possess is not the happiness that each individual imagines
+for himself; because it depends upon the nature of each individual; and
+there are as many happinesses as there have been men since the creation
+of the world. Or, if you wish it, Herr Kreisphysikus, there is no such
+thing as happiness at all. Because, if you can't see a thing and say, it
+is thus and so, does it exist? I can say, this is an apple, this is a
+potato, this is my pipe; but I can't say, this is happiness. How does it
+look? Round or long, wide or narrow? I must laugh when I think that
+Madame Eichelkatz, _nee_ Boehm, and Simon Eichelkatz should have said,
+that is our happiness, that's the way it looks, that's the way it should
+look."
+
+He waved his hand.
+
+"I know all; I know what you want to say, Herr Kreisphysikus, and what
+Herr Dr. Merzbach also said that time. Our son! Do you know the sort of
+picture Madame Eichelkatz drew for herself of her son? Great and
+renowned in the large outside world, so renowned that Herr
+Oberstleutnant Von Boddin and Frau Steuereinnehmer Antonie Metzner, her
+bosom friend, would open their eyes in astonishment. That's the way
+_her_ happiness would have looked. She was ambitious and proud and knew
+French. And do you know how my son looked in my dreams? A good, fine
+man, an honest Jew, who would conduct my business. I was simple and
+industrious, and I knew all about cloth. So you may believe me, Herr
+Kreisphysikus, a Madame who speaks French, and a Jew who can tell at a
+glance without touching it whether a piece of cloth comes from Cottbus
+or England, two people like that have very different ideas of
+happiness!"
+
+I followed his words with increasing astonishment. How do such ideas
+regarding individuality and such clearly-defined notions of eudaemonism
+arise in the brain of this old man living remote from the world? Whence
+this wisdom? While these questions agitated my mind, he continued:
+
+"On that afternoon when I sat in the sun in front of my shop, I began to
+ponder about these things; and since then I have accustomed myself to
+reflect about this and that by myself; because I hadn't a single friend
+with whom I could talk myself out. But, do you know, Herr Doktor, I
+think it is better to be alone if one wants to think. And Dr. Merzbach
+passed by and saw me sitting there alone; and, while he was talking to
+me, Rittmeister Von Bluecher and Major Von Schmidt cut diagonally across
+the Ring to come up to us. Both stepped up and greeted the rabbi, who
+enjoyed great consideration among the Christians.
+
+"'How do you do, Herr Doktor,' the Rittmeister called out and laughed:
+'Do you know the news? To-morrow I shall have the Jew Haberstroh shot;
+he was delivered up to us from Oswiecin as a spy. He's said to have
+served in the Austrian army near Neuberun.'
+
+"Dr. Merzbach answered quietly:
+
+"'Since you laugh over it, I'm not worried, Herr Rittmeister. I
+understand your joke. You would not laugh if a human life were actually
+at stake. At all events, it's really a sad story that just this good,
+decent old man should be falsely suspected and delivered up.'
+
+"'Well, what shall we do with the fellow, Herr Doktor? According to
+military law, he ought to have been dead long ago. Ask the major if I'm
+not right.'
+
+"'I don't doubt the truth of your words, Herr Rittmeister; but I also
+know that both you gentlemen would not have a poor innocent man put to
+death on an unproved accusation. I pledge myself for Haberstroh's
+innocence.'
+
+"'Tut, tut tut, Herr Doktor, will you be answerable for the
+consequences?'
+
+"With these words they left the rabbi, laughing, and Haberstroh was not
+shot to death. After a few days it turned out that he had been arrested
+on the spiteful charge of a business rival. Dr. Merzbach had gathered
+the proofs and handed them over to the Rittmeister. He himself had gone
+to Oswiecin for this purpose. That's the way he always threw himself
+into affairs, and helped with all his energy."
+
+I was just about to put a question to Simon Eichelkatz about the spy,
+when he suddenly said:
+
+"Do you believe, Herr Kreisphysikus, that to be good and noble and help
+your fellow-beings is happiness?"
+
+"Have you ever read anything by Goethe or heard of him?" I returned,
+evading the question.
+
+"No, Herr Doktor, I never read anything by him, but I've heard of him."
+
+"Goethe says: 'Let man be noble, helpful, and good.' Do you suppose by
+these words he wanted to show men the road to happiness, Herr
+Eichelkatz?"
+
+"Who can tell?"
+
+
+      NOVEMBER 11.
+
+A clear winter has at last come after the foggy days of autumn. It has
+been snowing for several days, and in the morning Jack Frost draws
+crystal flowers on the window panes.
+
+This morning I received a remarkable epistle from my mother. Its tone is
+very different from what I am accustomed to in her. As a rule she avoids
+all interference with my private affairs; and now, all at once, she
+writes, she doesn't think it proper that I cut myself off, as I do, from
+all intercourse, and open up no relations whatsoever with the prominent
+members of the community. She goes on to say that she has learned from
+trustworthy sources that very fine and cultivated families live in
+Reissnitz, who would esteem it a pleasure to see me in their homes, and
+who are probably hurt even now that I do not introduce myself to them.
+She remarks that I am not intimate even with my colleagues, who would be
+justified in making a claim upon me. In the house of Sanitaetsrat Ehrlich
+I would surely find the stimulus and the diversion I undoubtedly need
+after a severe day's work in the practice of my difficult profession. It
+is always a dubious matter for a bachelor to isolate himself; he
+develops peculiar ideas and habits, and acquires the manners of a social
+hermit. Who, she'd like to know, is a certain Simon Eichelkatz, to whom
+I devote all my spare time? Besides, it is necessary for a physician to
+marry--in order to inspire confidence, for the sake of appearances. I
+had hesitated too long; as Kreisphysikus I should have had a wife long
+ago; why, the very fact of being Kreisphysikus presupposes an age not
+exactly youthful.
+
+I reflected a moment--she was right for three reasons. My thirty-eight
+years actually do make me seem old to myself. In fact, I am old; and it
+now occurs to me all of a sudden that I may have failed to make use of
+the psychological moment to seek and find my affinity. And if I never
+marry? Is marriage so unqualifiedly desirable? I thought of Simon
+Eichelkatz. But how did my mother come to hear of him? I didn't recall
+having mentioned him in my letters to her. As for the other points on
+which she touched? Ah! A flash of inspiration! Herr Jonas Goldstuecker!
+There it stood black on white! A very reliable gentleman had approached
+her in a matter referring to me, calling for discretion, etc., etc. Now,
+the merits of Fraeulein Edith Ehrlich were known in Rawitsch also. I had
+to laugh; but I determined at all events to interrogate my old friend
+about the persons in question.
+
+I went to him in the evening. Though he sat near the stove, with a
+blanket spread over his knees, he still seemed to suffer from the cold.
+He also seemed tired and not so fresh as a few days before. He responded
+to my questioning look with:
+
+"It's cold, Herr Kreisphysikus; a bad time for old people. Inside
+nothing to warm you; outside the cold! It chills you to the marrow!" He
+rubbed his hands and drew the blanket up. Feiwel Silbermann had stepped
+in, looked at him anxiously without his noticing it, and then put some
+more coal in the stove.
+
+"We keep up good fires here in Upper Silesia," said Simon, "but what's
+the use when you begin to freeze inside?"
+
+There was a touch of melancholy in his voice. I laughed and said:
+
+"Feiwel will heat you inside, too."
+
+Then I ordered hot tea and rum for him at once; and a glass of mulled
+wine every morning during the cold weather.
+
+I was well aware that this prescription would be of little avail; there
+are no remedies to counteract such symptoms of old age. But he could be
+given some relief; and after taking the warm drink he felt more
+comfortable for the moment.
+
+"It's a remarkable thing, Herr Doktor, that man grows into a block of
+ice, when his time comes. He doesn't die, but he freezes. Just as
+outside in nature everything stiffens with the frost when the time
+comes; and all life dies, because the sun is gone, the great warmth.
+What curdles in us, is the warm current of life, the blood. No herb
+grows which can prevent it. Forgive me, Herr Kreisphysikus, for speaking
+to you so openly. But at my age you don't make beans about things any
+more, and you think all sorts of thoughts--about life and death. And
+I've always found you a sensible man, to whom I can say anything at all;
+and if I now say to you: when the long winter comes upon men, nothing
+will help them, no doctor, no tea, and no mulled wine, you won't take
+offense, will you?"
+
+"But spring follows winter," I said more to quiet him than out of
+conviction. He may have felt this, because he smiled mournfully, and his
+faded features were suffused with a glorified light--the light that
+fills us with the awe of the infinite when we stand in the presence of
+the dead.
+
+"What that spring is which follows the winter of our lives, no man
+knows. I think it is an eternal winter; and if a new life does blossom
+out of the grave, it is a fresh beginning, which grows from itself, and
+does not join on to an end without an end." He gazed meditatively into
+space. "My idea is," he continued, "that death is the only reality on
+earth. Life is only a seeming. Life changes at every moment and passes,
+death never changes and remains forever. Tell me, Herr Kreisphysikus,
+if men grow old, they live seventy years or a little more, and don't
+they stay dead a million years? Have you ever heard of anyone's living
+twice, or being young twice?"
+
+It is not the first time I am called upon to notice the profundity of
+the old man's observations; but it never fails to surprise me.
+
+"Have you never heard of the immortality of the soul, Herr Eichelkatz?"
+I asked.
+
+"Soul, Herr Doktor? What is soul? Where is it? In what is it? How does
+it look? Does it fly out of the body when life is at an end? By the
+window? By the chimney? Through the keyhole? Has anyone ever seen it?
+Has someone ever felt it? Sometimes I read in the paper about spirits
+with whom chosen mortals talk. Do you believe it, Herr Doktor? I don't.
+Has such a thing ever been proved? They are meshugge or else cheats; it
+always turns out that way."
+
+I had to laugh at the curt way in which he disposed of spiritualism and
+all its excrescences.
+
+"Nevertheless, my dear friend," I answered, "there is probably a
+spiritual after-life which manifests itself in our children and
+grandchildren--a young spring time of life made fruitful by the impulses
+of our souls."
+
+He wrapped himself more tightly in his cover. A slight shiver went
+through his body.
+
+"Herr Kreisphysikus, and how about those who have no children, or those
+whose children go away from them, or those who do not know their own
+children?--through no fault of their own. Why should they be worse off
+than the others? What have they done that they should be extinguished
+forever, while the others live on forever? I don't believe it. For if I
+did happen to see in the world a great deal about which I had to ask
+myself why, still I didn't see anything that had no definite plan and
+no compelling cause, the good and the bad. The thing might not have
+pleased me, and it might have seemed bad or false, but it had a law
+according to which it had to be carried out."
+
+There he was dealing with Kantian abstractions again; the categorical
+imperative came to him instinctively. I did not want to tire him with
+thinking too much, and I said:
+
+"By the way, Herr Eichelkatz, I wanted to ask you something that is of
+personal interest to me. Who is Herr Jonas Goldstuecker?"
+
+He looked at me slyly.
+
+"Are you trying to provide for a spiritual after-life, which will
+manifest itself in your children and grandchildren?" He repeated my
+words with a touch of irony in the intonation. "And Herr Jonas
+Goldstuecker is to help you on to immortality?"
+
+"We haven't reached that point yet, Herr Eichelkatz," I answered
+laughing, rejoiced that I had made him think of other things. Without
+his noticing it, I turned the conversation upon my colleagues in the
+place, especially Sanitaetsrat Ehrlich.
+
+"I don't know the people of to-day very well, Herr Kreisphysikus. Since
+I gave up my business I haven't bothered myself much about them. The
+present Sanitaetsrat Ehrlich is the son of the Sanitaetsrat Ehrlich who
+was one of the trustees along with Dr. Krakauer. He studied at the same
+time as my son. And when Ehrlich had finished his course, he established
+himself here and took up his father's practice. He married and reached a
+position of prominence and wealth in the same place as his father, who
+has been dead ten years. If that's what you mean by after-life, Herr
+Doktor, then the old Sanitaetsrat Ehrlich actually does live on in his
+son. They say the son uses the very same prescriptions as his father.
+He's not a shining light; but he's a fine, respected man. I believe in
+time he was made trustee, like his father; and he has children, sons and
+daughters, who are a satisfaction to him. His oldest son is also
+studying medicine, and will probably some time take up his father's
+prescriptions and his practice. The old Sanitaetsrat Ehrlich was no
+shining light, and neither is his son, and I don't know the young one at
+all--but, at any rate, their light burns a long time, like a _Yom
+Kippur_ light, and in the Khille it may be said of this family: _Ehrlich
+waehrt am laengsten_."
+
+He smiled, and was pleased at his own little joke, and I for my part was
+glad to have left him in a better mood than I had found him.
+
+
+      NOVEMBER 18.
+
+My old friend grows perceptibly weaker. There are no symptoms of a
+definite trouble but _senectus morbus ipsa_. The nasty cold penetrates
+the chinks at door and window and settles in some corner of the room,
+however carefully warmed and provided against weather. The very time of
+year prepares mischief for an old, decaying body. If Simon were sitting
+in some sunny spot, who knows if his seventy-eight years would be
+oppressing him so? What remarkable old people I saw in the south,
+especially in Rome. They bore their eighty or ninety years with proud
+dignity and fine carriage. We of the north age much more rapidly;
+perhaps we are not even born young. Especially we Jews! Conditions have
+been bettered in the course of time, since our young people have been
+allowed to benefit by the sanitary, hygienic, and aesthetic achievements
+of modern life. They all devote themselves to sports, and the obligation
+to serve in the army has forced them--and the need therefor is highly
+significant--to practice gymnastic exercises to their advantage.
+Nevertheless they have something old, thoughtful, worldly-wise in their
+souls. It is the heritage of the many thousands of years of culture, the
+culture which has won us renown and singled us out among the nations,
+but has burdened us also and weighted us down with the over-thoughtfulness
+born of limitless life-experience. _Naivete_ and an easy mode of
+existence we have lost through this heritage; and that it manifests
+itself especially in spiritual matters is praiseworthy, though neither
+gratifying nor exhilarating. How difficult we are! How dependent upon
+tradition! What deep roots we have struck in the soil of the past! I
+believe we drag the chains of our long history more painfully than those
+put upon us by the other nations. And though these chains are wrought of
+the gold of fidelity and linked with the pearls of wisdom, they weight
+us down--they weight us down in a world where we are only
+tolerated--strangers!
+
+Simon Eichelkatz awakened these thoughts in me. Yesterday he told me a
+great deal again. Remarkable! It is as though he felt the need to
+unburden his soul of a few more matters before he sinks into the great,
+eternal silence. But he doesn't suspect my anxiety in his behalf. He
+chats on heedlessly into the twilight of the early winter evenings. The
+twilight makes people communicative and confidential. It is the time of
+intimate secrets. And at such a time Simon acquainted me with the most
+solemn experience of his life.
+
+"I do not know, Herr Kreisphysikus, how to tell you--when I found it
+out, I felt a pain as though a piece of my body were being torn away. It
+hurt! My, how it hurt! I cried aloud! I made a rent in my coat; I threw
+myself on the ground, and I sat _Shiveh_. My son was dead, my only
+child! Madame Eichelkatz said nothing. She remained immovable. Not a
+sound passed her lips; and to this day I do not know what she thought or
+felt when the news came that our only child had been--baptized! He had
+had himself _baptized_, Herr Kreisphysikusleben. Converted! Stepped from
+one religion into another as lightly as though stepping from the middle
+of the street over the gutter onto the pavement! From the painful, dusty
+road to the elegant, smoothly-paved street!
+
+"'What have you to say to this?' I screamed at my wife. But she said
+nothing. And she raised no objections when after the Shiveh I declared
+my intention of giving up the business, because, not having a child any
+more, I did not know for whom to work. She quietly let me do whatever I
+decided on in my pain and anger. She seemed entirely broken. But no one
+learned whether from surprise, grief, or repentance. She faded away, and
+two years after the terrible event she died from no special sickness.
+'As a punishment,' the people said, 'of a broken heart'--who knows what
+goes on in the soul of such a woman!
+
+"I did not know. And that's where I was wrong in the matter. I know it
+now. And it's a pity, Herr Kreisphysikus, that you never know at the
+right time. You are never clever, you never understand, you never do the
+right thing at the right time. It always comes when it's too late."
+
+He paused in his confidences, somewhat hastily uttered, and looked
+gloomily into space. Then, as though he had suddenly gathered together
+his inner forces, he added:
+
+"And yet, when I think it over carefully, it's probably not such a pity.
+It must be so and can't be different, because to err is human. And it's
+only by way of error that you arrive at knowledge. In man error is life.
+When he knows everything, more than he likes to know, then comes death."
+
+Error is life, and knowledge is death! The soul of this old man
+comprehends everything. Philosophers and poets--he never read a line of
+their works, scarcely a name of theirs reaches his ear, and yet their
+finest thoughts are crystallized in his observations. And again, for
+after a little pause he said:
+
+"Death, what is it, Herr Kreisphysikus? Something else that no one
+knows, surely doesn't know--forgive me, Herr Kreisphysikus, you,
+too--although you've studied about life and death--and you're a fine,
+learned man, a serious, learned man--I know, I know. If anyone could
+have learned about death you certainly would have--but can one learn the
+eternal riddles of nature? Who knows her secrets? The greatest learning
+can't penetrate to them. Do me a favor, Herr Kreisphysikus, if there
+_is_ anyone who knows, tell me; I'd be happy to learn one more thing,
+before I lay myself down and become a dead man, as now I am a live man."
+
+A startling thought flashed through my mind; but before I could answer
+him, he said, almost hastily:
+
+"I knew it, Herr Kreisphysikus; you can't tell me. Why? Because there's
+not a soul who could have discovered it--nobody knows what--we don't
+know anything."
+
+_Ignorabimus!_
+
+Ay, there's the rub. The thought has given pause to many another besides
+Simon Eichelkatz!
+
+But now I was determined to give expression to the thought which a
+moment before had flashed through my mind.
+
+"That's not so easily disposed of as you think, Herr Eichelkatz. We know
+as little as you say, and yet we know so much! When the inscrutable
+fails to yield us anything positive, when the exact sciences can tell us
+no more, then comes the work of hypothesis, of thought."
+
+He looked at me with great, astonished eyes. A light of comprehension
+spread over his face, although he softly said:
+
+"That's too much for me, Herr Kreisphysikus, what you are saying--I mean
+the way you say it--I think I can understand your meaning; and as for
+the exact sciences, I can imagine what that means, I have heard the
+words before. But the other word, poth--pothe--it can't come from
+apothecary? What you mean is that when we don't know about something,
+others come and try to explain it from what they have thought over the
+matter for themselves."
+
+"That is called philosophy," I said.
+
+"I know the word," he murmured under his breath.
+
+"And the greatest minds of all times have occupied themselves with it."
+
+"And has anything ever come of it?" he said, an ironical smile flitting
+about the corners of his sunken mouth.
+
+"Why, yes! For if thinking, interpreting, and reasoning did not make the
+things of this earth clear to us and throw a moral light upon them,
+there would be only one course left to us; we should be driven to
+desperation."
+
+He was obviously trying to adjust the meaning of my words in his mind,
+for it was after a few minutes' pause that he said:
+
+"And you really believe, Herr Kreisphysikus, that it is of some use?
+Well, I won't argue with you, because I don't understand--but that we
+should accomplish anything for the general good through morality, I
+mean, the same sort of morality for many or for all--that--that seems
+unlikely to me. I've always found that each man has his own morality,
+just as every Jew has his own _Shulchan Oruch_. And there is nothing too
+bad or too wicked for one man to do to another but that he can excuse it
+as being moral. I've experienced it, Herr Kreisphysikus--I"--he paused
+an instant--"yes, and why shouldn't I tell you? At the time when my only
+child forsook the faith of his fathers, he wrote me a letter, yes--and
+he explained the necessity for his taking the step, and in the finest
+words and thoughts told me how it is the highest morality to be true to
+yourself--not to what has been handed down to you by others--and how
+each must find in himself the moral laws of the world--and how each must
+free himself in order to strive unhampered toward the light. No one
+should abide by what others have offered him, for to take is--mercy! And
+the strong man must not kill himself out of compassion and mercy. But my
+son said of himself, he was strong, and for that reason, he said, he
+must go his own way pitilessly, and I should forgive him the pain he
+caused me--he was not one of those who quietly gives a little of himself
+here and a little there, as is the custom in narrow circles; he was one
+of the few--one of the magnificently wealthy--a great giver who gives
+himself to mankind!"
+
+His voice had risen as he conveyed the contents of the letter to me; but
+then, as though tired out, he added:
+
+"I know every word by heart. I read the letter a thousand times; and, do
+you know, Herr Kreisphysikus, so that I'd be sure to understand it and
+read it perfectly, he wrote it in Hebrew letters."
+
+He drew the Bible that always lay on the table closer to himself, took
+out a piece of paper showing signs of much handling, and gave it to me.
+It was the letter.
+
+The depths of my soul were stirred.
+
+"What could I do, nebbich, Herr Kreisphysikus? This letter was the only
+thing I'd ever read of philosophy. Then--yes, after getting it, I sat
+Shiveh! Because I learned from the letter: 'Be true to yourself.' And I
+was true to myself in being true to my religion. 'And each must find in
+himself the moral laws of the world,'--and the moral law of my world is
+to hold sacred what the God of Israel has commanded. But I hid my sorrow
+in my soul, and I never again reproached Madame Eichelkatz with having
+led him into error through her education. What could a frivolous Madame
+Eichelkatz do, and how could she hinder a man who 'gives himself to
+mankind,' nebbich?
+
+"She never saw him again, nor did he stand at her grave; because I got
+the rabbi to write to him he should not come. He answered with only two
+lines."
+
+Simon reached out again for the book, took a slip of paper out, set his
+horn-rimmed spectacles on his nose, and read:
+
+"'Weep not, my father! Is not all weeping a lament? And all lamenting an
+accusation? Accuse not my mother in her grave--accuse not me. Your soul
+will be healed; for yours is not a petty grief.'
+
+"That was the last I heard from him. Not a tear was shed at Madame
+Eichelkatz's grave. Then I settled down here with Feiwel Silbermann. I
+had enough to live on, more than enough, and I began to ponder over
+mankind and things in general. I've grown old, and I am a stranger to
+people. Rabbi Dr. Merzbach has been dead a long time, and Cantor Elias,
+and Meyer Nathanson the Shammes, and Saul Feuerstein, the professional
+bankrupt, and Dr. Krakauer, saving your reverence, and all the others.
+The new generation scarcely knows me."
+
+The last words were uttered brokenly, his head sank softly forward. He
+had dropped off to sleep from sheer exhaustion. After a few minutes he
+came to himself, and Feiwel Silbermann carried him to bed while I stood
+there. We administered some bouillon and Tokay wine; but he remained
+apathetic, and only murmured, almost unintelligibly: "Yes--times
+change--the Khille is no longer _fromm_." Then he fell asleep again.
+
+I was greatly disturbed on leaving him, and returned the next morning at
+the very earliest hour possible. He was asleep. Two days later he had
+passed into the eternal sleep of death.
+
+
+      NOVEMBER 23.
+
+To-day we carried Simon Eichelkatz to his last resting-place. Only a few
+people accompanied him. But at his grave stood a solitary man.
+
+"Myself I sacrifice to my love, and my neighbor I sacrifice as myself,
+thus runs the speech of all creators."
+
+The Nietzsche phrase flitted through my mind, a phrase that I had heard
+explained by the son, the heir of that unlearned, wise old man whom we
+had just consigned to the earth. "But all creators are hard--thus spoke
+Zarathustra."
+
+And there--
+
+In a soft though intelligible voice the solitary man repeated the Hebrew
+words, as he shovelled the earth onto the coffin:
+
+"Dust thou art, to dust returnest; but the spirit returns to God who
+gave it."
+
+Then he raised himself up, his eye fastened on the growing mound.
+
+Friedrich Eichner!
+
+
+
+
+THE PATRIARCH
+
+
+Joshua Benas, Geheimrat, arose from his seat at his desk. His smug
+countenance wore a smile of satisfaction, as he gazed thoughtfully into
+vacancy, and stroked the close-trimmed beard, already touched with grey.
+
+"Very good," he muttered, with a complacent smile, "first-rate. Elkish
+has put the matter well. _A la bonheur!_ We will declare fourteen per
+cent dividend; if we strain a point, perhaps fourteen and a half--and
+enough for a surplus. Great! Splendid!... What a figure we shall cut! No
+small affair! The gentlemen will be astonished. But after all that is
+what they're used to; Joshua Benas doesn't fall short of what people
+expect of him."
+
+He pressed the electric button.
+
+"Tell Mr. Elkish to come up when he leaves the office," he said to the
+servant who had entered quietly; then he glanced at the clock standing
+on his desk, a Mercury of light-colored Barbedienne bronze.
+
+"Five o'clock already! Tell Elkish to be here by half-past five."
+
+The servant bowed; as he was leaving the room, his master called after
+him:
+
+"Is my son at home?"
+
+"No, Herr Geheimrat."
+
+"And my daughter?"
+
+"She and Mlle. Tallieu drove to Professor Jedlitzka's for her music
+lesson."
+
+"Hm! Very well! Be sure to give my message to Mr. Elkish, Francis."
+
+At this moment an elderly lady of distinguished appearance entered the
+room.
+
+"Do I disturb you, Joe?"
+
+He dismissed the servant with a nod.
+
+"No, Fanny, if a half-hour will suffice; in half an hour I expect
+Elkish. At half-past five, Francis."
+
+The servant withdrew as quietly as he had entered, and husband and wife
+were left alone.
+
+With the eye of the careful housewife she glanced about the room. The
+luxury of her surroundings had not diminished the traditional concern
+for minute details of housekeeping. From her mother she had acquired her
+loving devotion to the affairs of the house. She guarded its growing
+prosperity, and with a keen eye, as well as a careful hand, she
+treasured the beautiful and choice possessions with which a fondness for
+collecting and a feeling for art had enriched her home. Her large corps
+of servants was capable and well-trained; yet Mrs. Benas would delegate
+to none the supervision of her household and the inspection of its
+details.
