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diff --git a/37419-h/37419-h.htm b/37419-h/37419-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..24ee07b --- /dev/null +++ b/37419-h/37419-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,7751 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" +"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en" xml:lang="en"> + <head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> +<title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Simon Eichelkatz; The Patriarch, by Ulrich Frank. +</title> +<style type="text/css"> + p {margin-top:.2em;text-align:justify;margin-bottom:.2em;text-indent:2%;} + +.c {text-align:center;text-indent:0%;} + +.cb {text-align:center;text-indent:0%;font-weight:bold;} + +.eng {text-align:center;text-indent:0%;font-weight:bold;font-family:Old English Text MT, serif;} + +.hang {text-indent:-2%;margin-left:5%;} + +.note {margin: .2em 5em .2em 5em;text-align:justify;text-indent:2%;font-size:90%;} + +.r {text-align:right;margin:4% 5% 2% auto;} + +small {font-size: 70%;} + + h1 {margin-top:10%;text-align:center;clear:both;font-size:150%;} + + h2 {margin-top:10%;text-align:center;clear:both;font-size:115%;} + + hr {width:90%;margin:2em auto 2em auto;clear:both;color:black;} + + hr.full {width: 50%;margin:5% auto 5% auto;border:4px double gray;} + + table {margin:2% auto 2% auto;border:none;text-align:left;} + + body{margin-left:2%;margin-right:2%;background:#fdfdfd;color:black;font-family:"Times New Roman", serif;font-size:medium;} + +a:link {background-color:#ffffff;color:blue;text-decoration:none;} + + link {background-color:#ffffff;color:blue;text-decoration:none;} + +a:visited {background-color:#ffffff;color:purple;text-decoration:none;} + +a:hover {background-color:#ffffff;color:#FF0000;text-decoration:underline;} + +.smcap {font-variant:small-caps;font-size:95%;} + + img {border:none;} + +.figcenter {margin:auto;text-align:center;text-indent:0%;} +</style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +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: ISO-8859-1 + +*** 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.) + + + + + + +</pre> + +<hr class="full" /> + +<p class="figcenter"> +<a href="images/cover_lg.jpg"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="342" height="550" alt="image of the book's cover" title="image of the book's cover" /></a> +</p> + +<p> +<br /> +<br /> +</p> + +<p class="cb"><a href="#SIMON_EICHELKATZ">SIMON EICHELKATZ</a><br /><br /> +——<br /><br /> +<a href="#THE_PATRIARCH">THE PATRIARCH</a></p> + +<p> +<br /> +<br /> +</p> + + + +<table border="3" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="center"><a href="#GLOSSARY"><b>Glossary</b></a></td></tr> +</table> + +<p><a name="page_007" id="page_007"></a></p> + +<p class="figcenter"> +<a href="images/title_lg.jpg"> +<img src="images/title_sml.jpg" width="316" height="550" alt="Simon Eichelkatz +The Patriarch; +Two Stories of Jewish Life; +By Ulrich Frank; +Translated +From the German; +Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication +Society of America; +1907" title="Simon Eichelkatz; +The Patriarch; +Two Stories of Jewish Life +By Ulrich Frank; +Translated +From the German; +Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication +Society of America; +1907" /></a> +</p> + +<p><a name="page_008" id="page_008"></a></p> + +<p><a name="page_009" id="page_009"></a></p> + +<h1><a name="SIMON_EICHELKATZ" id="SIMON_EICHELKATZ"></a>SIMON EICHELKATZ</h1> + +<p class="r"><span class="smcap">September</span> 9, 1900.<br /> +</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_010" id="page_010"></a> manufacturers for his +employees. My professional duties often take me there.</p> + +<p>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 <i>Yichus</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>In fact, is it possible for us moderns still to pray? And then those +remarkable Hebrew words, unintelligible to most of us now—<i>Ovinu +Malkenu!</i> The Church has converted them into the Lord's Prayer, the most +fervent of its prayers. <i>Ovinu Malkenu!</i> I see myself a little chap +standing next to my father. How surcharged<a name="page_011" id="page_011"></a> these words with belief and +faith and hope when spoken by him: <i>Ovinu Malkenu chosvenu be-Sefer +Parnossoh ve-Chalkoloh</i>—"Give us this day our daily bread!"</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.<a name="page_012" id="page_012"></a></p> + +<p>Truth compels me to admit that it was Simon Eichelkatz who prompted me +to put these thoughts of mine down in writing.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"Will you lead me there?" I asked politely.</p> + +<p>"Lead!" with a deprecating shrug of the shoulders. "Why should I lead? +It's right<a name="page_013" id="page_013"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>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!"</p> + +<p>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.<a name="page_014" id="page_014"></a></p> + +<p class="r"><span class="smcap">September 16.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>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:</p> + +<p>"What is the matter with Reb Shimme? Is he, God forbid, really sick? +He's never been this way before. I've known him—<a name="page_015" id="page_015"></a>may he long be +spared—these twenty years, but as he was to-day—"</p> + +<p>Feiwel tried to take my hand. "I must scold, <i>nebbich</i>. That's what he's +used to. And if I were suddenly to come along with fine manners, he +might think, <i>Chas ve-Sholem</i>, 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 <i>Meshummed</i>, 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."<a name="page_016" id="page_016"></a></p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>"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!"</p> + +<p>I explained the meaning of the word to him, and he breathed a sigh of +relief.