+
+Her appearance did not betray her habits. She was forty-nine years old;
+her dark hair, with a touch of grey, was becomingly arranged over a
+rather high forehead. Her generous mouth, showing well-preserved teeth,
+and her full double chin gave her countenance a look of energy, softened
+by the mild and intelligent expression of her eyes. The slight curve of
+her nose was sufficient to impart to her countenance the unmistakable
+stamp of her race. But it did not detract from the air of distinction
+that characterized Frau Geheimrat Benas.
+
+The rapid survey satisfied her that everything was in the best of order
+in the luxuriously equipped workroom of her husband. Not a particle of
+dust rested upon the costly bronzes, standing about on desk and mantel,
+on tables and stands, with designed carelessness. Not too obtrusively,
+and yet effectively, they revealed the Geheimrat as a patron of the
+arts, able to surround himself with the choicest works of the most
+distinguished artists.
+
+Glorious old Flemish tapestries hung above the sofa, forming the
+background for book-cases filled with the classics of all literatures,
+and for various _objets d'art_, which a discerning taste had collected.
+Mrs. Benas's glance rested with particular tenderness upon a few antique
+pieces of silver, which seemed a curious anachronism in a room furnished
+in its up-to-date style. They were heirlooms from her parents' home in
+Rogasen, where her father, Samuel Friedheim--Reb Salme Friedheim as he
+was called--had been held in high regard. There was the _Kiddush_ cup,
+the _Besomim_ box, the _Menorah_, and the large silver _Seder_ platter,
+used by her father; and there were the silver candelabra, the lights of
+which her mother had "blessed". Her father had been a thrifty dealer in
+wools, not too greatly blessed with worldly goods; a great Talmudic
+scholar he had been, however, worthy to marry the great-granddaughter of
+the celebrated Rabbi Akiba Friedlaender, under whom he had studied.
+
+Mrs. Benas's demeanor unconsciously reflected the dignity of such
+ancestry. She took it as a matter of course that her lot in life should
+have been cast in the high financial circles, the sphere which gives
+importance and position to the modern Jew. The son-in-law of Reb Salme
+Friedheim could not be other than a Geheimrat, unless, continuing the
+traditions, he had been a student of the Talmud. But, after all,
+nowadays a Geheimrat is to be preferred to a Jewish scholar or to a
+modern rabbi; and with pride becoming to her and no offense to her
+husband she gloried in the aristocracy of her family, without
+overlooking the advantages her husband's wealth had brought.
+
+The home of her husband had also been in the province of Posen; and it
+was the respect in which her father had been held throughout the
+province that had attracted his father, Isidor Benas of Lissa, to the
+match. Although the dowry was smaller than Benas senior thought he was
+entitled to demand for his son, the rank of her family weighed so
+heavily in the balance that Joshua was allowed to court Fanny and win
+her as his life companion.
+
+His father died shortly after the marriage. Joshua moved the banking and
+grain business, in which he had been a partner, to Berlin. Here the
+business prospered to such an extent that the firm of Joshua Benas was
+soon reckoned among the most influential of the rapidly developing
+capital. Indeed, it headed all financial and industrial undertakings.
+Joshua Benas, prominent in the establishment of a large bank, member of
+the boards of the principal industrial corporations, was appointed
+Kommerzienrat at the end of the "seventies", and a few years later, in
+recognition of special services to the Government in the supply of arms,
+he was made Geheimrat. At the time there were rumors of a high order,
+which were never made true; and Mrs. Benas gave up the hope she had
+probably cherished in secret, for the growth of anti-Semitism set a
+short limit to the honors conferred on Jews, and rendered the dignity
+of a Geheimer Kommerzienrat the highest to which they dared aspire.
+
+"Credit to whom credit is due," a distinguished professor had
+equivocally remarked in her drawing-room some years before, in reference
+to the appointment of a banker distinguished for nothing but his wealth
+as Geheimer Kommerzienrat. The words ever echoed in her ears. Since then
+the lesson to remain modestly in the background and be content with the
+achievements of better times had been well learned. In the meantime,
+Benas's income had continued to increase; his home grew in splendor and
+artistic attractiveness, and while his wife watched over the comfort of
+her establishment and the carefully planned education of the children,
+she kept pride of ancestry alive in the secret recesses of her soul. The
+more she felt herself cut off from intercourse with those of her own
+station in life--the social circle of the elect--the more she cherished
+the consciousness of her noble descent. The feeling that had been sacred
+merely as a tradition in the years of social advance, developed in the
+present days of social isolation--half voluntary and half enforced--into
+something more intimate and personal. She spoke but seldom of this; all
+the deeper and keener was the hurt to her pride.
+
+To-day, however, these questions had presented themselves with more
+insistence than usually. She had received a letter that had led her to
+seek her husband at this unwonted hour.
+
+As she entered the room a nervous tension was apparent in her features,
+and, turning to him hastily, after the servant left, she said: "I must
+speak with you, Joshua, about a matter of great importance."
+
+"Goodness! What's the matter, Fanny? At such an unusual time, and so
+excited. I hope nothing has occurred. Is it a letter from your sister
+or...."
+
+During this rapid-fire interrogation she had approached the desk and
+sunk into an arm-chair.
+
+"Please, Benas, not so many questions at once. I came here to tell you
+all about it, and I myself hardly know whether this letter is pleasant
+or unpleasant. It's not from my sister, in fact, from somebody very
+different."
+
+"Well, from whom? You make me curious. How should I guess from whom?"
+
+"I shall tell you immediately, but please sit down quietly next to me;
+for we must decide upon the answer."
+
+He glanced at the clock: "I ordered Elkish to come at half-past five."
+
+"Elkish can wait."
+
+"Indeed not! I must consult him about to-morrow's committee meeting of
+the Magdeburg Machine Construction Company."
+
+"Now, Benas," she interrupted, "there are weightier matters than the
+Magdeburg Machine Construction...."
+
+"You say that so lightly, Fanny.... I cannot understand how a woman as
+clever as you are can say such things. The 'Magdeburgs' not important! a
+small matter! When the balance-sheet is published to-morrow, and the
+dividends declared, they will rise in value at least fifteen points; and
+_that_, you say, is of no importance! I must still give my orders about
+buying and selling; for at the close of the exchange, they will
+naturally fall, but the day after, then--I tell you, Fanny, it will be a
+big thing!"
+
+"That's all very good and nice. Money, sadly enough, is the only power
+we have nowadays; but sometimes other things affect the course of
+events, as, for instance, this letter."
+
+"Well, what of it? Elkish may come at any moment."
+
+She opened the letter while he turned on the electric light of his
+reading lamp, whose green silk shade spread a soft, subdued light over
+the room.
+
+"Regierungsrat Dr. Victor Weilen begs permission to pay his respects
+this evening at nine o'clock. He apologizes for setting so late an hour,
+but explains that his duties keep him occupied until late in the day;
+and inasmuch as the matter which he wishes to discuss is a family
+affair, he hopes we shall receive him."
+
+"A family affair? He! What does he want of the family? and so
+unexpectedly! That's really curious. A family affair!"
+
+"He begs, as the time is so short, that an answer be sent to him by
+telephone, to the Foreign Office, where he will wait until eight
+o'clock."
+
+"Gracious, how swell! The Foreign Office! And thus do we attain to the
+honor of telephoning to the Foreign Office," he added satirically.
+
+"What shall the answer be, Joshua? that we are at home?"
+
+"Surely, if you wish to receive him. I cannot understand your
+excitement, dearest. You have received a Regierungsrat in your
+drawing-rooms before this, even an Oberregierungsrat. There was a time
+when Mr. Breitbach found our Moet rather fair...."
+
+"There _was_ a time, Benas!"
+
+He frowned. "Well, that's something that cannot be altered, dear child."
+
+At this moment his confidential clerk, Elkish, was announced.
+
+"Even though the 'Magdeburgs' rise ever so high," she answered
+ironically.
+
+"But that need not hinder you from receiving the Regierungsrat. We're
+still good for something, I suppose. What think you, Elkish?" he called
+to him as he entered.
+
+"I do not know to what you refer."
+
+"Well, what else can I refer to but our balance-sheet?"
+
+"As regards that, the firm of Joshua Benas has no need to hide its
+head," the old clerk responded proudly.
+
+"Well, do you see, dear child?" he said to his wife. "Do as you think
+best, I rely upon your judgment. You always do the right thing."
+
+She rose. "I will not interrupt you any longer."
+
+"I should like to finish this matter before dinner. There is not much
+time left."
+
+"Then I shall have Francis telephone that we are at home, and we expect
+him." She waited at the door.
+
+"Yes, that's all right," he answered, already absorbed in the papers his
+clerk had spread before him.
+
+"Good-by, Benas! Good-by, Mr. Elkish."
+
+"Good-by, my child," he called to her as she was leaving.
+
+"This only awaits your signature, Mr. Benas. Here. A dividend of
+fourteen per cent and a half."
+
+"Really, Elkish? I'm delighted!"
+
+"Yes, and here, 240,000 mark in the sinking fund, then 516,000 mark for
+surplus."
+
+"Excellent! Splendid!" He put on his eyeglasses and signed the various
+papers placed before him.
+
+"And who do you think will be elected to the board this year?"
+
+"I thought Gluecksmann and Ettinger."
+
+"The time for the Breitbachs and Knesebecks is past.... Well, as far as
+I am concerned, both of them may count upon my vote."
+
+"Mr. Breitbach has not been here for an age," remarked Elkish with a
+shrewd look.
+
+"Well! To offset that, Herr Regierungsrat Dr. Weilen wishes to visit us
+to-day--a cousin of my wife."
+
+"He?" The eyes of the old clerk flamed suddenly with burning hatred. "He
+is baptized, Herr Geheimrat. A grandson of Rabbi Eliezer,.... the first
+in the family."
+
+"That is not so certain," murmured the Kommerzienrat under his breath.
+
+"And merely to further his prospects! A grandson of Rabbi Eliezer!"
+Unbounded contempt was expressed by the tone of the faithful clerk, for
+many years the confidant of his chief, whom he had accompanied from
+their former home to Berlin.
+
+"How does the cat get across the stream, Elkish? As a Jew he would have
+had no future, even if he were a direct descendant of King David."
+
+"And is a career everything?"
+
+"One is ambitious, and one must--why not succeed?"
+
+"How about the honorable Geheimrat himself? Haven't you succeeded? If
+one is able to declare a dividend of fourteen and a half per cent, isn't
+that success? And if one owns a villa in the Tiergartenstrasse, isn't
+that what you call success? And if one's son serves with the Dragoons of
+the Guard? And Miss Rita studies music with Jedlitzka, and literature
+with Erich Schmidt? She told me so yesterday. Isn't all that success? I
+tell you, Herr Kommerzienrat, that is success enough. Who buys pictures
+of Menzel, and busts of Begas, who, indeed? Krupp and Joshua Benas of
+Lissa. That's what _I_ call success." The longer he spoke, the more
+intense his enthusiasm, and unconsciously he lapsed into the Jewish
+intonation, which ordinarily did not characterize his speech.
+
+"Not every one can get to be a Kommerzienrat, Elkish. Earning money is
+unquestionably a very nice thing, but there are idealists who seek
+advancement in other ways."
+
+"Idealists! Fine idealists, who sell their religion as Dr. Weilen has
+done. The whole Duchy of Posen was scandalized! A grandson of Rabbi
+Eliezer! And what does he want of you? Mrs. Benas, I hope, will show him
+what she thinks of the like of him. I'm certainly surprised that with
+her views she should consent to receive him."
+
+"He wishes to speak of family affairs."
+
+"Family affairs?" sneered the old man. "Chutzpeh! Perhaps he wants to
+borrow money of you. That's what usually makes such people remember
+their family."
+
+"Why, you're in a fine mood to-day, Elkish."
+
+"My mood is always spoilt when I think of such matters, Mr. Benas. After
+all it is really none of my business. If I had had the _Zechus_ to
+belong to the family of Rabbi Akiba Friedlaender, I should not have
+allowed such a person to cross my threshold."
+
+"Calm yourself, Elkish."
+
+"Why should I calm myself? I am not at all excited. It does not concern
+me. You must consider what you are doing; and the main thing after all
+is that to-morrow we declare fourteen and a half per cent."
+
+"Yes, Elkish, after all, that is the main thing."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+At precisely nine o'clock the servant brought in the card of
+Regierungsrat Dr. Victor Weilen.
+
+As was their custom in the evening when at home to a small circle, the
+family was assembled in the little round sitting-room. The Geheimrat was
+seated in an American rocking-chair, near a revolving book-case, in
+which the evening papers were carefully arranged on their racks. He was
+smoking a "Henry Clay," and was busily engaged in studying the stock
+quotations in the "National".
+
+The tea-table, at which Mrs. Benas sat, with its fine silver service,
+its costly embroidered silk table cover, and with cakes and fruit
+arranged in beautiful old Meissen bowls, made an attractive picture. An
+atmosphere of comfort pervaded the room, which despite the luxuriousness
+of its furnishings made a cozy impression. Artistic vases filled with
+fresh flowers, fantastically arranged, added to the charm--orchids,
+delicate and sensitive; chysanthemums of brilliant coloring; bright
+Chinese lilies curiously shaped, and fire-red berries on thorny
+branches. Interspersed among these exotic flowers were graceful violets,
+lilies of the valley, roses, and lilacs, amid tall foliage plants. The
+display of flowers drew one's attention away from the artistic objects
+with which the room was filled, but not overburdened. A rich and refined
+taste was shown in the whole arrangement. Dr. Weilen appreciated it the
+instant he entered the room. Mr. Benas had advanced a few steps to greet
+his guest, which he did formally, but cordially, and then presented his
+wife and his daughter Rita. When the visitor entered, Rita put aside the
+latest publication by Fontane which she had been reading.
+
+His rapid glance recognized "Stechlin."
+
+Immediately after the entrance of the guest, a young man stepped through
+the half-open door of the adjoining billiard room.
+
+"My son Hugo," the Geheimrat introduced him. "Referendar at the court
+of appeals."
+
+"I must again beg your pardon, Mrs. Benas, that I pay my respects to you
+so late in the evening. But I have something very much at heart, and I
+did not wish to lose several days only in order to come at a more
+seasonable hour."
+
+"Let me assure you, in our house the word family affair is a pass-word
+that overrides conventions, however strictly enforced. In this regard we
+have carried the traditions of our home into the larger world. The word
+family always bears a special appeal to us."
+
+He understood quite well that she wished to intimate her appreciation of
+the obligations demanded by social considerations, which, however, the
+special circumstances permitted her to waive. With a bow he seated
+himself near the tea-table, at which the others resumed their places
+also.
+
+"I am indebted to you for your indulgence. My office hours come at the
+customary visiting time; and it may have happened that I could not have
+spoken to you undisturbed, so I took the liberty to claim this
+privilege."
+
+"Not at all."
+
+In the meantime Rita had prepared the tea, and offered him a cup.
+
+"Thank you."
+
+"Do you prefer a cigar or a cigarette?"
+
+"Is smoking permitted?" he asked of the ladies.
+
+"During the tea hour my wife allows smoking."
+
+"Then may I ask for a cigarette?"
+
+"Hugo, there are the Russian----"
+
+Hesitating, as if overcoming some inner aversion, the young man arose
+and brought forward a small smoking table with boxes of cigars and
+cigarettes and smoking appurtenances. Dr. Weilen, with the eye of a
+connoisseur, noted the wonderful Oriental enamel work in the table. Hugo
+offered him the cigarettes and a burning wax-taper.
+
+"Thank you, Herr Kollege."
+
+A deep pallor overspread Hugo's face as he bowed silently, while his
+father said with a smile: "To such dignity we have not yet attained."
+
+"Your son is a lawyer as I am," he graciously said. "I occupied the same
+position as he does before I was made Regierungsrat. Such is the order
+of advance. Every one must make a beginning; isn't that so, Herr
+Kollege? In which department is your work now?"
+
+"In the Exchequer. This is the last year of my preparatory service."
+
+"He has obtained his doctorate, and has served his year with the
+Dragoons of the Guard," explained his father.
+
+"Then the greatest tasks are over. Would you not enjoy entering the
+service of the Government?"
+
+"No, sir," he answered in a firm voice. "As a Jew I should have no
+chances there." The words conveyed an unmistakable insinuation. The
+sullen fire in his eyes reminded the Kommerzienrat of the appearance of
+his clerk when he had spoken to him of Dr. Weilen.
+
+The latter appeared not to have heard Hugo's remark, and Mrs. Benas
+turned to him with some polite phrase, while Rita asked him to allow her
+to pare some fruit for him.
+
+A harsh, ironic expression lay upon Hugo's face. The moment was ominous,
+but Dr. Weilen rose to the occasion and said:
+
+"May I tell you now what prompted me to ask for the pleasure of a visit
+here?"
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Benas looked at him expectantly, and Rita's eyes were
+fastened upon him with evident interest, while Hugo stared into vacancy,
+a sombre expression on his face.
+
+"In a few months our uncle, Mr. Leopold Friedlaender, will celebrate his
+ninetieth birthday, on the day before Easter. A short while ago chance
+threw a Jewish weekly into my hands, in which mention was made of the
+unusual occasion, and of the significance of Leopold Friedlaender's
+career for Rawitsch. It was not news to me; for at my home mention was
+often made of my mother's oldest brother, and as a boy I accompanied her
+once on a visit to him, in order to become acquainted with him. It was
+shortly after my confirmation,--I mean my--my Bar-Mitzvah. Such
+childhood recollections remain with one. My mother wished me to recite
+for him the chapter of the Torah to which I had been 'called up.' This I
+did, and the impression the moment made must have been very deep, it has
+remained with me through all the various experiences of my life."
+
+"To be sure," Mrs. Benas felt bound to say, in order to hide the
+embarrassment which had come upon them. "One never entirely loses the
+recollections of one's childhood."
+
+"Why should one? They do not represent our worst side. There are
+occasions in life when they are forced into the background by weightier,
+more insistent experiences, but they return most vividly in our maturer
+years at such times when we search our consciences in a confessional
+mood. When the restlessness of youth subsides, when the struggle for
+existence is no longer strenuous, when the goal is attained, then it is
+that the reminiscences of childhood reappear in full vigor. Such
+reminiscences do not fade, nor become blurred with time."
+
+Rita had regarded him throughout with fixed attention.
+
+"It would be desirable for the shaping of one's career, if such
+impressions were at all times kept vividly in mind," Hugo said
+pointedly.
+
+"That is not altogether true," he responded with a smile. "It would
+interfere with one's development if such influences were ever present.
+To live amply means to hold control over oneself, and one's personality
+can be realized and enjoyed only when we have understood and tasted of
+life in its fulness. Not alone from a one-sided, narrow standpoint, but
+from the broadest point of view, from the general, the impersonal. Only
+then can that which is most individual in us develop freely and reach
+full consciousness."
+
+He relit his cigarette which he had allowed to go out. "But we are
+wandering off into philosophic byways," he said lightly. "Such is always
+the case when youth offers us the wisdom of age. You will forgive me,
+Herr Kollege. It is a challenge to prove one's life not devoid of
+experiences."
+
+Rita thought her brother had deserved this courteously delivered
+reproof. What could he have been thinking of when he allowed his
+unpleasant mood to get the better of him? And toward a guest!
+
+"During these last few days I have begun to realize, with surprise and
+yet with pleasure, how strongly my past took hold of me. I happen to
+take up a periodical; my eyes chance to light upon a name, whose sound,
+long forgotten, re-awakens old memories. In a flash, the old times live
+within me again. I am deeply impressed--the sensation grows upon me ever
+more vividly, and at last seeks expression. That brings me to you."
+
+"But how did you happen to come upon this journal?" asked Mr. Benas,
+merely for the sake of keeping up the conversation.
+
+"At present my interests take me to the department of press and
+publicity," he rejoined with a smile, "and one finds everything there.
+That was the way I came upon the notice of the ninetieth birthday of
+Leopold Friedlaender--my--our uncle. The fine old man has attained the
+age of a veritable patriarch."
+
+"Yes, Uncle Leopold is well-advanced in years," Mrs. Benas added; "the
+oldest of fourteen brothers and sisters, he is the only one living."
+
+"Is he in good health, and how does he bear his advanced years? I take
+it for granted you are in direct communication with him."
+
+"Certainly, as head of the family he is highly honored by all of us. We
+visit him almost every year, and my children, too, have received his
+blessing. He is vigorous, mentally alert, and reads without spectacles,
+so that his patriarchal age does not obtrude itself upon his visitors."
+
+"Strangely enough, that is just as I had pictured him to myself. And
+what of his direct descendants, his sons and daughters?"
+
+"Both daughters are still living, but only one of his three sons."
+
+"Where do they reside?"
+
+"They all married and remained in Rawitsch. Jacob, who is almost
+seventy years old, carried on his father's business, which is now in
+the hands of one of his grandsons."
+
+"So the firm is perpetuated from generation to generation. The grandson,
+no doubt, has a family also?"
+
+"Our cousin is still unmarried."
+
+"And do all live together?"
+
+"Uncle Leopold, since the death of his wife, about twenty years ago,
+lives with his son."
+
+"My visit to him took place five years before that, when he was still in
+active business."
+
+"When all the children were provided for, he followed the desire of his
+heart, and devoted himself to the study of the Torah, a pursuit which,
+as is natural in the oldest son of Rabbi Eliezer, he had always followed
+with great devotion. Throughout the whole province, too, he is held in
+esteem, as if he himself were a rabbi worthy to be the spiritual heir of
+his famous father."
+
+"These various stages of family life easily escape one moving in quite
+different circles, but they interest me exceedingly; and I am most
+grateful to you for this information. The family must have spread
+greatly, to judge by the number of children our grandfather had; the
+descendants must be very numerous. Did you know all the brothers and
+sisters of your mother, Mrs. Benas?"
+
+"I knew all of them, excepting an uncle who died in London, and your own
+mother."
+
+"She was the youngest of Rabbi Eliezer's children, and died quite young.
+I, her only child, had not yet reached my fifteenth year. My father
+married a second time, and consequently the ties of kinship were
+somewhat loosened, and later, when we moved to South Germany, all
+connections were broken off. From this time on, I heard almost nothing
+about my mother's family, and when I left my father's house after my
+final college examinations, to attend the University of Heidelberg, I
+was outside the range of all family connections. Shortly after my father
+died, and as his second marriage was without issue, I was left alone.
+After the year of mourning, my stepmother went to live with her brother
+in Milwaukee. She married a city alderman, Dr. Sulzberger, and lives
+happily there. I give these details, assuming that it might be of some
+interest to you to learn of the vicissitudes of a near relative, who has
+come upon you so unexpectedly, even though he is but a branch cut off
+from the parent stem by peculiar circumstances."
+
+"It is very kind of you to tell us these things, Mr. Weilen. At home,
+your mother, Aunt Goldine, was often spoken of. And I also heard mention
+made of the exceptional talents of her son Victor, and of the fact that
+your father never approached her family after her death."
+
+"I do not know the reasons for this, I merely know the result--an entire
+estrangement from her family, and that after my father's death I stood
+quite alone."
+
+"But you might have approached the family."
+
+"Such a step is not natural for a young man who is independent
+financially--which I was, having become my father's heir--and who
+believes that he has found a new family in the circle of his
+fellow-students. I belonged to the most prominent Corps, and became my
+own master when I came of age. My boyhood, with its recollections of my
+mother and her circle, seemed a lost world, from which no echo ever
+reached me. I loved my mother dearly, but at that age it is not
+considered good form to give in to sentiment; and it seemed to me more
+manly to suppress my grief. In regard to her family, a certain obstinacy
+and pride took possession of me. Through all that period there had been
+no solicitude for me on their part. Why should I force myself upon them?
+I thought that I had no need of them. Presumably our views of life were
+wholly opposed. After the death of my mother, my life was spent in very
+different circles. I confess that even in later years when I went to
+Posen to visit the grave of my mother, I never thought of calling on the
+family."
+
+Mr. Weilen's little audience followed his words with mixed feelings. Mr.
+Benas was eager as to what would be the outcome of his explanations; in
+Mrs. Benas' family sentiment was awakened; Rita's flushed cheeks
+testified to the excitement with which she had listened; while Hugo
+looked sullenly and cynically at the dignified gentleman who spoke so
+frankly and straightforwardly about himself and the circumstances of his
+life.
+
+Up to this time the conversation had been carried on chiefly by Mrs.
+Benas and her cousin. The others listened in silence. But now Mr. Benas
+interposed.
+
+"Such things," he said, "frequently happen in large and scattered
+families. It is almost impossible to follow the career of every member.
+Only those keep in touch with one another whom the peculiar
+circumstances and conditions of life throw together. My wife has
+numerous cousins whose names we hardly know, and then, again, there are
+others with whom we are in constant and close relations. The same is
+true of my own side of the family. Whoever looks us up and shows a
+desire to be friendly, is welcome."
+
+"I thank you, Mr. Benas."
+
+"Especially in this case," he continued. "But it is utterly impossible
+to keep track of every one. Think of it, Dr. Weilen, the father of Rabbi
+Eliezer, your grandfather and my wife's as well, that is, your
+great-grandfather, Rabbi Akiba, was married three times, and had nine
+children. These in turn married, and no doubt were richly blessed with
+children, and so on, according to God's commandment: 'Ye shall be
+numerous as the sands of the sea;' but to pick out all these grains of
+sand, to observe them, and know them according to their kind, is
+impossible."
+
+"_I_ do not think so, father," said Hugo.
+
+"You seem to be an enthusiastic member of your family."
+
+"I am a Jew."
+
+Dr. Weilen's glance rested with sympathy and interest on the young man.
+
+"But that has nothing to do with our talk, Hugo," said his mother, eager
+to confine the conversation within safe limits. "Your father merely
+wished to illustrate how impossible it is to be in close personal
+relation with all the members of a large, ramified family like ours."
+
+"To which I desire to add the interesting fact," Mr. Benas smilingly
+said, "that hardly a day passes without the appearance of some one or
+other who claims to be related to us, either in some remote way through
+Rabbi Eliezer, or through his father, Rabbi Akiba. Then I always come
+to the conclusion anew that all Jews are related to one another."
+
+"That they are, father, racially; and they have kept the race pure for
+thousands of years, and have made it capable of resisting the dangers
+threatening it from the outside, through fire and sword, and all
+persecutions and attacks. Only disintegration from within would destroy
+them--if they cannot put a check upon it--or will not."
+
+"But, Hugo, why always generalize about matters that are of purely
+personal concern to us? Joe," turning to her husband, "it will surely
+interest Dr. Weilen, to see to what trouble you went to establish the
+numerous branchings of our family tree. For our silver wedding, two
+years ago, my husband had the genealogy of Rabbi Akiba Friedlaender's
+family traced."
+
+"It was not a simple matter," said Mr. Benas, "and the artistic
+execution hardly cost Professor Zeidler more trouble than the gathering
+of the data. A young student, also from our home and distantly related,
+worked almost two years at collecting and arranging the material."
+
+"I should suppose so. And did he succeed in making it quite complete?"
+
+"So far as I can judge, he did succeed. Do you care to see the drawing?"
+
+"Very much."
+
+Rita rose involuntarily.
+
+"Will you show it to Dr. Weilen, my dear?"
+
+"Certainly, mother."
+
+Miss Rita conducted him to her mother's room through the large state
+parlor, the walls of which, he noted in passing, were covered with
+canvasses of distinguished artists. In her mother's room, over a small
+Florentine inlaid table of the sixteenth century, hung the genealogical
+chart. The room was marked by the same rich style as prevailed
+elsewhere, but there was something more genial, more home-like in the
+artistically furnished boudoir. Not a boudoir in the ordinary sense of
+the word, but rather the apartment of a lady,--luxurious and subtly
+feminine withal. A soft glow from an iridescent hanging lamp dimly
+illuminated the room. Rita turned on the electric light inserted in the
+bowl of an antique lamp, and a bright radiance fell on the large chart
+occupying almost the entire wall space.
+
+Both stood regarding it without speaking.
+
+Dr. Weilen was lost in contemplation, then he adjusted his eyeglasses as
+if to see better. "So that is the old pedigree! That's the way it looks!
+So our tribe has grown and multiplied! How remarkable and interesting!"
+He was lost in contemplation again, and drew nearer to the chart to
+study it in detail. It seemed as if he had entirely forgotten Rita's
+presence; and she remained perfectly quiet, so as not to disturb him.
+
+"Curious," he said, half to himself, "who would have believed it? If I
+hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would not have realized the
+persistent vigor in the old stock." He turned his attention to the
+right-hand side of the chart, read a few names there, and then said to
+Rita: "Excuse my abstraction, but it is quite surprising. Are you
+interested in the history of the family?"
+
+"Of course, I am used to it from childhood up, and my mother has always
+told me all the peculiarities and incidents of the family."
+
+"And you know your cousins personally?"
+
+"Quite many."
+
+"And what is their station in life?"
+
+"Every possible station. Look at all these branchings and ramifications.
+There is hardly an occupation that does not claim one or the other.
+Lawyers, physicians, tutors, merchants,--some very well placed and
+others less fortunate. One cousin is an African explorer, another has
+joined a North Pole expedition; and by marriage the women of the family
+have entered circles as various. Among the cousins by marriage there are
+architects, professors, dentists, veterinary physicians, engineers, and
+manufacturers. I think it would hardly be necessary to go outside of the
+family to find one of every kind, with the exception...." Here she
+suddenly paused in her vivacious explanations and stared at him with
+embarrassment in her large eyes.
+
+"Well, Miss Rita, what branch is lacking on the golden tree of life?"
+
+A vivid blush suffused her face, which appeared all the prettier to him
+in its embarrassed shyness.
+
+"I will tell you. Do you see here to the right?" and he pointed out the
+place with his finger. "Here is the name Goldine, the last of the
+fourteen branches issuing from Rabbi Eliezer, joined to that of Herman
+Weilen--my parents; and here the broken branch, quite symbolic, do you
+see?--without a name,--that refers to me."
+
+Anxious fear took possession of her.
+
+"Oh, Herr Regierungsrat," she stammered.
+
+"That's just it--Regierungsrat! I have been deprived of the cousinship
+on this genealogical tree. A scion without a name, disinherited!"
+
+There was more sorrow than bitterness in his voice, and this gave her
+the courage to say: "It surely happened unintentionally. Nothing was
+known of you in our family, and it was taken for granted that you had
+broken off connection with it. We had only heard...." Suddenly she
+hesitated.
+
+"Your reasons are significant, Miss Rita, the broken-off branch dares
+not call you cousin." A peculiar smile played about his lips. "But I
+should like to finish the thought you would not express. You had only
+heard that I had discarded the belief of my fathers, had changed my
+religion, had entered the service of the Government, had made a career
+for myself, and hoped to reach a still higher goal. That's it, is it
+not? A broken-off branch, but not a withered one!"
+
+She gazed at him with large, astonished eyes into which a dreamy
+expression gradually crept.
+
+"To be sure," he continued, "I have no right to complain."
+
+"I never heard any one speak of you in that way," she declared, trying
+to regain her self-possession. "In fact you were never spoken of;" then,
+trying to improve the thoughtless expression, "at least not often. I
+think you are wrong in your judgment, and also in regard to the family
+tree. I am sure the omission is accidental."
+
+"You are very kind, Miss Rita, you wish to console me. It doubtless
+seems cruel to you that a man in the full vigor of life, with energy and
+ambition to reach yet higher rungs on the ladder of success, should be
+summarily hewn from the parent stem. If I were superstitious, I should
+fear for my life, for my future. Fortunately I am not, or rather I may
+be superstitious in believing that side by side with the ill omen there
+is a good one, in the shape of a friendly young lady; and if she will
+graciously accept me as a cousin, then the sinister mark on the pedigree
+will be cancelled. You surely have not forgotten the stories of the bad
+and the good fairies, because it cannot be so long ago since you were
+devoted to them. You remember? In compensation for the evil charms of
+the one, they gave the poor victim the blessings of the other for
+protection. And I should like to regard you as my good fairy."
+
+There was something very winning, very lovable in his manner and his
+words, and she answered simply: "You will not need such protection, Dr.
+Weilen."
+
+"Please, say 'cousin.'"
+
+There was a moment of hesitation, then she said: "You will not need
+such protection, cousin."
+
+"But I may surely count upon you, should I happen to need it?"
+
+"You certainly may."
+
+Then they returned to the tea-table, Rita somewhat embarrassed, he in
+high, good humor. "The family tree is exceedingly interesting, Mr.
+Benas," he said. "You will permit me, I hope, to study it in all its
+details. Even a cursory glance impressed me tremendously. At the very
+root, generations back, where there are names testifying to a strong and
+hardy stock, is the father of Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Akiba, a luminary in
+Talmudic lore, a great man even in those days. Then again, among his
+children, one excelled in strong individuality and great knowledge,
+Rabbi Eliezer, and from him and his descendants a numerous progeny,
+among whom again Leopold Friedlaender stands out conspicuous; and so the
+family tree continues to spread its limbs, luxuriant in leaf and
+blossom."
+
+Rita hung on his words; she was nervous, fearing a reference to the
+broken branch. But he said nothing, only fixed his glance on her
+meaningly. She drew a long breath of relief.
+
+"It was, indeed, a pleasure to me to see the work executed," Mr. Benas
+remarked, "and my wife received it with great enthusiasm."
+
+"I should suppose so."
+
+They felt their guest was sincere in all he said, and yet they could not
+rid themselves of a feeling of estrangement. He had introduced himself
+to them in so peculiar a manner. This equivocal position of close
+kinship and complete alienation produced a certain constraint, which
+despite the polished ease and courtesy of the man of the world could not
+be overcome. And all the time each one asked himself the true purpose of
+his visit.
+
+As if conscious of the unspoken question, he said: "As is natural when
+members of the same family meet each other for the first time, we
+quickly dropped into the discussion of common interests; and in passing
+from one subject to another, I have not reached the point of telling you
+what induced me to visit you."
+
+He reflected a moment as if searching for the proper phrase.
+
+"When I read the notice of the anniversary celebration of Leopold
+Friedlaender, I was suddenly overcome with the wish to take part in it.
+The wish came like a secret longing for--for my home! My boyhood came
+back to me. I saw my uncle before me as I had seen him then. The years
+of estrangement disappeared from my mental vision; I heard his tender,
+hesitating voice again, I felt his hand upon my head, extended in
+blessing; and I became conscious of the words of the benediction spoken
+in the language of the race. All that had happened between, I seemed to
+have forgotten; and it took an appreciable time before I was recalled to
+myself. But the wish once aroused in me was not to be eradicated, and,
+ever since, my thoughts have dwelt upon the possibility of its
+fulfilment."
+
+A peculiar tensity of feeling came over the small circle. They followed
+his words with growing astonishment; and neither he nor the others
+thought of throwing off the mood his words had inspired.
+
+"It was quite clear to me that without some preliminary ceremony I dare
+not intrude upon the family group gathered about him on this anniversary
+day. According to the traditions of our family, I had forfeited the
+right; and yet I hoped I might find some appreciation of my position
+among the younger generation and the intercession I need. I had often
+heard of your family, Mr. Benas, and I saw your name at the head of the
+lists of all charitable and public enterprises; and although I was
+surprised never to meet you and your family on occasions at which
+common interests might have thrown us together in certain social
+circles, to which you really belong...."
+
+"Of late years we have withdrawn from all intercourse, except with our
+own family, and a few intimate friends," interrupted Mrs. Benas.
+
+"But your position involves certain social obligations."
+
+"Nowadays one hardly notices it, perhaps does not care to notice it, if
+these obligations are not fulfilled," Mr. Benas rejoined with a slightly
+ironical, slightly pained expression. "Formerly ours were the most
+successful, the most elegant, and the most entertaining functions. My
+wife had a gift for entertaining; and it was always a pleasure for us to
+welcome happy, clever, representative, gay people. Now we confine
+ourselves to a few formal and official dinners, made necessary by my
+connection with the leading financial circles."
+
+"We have become used to it, and do not miss anything," added Mrs. Benas.
+"The spacious rooms which formerly resounded with merry society are now
+quiet. But a more intimate, a more sincere life has taken its place.
+Personally I should not feel the difference; but at times I am sorry
+that our daughter is not able to enjoy the stimulus and the attractions
+of such social gatherings. In the old days she had not yet made her
+_debut_."
+
+"But, mother, I have often told you that I have no longings in that
+direction. Your goodness to me enriches my life sufficiently. Whatever
+is beautiful, great, important, I enjoy."
+
+"But it was entirely different when the people who offered the great and
+the beautiful things of which you speak came and went freely in our
+house, in a certain sense belonged to us, were our guests. The foremost
+artists and men of science used to come here."
+
+"I think, father, it is much pleasanter to know the works than the
+authors," Hugo interrupted brusquely. "Every one knows what such as they
+seek in the homes of rich Jews; and when you pay for their services and
+creations, and ask nothing of them socially, then you do them and
+yourself the greatest favor."
+
+"That has not always been the case, Hugo. Your views are too severe and
+rigid."
+
+"It has always been so; only perhaps there were times when it was not so
+evident. What do we want with their well-meant intentions and
+condescensions, their forbearances and tolerations, their humanitarian
+impulses! At bottom it has always been the same. The Jew was always
+burned!--in Sultan Saladin's time, as well as now. Only now we do not
+complacently accept such treatment, wagging our tails in gratitude like
+a dog."
+
+A dull fire burned in his eyes. His face wore an expression of pride and
+energy.
+
+"I'm afraid, Hugo," his mother said, trying to calm him, "that our guest
+has but little interest in your opinions. You know, too, that we do not
+agree with you altogether."
+
+"Forgive me, Dr. Weilen," he said, turning to their guest with the
+conventional manner and incisiveness of a Prussian functionary and a
+volunteer of the Guards. "I was carried away by the subject, and then I
+thought that here at my father's table.... you see, we are not
+accustomed, nowadays, to have any one with us who does not understand
+our pain and indignation."
+
+"Nor is that the case on this occasion--at least not since this evening,
+not since this hour which I have been permitted to spend among you."
+
+Hugo bowed in silence.
+
+Dr. Weilen arose, saying:
+
+"But I must not encroach upon your hospitality too long. You know now
+what it is I wish. Do you believe a way can be found for me to be
+present in Rawitsch at Uncle Leopold's birthday celebration? Will the
+family receive me for that day? Will he himself be disposed to receive
+me? I beg of you to help me realize this desire of mine. In affairs like
+this, in which a sympathetic temperament is of more avail than cold
+reason, a clever and noble woman is the best messenger; and women are
+fine diplomats, too. May I count upon you, Mrs. Benas, honored cousin?"
+
+"I will consider. But how? As regards the matter itself, I am entirely
+on your side. But you understand that in a large family there are scores
+of considerations and prejudices that must be taken into account."
+
+"I understand that perfectly."
+
+"But there is still plenty of time before the birthday celebration."
+
+"Diplomatic undertakings must be arranged long in advance," he laughed.
+
+"I will make use of your suggestion and start negotiations," she said,
+cleverly responding to his pleasantry.
+
+"And will you allow me to come again, to assure myself of the progress
+of the negotiations, and to encourage them by my personal intervention?
+I must tell you that I have felt very much at home with you, not at all
+like a stranger."
+
+"I thank you, Dr. Weilen," answered his host, politely; and his wife
+added, "You will always find a welcome here." Thereupon he took his
+leave, Hugo escorting him to the hall, where the servant helped him on
+with his heavy fur coat.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+When Dr. Weilen stepped out into the street, gusts of wind blew the
+snow-flakes whirling about merrily against his face. Tiny, pointed
+snow-crystals caught in his beard and blinded his eyes. He pulled up
+his fur collar more snugly, and hailed a passing cab.
+
+He hesitated a moment before giving directions.
+
+He was not in the mood to return at once to his own house; he drew out
+his watch and saw by the light of the carriage lamp that it was nearly
+eleven o'clock.
+
+"How quickly the time passed," he mused. "I may still find some of my
+friends at the 'Hermitage' or at the 'Kaiserhof.'" But as he was about
+to enter the cab, he decided that he did not care for companionship, and
+he concluded to go directly to his house, which was in the upper part of
+Wilhelmsstrasse. On reaching his room, he lit the lamp on his desk,
+intending to work a little while. But a moment later he tossed his pen
+aside; he was too restless, and not in the proper mood. He paced up and
+down the room to regain his composure.
+
+"Remarkable! What refinement, dignity, and self-respect; and not a bit
+purse-proud or arrogant," he said softly to himself. "The old man--well,
+perhaps just a wee bit, but even he is very restrained; one can hardly
+notice it. And his wife, my cousin, quite _comme il faut_,--so ladylike!
+Why not? The Friedlaenders are of ancient aristocracy! The mother's blood
+seethes in the son's veins! Poor fellow! What experiences and sufferings
+a young Prussian law-student and volunteer of the Guards must have met
+with to have become so curt and repelling. And this despite the princely
+fortune which might have flung every door open to him, especially of
+those houses which a man of his age most desires to enter. Instead of
+that, half-martyr, half-hero, he fashions his own ideals. An interesting
+fellow! Evidently talented and possessing the courage of his
+convictions. How determined he was to vent his opinions, somewhat
+aggressively, of course, to show me that I did not overawe him in the
+least. A nice sort of chap! And then little Rita! How modest and quiet,
+and clever withal, for you could see that she was interested in the
+conversation, even when she was silent. Her eyes spoke, and so did her
+mobile little face. And she takes all this wealth quite as a matter of
+fact; she is to the manner born; she does not regard it as anything
+extraordinary. Altogether charming!"
+
+He had conquered his restlessness a little during these reflections; he
+lit a cigar and went over to a table by the fire-place, heaped with
+books, pamphlets, and journals. A low fire flickered on the hearth. He
+fanned it to a bright flame, then moved the lamp from his desk to the
+table and settled himself in an arm-chair.
+
+"I wonder whether they _will_ restore me to their good graces! Not only
+the Benases, but the others,--Uncle Leopold's family. If only for the
+one day! How I hope they will! I'm actually homesick for--for the
+Ghetto!"
+
+He took up a book. "If they were to see you now, Victor, the gentlemen
+of the Foreign Office! Yet a Ghetto it remains for all their liberty and
+all their magnificence. Whether in the grand drawing-room of the
+Tiergarten villa, or at Uncle Leopold's in Rawitsch.... That's exactly
+what the young son recognizes in his vigor and in his consciousness of
+injured pride. The older ones have become resigned to it."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In the family of Geheimrat Benas the visit of Dr. Weilen had caused
+dissension. The father wished to invite Dr. Weilen to dinner in the near
+future. It seemed to him a matter of course that a guest who had
+approached them so graciously and unconstrainedly should receive equal
+courtesy at their hands. His wife was inclined to second him in this
+view, but she was strongly influenced by Hugo, who decidedly opposed
+fostering a connection which, experience taught them, might result in
+nothing but mortification and neglect. At first Rita was a silent member
+of these councils, but at length she said: "I cannot understand why you
+talk yourself into such ideas, Hugo. We have no right to be discourteous
+to a guest who has approached us so politely. Impoliteness is lack of
+refinement in all circumstances. We do not interfere with your opinions,
+and therefore you have no right to ask us to have none of our own. But
+above all, you should not ask us to disregard all the social
+consideration to which any visitor at our house is entitled."
+
+"Yes, any one except Dr. Weilen."
+
+"But why? You're indulging in pure caprice! Has he done anything or
+neglected to do anything to cause such brusque treatment?"
+
+Hugo frowned.
+
+"Did he not please you, Hugo?" his mother asked, in a pacific tone.
+
+"Please me? I don't think we have a right to be influenced by our
+personal sympathies or antipathies. Dr. Weilen pleased me well enough,
+but he is our enemy, just as every one else.... or rather more than any
+one else! And therefore I find it unnecessary to give him encouragement.
+I should not like him to think we are running after him, or feel honored
+because he condescended...."
+
+"Goodness gracious, Hugo, sometimes you are quite unbearable! If people
+heard you, they would think you're Elkish. One can excuse such
+prejudices in an old, uneducated man; but in a modern young fellow of
+your education they are hardly to be condoned. We do not oppose your
+ideas and your convictions, but you ought not to go so far as to impose
+them upon the family! As a result of circumstances beyond our control we
+find ourselves outsiders in society; yet we need not carry our
+resentment to the extent of repulsing a gentleman who has been so
+pleasant and respectful in his advances. And that only because he is a
+man in an exalted position."
+
+Mr. Benas spoke with irritation. He continued impatiently:
+
+"Entirely of his own accord he told us how he had happened to become
+estranged from his family; and no doubt he could explain his further
+actions. But after all it is none of our business. The sincerity of his
+manner, his personality attracted me. Of course, at moments we were
+constrained and uncomfortable, but that was surely due to us, not to
+him, and above all to your own brusqueness; and his manner of ignoring
+that was more than amiable."
+
+"We must thank him for this condescension most humbly."
+
+"Hugo!" He met a look of warning and beseeching in his mother's eyes.
+
+"Well, enough of this. We'll invite Dr. Weilen to dine with us next
+Sunday. It is not to be a formal invitation. Fanny, you yourself write a
+few lines, and don't invite many people. Ten or twelve will do. In the
+small dining-room--a simple but elegant affair. However, you're well
+posted in all those fine distinctions, my lady," he added playfully, to
+temper the impression of his severity toward Hugo. "And see to it that
+our young man acquires more normal ideas. I know you are confederates,
+and secretly you harbor his views."
+
+"Joshua!"
+
+He laughed. "There, you see, I am right. Usually you call me Joe, but in
+uncommonly solemn moments it is Joshua! Dr. Weilen made the advances, we
+must invite him, unless we intend to insult him with a repulse, and as
+we do not want to insult him, we must follow the conventions. I expect
+you to take this as your rule of behavior toward the Regierungsrat,
+Hugo. I have no fondness for ostentation or inconsiderateness. Our
+opinions in order to be sincere and effective need not take the form of
+aloofness and discourtesy. Remember that!"
+
+The young man looked almost pained; but he did not respond. As he was a
+Jewish young man, respect for paternal authority was deep-rooted in his
+being. Moreover, his father was ordinarily so amiable, kind, and
+considerate toward his children, that when once he was decided and firm,
+there was no thought of opposing him.
+
+Rita's eyes gleamed on her father. A genial, tacit understanding existed
+between the two, which leagued them, as it were, against the mother and
+Hugo. This pretty, good-natured party difference gave a peculiar charm
+to the intimacy of their family life.
+
+"It is lucky that Rita is my confederate," he laughingly said as he
+arose, "else, by this time, the shield of David would be emblazoned over
+the door, and no stranger would be allowed to cross the threshold. In
+fact, Elkish advocated some such thing when we spoke of Dr. Weilen's
+visit. Elkish and you on the same platform! For heaven's sake, children,
+do not let us be ridiculous! I surely appreciate the old man; and during
+the past days he has brilliantly demonstrated his value in the matter of
+the 'Magdeburgs,' but everything must be kept within bounds. It is time
+for me to go to my office now. Fanny, whom do you want to invite?"
+
+"How would Professor Zeidler do--and Jedlitzka, and Hoffman, the
+sculptor?"
+
+"All right! But no; they have not been invited for some time; and they
+mustn't think we waited until we could have a Regierungsrat to meet
+them,--oh, no!"
+
+A smile of triumph flitted about the corners of Hugo's mouth.
+
+"Invite a few of our own family. Justizrat Friedheim, Robert
+Freudenthal, the architect, and Amtsgerichtsrat Lesser, with their
+wives. That makes six; we are four; with Dr. Weilen eleven. We need a
+bachelor."
+
+"Dr. Rosenfeld?"
+
+He laughed. "Well, yes! So that you and Hugo may have support. But now I
+must go. There's just time to catch Bamberger before the Exchange opens.
+Good-by, children. Don't get up from the table--_Mahlzeit!_"
+
+Unanimity of opinion did not prevail among the three he left at their
+breakfast. Nevertheless, before the day was over, Dr. Weilen received an
+invitation to dine with the Benases on the following Sunday.
+
+On the whole, the dinner passed off very pleasantly. Dr. Weilen, with
+the ease of the man of the world, made himself at home in the small
+circle. It was not difficult for him to find points of contact with
+these men holding a high position in society; and the women were so
+well-mannered, cultured, and genial, that he quickly lost the feeling of
+strangeness. Besides, his own being radiated an atmosphere of
+cordiality, which smoothed over the awkwardness of a first meeting. The
+greetings between him and his hosts might almost have been called
+cordial, as between people conscious of spiritual kinship. The Geheimrat
+was in an especially good humor; and Rita felt inclined to be all the
+more friendly as she was very apprehensive of Hugo's conduct toward
+their guest.
+
+Her fears proved groundless. Hugo was too well-bred to act
+discourteously toward his father's guest. His behavior, though reserved,
+was faultlessly polite. The appearance of Dr. Weilen, the Regierungsrat,
+in his home was a _fait accompli_, to be accepted; consequently Dr.
+Weilen soon felt at his ease in this company. The family connection
+between him and certain of the guests was not spoken of. No one
+displayed any curiosity. They seemed to be united by a secret bond. In
+the course of the dinner the feeling of good-will increased. Dr. Weilen
+was charmed with the elegant mode of life, and was particularly pleased
+to see that the forms of good society seemed to come natural to them.
+Nothing betrayed that they had grown up in different circumstances, and
+that their present luxury had not been inherited from generation to
+generation, but had been acquired within measurable time. They had all
+the manners and accessories of their station. The liveried servants, the
+beautiful porcelain, the costly silver, the exquisite wines, and the
+choice dishes were as much in place here as in the most aristocratic
+circles that Dr. Weilen frequented. The splendor of the surroundings
+pleased him, not for the sake of the wealth itself, but for the air with
+which it was carried off. He felt himself attracted to them, he felt a
+spiritual kinship.
+
+He became especially interested in Justizrat Friedheim, a cousin of Mrs.
+Benas's on her father's side. He was a man with a powerful,
+distinguished head set upon a small, thick-set body. Well known in the
+legal world through his commentary upon commercial law, he had taken a
+prominent part in behalf of the national liberal party during a recent
+session of the Reichstag. He had declined re-election on the ground of
+poor health. However, anyone who looked at this vigorous man, still in
+the prime of his manhood, would readily surmise that there were other,
+deeper-lying reasons, not openly mentioned, that deprived the fatherland
+of the services of this active and distinguished statesman. To his left
+sat the hostess, whom Dr. Weilen had taken down to dinner, and upon his
+other side sat Mrs. Lesser. She was a beautiful blonde, with fine teeth,
+and animated countenance, and lively manners. She was complaining to her
+neighbor that it had become an impossibility to get into the Reichstag,
+since he was no longer a member.
+
+"I'm not good for anything any more," he answered, "but all you need to
+do is apply at the office."
+
+"That's such a nuisance. Formerly it was so pleasant to sit in the
+members' box, and listen to Bebel and Eugen Richter." With an
+affectation of alarm she glanced at Dr. Weilen. "I beg your pardon, Herr
+Regierungsrat."
+
+"The Government is accustomed to evils," jestingly interposed Mr.
+Friedheim.
+
+She hesitated to reply only one instant; then quick-wittedly: "So we are
+in the same boat as the Government!"
+
+"We could wish for no pleasanter companions in our misery," Dr. Weilen
+gallantly said, and raised his glass to touch hers.
+
+It was inevitable that every now and then the conversation should take a
+dangerous turn, no matter how careful they were to confine the talk to
+literary and art topics, and avoid politics. But in a circle of
+intellectual men this was difficult; and the women of this circle seemed
+as conversant with the questions of the day as the men. However, with
+perfect tact and good taste, they avoided whatever might have provoked
+an argument; and though their opinions were expressed with wit and
+understanding, nothing occurred to give offense. They left the table in
+high spirits. The temperament of their race came out very distinctly, no
+less in the case of the Regierungsrat than of the others.
+
+Friedheim, Lesser, and Weilen were chatting together in the smoking-room
+over their coffee; the host and Freudenthal, the architect, were looking
+over the plans for a villa on the Wannsee, which had been offered to Mr.
+Benas. The ladies and the two younger men had withdrawn to the
+music-room; and presently the strains of Wagner's "Feuerzauber" were
+heard, played with masterly skill.
+
+"Who plays so wonderfully?" asked Dr. Weilen.
+
+"Mrs. Freudenthal, a famous artist before my cousin married her.
+Perhaps you heard of her under her stage name, Flora Bensheimer."
+
+"O, of course, the great pianiste?" he asked with interest. "And is she
+the wife of the architect? Has she given up her career?"
+
+"She plays only for her immediate family. When our cousin married her
+ten years ago, she continued to perform now and then in public for
+charitable purposes; but for the last few years, she has given that up
+as well."
+
+"But that is a loss both to charity and to the public."
+
+"Freudenthal doesn't let charity suffer on that account," answered Mr.
+Friedheim. "He is very rich and gives generously on all sides; but he
+holds that he has no further obligations to the public. The remarkable
+talent of his wife he keeps from the world ever since it was subjected
+to affront. He can dispense his money without attracting notice; but he
+must conceal his wife's art so as not to attract undue notice."
+
+"But that is egotistical."
+
+"Perhaps. He is peculiar. The marriage is a childless one, and his wife
+is everything to him, wife and child in one."
+
+"And was it easy for her to decide to give up the fascinations of a
+public career? She is known all over the world."
+
+"Freudenthal has transplanted her to the best of all worlds, to the
+shelter of a loving and devoted marriage. He idolizes her and casts
+laurel wreaths and diamonds at her feet, such as have never been
+showered upon any other artist--a whole grove of laurels around her
+villa at Nice, and as for the diamonds--consult the ladies about them;
+they know about such things."
+
+Dr. Weilen was amused by Mr. Friedheim's sarcastic manner, and he
+rejoined: "I should like to hear about them. At all events I shall look
+up the ladies."
+
+The closing chords of the "Feuerzauber" died away, as he arose quietly
+and went to the adjoining room. He had observed Rita through the open
+door.
+
+She was listening to the music, lost in revery, and she started with
+surprise, when she suddenly heard at her side: "Are you musical, too,
+Miss Rita?"
+
+"Yes, a little. In our family we all play. Music is so inspiring, and we
+seem to have a talent for it. I do not mean Flora Freudenthal, who has
+married into the family, but there is Mrs. Lesser, a cousin of my mother
+and of Mr. Friedheim, herself a Friedheim, who has a superb voice. She
+was trained under the most distinguished singing masters; and some of my
+other cousins have a fine understanding of music, and devote much time
+to it."
+
+"I suspect it is a Friedheim gift; for I myself am not at all musical."
+
+She reflected a moment before saying: "It seems so, Dr. Weilen, though I
+never thought of it before. Those on the Friedlaender side have other
+talents."
+
+He smiled. "You are very kind."
+
+Slightly embarrassed, she answered: "That was not an empty compliment.
+My mother's relatives on the maternal side have done much in scientific
+ways. Professor Jacob Friedlaender in Breslau, Professor Emil Friedlaender
+in Marburg, Professor Felix Friedlaender of the Karlsruhe Polytechnic,
+are all men of scientific note; as is also Professor Ernest Biedermann,
+whose mother was a Friedlaender, and who is a leader among modern German
+painters."
+
+All unconscious though she was of it, her words reflected pride and
+joyous enthusiasm. A slight flush overspread her face; her animated
+glance rested involuntarily upon the family pedigree that hung opposite
+to them.
+
+"You are well acquainted with the positions your relatives occupy. Do
+you visit them?"
+
+She was startled at his words as though she had discovered a false note
+in them, irony and derision. But he looked at her so innocently and so
+sympathetically that she was ashamed of her mistrust.
+
+"Not at all. Occasionally we meet Professor Biedermann. As a rule his
+calling takes him into quite different circles."
+
+"And who are the people who would not be glad to have the _entree_ in
+such a home as your parents'?" he asked thoughtfully.
+
+"My parents have not cared for a wide circle of acquaintances for years.
+My father, whose eminently successful career and public services entitle
+him to a certain amount of pride, scorns to be put in a position where
+he is merely tolerated; and my mother's pride is no more able to bear
+rebuffs." She paused in alarm at what she had said. Why had she allowed
+herself to be so carried away? She had been overcome by the everlasting
+woe and sorrow of her race, which arise anew in every generation; and
+this in the presence of a stranger,--of this stranger.
+
+She looked at him timidly, with a troubled expression.
+
+"Why do you not continue, Miss Rita,--or may I call you cousin, as I did
+before? You have no idea how much I am interested by what you say. I
+have met Professor Biedermann, but I did not introduce myself as
+cousin."
+
+"Indeed!" she answered suddenly becoming quite cold.
+
+"Do not misunderstand me. You see, all these cousins of whom you spoke
+have very plainly given me to understand that they have renounced me;
+for otherwise one or the other of them who moves in the same walks that
+I do would some time have bethought himself of me."
+
+"How could you expect that?" she said eagerly. "You are unjust. You were
+the one to withdraw entirely from the connection, without possibility
+of recall." Again she hesitated.
+
+"Do you believe that unprejudiced men would lay that up against me?"
+
+"I do not believe that exactly; but what cause would there be for them
+to approach you? Those who have need of the family can always find a
+place in it, and there are many such, alas, many, far more than those
+who have attained a position in life. The family connection establishes
+a common interest; and this keeps them in touch with one another
+permanently. At family gatherings every now and then one hears of some
+good fortune that has befallen one or the other, and this brings
+pleasure to each member of the family. My mother especially is very well
+informed, and is anxious to learn of anyone who has risen to importance
+or honor. And now we speak of an event of that kind oftener than
+formerly; we take it as a consolation, a comfort, that one of us has
+attained to some position, even though it be only what was well
+deserved, without...."
+
+"Say it openly, without baptism."
+
+A deep flush covered her face, and in her eyes there were restrained
+tears.
+
+To what had the conversation led her? To a point at which he could not
+but be hurt. She looked at him helplessly, unable to utter a word. At
+length she stammered, "O no, that--I--that was not intended--I...."
+
+"Why should they not say it? In reality, it is not an easy matter for
+those gentlemen to attain the positions that are their due; and
+therefore their promotion is received with especial delight, not only by
+the family, but by the congregation, by the whole race. And now at last
+I hear the tale from a wholly fair and unprejudiced source."
+
+She gazed at him with open doubt.
+
+"Aren't you unprejudiced, Miss Rita?"
+
+"Not any longer," she answered, with a sigh. At this moment her mother
+entered.
+
+"Rita, Betty is going to sing, won't you accompany her?"
+
+She arose quickly, as though released from some dread oppression.
+
+"Gladly, mother."
+
+He looked at her with a quiet smile. She noticed it, and was again
+overcome by her shyness. What must he think of her? Like a babbling,
+foolish child, she had inconsiderately touched upon subjects bound to
+lead to painful discussions,--topics that all had tactfully avoided, all
+except herself, the last person to intend an insult. If Hugo had said
+such a thing, how it would have irritated her, and in his case it might
+have been excusable; but she--was it fate, a spell that forced her
+thoughts in such directions? It seemed as though these questions cast a
+shadow over her every thought and action. That an innocent conversation
+should suddenly and involuntarily take a turn that gives an equivocal
+meaning to everything said, should give her words unintended innuendo
+and insinuations--nothing was farther from her thoughts; and yet the
+thing had occurred. It was only the interruption of her mother that had
+saved her from further indiscretions.
+
+"Our cousin Betty, Mrs. Lesser, has a charming voice."
+
+"So Miss Rita has just told me."
+
+"So, Rita, you have been entertaining our guest with the recital of the
+talents of our family?"
+
+"She has done so, excellently; I have the liveliest interest in them,
+and am truly grateful to your daughter."
+
+He looked at Rita with a lingering glance. She returned it. Their eyes
+met, and then she bowed silently and went into the music-room. Presently
+Schubert's "Wanderer," was heard, beautifully rendered.
+
+"And ever longing asketh where!" was the sad, melancholy refrain. "Ever
+where!"
+
+He shook his head as if to rid himself of a sad thought.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Dr. Weilen took leave, promising to come soon again. Both Mr. and Mrs.
+Benas had invited him to repeat his call. The other guests, who had
+gathered in the drawing-room, remained to chat a little more and enjoy a
+glass of Pilsener.
+
+"You may say what you will, Benas, it is more congenial when we are by
+ourselves," said Mr. Freudenthal.
+
+"You are too exclusive, Isi," said Mrs. Benas. "Surely I am the last who
+would plead for a mixed choir, since we have been plainly given to
+understand that our voices do not please; but there is nothing about Dr.
+Weilen that disturbs our company or seems strange. Even on the first
+evening he came, he struck the right note, and he seemed one of us. He
+really is at bottom. One cannot deny one's kin."
+
+"But it took a long time for him to remember," Mr. Friedheim said
+ironically.
+
+"Only until an opportune moment arrived. How should he have known that
+the names Lesser and Friedheim belonged to his family? He was still a
+boy when connections were broken off with his mother's family, and he
+has never had any occasion to resume the relation," added Mr. Benas.
+"Friedheim, he knows you through your commentary; Lesser, you, through
+your 'Order of Bankruptcy,' your names are well known to the lawyer; but
+that is no reason for him to have supposed you to be his Mishpocheh. It
+was very evident that he was pleased to discover the additional tie." He
+laughed jovially. "That's human nature, but the feeling of satisfaction
+when special honor comes to any member of the family, is particularly
+developed among us. Even he does not deny this, and why? Estrangement
+does not change one's inherited nature."
+
+"But habit and education do. Whoever alienates himself and cuts himself
+off, becomes an exile and a stranger," said Mr. Freudenthal.
+
+"Dr. Weilen is not a case in point. The manner of his coming here is, in
+fact, an argument against your thesis."
+
+"A mere mood, father, a romantic whim," Hugo said scornfully.
+
+"In such matters your opinion does not count, because your views blind
+you and make a fanatic of you."
+
+"After all, it is not a matter of great moment that he should have come
+here," said the Justizrat.
+
+"Years ago you might have said so, but not now. Whoever seeks us now and
+acknowledges us, belongs to us."
+
+"If you would only free yourself from the habit of considering whatever
+is connected in the remotest degree with the Jewish question as
+something of the greatest import. It's really a matter of absolute
+indifference to me whether a given person comes or goes, how he comes
+or goes, and what he thinks or does. It's merely a private matter, an
+individual case."
+
+"Every individual case is at the present time a matter of universal
+concern," said Hugo, his eyes glowering.
+
+"There we are, before we know it, at the same wearisome discussion.
+Throw the cat as you will, it always lands on its feet," exclaimed Mr.
+Benas, angrily.
+
+"The question forces itself upon us, whether we wish it or not," said
+Mr. Freudenthal, "the clearest proof that it exists; just as a painful
+sickness reminds the suffering body of its existence. Of what use are
+morphine injections? Merely a momentary deadening, but the evil is not
+removed."
+
+"But one gets tired of continually harping on the same old chord,"
+Friedheim answered. "But in the world, by strangers, then in one's own
+reflections, and finally in the talk of friends, acquaintances,
+relations, in such social gatherings as this, at Skat, or
+dinners--everywhere the same dish is served. Occasionally you really
+long for an injection for the sake of peace."
+
+"Yet there are few to whom the matter has been as vital as to you," said
+Freudenthal.
+
+"Just because of that. Do you think a wound is healed by constantly
+tapping it? I use a morphine of my own, my own tried anaesthetic,--strenuous
+work, untiring activity, and the development of my specialty. This for
+the world; and for myself,--a quiet family life."
+
+"That has not been your taste always," interrupted Lesser. "You, a
+politician! A man made for public life! Concerned in every matter of
+state and city government, always in the public eye."
+
+Earlier in their careers the cousins had harbored slight jealousies in
+matters of this kind.
+
+"Now we have it again," cried Mr. Friedheim, angrily, rising, "now the
+sequel will follow: And how did they reward you? Didn't they remind you
+of the yellow badge your fathers wore? Didn't they wave it before you, a
+token of past shame, and what is worse, of future shame? How did they
+thank you for the gift you gave them in your legal work, in your
+endeavors for the public weal, and so on _ad infinitum?_ I know this war
+cry, and I am not in the mood to-day to hear it again."
+
+Mr. Lesser and Mr. Freudenthal had also arisen.
+
+"Whether you wish to hear it or not, that does not in the least change
+matters," said Mr. Freudenthal. "And if you should stop up your ears
+with cotton, you would only deafen yourself temporarily; the trumpet
+call would sound all the louder."
+
+"I'm entirely satisfied to hear no more of it for a time at least."
+
+"Desire and convenience do not regulate such affairs," said Mr. Lesser,
+ironically.
+
+"Why not? What's to prevent our getting together comfortably without
+these endless disputes and excited debates?"
+
+"The fact that the stranger has been in our midst, and we are restless,
+excited, nervous, like those who live in unrest, without a fixed
+abiding-place."
+
+All turned toward the speaker; both the women who had followed the
+conversation in silence, after vain attempts to calm the disputants, and
+the men, whose tempers were heated by the discussion.
+
+The words seemed to echo from another world,--lamenting, exhorting,
+warning.
+
+It was Dr. Rosenfeld who had spoken them. The young man sat there
+deathly pale, as though frightened by his uncalled-for interference in
+the family quarrel. The whole evening and even during the last
+conversation he and Hugo had remained quiet, although their faces
+plainly expressed their interest.
+
+"My dear Henry, you, too, carry matters too far," said Mr. Friedheim,
+impatiently. "But as our humor is spoilt, and it is late, I think it is
+best to break up. The fresh December air will cool us off, and we will
+go home, only to begin over again, at the next opportunity."
+
+"We expect you on Wednesday for Skat," said Mrs. Freudenthal.
+
+"Aha, the session for the next discussion is arranged," Mr. Friedheim
+laughed.
+
+"Good-by, then, until Wednesday."
+
+"Good-by."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Hugo and Henry also took their leave to spend an hour at the Cafe Bauer,
+where they were to meet several friends.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Benas and Rita, left alone, went to Mrs. Benas's boudoir.
+
+"It is strange how easily we are carried away when we are among
+ourselves. Friedheim and Lesser are always ready for a fight. The
+slightest difference of opinion, and off they go," said Mrs. Benas.
+
+"The curious thing is that at bottom their opinions are not so very
+different, but argumentation is a racial trait. There's no doubt, we
+have too much temperament." Mr. Benas smiled, lighting a cigar, and
+leaning back comfortably in his arm-chair. "I'm curious to know whether
+Dr. Weilen is such a wrangler as the rest of the Friedlaenders and the
+Friedheims," he added, trying to tease his wife.
+
+"I, Joshua? I know others who don't lack the same trait."
+
+"But, Fanny dear, how can you compare us? Generations of practice in the
+subtle dialectics of the Talmud--that tells. It is not by chance that
+your family is famous in all intellectual pursuits, while the rest of
+us, who bear on our escutcheon the rabbit skins and bags of wool carried
+about by our ancestors, cannot get to be more than mere Geheimer
+Kommerzienrat."
+
+He liked to refer occasionally to his humble descent from simple
+merchants; especially when he felt his superiority as a quiet,
+self-contained man of the world, who could afford to laugh at the
+irritability and sensitiveness of others. That always put him in a good
+humor; and Mrs. Benas, well aware of this, fell in with his mood.
+
+"Naturally, Joshua! Geheimer Kommerzienrat, that's nothing! You know you
+don't believe that. I think we may well be satisfied with one another.
+Friedlaender, Friedheim, and Benas! That's an imposing triple alliance. I
+think we may be well content."
+
+"And with all that belong to it."
+
+"Even though they quarrel the moment they come together, at the bottom
+of their hearts they swear by one another and are proud of one another."
+
+"Besides, a bit of argument is entertaining, and brings life into the
+shindig."
+
+His wife looked at him reproachfully.
+
+"I beg your pardon! I withdraw 'shindig.'"
+
+"Indeed, you ought to be careful, Joe. One's language is bound to
+deteriorate when one indulges in such vulgar expressions."
+
+"But they're so distinctive and expressive, almost as good as the Jewish
+intonation."
+
+"Leave them to others."
+
+"Hold on, Fanny. Do you see how I have caught you? Who is exclusive? Who
+are the others? Who are the others? Pity that Hugo is not here."
+
+He was delighted and amused, and laughed at the embarrassment of his
+wife. She quickly recovered herself, and answered:
+
+"The others are the vulgar ones, the uncultured, the mob, with whom we
+have nothing in common, and don't want to have anything in common."
+
+"And the rest say the same of us. Let us have nothing to do with those
+aliens, those interlopers, those parasites, that ferment, which
+decomposes the healthy vigorous elements of the Aryan race. That's the
+gracious, charitable refrain."
+
+"Here we are again at the Jewish question," said Mrs. Benas, somewhat
+displeased, "we three, here alone."
+
+"Papa, mamma, and the baby," laughed Mr. Benas.
+
+"It's really not funny, Joshua," said Mrs. Benas, earnestly and
+thoughtfully. "It actually seems as if we could never get rid of it, as
+if it followed us everywhere. Mr. Friedheim is right. It sits at our
+table, it accompanies us to social gatherings, to the theatre, and to
+concert halls; it stands next to us wherever we go in the world, meets
+us on our travels, and forces itself into our dreams and our prayers."
+
+"You exaggerate, Fannsherl. The imagination and the eloquence of the
+Friedlaenders are awakening in you. We know how they think and speak,
+always in superlatives," he teased good-humoredly, in order to calm her
+excitement.
+
+"But you see how it is yourself, Joshua. We get here together cozily, in
+order to chat a bit, to rest ourselves after the strain of
+entertaining, we have no sinister intentions, in fact, we are ready to
+reproach our relatives with indiscretion, and before we know it, we are
+in the thick of it."
+
+"In the soup, _I_ should have said," he added, trying to give the talk a
+jesting turn.
+
+"Joshua, please, don't joke. I am in earnest. Isn't it very sad that all
+our thoughts should be dominated by this one subject? That we can't free
+ourselves from it any more? That we can't rise superior to it? That it
+intimidates us, makes us anxious, petty, serious, and embittered?"
+
+"Yes, dearest, since you ask me to be in earnest, I must agree, that
+conditions are, indeed, very sad, even though great concessions are
+still made, have to be made, to us merchants who are in the world of
+commerce and finance. But for how long? Who knows? A festering wound
+spreads, despite morphine injections, as Freudenthal says. He could tell
+tales! One of the most talented of architects, full of spirit and
+taste, with artistic skill and training seldom met with in his
+profession, especially here in Berlin, and although he has been a royal
+Government architect since the year '78, he has been so completely
+pushed aside that he has been forced to put all his energies into land
+and suburban speculations out there on the Kurfuerstendamm, in the
+Grunewald suburb, and in the elaborate business-houses on the
+Leipzigerstrasse. Naturally this brings him a large income, and that is
+one more reason why his work becomes a reproach."
+
+Mrs. Benas sighed.
+
+"And Friedheim? His capabilities, his thoroughness, and his valuable
+achievements entitle him to a place in the ministry. Instead of that he
+has actually reached the exalted point of being Justizrat, a title of
+seniority like Sanitaetsrat among physicians. What difference does it
+make that as an attorney he has a practice worth one hundred thousand
+marks? He is ambitious, has aspirations, like all prominent
+professional men, and finds himself set aside in the prime of his
+powers. Lesser, too, told me recently that he is going to resign. He has
+exhausted the last possibility in his career, he cannot hope for further
+advancement, so he is going to give up official life, devote himself to
+his scientific researches, and indulge in travel. As soon as Hedwig is
+married, he and Betty can get away easily. They can leave the boys
+behind, they have enough money for that."
+
+"That is and will always remain the only thing that gives us
+independence, and dignity, too," she said bitterly. "We have the
+money--and then the world is surprised that we strive so persistently to
+obtain it, hold on to it with such tenacity, and enlarge our fortunes
+once we have them."
+
+"Nobody wonders at that nowadays. Only the envious and spiteful who have
+no money themselves. But we may as well admit it; what is true of our
+own small circle is true everywhere. Well-deserving persons are
+trammelled in their activities. So far and no farther! Wherever we look,
+we see them chained to the lowest stages. 'Not beyond the boundary we
+have mapped out for you,' says the Government. 'You want to climb, you
+are equipped to be brave mountaineers, you lack nothing you need to
+reach the summit, neither courage, nor endurance, nor strength. Yet
+remain below, remain below!' The foot-hills reached at the first spurt,
+mere child's play for their abilities, are the only heights they are
+allowed to scale. The way is barred, the natural course of their
+energies repressed. It is frightful that restrictions other than
+considerations of capacity should hold back the aspirants; that
+ostracism should be decreed because of a mere chance adherence to a
+certain faith."
+
+"Then Hugo and his friends are not so greatly in the wrong as you
+sometimes declare?" she asked with tense expectancy in her voice.
+
+"No, not in principle, but in their aims. Those are phantoms, fantasies!
+A dream which foolish boys dream,--and clever women."
+
+Rita had followed her parents' conversation, partly in absent revery,
+partly with alert interest. "No, you can't get rid of it," she said in a
+soft, reflective voice. "I myself experienced it this evening, when I
+was speaking with Dr. Weilen. Suddenly we, too, had arrived at the
+fateful subject."
+
+"Well, that settles it. You, too--and he!"
+
+Her father kissed her tenderly on her forehead, and added jestingly,
+"Pray, don't tell Hugo or Henry of this. Good-night, Rita."
+
+"Good-night, papa. Good-night, mamma." She respectfully kissed her
+parents' hands.
+
+"Sleep well, dear child," her mother said, also kissing her upon her
+forehead.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+On the twenty-third of December a company of young men gathered at the
+house of Hugo Benas, in his roomy, comfortable study on the second
+floor. They were in the midst of an exciting debate, when Dr. Henry
+Rosenfeld entered.
+
+"Why so late, Henry?" one of the young men called to him.
+
+He glanced around at the bright, clear-cut faces. Two decidedly showed
+the racial type, but in the others the keenest eye could not detect even
+a slight indication of their origin; they were blonde and blue-eyed, and
+crowned broad-shouldered figures. Dr. Rosenfeld himself answered this
+description, and no one would have suspected him to be a Jew.
+
+"We have been expecting you this last half-hour. Magnus told us that you
+would be here at eight o'clock," said Hugo as he drew out his watch. "It
+is half-past eight now."
+
+"I was detained by Professor Lisotakis, in the Oriental Seminar." He
+placed his note-books and volumes on the table and accepted the ready
+courtesy of one of his companions, who helped him to remove his
+overcoat.
+
+"Have you been working until now?" Tender solicitude was expressed in
+Hugo's voice. "Come, sit here," he pointed to a comfortable arm-chair,
+near the fire-place. "It is very cold this evening, and I am sure you
+are half-frozen without having noticed it."
+
+They all laughed, but the smile that played about Rosenfeld's lips was a
+bit forced.
+
+"Perhaps you are right, Hugo. I have been walking fast, lost in thought;
+and when you think hard, you forget the weather."
+
+"I wager Henry was wandering under cedars and palms on his way here,
+when in reality he was passing under snow-laden trees along the Linden,
+through the Tiergarten," laughingly cried out a young man of dark
+complexion, as he twisted his black moustache, and pushed his
+gold-rimmed eyeglasses closer to his near-sighted eyes.
+
+He caught a curious glance from Rosenfeld; his deep blue eyes, fixed
+upon an imaginary point in the far distance, seemed to carry the
+suggestion of energy and fanaticism.
+
+"That's possible, Sternberg," he answered, "why not?"
+
+"I cannot understand, Sternberg, how you can profane and make a joke of
+a matter that is sacred to us, the memory of the history of our race,"
+said Hugo.
+
+"Never mind, Hugo, why shouldn't dreams become realities?" said
+Rosenfeld, with sadness and longing in his voice.
+
+"Not in wanton jests, however."
+
+"A fellow might be allowed a joke now and then," muttered the culprit.
+
+"Hardly! Everything that belongs to our past is too beautiful; and now
+that it is a departed glory, a lost sanctuary, it is too sad to make
+mock of. I find it quite out of place to assuage the irritating wounds
+of the soul with scorn. It is a sign of degeneracy in us to banter and
+to scoff, and cynically to vulgarize the ridicule and the contempt
+heaped upon us by others. It is undignified, and makes for
+disintegration. That's the reason I object to the type of drama in which
+Jewish manners and peculiarities of the most degenerate and pitiable of
+our race are exposed on the pillory. They are considered as typical, and
+people say: 'Look you, such they are!' If I had the authority, I should
+prohibit them. And then, too, I hate those wretched money jokes, those
+translations of words from the noble language of our race, which give
+them a distorted, ambiguous meaning. We are not raised so high out of
+the mire as to allow ourselves such privileges. We are in the midst of
+it, in the midst of sorrow and enmity, struggle and defense, and we are
+far from victory, and we alone are at fault. This lukewarmness, this
+indifference, this hushing-up, this self-ridicule, they are our
+misfortune. The tactics of an ostrich! Keep your eyes tight shut! Don't
+peep! Imagine others are blind! But they are only too well aware of our
+helplessness, our weakness, our cowardice, our lack of courage. Where
+could they find a more suitable object on which to let out their bad
+humor? I tell you, I would do the same thing. He who grovels on the
+ground, must expect to be spat upon, and he mustn't complain."
+
+His words poured forth in a torrent. He breathed hard, and his face
+turned ghastly white. Deep silence followed his speech. Sternberg,
+embarrassed, fingered a book lying before him. His eyeglasses slipped
+down on his nose, and his near-sighted eyes roved with searching glances
+from one to the other of the company. At last a young man spoke:
+
+"There's a good deal of truth in what Benas says. We dare not deceive
+ourselves; indeed, we are the very last to do it, even if one of us
+does occasionally make a poor joke about it. Every one of us feels the
+same passionate pain in his soul as Hugo does, and every one is
+possessed by the same pride and the same enthusiastic desire for a
+different order of things."
+
+These soothing words made a good impression. Dr. Eric Magnus, a young
+physician, the scion of a very prominent and wealthy family, always
+found favor as a peacemaker when differences arose among his comrades.
+It was he who always did the reconciling, and eased the jars inevitable
+among young men of such various dispositions. They called him the "Olive
+Branch," and he was proud of the nickname. "Little Olive Branch is right
+as usual," said Hugo, and extended his hand to Sternberg across the
+table.
+
+"I meant no harm, Siegfried; and besides it was quite impersonal, you
+know that. The subject made me forget myself."
+
+Sternberg was ready to give in; he clasped Hugo's hand heartily. The
+"Olive Branch" raised his glass, and turning to the two disputants and
+then to the others, drank to their health:
+
+"_Prosit._"
+
+"_Prosit_," they cried as they all touched glasses. And the little
+unpleasantness that had seemed imminent was averted.
+
+Thereupon Dr. Rosenfeld took a letter from his portfolio, and said: "I
+have brought a most curious note that I received to-day from Francis
+Rakenius of Frankfort-on-the-Main. He is visiting his relatives there
+for a few days, before starting for East Africa. You know that he is a
+faithful Protestant, the son of a pastor, and belongs to a very pious
+family. His grandfather was school superintendent, his uncle was the
+celebrated professor of canonical law at Halle, and the opinion of such
+a family concerning our status seems to me of some value."
+
+He had spoken in a low voice while unfolding the letter. Then he looked
+at the assembled company. Interest and expectancy were depicted on the
+faces of all. They knew that years ago, during the first semesters of
+their college life, an intimacy had existed between Rosenfeld and
+Rakenius. They had attended the same lectures, prepared for the same
+examinations, and received their degree of doctor of philosophy on the
+same day. Rakenius then went to Halle to continue his special study of
+theology, and Rosenfeld remained in Berlin. Even as a student Rosenfeld
+had been much interested in the various schemes to improve the shameful
+conditions which a continually increasing anti-Semitism had brought
+about. He attended meetings, joined various societies, at one time was a
+Zionist, and finally accepted with enthusiasm the idea of providing
+places of refuge for the persecuted Jews by the foundation of
+agricultural colonies in Palestine. No one knew whether he harbored
+greater ideas; but at all events, he changed his views and he gathered
+about him a considerable following, not only from among the poor,
+downtrodden sons of the Orient, who, while studying in Berlin, suffered
+hunger and torment and the scorn and contempt of their Aryan
+fellow-students, but also from among the young men of the most
+prominent, wealthy, and respectable families.
+
+There was something winning in Rosenfeld's nature. Everyone who came in
+contact with him was devoted to him. His very appearance, which
+suggested endless sweetness despite the strength of his physique, won
+him immediate sympathy. And his appearance did not belie his
+disposition,--honest, simple, and modest. But one felt that his amiable
+manners concealed the energy and the fearlessness of a true demagogue,
+and, if need be, he would give clear, vigorous, and absolutely truthful
+expression to his convictions. Of late he had become entirely occupied
+with questions concerning the Jews. All political and social events he
+interpreted only in their bearing upon what was dearest to his heart. In
+this way he had obtained a strong influence over his companions, and he
+became their leader. Hugo Benas, Eric Magnus, and Siegfried Sternberg
+were devotedly attached to him; and they formed a circle within their
+circle, which zealously served the general interest. At meetings they
+were the spokesmen, peculiarly fitted by education and circumstances,
+for each one of them, by birth, wealth, and station, could have laid
+claim to and achieved a good social position, such as is ordinarily open
+to young physicians, lawyers, and scholars. Yet they had but one
+aim,--to devote themselves to the cause of their unfortunate, persecuted
+race. And they spoke of nothing else whenever, as on the present
+occasion, they met for confidential, friendly intercourse. With some
+impatience, therefore, they awaited Rosenfeld's communication.
+
+"Let us hear what Rakenius writes," demanded Sternberg. Henry read aloud
+to them:
+
+"I can perfectly understand your sense of uneasiness, and I sympathize
+with you. It requires a degree of self-renunciation that cannot be
+expected, and in my view should never be demanded, of men with proud
+natures, men of intellect and spirit, men of marked individuality, to
+suffer what is put upon the Jews. Yet such is the situation, and whether
+it is justified or not, is a point upon which at this time I do not care
+to express an opinion. You know how truly devoted I always have been and
+still am to you. I have never had a better friend, a dearer companion
+than you. Our friendship was secured by our agreement on the philosophic
+questions that used to occupy us, by the similarity of our views in
+regard to things in general, and by our wholly concordant attitude
+toward the various problems of social life. I need give you no further
+assurances in regard to that; and whether I separate the personal from
+the more general view, I am unable to say.
+
+"Ever since you wrote that the Jewish question occupies you to the
+exclusion of all else, I have been concerning myself with it. In fact it
+is an insistent issue. It forces itself upon me in my profession, in the
+world in which I live. You know that I am devoted, body and soul, to my
+priestly calling, and my attachment grows stronger the more I steep
+myself in the spirit of the Protestant doctrine. How it is to be
+deplored that the best among you cannot partake of its blessings; for
+whoever has had the fortune to call you friend, knows how to value you;
+and I am just enough to recognize that there must be many other Jews
+like yourself. But whether it is that you cannot, or that we do not wish
+it, the result remains the same; and this result cannot be gainsaid. A
+few days ago, I came across an expression of Feuerbach's, which perhaps
+gives an explanation of the reproach, often brought against the Jew, of
+pushing aggressiveness. 'To do away with the meaninglessness of our
+individual existence,' he says, 'is the purpose of our lives, the motive
+of our enterprises, the source of our virtues as of our faults and
+shortcomings. Man has and should have the desire to be individual. He
+properly desires to attain significance, to achieve a qualitative value.
+As a mere individual, he is lost like a single drop of water,
+indistinguishable in the wearisome stream of a meaningless aggregate. If
+a person loses the interests that express his individuality, if he
+becomes conscious of the insignificance of his bare personality, he
+loses the distinction between existence and non-existence, life becomes
+loathsome, and he ends it in suicide; that is, he annihilates his
+non-entity. It is natural that this striving for individual distinction
+comes out most clearly in a class of society socially subordinated, as a
+foreign race or a religious sect, subject to the persecution of the
+majority. Everybody wishes to stand for something; and to this end
+grasps at the best means to secure position or distinction in the domain
+of science. It is on this account that the Jews form so large a
+contingent to the student class, and they do not shrink from mediocrity,
+the consequence of a lack of talent.'
+
+"Ah, my dear Rosenfeld, if each of you could only carry Feuerbach's
+analysis with you and let it plead for you on your way through life! But
+even then the world would cry out with Conrad Bolz: 'It is an excuse,
+but not a good one;' and above all, we do not wish to accept it. For it
+interferes with us, it restricts us. We do not wish to grant so large a
+field to others for the development of their individuality, we need the
+room ourselves. The result would be that the aliens would have to
+renounce the development of their individuality, their striving for the
+distinctiveness that raises them above the level of general mediocrity.
+To this you would not submit; why should you? There is so much talent,
+so much spirit, so much vigor among your co-religionists. It would be
+suicide committed by individuals of your race, if they passively
+submitted to absorption by the mass, instead of saving themselves for
+the welfare of their own people.
+
+"Whether this end can be attained, I cannot judge. It may be difficult!
+Exceedingly difficult! But at one time there was One among you who
+accomplished the most difficult of all things--the salvation of the
+world.
+
+"If this scheme should prove impracticable, then I can see only one
+solution: Acknowledge yourselves as disciples of Him who went forth from
+your midst. Your best, your greatest, your most distinguished men would
+have to take the lead. Generations may pass before the traces are wiped
+out, before the recruits are recognized as veterans; but time will
+bring maturity. If ever you should think otherwise than you do now, then
+come to me...."
+
+"That is pure proselytizing," Sternberg burst forth.
+
+"You do not know Rakenius," answered Rosenfeld, sadly. "It merely shows
+how the very best, the most unprejudiced, and the clearest minds among
+them think."
+
+"And I cannot say that I find the letter remarkably unprejudiced," said
+Hugo, impatiently.
+
+"But that's the way they think and feel. It crops out even in those that
+are anxious to understand our peculiarities. Rakenius never gave me the
+least occasion to mistrust him. He was the one who made the approaches
+in our friendship, because, as is natural, we are always the ones to
+hold back for fear of being misunderstood, of being considered
+aggressive. What he writes is his honest conviction. They know no other
+solution for our difficulty. But his letter has shown me anew that at
+least he tries to understand the other man."
+
+"It is always the same story; even our defenders are our accusers," said
+Magnus, sadly.
+
+"While on the one hand Feuerbach shows our course to be justifiable, he
+on the other hand admits our inferiority, our mediocrity."
+
+"Among the masses."
+
+"But the masses among the others do not study at all, and so we come
+back to the same point. Despite mediocrity and weakness we push forward;
+and that is just what as aliens is not our right."
+
+After further discussion of the topic, Magnus and Sternberg left. Henry
+and Hugo were alone. Occupied, each with his own thoughts, they remained
+in silence for some moments. Then Hugo asked his friend with concern in
+his voice: "Are you tired?"
+
+"O no, just a bit unstrung."
+
+"May I speak to you of another matter this evening?"
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"I am uneasy about Dr. Weilen's intrusion in our family circle. What
+does he want? What does his interest mean, his familiarity? He comes
+often, as if he belonged here, like a cousin,--and they like him. All of
+them--except myself. And I'm afraid--afraid for Rita!"
+
+Henry turned white, he bit his lips, rested his head on his hand, and
+did not answer.
+
+"What do you think, Henry? You know my sister well. During the lessons
+in philosophy that you give her, you surely have an opportunity to probe
+the girl's soul. What do you think?"
+
+"Who dares say he knows another's soul,--especially that of such a
+sensitive nature as Rita?" he responded hesitatingly. "But do you know,
+Hugo, I am more tired than I thought I was; I think I'd better go."
+
+"Shall I go with you?"
+
+"No, I thank you. It is late, and there is no reason for your going out
+into the cold."
+
+"Well, then, until to-morrow."
+
+"Good-night, Hugo."
+
+He went slowly down the stairs. The corridors were still brilliantly
+lighted. As he reached the hall of the main floor, a servant was holding
+the door open for Dr. Weilen.
+
+"O, good evening, Dr. Rosenfeld," he greeted him good-humoredly.
+
+"Good evening, Dr. Weilen."
+
+"Hospitality seems to be exercised on all the floors of this house. You
+have just been with Hugo?"
+
+He nodded in answer, and the two men left the house together.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was about eleven o'clock when Dr. Rosenfeld left his friend, and Hugo
+was surprised when scarcely a quarter of an hour later, some one rapped
+at his door. Elkish, the old clerk of the firm of Joshua Benas, stepped
+in. His bachelor dwelling was in a wing of the house. Here his unmarried
+sister kept house for him according to the strictest Jewish observances.
+Certain privileges were extended to him as the confidant of the family.
+The assured devotion of the whimsical old man was the excuse for
+allowing him to do as he wished. In business he was all
+conscientiousness, faithfulness, and capability. The younger clerks knew
+that their weal or their woe lay in his hands, for the Geheimrat took no
+step in business matters without Elkish's advice. He therefore imagined
+he had a right to concern himself about family matters as well, and he
+was good-naturedly allowed his way. The Benases were confident that he
+held the welfare of their house dearer than his own, and though it was
+not always possible to yield to his peculiar wishes, his interference
+was tolerated without great opposition. Jewish homes often harbor such
+characters, to whom loyalty gives privileges justified by long service,
+though their manners are not in harmony with the present order of
+things. Even in the old days in Lissa, Elkish had been a confidant of
+Benas senior; and this had endeared him to the son, and later to the
+children of the third generation. To Rita and Hugo he used the language
+of the most familiar intercourse, and both of them felt a peculiar
+attachment to him. As children they had spent many an hour daily in his
+rooms. He and his sister were most ingenious in preparing surprises and
+pleasures for them, and it was there that they had learnt to know the
+charm of the old Jewish life. The services of the coming in and the
+going out of the Sabbath, of the Seder evenings, and of the high
+festivals, were strictly observed. A lost world was thus brought back to
+the bright and eager children. In their parents' home the old life was
+shown sacred respect, but without adherence to ceremonies. In Rita the
+ceremonies appealed to the imagination, in Hugo to the intellect. To the
+girl the peculiar customs had been sources of pleasure, but to Hugo of
+earnest reflection. Rita had frolicked and laughed when Uncle Elkish on
+such occasions went through the consecrated forms with solemnity and
+dignity; Hugo, even as a boy, had experienced a feeling of awe for the
+noble past from which these customs came. So the children had lived in
+two worlds. Their parents' household was entirely "modern." While Rita
+and Hugo were quite young children they had discarded--as many others of
+the Jewish faith had done at the same time--the observances that
+differentiated them from those of other faiths. When, however, the time
+came which forced them back upon their own resources, the son and
+daughter, now grown up, did not find the changed circumstances as
+strange as they would have, had they not come under Elkish's influence.
+They appreciated why sacrifices were demanded, and why they should not
+desert from the ranks of a religion whose principles, founded in a
+glorious past, formed the bond that held the race together though
+scattered through all countries. Elkish's importance thus increased in
+their eyes. Hadn't he been right in holding aloof from the stranger? As
+a result, he did not feel the repulses under which they suffered so
+intensely. Hugo was particularly affected, because as a student,
+soldier, and lawyer, he was brought in constant contact with a
+Jew-hating world, and exposed to continual mortifications and secret and
+open attacks. All this embittered him; and he drew closer than ever to
+the old man, who was inspired alike with great hate for the oppressor
+and with zeal for the faith. And so Hugo greeted his visitor with
+sincere pleasure.
+
+"Why so late, Elkish?" he called to him cheerily. "What brings you here?
+Pity you did not come sooner. You should have heard Dr. Rosenfeld this
+evening; it would have warmed the cockles of your heart."
+
+"My heart in this old body cries and laments. Hugo, what will it all
+come to? I'll never laugh again, Hugo, never. With Tzores I shall go to
+the grave."
+
+"What are you talking about, Elkish? Before that happens, you still have
+a lot to do; and you really would have been pleased to see our friends
+here this evening--Dr. Rosenfeld, Dr. Magnus, and Sternberg."
+
+"What do I care about doctors and lawyers when, God forbid, danger
+threatens us?"
+
+"What danger?"
+
+"Are you blind, Hugoleben, and deaf? Don't you want to see and hear, or
+don't you really see and hear? On this floor, you form Jewish societies,
+you and your friends. Rosenfeld talks, and Sternberg scolds, and the
+'Olive Branch' hopes, and you think,--but you don't think of what's
+nearest to you, of what is going on below. Day after day that _Posheh
+Yisroel_, the aristocratic Herr Regierungsrat, comes and makes himself
+agreeable, and poses as being one of the Mishpocheh and _Chavrusseh_,
+and Rita is there, my Ritaleben, and listens to the Chochmes and the
+brilliant conversation, and gazes at the handsome, noble gentleman ....
+and .... and...."
+
+"But, Elkish, don't get excited. What's gotten into your head? Papa and
+mamma are there, and I, too, and very often the other relatives."
+
+"Just because of that! I am not afraid that he will seduce her the way a
+_Baal-Milchomoh_ seduces a _Shicksel_. Such a thing, thank God, does not
+happen with us Jews. But he will lead her astray with his fine thoughts
+and noble manners, and his great position, and heaven knows what else,
+and he will make her forsake her religion, become an apostate as he
+himself is."
+
+Hugo, himself suspicious of the friendly intercourse growing up between
+Dr. Weilen and his own family, was alarmed at the old man's outburst.
+
+"You see things too sombrely, Elkish. There have always been people of
+high position, even Christians, that have visited us."
+
+"Those were original Goyim, dyed in the wool, not such as he, and not
+related, God forgive me that I must admit it. And when they came, it was
+for the good dinners, and the fine champagne direct from France. I ought
+to know, for I paid the bills. Those real Cognacs, and the cigars with
+fancy bands! A small matter! Herr Geheimrat can well afford it. Why
+object? We merely shrug our shoulders--and despise them. When they came
+and made genuflexions, and were never too tired to find us, then they
+wanted money--much money--for charity, and for monuments, and for
+foundations, and for all sorts of things--even for churches. Why not?
+The Jew has always been good enough for that. I never dissuaded your
+father from such gifts. He still takes my advice occasionally; and when
+he says, 'I am well advised, Elkish,' then he merely means, 'What is
+your opinion of the matter, Elkish?' And I have always thought, there is
+no harm in giving, and surely not in taking. And when those other
+fellows, the artists, came and told your mother of their paintings and
+their busts, and invited her to their studios; and made music to the
+tune of one thousand marks an evening, and some concert tickets besides,
+I never protested, but I did some thinking, and I wondered what Mr.
+Mendel Benas of Lissa would have said, had he seen where our good money
+goes to. But we've grown so great, why should we not give? The time came
+when they paid us back more than we need. That's all right. Perhaps not
+for the individual, for he grieved, like your father or like Friedheim
+or Freudenthal, or all the great folk among the Jews; but it was good
+for the rest. The Christians began to think that they have a right to be
+considered, and _we_ began to feel we were what we are--Jews."
+
+When Elkish flew into a passion, it was not so easy to calm him. Hugo
+therefore did not interrupt his harangue, a mixture of indignation,
+scorn, and disappointment. With most of it he himself agreed, and even
+though he viewed events from a more modern standpoint, yet at bottom he
+held the same opinions as the embittered old man. It did not seem
+strange to Hugo that Elkish had dropped into his native jargon, for the
+sake of emphasis. He always did so when excited.
+
+"And therefore I always said," he continued, after a short pause, "'Mr.
+Benas,' I said, 'as you like.' But now I do not say 'as you like.' For
+this fellow wants not only our money, but our child, too,--our darling
+Rita."
+
+His voice turned hoarse, and the last words sounded like a plaint.
+
+"Elkish!"
+
+"Yes, yes, Hugo, that's what it is! Why did he never come before? He has
+been in Berlin a long time, and he's always known who Joshua Benas was,
+and in what relation he stood to him."
+
+"But a special occasion brought him to us, Uncle Leopold's birthday--"
+
+"Nonsense! That is a pretext! He had to say something. He had it all
+planned. _He_ wishes to celebrate Reb Loebl's birthday! _Oser!_ not a
+word of truth."
+
+"There was no necessity for an excuse to visit us; he knew quite well
+that my parents would have received him, even if he had only said that
+he wished to become acquainted with his mother's relatives."
+
+"But the other story sounds better, more romantic. That attracts a young
+girl like Rita. You may believe me, Hugo. I know her. She has not said
+a word about him, and she goes about as if in a dream. She used to tell
+Rosalie and me about everything, about Jedlitzka, with whom she plays,
+about Skarbina, with whom she paints, about the theatre and the
+concerts, and the lessons in philosophy with Rosenfeld, and whether
+'Olive Branch' dances better than Cohnheim of Bellevue Street. My sister
+and myself got all our entertainment through her, on Shabbes afternoons,
+when she came to us, just as when she was a little girl. But she's never
+spoken a word about him, not a syllable; as if he did not exist. And yet
+he comes every afternoon to tea, and evenings, and noon; and they meet
+at the Opera House, by chance, of course, and by chance, too, in the
+skating rink, on the Rousseau Island. Mlle. Tallieu is always present,
+and she told my nephew Redlich, who studies French with her. She even
+told it to him in French."
+
+Hugo listened thoughtfully.
+
+"But, my dear Elkish, there is nothing to be done about it. Papa and
+mamma have begged me expressly to treat him with the utmost courtesy,
+even though I found it hard from the very beginning. So I withdraw as
+far as possible when he comes; because it goes without saying that a man
+of his station must be met with consideration. There really is something
+very simple and engaging about him."
+
+"There you have it, there you have it!" wailed Elkish. "It would be much
+better if you did not withdraw, but remained, and took care that she did
+not fall in love."
+
+"It wouldn't do any good."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Do you believe, Elkish, that a girl like Rita becomes enamored of
+externals? Because some one pays her compliments, or casts languishing
+looks at her, which the presence of a third person might hinder?"
+
+"Well, then, with what do girls fall in love?"
+
+"They fall in love with the personality of a man; with his spiritual
+nature and his appearance, when the two are united in a congenial
+individuality--in a man who appeals to or supplements their own
+character, or charms them."
+
+"I do not understand such stuff, Hugo. Thank God, I am not meshugge. But
+it is enough to make you crazy to think that a good Jewish girl cannot
+be kept from falling in love with a Posheh Yisroel. I always advised
+your father to arrange the match with Reinbach of Mannheim. If he had
+followed my advice, she would have been married long ago; and I am
+curious, very curious, to know whether in such circumstances it would
+have occurred to the Regierungsrat to wish to celebrate the birthday of
+Reb Loeb Friedlaender."
+
+"But Rita did not care for young Reinbach; and I am sure no one can
+blame her. Such an arrogant upstart, without any ideals."
+
+"There are some with ideals and some without. Reinbach is so rich that I
+cannot see why he needs ideals."
+
+"Well, to be sure, Elkish, he cannot buy them. But we need not complain
+of our financial position, either, and yet we are moved by ideals in our
+demands and hopes. Or look at Magnus. His father is a millionaire, and
+yet he thinks of nothing but the fulfilment of our plans. And look at
+Sternberg, and Rosenfeld, and myself, and others who might pass their
+lives seeking pleasures of all kinds, instead of worrying over the
+sorrows of our nation. And here comes a South German dandy, a man about
+town _a la mode de Paris_, a Jew, the type that is now being persecuted
+and maligned as never before, and whenever we come to the subject that
+absorbs us all so much, he curtly remarks, 'Judaism is a misfortune.'"
+
+"That is a phrase, nothing more."
+
+"It seems to me this is not the time for empty phrases," he answered
+gloomily. "The man that uses them, and uses them with such an air of
+superiority, is a fool. And that Rita should not accept such a fellow,
+you should find quite proper."
+
+"I prefer a Jewish fool to a baptized philosopher."
+
+"There are also Jewish philosophers." Henry's fine, pale face suddenly
+came to his mind. He arose and paced up and down the room lost in
+thought. Then he said:
+
+"It is very late, Elkish."
+
+"A Jewish philosopher, however, is no good match," he persevered.
+
+"Rita must decide that, not we. So let us go to bed now."
+
+"But, Hugo, you must promise me one thing. Be on your guard,--be on your
+guard."
+
+He shook the old clerk's hand: "Rest easy, Elkish. I share your fears,
+and also your dislikes."
+
+"I knew it. That's why I came to you. Good night, Hugo, with God's help
+all will come out right."
+
+"Let us hope so."
+
+When the door had closed upon the old man, Hugo fetched a deep sigh. It
+occurred to him how suddenly and apparently for no reason Rosenfeld had
+left, when the conversation had turned upon Dr. Weilen's intercourse
+with his family.
+
+"Is it possible that he, too...." He stared fixedly into the burning
+embers for some time before he put out his lamp, and went to sleep.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was the first of January. Rita sat reading in the small, cozy
+drawing-room. A bright wood fire crackled upon the hearth, lit for cheer
+only; for the house was well heated otherwise. Rita could not bear a
+cold and desolate fire-place, especially on a day like this, when the
+cold out of doors was severe. On such days only a flood of light and
+warmth could bring comfort indoors. It was hardly four o'clock, but the
+lamps were lit, and the electric light, shaded by bright bell-shaped
+glass globes, produced a pleasant effect.
+
+Through the windows draped with costly lace curtains the waning daylight
+peeped and the flurries of large snow-flakes. Rita put her book aside,
+and gazed thoughtfully at the falling snow. How beautiful the flakes
+were!--the white floating crystals, that played at tag, and chased each
+other, and then fell so silently and so calmly. The snug comfort of a
+warm room was peculiarly attractive in contrast to the scene outside.
+Suddenly she thought of those who might be out in the cold. She glanced
+at the clock; it was almost four o'clock. "Mother must be just arriving
+now," she said to herself.
+
+"I hope the snowdrifts will not cause delays." She looked worried and
+arose to go to the window.
+
+At this moment a rap came at the door, and the servant handed her a
+card, and announced Dr. Weilen.
+
+"Ask him in."
+
+And then he stood before her, and grasped her hand, and pressed it to
+his lips.
+
+"May I personally repeat the good wishes I sent in writing this
+morning?"
+
+Early in the day he had sent beautiful flowers with the compliments of
+the season.
+
+"That is very kind of you," she answered, trying to overcome a slight
+embarrassment. "I am glad to have the opportunity to return your kind
+wishes and to thank you. But you must be satisfied with my company
+to-day. Yesterday my mother decided to take a short journey on which she
+started this morning, and my father and my brother are not likely to
+return until dinner time, at six o'clock."
+
+He gazed at her without speaking, and the delicate blush that suffused
+her face assured him that his unspoken answer was understood.
+
+She knew that he longed to be alone with her, and she also knew that it
+was for her sake that he came as often as the conventions of polite
+society allowed. Since he had first appeared among them, several weeks
+ago, he had called repeatedly, and it was obvious that he felt at home
+with them. Mr. and Mrs. Benas enjoyed his company. With the ease of the
+man of the world, and with his confiding manner he had readily made a
+place for himself. Without overstepping the barriers that his long
+estrangement from his family had unconsciously raised, he was able to
+assume a happy mean between the position of a guest and that of a
+relative. Rita, too, he had been able to win over to his side. She liked
+to see him, such as he was, partly as one of them, and partly as the
+formal guest. He had overcome her shyness to such an extent that she
+accepted him, now as a cousin and again as a visitor. It lent an
+especial charm to their intercourse, this mingling of intimacy and
+formality. It attracted him, and even more captivated her. On his
+arrival it was always the Government official whom she greeted; but when
+she became interested in the conversation, following his lead, she
+called him cousin. It was a source of unending delight to him, when,
+carried away by the excitement of the conversation, she, of her own
+accord, called him cousin.
+
+"To what happy circumstances do I owe the pleasure of finding you alone
+on this New Year's Day, so that I may express to you my sincere,
+heartfelt wishes for your happiness, my dear, dear Rita?"
+
+She sat down at the hearth again, and he placed himself opposite. He
+looked at her face which, brightened by the reflections from the
+hearth-fire, and illuminated by her inner excitement, seemed
+particularly charming.
+
+"Mamma left this morning for Rawitsch, to visit Uncle Leopold; and papa
+and Hugo are visiting Uncle Friedheim who has been unwell for several
+days."
+
+He looked at her in astonishment, then he smiled knowingly. "Your mother
+has gone to Rawitsch, to Uncle Leopold? So unexpectedly? She mentioned
+nothing of her intention on the day before Christmas, when I was here,
+although we spoke even more than usual about Uncle Leopold and his
+birthday."
+
+"Mother decided only yesterday,--there were several things she wished
+to.... She believed...." She tried in vain to conceal her hesitation.
+
+"In this cold and stormy weather? It must have been quite an important
+matter."
+
+"O, not at all, Dr. Weilen." Her embarrassment grew. "Mamma has had the
+intention of going for some time, and the snow came only after her
+departure. Papa and myself accompanied her to the station, and I am
+sure that nowadays one travels comfortably and agreeably. The coupe was
+well-heated, and mamma and her maid had it all to themselves. So few
+people travel on the holidays. I should have loved to go with her, and
+by this time she is already at her destination. The train arrives there
+at 3.28."
+
+At first she spoke with uncertainty, as if searching for an unequivocal
+purpose for this trip; then her utterance became faster and faster; at
+the last words she looked at the clock on the mantel. A shepherd and
+shepherdess of old Dresden china, looking at each other tenderly, held
+the dial between them.
+
+"Yes, at 3.28," she repeated.
+
+"Rita!" he caught her hand and held it firmly. "Your mother has taken
+this trip in order to plead for me. She has granted my wish! Quite as a
+diplomatic ambassador! She wished to intercede for me personally, to be
+my spokesman, to brush aside scruples and prejudices; to place the
+strange and unexpected in a proper light; to express her conviction that
+this desire of mine is not a whim, but a pious longing that has lain
+dormant in a secret corner of my heart. All this she is going to put
+forward in my behalf. The confidence that all have in her she will use
+in my favor. She is going to say to them: 'From frequent intercourse
+with Victor Weilen, the son of our aunt Goldine, who died at an early
+age, your youngest sister, Uncle Leopold, the sister of my mother,--from
+frequent intercourse with him we have the impression that honest feeling
+leads him to us; that the secret voice of blood-relationship called him,
+when he discovered that one of the family, the one whose quiet piety,
+whose honest belief make him appear doubly worthy of honor to those whom
+life has driven away from their native soil, had attained his ninetieth
+birthday, and like a patriarch was going to gather his own about him.
+And on this occasion Victor Weilen, too, wishes to be present.'"
+
+She looked at him in timid bewilderment. She had slowly disengaged her
+hand from his.
+
+"O yes! But mamma also found it necessary to supervise the arrangements
+for the celebration personally. There will be so many people to come to
+the small town. Our relatives there are, of course, helpless; they are
+not used to such matters. Arrangements will have to be made in advance
+for the housing and entertainment of the guests.... You see, it is a
+special festival that is to be celebrated."
+
+"Do you wish to rob me of the delight of my interpretation, Miss Rita?"
+There was a pained expression in his voice. "All that might have been
+done by correspondence, but your kind mother in person had to justify
+and advocate the wish of a stranger to be one of the guests, a stranger,
+yet one of their own blood. For this the winter's journey, to-day, on
+New Year's Day, which people like to celebrate together at home. Am I
+right, Rita?"
+
+"Yes," she answered simply.
+
+It seemed impossible to her to plead further excuses after he had
+discovered the honest truth.
+
+Neither spoke for some time. He gazed at her bowed head. The silence was
+eloquent of inner sympathy between them. The intense quiet of the room
+was disturbed only by the crackling of the wood fire. It cast red,
+quivering reflections across the light carpet covering the floor, and
+glanced brightly adown the girl's dress.
+
+After a few moments during which they were sunk in thought, he said: "I
+know your mother will succeed in realizing my wish. She is a good
+spokesman. And I will be near you on that day, Rita--near you!"
+
+And as though unable any longer to control his tumultuous feelings he
+jumped up, took her in his arms, and whispered softly in her ears, "My
+Rita!"
+
+She rested upon his bosom, as if stunned, quivering with blissful joy.
+The uncertainty and misgiving that had troubled her heart throughout
+these many weeks was now converted into a happy reality. He loved her!
+He! He raised her bowed head and read the confession of her love in the
+eyes that looked at him in pure radiance. Deep emotion took possession
+of him. She loved him with the love that springs up in the sweet, secret
+longings, in the pure maidenly fervor, in the rare, modest timidity of
+the daughters of that people from which he had at one time turned away.
+
+As if his thoughts had been transferred to her, she slowly disengaged
+herself from his arms, hid her face in her hands, and relieved the
+oppression of her soul in tears. He led her back to the place from which
+he had so impetuously drawn her, seated her, then kneeled before her,
+and embraced her softly, tenderly. "Rita, dear sweet Rita, my precious
+child. Why do you cry? What makes you sad? What frightens you?"
+
+"Happiness."
+
+He drew her to him again passionately, and said: "You shall learn to
+know this happiness in all its joy. It will exalt you, not sadden you."
+
+"You forget what separates us," she stammered, suddenly alarmed, and
+tried to free herself from his arms.
+
+He started violently. Then he threw his head back with a proud,
+victorious gesture, and, caressing her, he said in a firm voice: "That
+which separated us, draws us together, my love, my sweet love!" She
+clung to his neck, and without resistance she gave herself up to his
+kisses.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+At dinner, Rita, to conceal from her father and Hugo the cause of her
+quiet and reserve, pleaded a headache. She merely mentioned the visit
+of Dr. Weilen; he had come to pay his New Year's call. Hugo looked at
+her so searchingly that she blushed, and turned away from his gaze.
+
+"Did you explain to him that we no longer keep open house, since we have
+plainly been given to understand that we, citizens of a lower estate,
+have no right to and no part in the holidays of the others?" Deep
+resentment lay in his words.
+
+She looked at him as though her thoughts were of another world, while
+her father said in irritation: "Can't you grant us a moment's respite
+from your indignation and your scorn? You display your malice at every
+opportunity. It is really ridiculous for you to ask Rita whether she met
+the politeness of a visitor with such an unpleasant reception."
+
+Rita cast a grateful glance at her father; her eyes shone with the
+brightness of suppressed tears.
+
+"It is enough that we conduct ourselves as our injured pride demands,
+but always to throw it up to others is improper and stupid. I tell you
+those were pleasanter and happier times when we used to celebrate the
+New Year's eve with a ball, and then the next morning received
+congratulations, and in the evening, instead of sitting sadly alone as
+we three are, there was a gathering of gay friends for a dinner."
+
+"They may have been gayer times," said Hugo, nettled, "more amusing,
+too, and more comfortable, but they were only transient. They were in a
+condescending mood, and because of an amiable caprice on their part we
+were allowed to celebrate their feast days with them, and to take part,
+humbly, in certain civic and public holidays. But religion, despite all,
+raised an impassable wall between us and them. We were allowed to enjoy
+pageants, illuminations, parades, patriotic celebrations of all kinds,
+and then Christmas and New Year, when you're called upon to give in
+charity. How tolerant! O, how liberal! O, how I hate that word.
+Sufferance I call it. Sufferance! To be tolerated! You're kindly
+tolerated, partly as a participant, partly as an observer. And you're
+perfectly aware that you may be pushed aside at any moment when found
+_de trop_ or too forward. It surely is a thousand times better to be as
+we are now; without the loud gayety of people to whom at bottom we are
+strange, and must always remain so. I remember, during my upper class
+days, the last formal New Year's dinner at this house, how Herr von
+Knesebeck proposed a toast to the Emperor coupled with the toast for the
+New Year. And how jovially and with what amiable condescension the
+attorney-general, Herr von Uckermarck, proposed a toast to mother. What
+an honor! And the way in which you welcomed the guests, the honored
+friends of the house--strangers then, to-day, and forever! What led them
+to us was not our company, but the choice pleasures and the agreeable
+times our money afforded. And to-day they dispense with all that. It
+would be impossible to get the best of them to come to us now; but the
+best of us are those who gratefully reject the honor."
+
+His father was visibly annoyed, and Rita looked anxiously at her
+brother, who seemed particularly harsh and relentless. If he suspected!
+A dread possessed her, and pallor overspread her face. The dinner passed
+off in no very pleasant mood. The three missed the conciliating
+gentleness of the mother, who shared the son's views without his rancor,
+and who had opened her husband's eyes to the altered social conditions,
+while yet appreciating and sympathizing with his regret over the sad
+changes.
+
+Everyone was glad to have the meal over. Rita excused herself at once.
+Hugo and his father could find no congenial topic for conversation; and
+so the first day of the new year drew to an unhappy end.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The next morning Rita received a letter. She was at breakfast with Mlle.
+Tallieu and could with difficulty conceal the excitement into which the
+reception of the letter had thrown her. Fortunately her companion was
+absorbed in the "Figaro," and paid no attention to Rita, who was thus
+able to hide the letter in her pocket without its being noticed.
+
+"_De maman?_" she asked, without looking up from her journal.
+
+"_Ceca!_" Rita answered in a low voice.
+
+"_Oh! ce pauvre Henry .... pauvre! Il est mort .... mon dieu! Quel malheur
+pour ma grande patrie .... cette canaille de D .... C'est vraiment ...
+cette blamage irreparable._"
+
+Rita arose. She was accustomed to hear Mlle. Tallieu grow enthusiastic,
+one day over Zola's "_J'accuse_," and the next day equally so for
+_l'armee_. One of the uncultured or rather half-cultured, she was swayed
+by the force of pathos, and was ever of the opinion of others, if they
+were forcibly expressed.
+
+At all events Mademoiselle was at this moment fully occupied and well
+provided. There was an abundance of sliced meat on the table, plenty of
+marmalade, and other good things; the tea-pot was bubbling; and Rita
+could hope to remain undisturbed for a long time. She stepped into her
+mother's room, and, with a timid glance at the "family tree," she sat
+down to read her letter. Her heart was beating violently, and the sheets
+rustled in her trembling hands. Several minutes passed before she could
+gain sufficient self-possession to look at the writing. The words swam
+before her sight:
+
+"My dear, precious girl, my Rita, my bride! This word fills me with
+delight, and I know it awakens an echo in your heart; you say it softly
+to yourself, and you are filled with bride-like thoughts, thoughts that
+belong to me. Whatever might interfere with the union of our hearts from
+without, within us reigns love, joy, hope. I know I want to win and
+possess you, and I know you are willing to belong to me.
+
+"Need I beg your pardon for giving in to the impulsive joy of my heart,
+to the violent longing of my soul, for not waiting to sue for you
+soberly and sensibly, as is proper for a man so much older than you are,
+but stormed you with a youth's love of conquest, throwing prudence to
+the winds, and scorning careful consideration? I was young again when I
+saw you before me yesterday in the sweet loveliness of your youth, and I
+shall be young so long as your love remains the fountain of youth in my
+soul.
+
+"Do you want to know how it came about? I might answer you, 'Do not ask,
+be sensible only of the strong, exulting love that arose within us as a
+marvellous, convincing, dominant fact, as a law of nature.' But I see
+your earnest, wise eyes, which in the past weeks have rested searchingly
+upon me so often,--I see them before me in all their sincerity, their
+sweetness, their purity; and it seems to me that I must explain to the
+little interrogator all about myself and how it happened.
+
+"You know, my love, how I was left alone in the world at an early age.
+Without father or mother, having no connections or relatives--quite
+orphaned; but healthy, full of vigor, happy and independent in every
+way. And all at an age in which one is in need of love, in need of wise
+guidance, of intimate intercourse with congenial spirits and the home
+feeling of a large family, the feeling inborn in the sons and daughters
+of our race, because it is their only home. But I was quite homeless!
+With the fearless courage of youth I decided to found a home for myself.
+It was not difficult for me; my independence, my large income, and
+perhaps, too, my personal abilities, admitted me to the best society. At
+the University, among my fellow-students, in the homes of my teachers, I
+was considered, and I felt myself to be as one of them. Nothing stood
+between us, nothing tangible, nothing out-spoken. Neither my external
+appearance, nor my interests distinguished me from them,--so entirely
+had I become a part of their world. There never came a word from the
+other world within to recall me to my true self. I knew nothing of my
+former life; no recollection flitted through my mind, because nothing
+happened to awaken me; and the soft voices that may have made themselves
+heard occasionally in the early years, were entirely quieted as the new
+life attracted me and seemed to wipe out the past. I had entirely
+forgotten at that time to what faith I belonged, and my friends surely
+never thought of it. One of them especially attracted me. He was two
+years older than myself--a talented and refined man. Like myself he was
+alone in the world and independent. That was the circumstance that led
+us to a sincere friendship. He was a devout Catholic, and after my
+examinations we journeyed together to Rome. There, under the
+overpowering impressions of his art-inspiring belief, we were drawn
+still closer together. Finally the wish was born in me to share with him
+the faith that was the basis of his inner life, and which he, I know not
+whether consciously or unconsciously, had nurtured in me, and had
+brought to fruitage.
+
+"Think of it, my wise, good girl, how young I was then, how
+enthusiastic, how entirely I had dedicated myself to friendship, and how
+easy it was for me to succumb to the magic and mystery of a cult whose
+splendors and associations, there in Rome itself, possessed us heart and
+soul. Think of it and you will understand me. The reasons that brought
+me to the momentous decision were not of a practical kind. I took the
+step in a state of ecstatic excitement and romantic enthusiasm. I had
+nothing to forsake, for I possessed nothing that had to be sacrificed
+for the new faith--neither father, nor mother, nor family,--nothing
+except my own self, and that belonged to the forces that were then
+mightiest in me: friendship and imagination. The recollection of an
+incident of those days comes to me with such remarkable clearness that I
+will tell you of it. It was the only thing that reminded me of my youth,
+passed under such wholly unlike circumstances. A few days after the
+fateful step we were in the galleries of the Vatican. I had again become
+entranced by the glories of Raphael. Suddenly my eye was caught by a
+portrait in an adjoining corridor. It was the tall, lean figure of a man
+who was resting his head in his hand, and looked up thoughtfully from an
+open book lying before him. In the deeply furrowed countenance a
+meditative, mild seriousness. Eyes expressing endless goodness. A
+questioning look in them, questioning about the thousand riddles of the
+universe. The hand resting upon the book was especially remarkable. It
+spoke a language of its own. Its lines and shape expressed tenderness,
+gentleness, kindness, as if it could dispense only blessings.
+
+"I was spell-bound, and could not tear myself away from the picture.
+There was something familiar in it, as if it were a greeting, a reminder
+from my youth. Suddenly the thing was clear to me. This man, whose
+characteristic features unmistakably showed him to be an old Jew looking
+up from his Talmud, and pondering its enigmatic wisdom, reminded me of
+my uncle Leopold Friedlaender. In a flash the whole scene came before me:
+how he pored over his Talmud when, led by my mother, I came before him
+with childlike awe; and how he looked up from his volume and regarded me
+so kindly, so meditatively, exactly like the man before me in the
+picture. And while I reeled off what I knew of Hebrew lore, he leaned
+his head upon his left hand, and his right was placed on his book; then
+he raised his hand and laid it in blessing upon my head, and the tender
+lips spoke the Hebrew words of the benediction. It seemed to me as if I
+heard again the soft, insistent voice; and as if the high-vaulted
+corridors of the Vatican were transformed into the low, simple room of
+the Jew's house at Rawitsch. I was as one in a dream. It made a strong
+impression upon me. Like one possessed I gazed at the picture, and I
+believe my lips mumbled half-aloud '_Yevorechecho Adonay
+ve-yishmerecho_.' Never since that day have the words left my memory.
+They remain like a faint echo in my soul. Suddenly I felt a hand upon my
+shoulder. 'A fine picture, is it not,' said Francis to me, 'this Hebrew
+of the sixteenth century? I believe he was a Portuguese Jew, who was
+exiled to some Italian Ghetto, to Trastevere or the Ghetto Vecchio of
+Venice. Somewhere or other the artist came upon this fine,
+characteristic head, whose portrait places him amongst the immortals,
+although his very name is uncertain. He belongs to the Florentine
+school, possibly a pupil of Del Sarto. The realistic expression of the
+hand suggests Master Andrea himself; or it may have been Pontormo, or
+Puligo; at all events, a masterly painter.' While my friend gave these
+explanations, I had time to recover myself, but it was with difficulty
+that I threw off the spell of my imagination. So it was a Portuguese
+Rabbi of the sixteenth century, not my uncle Leopold! And yet he.... I
+knew it positively. Perhaps there was a talisman bequeathed from one to
+the other that made these Talmudic scholars of all times so much alike;
+or was it the Law, to which they devoted themselves with like zeal? Or
+the similarity of their attitude toward life? Or the tradition that
+remained unaltered through the centuries? When we left the Vatican soon
+after I could not dismiss the thought that my uncle Leopold Friedlaender
+had a place among the portraits of the Vatican Gallery.
+
+"Years passed. The incidents of those days had long been forgotten. I
+was drawn into the great and mighty currents of life. I enjoyed it to
+the full. After the completion of my examinations for the assessorship,
+my friends at Bonn advised me to enter the service of the Government.
+There was nothing to prevent me, and the position offered me was quite
+to my liking, and satisfied the ambitions then mastering me. With the
+death of Francis Siebert a great void had come into my life; he had died
+of typhoid fever on a journey of investigation. In the stormy come and
+go of life, in the restless haste of existence, such things happen
+daily; and although painfully shocked by his death, I continued my way.
+It came at a time in my life when I was battling with a great inner
+struggle that made me wholly self-centered. I prefer not to speak of
+this to you, at least not to-day. But one thing I may tell you, the
+experience did not make me unworthy of you. Conflict and suffering do
+not degrade a man, and whatever fails to overcome us, makes us all the
+stronger. But I became more and more lonely, and I fell into the habit
+of thinking that it was my lot in life to be lonely. I tried to be
+content alone. It seemed the easier for me since my career was a happy
+one and gave me contentment; and so did the kind of life it brought with
+it. I resigned myself to remaining a bachelor. So much of the married
+life of my friends as had come under my observation did not make me
+regret that I had renounced it. My calling, my books, my journeys, gave
+me sufficient satisfaction. I avoided social gatherings as far as my
+position allowed me to. In this way, time passed in work and recreation,
+and the even tenor of my days brought me comfort and satisfaction. There
+were many hours in which this exclusiveness seemed very pleasant to me;
+and the longing for intimate fellowship with others grew ever weaker.
+
+"Then, a few weeks ago, I happened upon the notice of Rabbi
+Friedlaender's ninetieth birthday. The rest you know. What you do not
+know, is that on my desk, where I had found the journal containing the
+notice, I seemed suddenly to see the portrait of the Vatican before me;
+and an unaccountable association of ideas made me see myself standing
+before it, not as I was in Rome, but as a small boy before the old man,
+whom I thought I had found anew in the portrait--in the presence of the
+devout, kindly man, as he sat poring over his book in his humble room.
+And then I heard the words of the blessing again--I felt them in my
+heart, the heart of an experienced, mature man,--and all in the language
+of my childhood, the language of the childhood of my race. And suddenly
+the world vanished from before me, the modern world that claimed me, and
+the old arose in the clear light of holy recollections. Father, mother,
+the whole family came back to life within me! Then I sought your
+family, sought you! And how I found all of you--how I found you--
+
+"The subtle charm of true family happiness, the aristocratic security of
+a settled life, entranced me, mingled though they were with secret
+anguish over the unjust, the foolish prejudices under which the Jewish
+community suffers. Such depth of feeling underlies the splendor of your
+life. There is something so cheerful, so intimate among you. On the very
+first evening I felt at home with you. Your wise, able father, your
+noble, sensitive mother, your brother with his splendid vindictiveness,
+and his proud ideals, all interested me as something new, strange, and
+yet familiar.
+
+"I had never known a Jewish home of refinement and respectability; I did
+not realize how such home-life had developed in spite of the
+unfriendliness and the slights that beset it, and in the midst of
+hostility that seeks its very destruction. Your friends are of the same
+admirable type. The men serious, capable, intellectually distinguished,
+and prominent in their various callings; the women bright, artistically
+gifted, beautiful; the young people ambitious, well-educated,
+impressionable, enthusiastic. So I learned to know you and your kin,--my
+kin. May many be like you, I say to myself. Among the Jews are all too
+many who under oppression and necessity cannot develop. But how could it
+be otherwise? By the side of the few, one always finds the masses; by
+the side of the elect, the average.
+
+"And now you, my girl, my precious Rita, you have seen how your sweet
+disposition has influenced me, how it awakened within me new and happy
+feelings, how my very soul goes out in longing to you. I have regained
+my youth, and it calls to me exultantly: 'Return to your own!'
+
+"These are my confessions. It does me a world of good to be allowed to
+speak to you in this way; and now you will comprehend why it was that I
+could not restrain myself, but had to take you in my arms, in the happy
+assurance that you were willing to be mine.
+
+"Have courage! I will never give you up, and we shall surmount all the
+difficulties they may put in our way. I shall see you again when your
+mother returns, and I may be allowed to come. Have faith in me!
+
+      Victor."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Tears streamed down Rita's face. He had laid bare his soul to her. She
+remained for a long time lost in thought, considering what had best be
+done. She did not conceal from herself that her marriage with Dr. Weilen
+would encounter strong opposition; that disquiet, excitement, and
+heartache would enter into her peaceful home when the relation between
+her and Victor was known. Her father's opposition would be the easiest
+to overcome, but her mother's? And Hugo's? And Elkish's? And the rest of
+the relatives? And herself? Was there no inward protest against what
+she was about to do? Now in these saddest of times, to tear herself away
+from those who suffered and struggled?
+
+An inexpressible fear possessed her. If only her mother were back at
+home! Disquieting thoughts again besieged her. How happy she might have
+been, to love a man like Dr. Weilen, to be loved by him! And now alarm
+in her hopes, doubt in her wishes. She arose slowly and went to her
+room, and locked the letter in her desk.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+On the fourth of January Mrs. Benas returned. She was in good spirits,
+and she had found her uncle hale and hearty. Her relatives in the little
+town were already excited over the coming event, and busy planning and
+preparing for it. This year _Pesach_ came early. The birthday, according
+to Jewish reckoning, was on the twenty-sixth day of March, the first day
+of the festival. She told them that in Rawitsch all arrangements had
+been made for a celebration on a grand scale. Whatever could not be
+obtained at Rawitsch was to be ordered from Berlin. Arrangements were
+all the more complicated because of the Passover observances; but not
+one of the peculiar customs was to be slighted; everything was to go on
+as usual on this holiday. The great number of the family who would be
+present necessitated especial provision for the Seder evening
+celebration and the days succeeding. It was a mere question of expense,
+and that need not be considered. On the contrary, it was a pleasant
+feature, that the unusual event would take place amid unusual
+circumstances, and instead of bread and cake and the every-day dishes,
+unleavened bread would be eaten. The distinctive festival, as it has
+survived in unchanged form, but added glamour to the ninetieth birthday
+celebration of Uncle Leopold.
+
+The family were gathered at their evening meal when Mrs. Benas reported
+on her trip. With happy eagerness she told of her visit, how she found
+everyone, and what were their plans.
+
+"But, Fanny, dearest," teased her husband, "do you realize that you are
+to feed sixty people on _Matzoth_, and for two entire days! Because, you
+know, no one may leave before the evening of the second day of the
+holiday."
+
+"Everything has been taken into consideration," she answered
+good-humoredly. "Do not worry, Joshua, you won't go hungry, and neither
+will the others. All kinds of nice things, even the finest pastry can be
+made out of Matzoth and Matzoth meal--cakes and tarts, and dipped
+Matzoth and _Chrimsel_, the specialties of the season, and the rest of
+the delicacies. You're no scorner of the good things of life, and you
+will enjoy eating these dishes again."
+
+"I'll enjoy the indigestion, too, I warrant. But you're right, dearest,
+those fine dishes are as unforgettable as they are indigestible, and I
+am quite ready to risk a Karlsbad Kur in May, in order to eat properly
+in March."
+
+"It will not be so bad as all that. We shall be careful to combine the
+prescribed with the palatable. And oh! children, it will be beautiful; I
+am happy about it now. It will be an occasion on which I shall gladly
+show what and who we are--we Friedlaenders."
+
+"Now, don't forget the rest of us," her husband bantered.
+
+"The rest of you belong to us, too," she answered with emphasis. "That's
+just what constitutes the greatness and the strength of the Jewish
+family--that it grasps so firmly whatever is attached to it. You cannot
+imagine who all are coming to this celebration in Rawitsch. Some
+relatives have announced their coming whose names you hardly know, in
+addition to those in direct descent from Rabbi Akiba. They are
+descendants of the brothers and sisters of Rabbi Akiba. Then there will
+be the relations, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the sisters
+and brothers of our grandfather. From the letters received in Rawitsch
+they would not have been able to trace these relationships, if Uncle
+Leopold's wonderful memory had not helped to place them. It would have
+been best if we had had our 'family tree' there as a help in recalling
+them."
+
+Her husband was much amused at Mrs. Benas's pride and zeal. He had not
+seen her in so happy a frame of mind since a long time. When she was
+telling of her trip, he felt himself transplanted back to his youth. He
+saw before his mind's eye the Seder in the house of his own parents,
+with the consecration and devout importance at that time attached to the
+various customs. And a deep emotion stirred this man, usually so cool
+and skeptical.
+
+"But, tell me, I should really like to know how they will manage. It is
+no small matter; for instance, at the Seder, how many do you expect?"
+
+"Well, pay attention, Joe, and you children, too," she turned to Rita
+and Hugo, who had followed her report with interest. "I'll tell you the
+whole programme. We expect from fifty to sixty persons. Of these the ten
+or fifteen who are extremely orthodox will lodge with the relatives of
+Uncle Leopold's wife. They are the sons and a daughter of his deceased
+nephew. These three families are wealthy and keep a strictly orthodox
+household, as do most in the town. So the pious ones can be comfortably
+housed there, and need have no fears on the score of religious
+observances. The rest will be lodged in the comfortable inn on the
+market place. I looked at the rooms there, and they are quite possible,
+allowing for the sort of place Rawitsch is."
+
+"Well, no one will expect to be provided with the accommodations of the
+'Kaiserhof' or the 'Palace Hotel.'"
+
+"Certainly not," she laughed, "but there will be compensations. And now,
+don't interrupt again, Joshua, else I will lose--"
+
+"The thread of the strategical plans for the invasion of Rawitsch!"
+
+"Joshua!" She assumed an injured air.
+
+"But, my dear girl, don't you see how delighted I myself am with all
+this? The most serious things can stand a bit of joking; but now I'll be
+real quiet, as well-behaved as Hugo and Rita, and all good children when
+they are having things explained to them. Well, _avanti_."
+
+She hesitated an imperceptible moment, and then continued: "Some of the
+most prominent families, among others the president of the congregation,
+offered to entertain some of the guests. In an unusual case like this we
+may avail ourselves of such invitations. They are the friends and
+acquaintances of the Friedlaender family; and besides the whole
+congregation considers--"
+
+"_Khille_ is the proper term in this case," he laughingly suggested.
+
+"Well, then, the whole Khille, yes, the whole town, considers this day
+of honor to Uncle Leopold as its own."
+
+She knew that much depth of feeling lay hidden in her husband's jests.
+
+"These outsiders, too, are planning to confer especial honors upon him.
+At all events, the freedom of the city will be extended to him, for his
+philanthropy embraces all without distinction of religious belief."
+
+"Then perhaps it might be appropriate for us to found 'The Leopold
+Friedlaender Home for Widows and Orphans' on that day, too?"
+
+She looked at him gratefully, and reached her hand across the table to
+him. He had not spoken to her of this plan. Obeying a generous impulse
+suggested by her words, he proposed it as something self-evident.
+
+"With a capital of about one hundred thousand marks?"
+
+"Joshua!" her voice trembled with deep excitement. Hugo and Rita
+regarded their father in astonishment.
+
+"O papa," the girl said softly in gratitude; while Hugo showed the pride
+he felt in his father, who had decided upon the large sum without
+hesitation, and then, as if it were a mere aside, Mr. Benas continued:
+"The main thing is to assemble as large a number as possible in
+Rawitsch, and to be sure that in respect to lodging everything is well
+arranged. Now will follow the report of the commissariat: Mrs. Benas has
+the floor."
+
+His good humor infected his wife.
+
+"Well, in regard to food. I shall send a capable Jewish cook, who knows
+all about keeping _kosher_. There will be people to help her in
+Rawitsch. A new table service will have to be bought,--that I attend
+to, here, and also whatever is necessary to complete the silver
+service."
+
+"You will provide, then, as I judge, a complete Passover service for
+sixty persons. And what is to become of all of it afterwards?"
+
+"I have not thought of that yet. But it will not be wasted."
+
+"Suppose each one were to receive his own service to take home as a
+souvenir?"
+
+She and the children laughed gayly.
+
+"That would not be so bad."
+
+"And for us quite worth the while, we should return with four new sets
+of table service."
+
+With an expression of content, he glanced at the costly silver service
+on the tea-table at which they were seated.
+
+"That's what I have been wishing for a long time; and if we are
+fortunate, we may receive a soup tureen with it."
+
+"You're a tease, Joshua. Why should there not be souvenirs of the day?"
+
+"But not exactly silver forks and knives. It might lead to sad
+complications." Then as if an idea had suddenly occurred to him, he
+continued, "Do you know, Fanny, leave it all to me. What would you think
+if I bought so beautiful and valuable a silver service that it might be
+used after the festival for Rita's future household? It would be fine to
+own silver dedicated on such an occasion. What do you think of it,
+Rita?"
+
+At her father's words Rita turned pale. "O papa!" she stammered. She
+felt Hugo's eyes staring at her, and the blood rushed back to her
+cheeks.
+
+"You need not get white and red at the idea. The silver service might
+suggest a groom, but no one forces you to accept him." He was amused at
+his daughter's confusion. "At all events, you are of an age to justify
+such thoughts. However, I am quite ready to save this silver treasure
+for you in my safe just as long as you want.
+
+"Joe, if you don't stop joking, we shall never finish. First I am the
+butt, then Rita. But Rita," she turned to her, "you know your father,
+and know he is never happier than when he's teasing us. You need not
+feel embarrassed by what he says. But you really do look as if you had
+never heard of a young girl of twenty marrying." While her mother was
+talking, Rita tried to regain her self-possession.
+
+"Mamma, it was only so curious,--the ideas that papa has--this silver."
+
+"Five dozen; everything necessary for sixty persons. Quite complete.
+Renaissance, rococo, or Empire ... perhaps the English style pleases you
+better?" he asked in fun.
+
+"Please, Joshua, do let the poor child alone. I should really like to
+consider the matter seriously."
+
+"Well, then, to be quite serious; the question of the arrangements for
+the table is settled, and with that everything, I believe. You attend to
+the dishes; they need not exactly be Limoges or old Vienna. The silver
+I shall see about, with an idea to future use. I have no doubt, good
+things will go into the dishes, and enough, too. At such family
+festivals there is always enough and to spare. The fish and fowl of the
+region are famous, and other things, too. The Matzoth will be baked
+especially for us, and Gregorovius, of Unter den Linden, shall provide
+the apples for the _Charoseth_. Everything will be excellently arranged,
+I mean it seriously. And I am looking forward to the festival with much
+pleasure. Whatever is intrusted to Fanny Benas, _nee_ Friedheim, of the
+family of Akiba Friedlaender, can only be good and blessed."
+
+The last words were spoken gravely, with deep feeling. He arose, took
+his wife's hand and kissed it.
+
+"But you have not told us about one thing--about the chief reason for
+your going. What do the relatives think of Dr. Weilen's wish?"
+
+The children awaited their mother's answer in breathless expectation.
+Hugo's eyes were fastened with sullen looks on his mother's lips; Rita
+looked shy and anxious. It seemed to her as though her heart had stopped
+beating, and a choking sensation caught her at the throat.
+
+"I am decidedly curious to know what was your success."
+
+"He may come!"
+
+The face and attitude of the Geheimrat showed decided interest.
+
+"Really? How interesting! I was very doubtful of the issue."
+
+But Hugo clenched his fist, and said vehemently: "Impossible! How could
+they consent? He will spoil the holiness of the days. What does he want
+there? What does he wish of us? A stranger!"
+
+Rita started at her brother's words. His harsh, unfriendly attitude hurt
+her; but she maintained her self-possession through the very resentment
+they aroused; she suppressed the sigh that betokened her inner
+struggle, and catching her breath, she said: "He is no stranger!"
+
+"That seems to have been the opinion of the rest of the family," Mr.
+Benas said to his son, "and it is really time, Hugo, that you put an end
+to your childish and uncalled-for prejudice against Dr. Weilen. His
+personality certainly gives no occasion for such feeling, and he does
+not encroach upon your wishes and theories. He seems to me the last man
+to stand in your way."
+
+Rita gave her father a look of gratitude.
+
+"He has no right to, and never shall have," Hugo answered angrily.
+
+"You spoil everything with your intolerance. And now enough. I'd much
+rather hear what the pious old man thinks in his mild wisdom than listen
+to the opinions of a hard, callow youth in his folly."
+
+Hugo ground his teeth, and refrained from answering.
+
+"Well, Fanny, how did it go?"
+
+"At first it seemed very strange to the various members of the family.
+The oldest son of Uncle Leopold, with whom he is living, Cousin Isidor,
+and his wife Hannah, could not at first comprehend what the question was
+about. Cousin Isidor is already past seventy, and the horizon of his
+wife does not extend beyond the line connecting her room and the
+synagogue."
+
+Involuntarily she glanced at Hugo before she continued: "Considering the
+narrow existence they lead, it is not to be wondered at. The daughters
+of Uncle Leopold, Friederike and Rebecca, and their husbands were also
+not a little astonished. I found their children, a few of whom have
+remained at home, equally unsympathetic; but all of them yielded without
+objection to the authority of Uncle Leopold, who lives among them like a
+patriarch. He said: 'If Fanny Benas, the daughter of my brother-in-law
+Friedheim of Rogasen, and of my sister Henrietta, pleads for him, then
+he is surely a good man. And my sister Goldine, his mother, was the
+darling of my mother and my father, Zichrono livrochoh. She was named
+after her grandmother, Golde Freidchen, the wife of our grandfather, the
+Gaon Rabbi Akiba, _Zecher Zaddik livrochoh_. Goldine was the youngest of
+us fourteen children, and the first to die; and if her son wishes to
+come to me, the oldest and only one, who, _boruch ha-Shem_, is still
+here, and if I have the fortune to survive until the day of the
+celebration, then he shall come. He shall come with the rest of you, and
+he shall rejoice with you. And I shall see the only child of my beloved
+sister Goldine.' Aunt Riekel softly interrupted: 'But he is baptized!'
+An indescribable look of pain moved his withered old face; but it lasted
+only for a few moments, and then he answered in a mild voice: 'If he
+wishes to come, he shall come. Perhaps Golde Freidchen has interceded
+for her great-grandchild that he should find his way back to the fold.
+For if a Jew is baptized, and he calls out in his hour of death, _Shema
+Yisroel_, he shall be accounted a Jew! Shall I be more severe than _Shem
+Yisborach_?' Profound humility and goodness were expressed in his words;
+and no one contradicted him."
+
+Mrs. Benas's recital was received in silence. She continued: "The person
+expected is evidently not the Regierungsrat Dr. Weilen, but the son of
+Aunt Goldine, the youngest sister of Uncle Leopold Friedlaender."
+
+"And as such he'll come to them," said Rita, dreamily. She had listened
+to her mother's tale as to a revelation. It seemed to her thirsting soul
+like a miracle from far distant times, and the words forced themselves
+to her lips involuntarily.
+
+"Do you believe that, also?" asked Mr. Benas of his wife.
+
+"I am convinced a man such as he is will strike the right note."
+
+"So that is settled, too; and we may look forward to the celebration
+without concern. You must let Dr. Weilen know the result of your
+intercession."
+
+"I shall write to him to-morrow."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+On the following afternoon Mrs. Benas was sitting in her room, looking
+meditatively before her, an expression of melancholy in her sweet,
+refined face. Rita had just left her. Mother and daughter had
+experienced an hour of profound agitation; Rita had sought her in order
+to confess her love for Victor. Trembling and hesitating, she confided
+in her mother as in a friend; how the feeling had been awakened on the
+very first evening, when he referred to his loneliness, and how it had
+gradually grown, the more she saw of him. His amiable, open-hearted
+disposition had appealed to her; but above all his confiding intimacy
+which had found so little encouragement. Hugo, in fact, had often
+spurned him rudely. It had always pained her to see a man, by nature so
+proud and gentlemanly, accept these rebuffs with patience and
+forbearance. Once, when she tried to excuse Hugo, he had said: "I
+understand his grief and indignation, and so I can forgive him. He must
+have suffered much before he arrived at a state of such intense
+resentment as to make him see an enemy in everyone with different
+opinions from his own. But some day we may find a point of contact; and
+until then his young anger shall not drive me away from the home of your
+parents, a home that has grown dear to me,--and from you, Rita." Since
+that time a secret understanding had existed between them. They had said
+nothing to each other; but she knew that he grew dearer to her from day
+to day. She was happy when he came, and missed him when he stayed away.
+She knew that he loved her; she knew it through the delicate and subtle
+sensitiveness that exalts the soul of a young girl in this phase of her
+life, endows her with intuitions, and makes each slightest impulse rich
+with meaning. Then came that sacred hour of the New Year's Day,--and his
+letter. She confessed all to her mother, gradually overcoming the
+timidity and fear with which she had begun her recital, until her
+confession grew into a veritable paean of love. Her mother was deeply
+moved. At the moment she had no thought of the obstacles in the way of
+such a connection; she thought only of the happiness of her child. Then
+she read Dr. Weilen's letter. Rita's eyes rested on her mother's face to
+note the effect of his confessions. Mrs. Benas was profoundly touched.
+At first it merely interested her greatly, then it stirred her emotions.
+When she finished tears stood in her eyes. Rita, sobbing in mingled joy
+and sorrow, sought refuge in her mother's arms.
+
+What would be the outcome of it all? For the present Mrs. Benas could
+give no answer. But she quieted her, lovingly caressed the cheeks wet
+with streaming tears, and urged her to be calm. Nothing must be done
+precipitately, particularly because of the coming celebration. Such
+consideration was due to the old sage to whom this day was to be
+dedicated. Whatsoever might disturb the harmony, or cause bad humor or
+disquietude must be avoided. Surely she was not asking too much in
+expressing the wish that until after the celebration no decision should
+be reached. In the meantime, things must remain as they were; and she
+was convinced, a man like Dr. Weilen, wise and prudent, would acquiesce.
+
+"But he may visit us?" Rita anxiously questioned.
+
+"Certainly; he may come as before."
+
+"And shall I say nothing to him, mamma? Not speak to him of his letter?
+Not of all I think and feel?"
+
+"I can't prescribe as to that, dear child. But I trust your tact. The
+private understanding that has existed between you two until now, I do
+not want to disturb, and I cannot. But what I can ask of you is that you
+give me time to consider, and that you in turn accept patiently the
+terms demanded by circumstances. Do you promise me that, Rita?"
+
+"Yes, mamma; but Dr. Weilen?"
+
+"He will agree to whatever you want; and this evening you yourself shall
+tell him. I expect him to dinner, and I asked him to come a little
+earlier so as to have the chance to speak to him about the birthday
+celebration. I shall let you report to him that he will be a welcome
+guest there. And then you can tell him whatever your heart dictates; but
+your heart must not forget that with us Jews feeling of the individual
+for himself must give way to feeling for something else--for the family;
+and that such considerations at times require personal sacrifices. These
+sacrifices have made us great and strong, and have aroused in us the
+capacity for self-surrender and self-sacrificing love. They are founded
+upon the noble sentiments of piety and duty. The man who loves you will
+understand; because very likely he unconsciously loves in you these
+ethical principles under which you have grown up, and which have laid
+their impress upon your personality, your culture, and your appearance."
+
+Tenderly and proudly she looked at her daughter, in whom grace and
+modesty, dignity and humility, were charmingly blended, whose longing
+and love had not crowded out the feeling of obedience and compliance.
+
+Rita kissed her mother's hand in respect and gratitude.
+
+"And shall I not tell him that I have made you my confidante?"
+
+"I leave that to you; only I should not like to be forced into an
+understanding with him now. Leave everything as it was. You were content
+then, and you will lose nothing by the arrangement now."
+
+Rita withdrew. Mrs. Benas was left to her own thoughts, not free from
+anxiety, yet full of hope for the happiness of her daughter.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Benases and their guests, Dr. Weilen and Dr. Rosenfeld, were
+spending the evening together most agreeably. The dinner had passed off
+pleasantly. Mr. Benas was in a happy frame of mind, and his good spirits
+dispelled the reserve and formality that at first prevailed. Dr. Weilen,
+with his usual tact and good nature, promptly fell in with and abetted
+the high spirits of his host. Mrs. Benas, too, after momentary
+embarrassment, contributed in her refined and clever manner and with her
+considerate hospitality, to the pleasure of the small circle. Hugo was
+not so brusque as usual, owing to the benignant influence of his friend
+Henry. Rita seemed transformed by her secret happiness. Modest and
+reserved as she always was, her silence was not noticed. At times she
+glanced at Victor's face; and when their eyes happened to meet in love
+and perfect understanding, the blood rose precipitately to her cheeks.
+They had had a talk before dinner was served, and Rita had given him the
+news that he was to be welcomed at Uncle Leopold's celebration. He had
+gathered her in his arms, and pressed a kiss upon her forehead. "My
+wife, my dear wife," he said with emotion. She drew closer to him, but
+made no answer. Such was their betrothal--not the passionate, stormy
+love with which he had courted her on New Year's Day, but as though
+devoutly consecrating her. And she was happy.
+
+Then she told him of her conversation with her mother, and spoke of his
+letter, which had given her a deep insight into his life, and had
+brought consolation to her as well as to her mother, especially upon one
+point. She hesitated as she said this, and he sealed her lips with a
+kiss: "No, truly, I am no apostate! and my love and faith toward you
+will last forever, no matter what may come. And you, Rita?"
+
+"Nothing shall separate me from you," she answered simply but
+resolutely, as if registering a vow.
+
+Then they talked of her mother's request, and he readily consented to
+respect it. "If I am certain of your love, then I can reconcile myself
+to keeping this happiness to myself, until I can joyously proclaim it to
+the whole world. I must consent to the conditions your mother imposes,
+however trying they may be. At all events I shall see you; and we share
+a secret that makes us happy, and brings us yet closer together, if
+possible. When I look at you, my eyes will tell you that I love you, and
+I shall know that you are mine. And our eyes will meet in kisses, and
+every pressure of the hand will tell you of my hopes and longings. And
+this secret language which only we two understand will be more eloquent
+than spoken words."
+
+Tears stood in her eyes. When he saw her before him, in her sweet purity
+and virgin modesty, it seemed impossible to him to carry out his
+self-denying resolutions. He drew her to him again, and said excitedly:
+"And must I do without you, be with you and not enfold you, not kiss
+you? Impossible! How long must it be?"
+
+Then he became calm again. "Well, then, it must be."
+
+When later on, Mrs. Benas entered, he kissed her hand. Not a word was
+said; yet they knew that each understood the other and that they were in
+accord. When the rest of the company joined them, nothing betrayed their
+secret conference. After dinner they gathered in the small drawing-room.
+Dr. Weilen's tactfulness made it easy to guide the conversation into
+general channels. He told of the successes of Germany's colonial policy,
+and what far-reaching significance it possessed.
+
+"I do not quite understand why this policy is so obstinately opposed
+here," said Mr. Benas.
+
+"It is because the masses are short-sighted, and appreciate nothing that
+cannot be realized in the near future. Their hand-to-mouth mode of
+living is the standard by which they measure everything. Why spend money
+upon ventures that will profit only future generations? Decidedly not.
+What nonsense! Here are the pennies, here is the bread for their own
+stomachs. What business of ours is it, if the coming generation eats
+cake instead of hard, dry bread? To-day's policy knows no to-morrow.
+Such is the logic of the narrow-minded and the illiberal, the philosophy
+of an insect with one day to live. It is obvious why the people espouse
+the policy, but it will not do to have it become the dominant policy. It
+has always been necessary to force upon the masses what was for their
+own good. Reformers and tyrants have had to apply the same formulae. They
+have always had to be firm, resolute, not easily discouraged. They had
+to rule! Whatever they regarded as right, had to be carried through at
+every cost. World-power cannot be attained under a narrow local policy."
+
+"Do you set great store by our colonial policy?"
+
+"Decidedly so. For a long time I worked in the colonial department, and
+even now I take pleasure in following up our colonial affairs. The more
+I look into the matter, the more I am convinced that a world-power can
+be properly developed only upon a colonial basis."
+
+"The Palestinian agricultural colonies for the Eastern Jews are also a
+part of the colonial policy," Hugo said; and addressing himself directly
+to Dr. Weilen, he added: "I don't know whether this has ever occupied
+your attention."
+
+"Surely it has; how can you doubt it? How could anyone who is chiefly
+occupied with such affairs pass it by unheeding? Was it likely that I
+would be the exception? On the whole it is a matter that attracts more
+attention than is generally supposed, even in well-informed circles. The
+efforts now being made are well known. They are taken note of, even
+though not with approval. Projects for the formation of an independent
+government would certainly not be favored. People might smile pityingly
+or contemptuously at them, perhaps oppose them as hostile to the
+constituted authorities. But the formula of reformers and tyrants
+applies to the Jews as well: let them be strong of will, indomitable,
+not easily discouraged, and persistent."
+
+"Dr. Weilen!" The exclamation rang with doubt and hope. Hugo stared with
+burning eyes, in an attempt to read Victor's meaning. Was he trifling,
+or was he serious? Henry likewise looked at the speaker with surprise;
+his eyes seemed to plead: "Do not make mock of what is sacred to us."
+Then a menacing expression lit up his beautiful, noble face, as he
+said: "The leaders of this cause are aware of the importance of their
+undertakings, and they surely do not lack courage to carry them
+through."
+
+"Are you amongst the leaders?"
+
+"Not yet, but I hope to be; at any rate my life is entirely dedicated to
+the cause."
+
+He glanced involuntarily from Dr. Weilen to Rita, and a pained smile
+flitted across his lips.
+
+Dr. Weilen caught the glance, and noticed that Rita's pale face had
+flushed. In a flash, he recognized the tragedy of his young life; this
+enthusiast loved her. But devotion to his ideals, to his unhappy race,
+was the stronger motive, and like a hero, he bade adieu to all desires
+and hopes, strangled them before they could command him. Rita must have
+had some suspicion of his feelings, else why had she blushed? He looked
+at her, but her eyes revealed only the most complete surrender to
+himself. Deep sympathy for Henry possessed him. A bond united them.
+Henry had looked on the lovely flower, had watched in silence the
+glorious unfolding of its petals. As a friend of her brother, her
+friend, too, and a favorite of the family, he might have won her. But
+voluntarily he renounced her, and chose to tread the thorny path, at
+whose distant, far distant end beckoned the fulfilment of his ideals.
+How could he resign her? He studied the young man. How could he give her
+up,--Rita? His eyes sought Rita. On her countenance lay the reflection
+of happy pride and inner contentment. It had made her ineffably happy to
+hear him speak as he did of the question that engaged her sympathies,
+chiefly because it formed the supreme interest of the brother to whom
+she was attached so intimately and lovingly. Mrs. Benas likewise showed
+her satisfaction with Dr. Weilen's attitude, and she looked triumphantly
+first at her son and then at her husband.
+
+A slight, somewhat skeptical smile played about Mr. Benas's lips, while
+Hugo, not able wholly to control his excitement, exclaimed:
+
+"And you yourself, Dr. Weilen, what is your opinion of the movement?"
+
+"From a purely theoretical point of view, as I said, I am throughout in
+favor of a colonial policy. I consider the expansion and the extension
+of our possessions an absolute necessity in order to meet the increased
+needs of the nation. I admire the keen foresight of the Emperor, who has
+recognized this, and has made it his chief aim to fill the arteries of
+the kingdom with fresh, strong blood. The advantages of the undertaking
+will become apparent only to future generations, and it will then be
+difficult to understand the opposition of those who objected to his
+plans; and that for small considerations, because money considerations
+are always petty, unless they further great ends. To save at the wrong
+time and at the wrong place is always a poor policy; and to try to set
+aside important matters with trifling jests is simply stupid. You can't
+help despising your opponents, when you know positively that they don't
+understand what they oppose. In the minds of those who are thoroughly
+interested in the subject, there is no doubt that the coming century
+will be largely occupied with the development of colonial affairs, and
+that such measures will decidedly affect social conditions. Mistakes
+will be made. There will be disappointments, but every pioneer
+enterprise must contend with that. The method of the reformer and the
+tyrant will have to be enforced, as has so often been done in the
+history of mankind. There is a power that stands behind justice, which
+obstinacy converts into injustice."
+
+Here he paused and considered. His explanations had been listened to
+with the greatest interest. No objection was interposed, and so he
+continued: "Now in regard to the colonial plans of the Jews: no
+objection will be made by those who have accepted the colonial policy as
+their programme, and who expect in the near future to see a practical
+fulfilment of their carefully evolved plans. Why should not the most
+beneficial results come from such colonization? Civilization will in its
+movement return from West to East, where it began. Why should not the
+descendants of those who carried it from its source to all quarters of
+the earth be the ones to bring it back? But I must not conceal from you
+that this is merely my personal view of the matter. Recently, when I
+became absorbed in the question, because I had acquired an especial
+interest in it,"--he said this with unmistakable pointedness--"I found
+that I did not look at it from a merely objective and logical point of
+view, but that my sentiments were involved. At crucial moments you
+remember that you are the great-grandson of Rabbi Akiba Friedlaender.
+With pride I recall that our great-grandfather, Rabbi Eliezer, with one
+of his sons-in-law,--I think it was your father, Mrs. Benas,--was given
+an audience by Frederick William III in order to discuss the
+colonization of the Jews in Palestine, and to beg his protection. So
+long ago as that, and he an old Rabbi from the province of Posen! What
+crops out in me as a practical interest in colonial schemes, and what
+makes you, my friend, so deeply devoted to the cause, may be the legacy
+of our ancestry. Possibly this prevents us from judging these matters
+quite fairly; but, then, our family, in whom this idea has been kept
+alive for generations, may fitly uphold it without incurring the charge
+of being dreamers or political schemers."
+
+He noticed how Rita's face was transfigured while he spoke. He saw that
+his host was pleased, and that Mrs. Benas was beaming with calm content,
+and showed her pleasure and pride, that a descendant of Rabbi Akiba
+Friedlaender should hold these views. He felt Henry's inspired gaze rest
+upon him in questioning surprise, and in Hugo's face he read the same
+sentiments that filled his own soul at the time.
+
+"If only we could shout to the entire race," the boy exclaimed, overcome
+with emotion, "'Don't forget your glorious past, be proud of your
+mission among the peoples of the earth, endure sorrow in hope of the day
+when you will enjoy an endless period of honor and self-confidence.'"
+
+Rita rose involuntarily, and stood next to her brother. Henry had also
+drawn near to his friend; and the three young people formed an
+impressive group--Hugo in the proud posture of a conqueror, Henry with
+the devoted expression of apostolic enthusiasm, and Rita in pure
+happiness, the embodiment of youth and beauty awaiting victory. Dr.
+Weilen, regarding the trio pensively, went on to say:
+
+"Young Israel may not be deprived of its ideals; those ideals are too
+worthy, too potent, to be lost; their peculiarity should be cherished,
+not destroyed." He looked feelingly at Rita, and she seemed to accept
+the glance as a promise. Mrs. Benas also read the message and a faint
+smile of content passed over her lips.
+
+The conversation then assumed a more general character, although they
+came back several times to the subject that had given Dr. Weilen
+occasion to present his views. Dr. Rosenfeld found an opportunity to
+express his opinions of the present position of the Jews. He spoke in
+his melancholy, but sympathetic manner:
+
+"It is quite inexplicable that the Jew so often lacks courage to
+acknowledge to himself exactly what he is. The adherents of other faiths
+think they must protect themselves against Jewish influence, and they
+fear a loss of their national peculiarities. Astounding that this
+instinct of self-preservation is lacking in the Jew! That he is not
+proud and haughty enough to defend his characteristics and to uphold
+them, just as the other races do, especially since his inheritance
+includes such worthy and brilliant qualities. Until recent times there
+was a bond that united the Jews, it is true, not in free, courageous
+self-consciousness, but in humility and subjection. The bond was their
+faith. But to-day, when this faith is shaken,--for as soon as the
+revered old forms and customs are changed, it becomes insecure,--to-day
+when among many Jews this faith is undermined by destructive criticism,
+by the onslaught of rationalism, something else must take its place, and
+that something is historical consciousness. Everywhere except among the
+Jews the feeling of nationality has reached a higher expression than
+ever. Yet the consciousness of their great past and of their mighty
+cultural development would justify their taking such a position. It is
+urged that the religious, conservative Israelite will continue to exist
+despite the modern Jew; but one thing is forgotten, that every new
+generation is the modern generation; the old die off to make room for
+the younger. But where among the new, the newer, and the newest, in
+generation after generation, do you find those who maintain their
+traditions unaltered? Let us not deceive ourselves. Where is the Jewish
+home to-day like the home of yesterday? The spirit of the new age has
+brought about a change even in families maintaining the old traditions
+with reverence and pride. At best, in some quiet, retired corner they
+build a temple in memory of the past, possibly only when an aged,
+venerable member of the family guards the sanctuary like a priest and
+patriarch."
+
+"Rosenfeld," teased Mr. Benas, "your allusions are plainly personal."
+
+"Forgive me, Mr. Benas," he answered, his pale face flushing, "it was no
+hidden allusion, but a plain reference to the example of your family,
+all the members of which, though living a modern life, and having
+discarded religious tradition, yet are preparing to celebrate a festival
+according to the old Jewish custom. What is bringing them together,
+however, is not their faith, not their customs, but one of their number,
+who has attained the age of a patriarch,--an old man whom they wish to
+honor, whom they regard with devotion and affection. This old sage will
+be ninety years old, and these sentiments of the occasion are purely
+personal, concerning a single individual. It is not faith, only filial
+reverence. How long will Israel continue to have patriarchs? How long
+will honor be brought to them? And if this bond is broken, and the
+historical sentiment does not grow strong in Israel to take its place,
+what then? There are many who say, Our mission fulfilled, we dare not
+complain, if we, the small minority, dissolve as an independent
+influence. One cannot oppose such a view; there is much to justify it,
+and it contains much truth. But it is a sad truth, and I should not
+like it to be my conviction; for I would not have my race to disappear.
+It is worthy to survive. It has great and glorious possibilities. Under
+the sunshine of a free development these will blossom forth and bear
+fine fruit and make Israel great among the nations."
+
+His speech was apparently dispassionate, and his arguments were set
+forth clearly and objectively. But his voice vibrated, as with
+suppressed grief, a bitter appeal, and inner distress. His noble, quiet
+countenance seemed to convey a silent plaint, but the speech of his eyes
+was eloquent. They expressed entreaty, enthusiasm, and hope.
+
+Mr. Benas was lost in thought, while Hugo impulsively clasped his
+friend's hand.
+
+The suspense and excitement that had taken hold of all was broken only
+when Mrs. Benas asked them to think of more material matters, and
+invited them to take a glass of beer or wine and a sandwich. The clever
+woman had waited for the right moment. They chatted yet a while of
+indifferent matters. Somewhat later, when Dr. Weilen found himself alone
+with Rita, he asked: "Who is this Dr. Rosenfeld?"
+
+"A student friend of Hugo's. Hugo brought him here, and he has become a
+favorite of all of us."
+
+"Of you, too, Rita?"
+
+"Yes," she said simply.
+
+Her candor pleased him. "Have you been with him much?"
+
+"He became my friend, especially during the last few months, when he
+gave me lessons in philosophy, and introduced me to the ideas of the
+great thinkers."
+
+"He loves you, Rita?"
+
+She looked at him with moist eyes, and said in a low voice: "He has
+never told me so."
+
+"Who could live near you and not love you? But he is carved out of the
+stuff of which martyrs are made."
+
+Involuntarily they both looked at Henry who was approaching with Hugo.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A few days before the Passover festival the excitement and bustle apt to
+precede great events took possession of the little town of Rawitsch. The
+preparations for the celebration of the ninetieth birthday of Leopold
+Friedlaender were in full swing. Mrs. Benas and her daughter Rita had
+been upon the scene of action for three days. They had personally
+directed the preparations, and assisted their relatives. Mrs. Benas was
+staying with her cousin Rebecca Strelitz, the oldest daughter of Uncle
+Leopold. On the day after her arrival, she astonished all Rawitsch by
+appearing at the market with Rebecca and Friederike, the second
+daughter, who had married Meyer Pinkus, a city alderman. They were
+accompanied by the cook, whom she had sent from Berlin a week before.
+"The Frau Geheimraetin deigned to superintend, in her own person, the
+buying of turkeys and ducks and geese," the poulterer had reported at
+the _Minchah_ service. What could not be had in the little village had
+been ordered from Berlin; and under the direction of Uncle Leopold's
+daughter-in-law Hannah, at whose house the celebration was to take
+place, baking and preserving and the preparing of all sorts of
+delicacies had been busily going on for several days, in a kitchen
+especially fitted out for the occasion. To Rita and to two young girls
+from Breslau and Mannheim,--who had also come with their mothers, the
+granddaughters of Uncle Leopold,--the life in the little village seemed
+extraordinary. The great-niece as well as the great-grandchildren had
+been raised under entirely different circumstances, and all the
+ceremonial customs observed in preparation for the week of the Passover
+by the entire community, but especially in the homes of their relatives,
+were new and strange to them. On the last evening before the beginning
+of the Passover they had been present at the _Chometz batteln_. The
+venerable old man took the lead, carrying a taper, some quills, and a
+large cooking spoon. He was followed by his seventy-year-old son Isidor
+and his wife. Thus they all went through the entire house in order to
+remove the last vestiges of leaven. Rita was especially impressed with
+the seriousness with which this was undertaken, and with the extreme
+significance attached to these customs. The participants clearly laid
+greater store by the Passover than by the anniversary celebration. The
+religious observance took precedence of the personal. During the day
+many more of the relatives arrived, among them several members of the
+family from the Russian city of Pinsk. They were adherents of the old
+Orthodoxy, with even a strong leaning in some of them toward Chassidism.
+They had accepted the hospitality of a distant relative who was
+especially pious. At the inn, "The Golden Swan," the guests from Munich
+and Vienna were lodged; and on the afternoon of the next day, all the
+rest were expected, among them Mr. Benas, Hugo, and Dr. Weilen. The tall
+poulterer, so-called because of his vocation of judging live poultry,
+was the chronicler of the village, and Shmul Weissbacher, who was called
+"Rebbe on the contrary," because he always took opposite sides from the
+person who spoke to him, ran from house to house spreading the latest
+news; the former circulating a rumor, the latter denying the report. The
+excitement in the community grew from hour to hour.
+
+In order to make sufficient room for the table, two large chambers had
+been thrown into one by the removal of the partition.
+
+The poulterer reported that they were taking out the walls of the house,
+while "Rebbe on the contrary" declared they weren't tearing down the
+walls at all, merely a bit of boarding between the rooms.
+
+At all events Mrs. Benas's scheme furnished an appropriate apartment.
+The big room looked decidedly inviting, with its decorations of white
+bunting and green pine boughs. Adjoining was the spacious "best room" of
+the house; here the large doors dividing the rooms had been removed, and
+the tables so disposed as to form one large banquet board. The general
+effect was fine.
+
+At twilight the guests assembled for the Seder. The Geheimrat, who
+arrived somewhat early to consult with his wife, still occupied with her
+arrangements, was most agreeably surprised.
+
+"You have managed splendidly," he said, gallantly kissing his wife's
+hand. "Truly, wonderfully!"
+
+Everybody agreed with him, when, after greeting the head of the family,
+they sat down to the table. It was covered with fine white damask, and
+literally glistened with silver and glass. The wine sparkled in
+magnificently cut caraffes. It had come with the pale oranges from the
+colonies of the Holy Land. Everything was arranged most effectively. The
+Geheimrat had kept his word, and had sent such costly, handsome silver
+that it might have served for the table of a prince. And like a prince
+Leopold Friedlaender sat among his own. To-day the modest, honest,
+unassuming man was a king; not only the king of the family celebration,
+but the king of a religious festival.
+
+In a robe of white, once his wedding costume, and later to be used as
+his shroud, a white cap bound with a wide silver band resting on his
+snow-white hair, he sat supported by soft pillows, covered with white
+embroidery. At his side sat his daughter-in-law, Hannah, in a grey
+brocade dress, with a heavy golden chain about her neck, and a cap of
+ivory-white lace bedecked with lilac ribbons pressed low on her
+forehead, the traditional head-dress of strictly orthodox Jewesses.
+Friederike and Rebecca, her two oldest daughters, likewise wore caps,
+of more modern fashion however. The relatives from Pinsk still clung to
+the old fashion of the silk _Sheitel_, with which a married Jewess
+entirely conceals her hair, replacing her natural adornment by costly
+jewels. Strands of pearls were wound about their heads. In fact all the
+Russian members of the family displayed such a wealth of diamonds and
+jewels that Mr. Benas could hardly suppress a smile of amusement.
+
+The husbands of the two ladies from Pinsk were attired in long silk
+caftans, and side-curls escaped on each cheek from beneath their caps.
+In contrast to these were the elegant modern gowns worn by the rest of
+the family. The young women were arrayed in light airy dresses, and
+their coiffures--brown or blonde or reddish or deep black,--suggested
+Botticelli pictures. The men were in full dress.
+
+And the company was no less diverse in its composition than in the
+appearance of its members. Along with the representatives of the old
+Judaism, which had maintained itself unchanged for centuries, all shades
+and grades of belief were represented. There were the orthodox, the
+pious, the conservative, the liberal, the reformed,--and an apostate!
+Similarly, all social stations were represented: high officials, an
+Oberverwaltungsrat, and an attorney-general from Munich--descended from
+the South German branch of the Friedlaenders--professors, physicians,
+lawyers, engineers, manufacturers, and merchants. There was lacking only
+a representative of the rabbis. There were several in the family; but
+they had been prevented from coming because of the necessity of
+officiating during the holidays. Among the younger generation there were
+gifted youths of studious habits, two Bavarian officers and an Austrian
+officer in uniform; barristers, assessors, engineers, tradesmen, and
+even those who had learnt a craft, and yet there was harmony in this
+composite picture,--a harmony created by the common sentiment
+possessing all in this hour.
+
+Leopold Friedlaender drew the large silver Seder platter towards him. It
+was decorated with the symbolic dishes of the service. The golden shells
+at the four corners contained the Charoseth, the bitter herbs, the egg
+roasted in ashes, and the salt water. In the middle were the Matzoth
+covered with a white silk cloth, on which were embroidered, in gold,
+lions supporting the shield of David worked in silver and jewels. Under
+this stood the blessings in Hebrew letters. A granddaughter had executed
+this beautiful bit of needlework. And now the treble voice of a
+five-year-old boy, the son of a great-great-grandchild of the patriarch,
+was heard saying the first words of the Haggadah: "_Mah nishtaneh
+ha-Layloh hazeh?_" This little boy, sitting at the table of his
+ancestors, was the representative of the fifth living generation. He
+traced his ancestry directly back to the Rabbis Eliezer and Akiba
+Friedlaender, known as learned and high-minded men, whose virtues and
+piety, attainments and generosity, had brought honors to them, not only
+from the Jews, but also from those of other faiths. When little Jacob,
+in childlike tones, but clearly and distinctly asked the prescribed
+question, was Leopold Friedlaender thinking of his father and
+grandfather? For he bent over his Haggadah, and tears flowed from his
+weary old eyes.
+
+Deep emotion took hold of the company. They all looked from the old man
+to the child,--who was staring about him with wide-open eyes and with
+unsuspecting curiosity,--and then again from the child to the old man.
+All sorts of questions and ideas crowded into the minds of the guests.
+The old Judaism and the new,--how would they exist together? Peacefully
+and quietly as in this hour? And would youth listen devoutly when age
+taught the lessons from the history of the race? Would the young people
+of the future gather about the patriarchs? Would they leave the busy
+life, the gay bustle of existence, its struggles, and its duties in
+search of consecration and peace? Such a miracle was happening in this
+simple Jewish home. In a spirit of reverence they followed the recital
+of the Haggadah, as the patriarch intoned in a feeble but impressive
+voice, the queer, outlandish, Talmudic, and casuistic interpretations of
+the festival. And when, with trembling hands, he filled the tall silver
+beaker with the wine destined for the prophet Elijah, he rose in his
+chair, and with the expression of religious faith imprinted upon his
+aged features, exclaimed, _Leshonoh habooh bi-Yerusholoyim_, a spirit of
+awe descended upon the company. No one seemed able for the moment to
+throw off the inspiring impression, not even those who failed to share
+the hopes expressed in the prayer.
+
+Hugo Benas was most deeply affected. "So it must be," he whispered to
+his mother, who sat next to him. "Though worlds apart in their views,
+in standards of life, in position, in culture, they are united by ties
+of race. And wherever Jews live in this way, a spiritual Zion will
+arise, as here, in this humble abode."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The assembled relatives had drawn close together during these holidays.
+Points of contact had appeared, the old bonds had been renewed, new ones
+had been formed; and with complacency they told one another of the many
+members of the family who had attained high positions in civil life.
+Honor was paid to those who had kept the religious traditions
+uncontaminated. Undisturbed harmony reigned, and not even Victor Weilen
+formed a discordant element. Curiously enough, one of the Pinsker kin,
+who knew nothing of Victor's apostasy (for the subject had not been
+referred to), was most attracted to him; and Victor questioned the
+pious and intelligent man about the condition of the Jews in Russia. It
+was of interest to him to hear how the old orthodoxy had been preserved
+there, and had become a factor in politics, in which, despite their
+religious segregation, the Jews were necessarily involved. Mr. Benas,
+however, could not resist a good-humored yet slightly satirical remark,
+when he repeatedly saw these two men together. "Under the shelter of the
+Patriarch, the orthodox and the apostate come together," he said to
+Hugo, who responded: "That is Zion."
+
+With these impressions fresh in mind, the Benases returned home; and as
+a result of their influence the union of Weilen with Rita was not
+opposed, not even by Hugo. Since the evening on which Dr. Weilen had so
+freely stated his views concerning colonization, Hugo had been less
+distant toward him, and in the course of time the relation between them
+grew in cordiality. They had discussed the Jewish question repeatedly,
+and Hugo was always agreeably impressed by the man's calm, his lack of
+prejudice, and his sincerity. Such qualities counted doubly in his case.
+They had also touched upon his change of belief, and Dr. Weilen had said
+in regard to it: "The new belief that I adopted could give me nothing,
+just as the loss of the other had taken nothing from me, because I was
+not devout in this sense; and that liberated me, and it keeps me free
+even to-day, as a mature man, to acknowledge and associate myself with
+those to whom I am attached by a bond which has a deeper hold than this
+or that rite or ceremony can possibly have."
+
+And when Hugo saw him so full of tact, taking a cordial interest in all
+who flocked about the patriarch, on the spot that since then he called
+"Zion," he had taken him into his young heart, readily fired with
+enthusiasm. He understood his sister's love for this man, and he no
+longer resisted the inevitable outcome: that she should become his wife
+according to the laws of the land in which they lived. But then ...
+then!
+
+The engagement was celebrated privately. On the evening of its
+announcement, when the family was gathered together, the Geheimrat, who
+had feared Hugo's impetuous disposition, and who now saw him consent so
+joyously, gave him a great surprise, too. This day on which his daughter
+was to be made so happy, should also be of special significance to his
+son. He announced to Hugo that he was ready to interest himself in the
+colonies in Palestine, and to help them financially. With overflowing
+gratefulness Hugo flung his arms about his father, and kissed and
+fondled his mother. Rita and Victor declared that they regarded this
+decision as their finest betrothal gift.
+
+Hugo was happy. "Then I may dedicate myself entirely to these aims? When
+I have passed my final examinations?" he said, half in question and half
+in decision.
+
+Mr. Benas frowned slightly: "That means I must give not only my
+millions but also my son to the cause?" The words sounded good-humored,
+yet as though he were making fun of himself. "That is building Utopia at
+heavy expense to me."
+
+"Zion, father, Zion, wherever it may be."
+
+"_Noblesse oblige_," Mrs. Benas interrupted. "That was the lesson of our
+visit to Uncle Leopold's, those memorable days under the shelter of the
+Patriarch."
+
+"Mamma is right," said Victor. "And if all Jews thought and acted as you
+have done, dear father, then happiness and hope would find lodging even
+among the unfortunate members of our persecuted race, and blessings
+would spring up. Where? Well, the world is so big and so great....
+Civilization is so eager to conquer, and Israel so persistent and
+enduring."
+
+His tone was cordial, convincing, and soothing.
+
+Involuntarily Rita stepped to his side, and he drew her gently to him.
+
+"And he who speaks thus, father, is--"
+
+"He is the _fiance_ of our daughter, of your sister, Hugo," Mr. Benas
+quickly interrupted.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was spring time. In beauty and splendor the spring had taken
+possession of the earth! In youth, joy, and glory everything seemed
+changed, and awakened to new life by the sweet kisses of the sun. Lovers
+are peculiarly sensitive to such joy. Entranced, Rita and Victor were
+looking out from the terrace of the house upon the park, which, in its
+green attire, lay before them in Easter splendor. Victor had taken
+Rita's hand, and held it in silent happiness.
+
+Hugo approached them with two open letters in his hand.
+
+"Mother said I should find you here."
+
+"Is it not beautiful here, Hugo?" asked his sister. "At this time of the
+year Berlin always seems wonderful to me, especially out here. How
+glorious it is!"
+
+He paid no attention to her remarks and said: "I looked for you to show
+you these letters, one from Henry, and the other...." He looked at one
+of the letters. "Elkish informs me that he has decided to retire."
+
+Her expression became sad: "We might have foreseen that," she said in a
+low voice.
+
+"He wishes to return with his sister to his home in Lissa."
+
+"What does father say?"
+
+"He feels he must accept the resignation, and will, of course, allow him
+a proper pension."
+
+Victor had listened in silence to the conversation between sister and
+brother.
+
+"Is he an old retainer of your house?"
+
+Rita nodded assent.
+
+"Is he going because I have come? Does his fanaticism drive him away?"
+
+"Perhaps, but may be he is worn out."
+
+It was apparent from the tone of her voice that she herself had no faith
+in her reassuring words.
+
+"O no," said Hugo, "he goes because he can no longer comprehend us, so
+he writes, and he does not wish to make the leave-taking hard,
+therefore...."
+
+"He does not wish to see me again?" Rita cried out in pain.
+
+Superiority was sharply expressed in his countenance, strong
+self-consciousness, untempered by sympathy. Rita looked at Weilen as
+though to beg his pardon, while Hugo's serious eyes gazed into vacancy.
+For several minutes there was silence, then Dr. Weilen asked: "And what
+does your friend Rosenfeld write?"
+
+Hugo breathed freely, as if a burden had been lifted from off his soul.
+"He! He wishes you joy from the bottom of his heart. He is delighted to
+hear that Rita is happy." Then he looked over the letter as if searching
+for a particular passage. "Here: 'I thank you for the news of your
+sister's engagement. Such a girl's choice can only bring happiness, and
+make her happy; for truth and purity are united in her, and such
+natures as hers are sure to find what is right. What little I know of
+Dr. Weilen warrants this assurance. Dr. Weilen seems to me a man of deep
+insight and fine feeling, in whom strength and tenderness go
+together--qualities desirable in the husband of a highly intellectual
+woman like Rita. Devout in her tender soul and tolerant in her clear
+head, that is her personality. Her mission is to minister to the
+happiness of one individual. But as for us, we must think of the common
+weal, and to it we will dedicate our strength and our blood. And now let
+us set forth on the road, even though it be wearisome. Let us be up and
+doing.... Let us labor in behalf of our co-religionists." He folded the
+letter. "Yes, that shall be our mission."
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Benas had stepped into the door and stood looking at their
+children. They had overheard Hugo's last words, and they appreciated the
+solemnity of the moment. And the consummation of their hopes was
+glorified by the soft, golden radiance of the spring.
+
+
+
+
+GLOSSARY
+
+(_All words given below, unless otherwise specified, are Hebrew. The
+transliteration aims to reproduce the colloquial pronunciation of Hebrew
+words by German Jews._)
+
+
+AL CHET. "For the sin," beginning of a confession of sins.
+
+AMHOREZ. Ignoramus.
+
+AMRAZIM. Plural of the previous word. Ignoramuses.
+
+BAAL-MILCHOMOH. Soldier.
+
+BAALE-BATIM. Householders. Substantial and respectable members of the
+community, who contribute to its support.
+
+BAR-MITZVAH. Religious majority, at the age of thirteen, when a Jewish
+lad is expected to take all religious duties upon himself.
+
+BEKOVET. Honorable; dignified.
+
+BESOMIM. Spices, used at the ceremony of _Habdalah_, marking the end of
+the Sabbath.
+
+BORUCH HA-SHEM. "Blessed be the Name" (of God).
+
+CHAROSETH. A mixture of apples, raisins, wine, cinnamon, etc., used at
+the _Seder_, symbolic of the mortar which the Israelites prepared in
+Egypt.
+
+CHAS VE-SHOLEM. "Mercy and peace." Heaven forbid!
+
+CHAVRUSSEH. Society; company.
+
+CHAZEN. Cantor; precentor.
+
+CHOCHMES. Wise ideas; oversubtle notions.
+
+CHOMETZ BATTELN. To do away with all leaven (before Passover).
+
+CHUTZPEH. Arrogance; audacity; impudence.
+
+DAVVENING (?). Reciting the prayers of the liturgy.
+
+EVADDE. Assuredly; certainly.
+
+FROMM (Ger.). Pious; observant (of religions and ritual ceremonies).
+
+GEMOREH. The Talmud.
+
+GET. A bill of divorce.
+
+GOY. A non-Jew.
+
+KHILLE. Jewish congregation; Jewish community.
+
+KIDDUSH. Sanctification; the ceremony ushering in the Sabbath or a
+holiday.
+
+KOSHER. Ritually permitted.
+
+MAASEH. A story; an anecdote.
+
+MAH NISHTANEH HA-LAYLOH HAZEH. "What distinguishes this night" (from all
+other nights); the question introducing the narrative of the Exodus from
+Egypt in the Seder service of the Passover nights.
+
+MAIREV. Evening service.
+
+MALKEH. Queen.
+
+MATZOTH. Cakes of unleavened bread.
+
+MELECH. King.
+
+MENORAH. Candlestick used on _Chanukkah_ or Sabbath.
+
+MESHUGGE. Crazy.
+
+MESHUMMED. Apostate.
+
+MIKVEH. Ritual bath.
+
+MINCHAH. Afternoon service.
+
+MINYAN. A company of ten men, the minimum for a public service.
+
+MISHPOCHEH. Family in the wider sense; collateral branches as well as
+direct descendants; kin.
+
+MOGEN DOVID. "The Shield of David." A Jewish emblem.
+
+NARRONIM. (Ger. with Heb. ending). Fools.
+
+NEBBICH. (Slavic). An expression of pity. Poor thing! Too bad!
+
+OMED. Reading desk of the cantor in the synagogue.
+
+OSER. "Forbidden." Expression of defiance: You bet I won't; I'd like to
+catch myself, etc.
+
+OSHAMNU BOGADNU. "We have trespassed, we have dealt deceitfully." First
+two words in the alphabetic confession of sins.
+
+OVINU MALKENU. "Our Father, our King." Beginning of the lines of a
+well-known prayer. _See next word._
+
+OVINU MALKENU CHOSVENU BE-SEFER PARNOSSOH VE-CHALKOLOH. "Our Father, our
+King, inscribe us in the book of sustenance and maintenance." One line
+of a well-known prayer.
+
+PARCHONIM. Riff-raff; small fry; vermin.
+
+PESACH. Feast of Unleavened Bread; Passover.
+
+PLEITEGEHER. (Heb. and Ger.). An habitual bankrupt.
+
+POSHEH YISROEL. "A sinner in Israel"; one who disregards the ceremonial
+law of Judaism.
+
+RAV. Officiating rabbi.
+
+REBBETZIN. (Heb. with Ger. suffix). Wife of the officiating rabbi.
+
+ROSHEKOL. Head of the Jewish community.
+
+SEDER. Home service on the first two nights of the Passover.
+
+SHABBES. Sabbath.
+
+SHABBES GOY. A non-Jew engaged, often by all the families in a Jewish
+congregation, to do work forbidden the Jew on the Sabbath, such as
+kindling a fire, etc.
+
+SHADCHEN. Marriage broker.
+
+SHAMMES. Verger; beadle; sexton.
+
+SHEITEL (Ger.). A covering for the head, to hide the hair of a married
+Jewess.
+
+SHEM YISBORACH. "The Name (of God) be blessed."
+
+SHEMA YISROEL. "Hear, O Israel"; beginning of the Jewish confession of
+faith.
+
+SHICKSEL. (Heb. with Ger. suffix). Drastic expression for a non-Jewish
+girl.
+
+SHIKKER. Habitual drunkard.
+
+SHIVEH. "Seven" days of mourning, immediately after a death occurs in a
+family.
+
+SHIVOH OSER BE-TAMUZ. "Seventeenth Day of Tamuz"; a fast day
+commemorating the first breach in the walls of Jerusalem by
+Nebuchadnezzar, who took the Temple itself three weeks later.
+
+SHNORRERS (Ger.). Beggars.
+
+SHOLOSH SUDES. The third meal on the Sabbath.
+
+SHUL (Ger.). Synagogue.
+
+SHULCHAN ORUCH. The Jewish code of ritual laws, etc.
+
+SUKKOTH. Feast of Tabernacles.
+
+TALLES. Prayer-scarf.
+
+TALMID CHOCHOM. A Jewish scholar, learned specifically in Jewish lore.
+
+TASHLICH. "Thou wilt cast"; ceremony connected with the afternoon of the
+first day of New Year, and observed at a running stream or at the
+seashore.
+
+TREFA. Ritually unfit for food.
+
+TZORES. Trials; tribulations.
+
+WAIGESCHRIEEN (Ger.). Woe is me.
+
+YEVORECHECHO ADONAY VE-YISHMERECHO. "May the Lord bless thee and keep
+thee."
+
+YICHUS. Aristocracy; good family connections.
+
+YIDDISHKEIT (Ger.). Jewishness.
+
+YOM KIPPUR. Day of Atonement.
+
+YONTEF. Holiday; festival.
+
+ZECHER ZADDIK LIVROCHOH. "The remembrance of the righteous is for a
+blessing."
+
+ZECHUS. Merit; privilege.
+
+ZICHRONO LIVROCHOH. "His memory is for a blessing."
+
+The Lord Baltimore Press
+
+BALTIMORE, MD., U. S. A.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Simon Eichelkatz; The Patriarch, by Ulrich Frank
+
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