<a name="page_017" id="page_017"></a></p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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—"</p> + +<p>At that moment it occurred to me I had never heard of a university +professor of that name.</p> + +<p>"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 <i>evadde</i> to +be named Eichner—such a name!"</p> + +<p>Eichner! Professor Friedrich Eichner, the most powerful of modern +thinkers, the philosopher of world-wide renown, a son of Simon +Eichelkatz!<a name="page_018" id="page_018"></a></p> + +<p class="r"><span class="smcap">September 22.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_019" id="page_019"></a> 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!</p> + +<p>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 name="page_020" id="page_020"></a> 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 <i>Khille</i>, 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!</p> + +<p>Now it seems to me as though Professor Friedrich Eichner could not +possibly have<a name="page_021" id="page_021"></a> 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:<a name="page_022" id="page_022"></a></p> + +<p>"The first <i>Bar-Mitzvah</i> that took place there was my son's. I still +remember the speech our <i>Rav</i> 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.'"</p> + +<p>Simon Eichelkatz—Friedrich Eichner!</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_023" id="page_023"></a> 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.</p> + +<p class="r"><span class="smcap">September 24.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_024" id="page_024"></a> +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 æsthetic Jewish wives and maidens.</p> + +<p>I dearly love my fellow-Jews. But my love for them must not blind me to +their weaknesses, and among their weaknesses I<a name="page_025" id="page_025"></a> 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!<a name="page_026" id="page_026"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_027" id="page_027"></a> of a great +melody. I wondered if Simon Eichelkatz had ever heard of <i>Stimmungen</i>. 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?"</p> + +<p>I had to smile as I put the question. "Now say <i>milieu</i>," 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<a name="page_028" id="page_028"></a> said slowly, as though +he were formulating his thoughts only with difficulty:</p> + +<p>"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 <i>Kiddush</i> 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."</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>"That's just what is called <i>Stimmungen</i>, Reb Shimme," I said, as in a +confused<a name="page_029" id="page_029"></a> dream. He nodded his head several times, but said nothing in +response.</p> + +<p class="r"><span class="smcap">September 25.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>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 <i>Parchonim</i> in the Khille. +My, how it did look when he came here! I remember it as though it were +yesterday. The first <i>Shabbes</i> in <i>Shul</i>—it was still the old +Shul—they little dreamed a time would come when there would be a 'New +Synagogue.' And <i>he</i> 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<a name="page_030" id="page_030"></a> 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 <i>Talmid +Chochom</i>; 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<a name="page_031" id="page_031"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>The narrator paused a while, as though he were letting the past take +form again in his mind.</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_032" id="page_032"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>Whence had Simon Eichelkatz taken these metaphors, these conceptions, +these words? I stood before a great riddle.</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>When I stepped out into the open air, it was still raining. Impenetrable +clouds hung low in the heavens, as if the whole world<a name="page_033" id="page_033"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>"Verily, I say unto you: Good and evil that perishes not—there is no +such thing. Out of itself it must always reconquer itself."</p> + +<p>I said these words half aloud. I shivered, and worn and weary I crept +home.</p> + +<p class="r"><span class="smcap">September 26.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_034" id="page_034"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>It was as though Simon Eichelkatz had guessed the tenor of my thoughts; +for he suddenly said:</p> + +<p>"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 <i>aurum</i>—excuse me, Herr Kreisphysikus, +aurum-<a name="page_035" id="page_035"></a>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 <i>Sholosh Sudes</i>, at Reb Dovidel Kessler's, and began to +agitate against him. 'What nonsense,' they screamed, 'there is no good +and no evil! He's <i>meshugge!</i> What sort of <i>Chochmes</i> is that? And he +wears a new-fashioned beard, like a—priest, and a gown and a cap—and +the <i>Talles</i> as narrow as a necktie—that wants to be a Rav.'"</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_036" id="page_036"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>In telling me these things, even at this late day something like +righteous indignation came over Simon Eichelkatz, usually so tranquil +and unruffled.</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_037" id="page_037"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>"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.<a name="page_038" id="page_038"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_039" id="page_039"></a> to +overturn the institutions he had introduced.</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"That's the way it must be, Herr Kreisphysikus.<a name="page_040" id="page_040"></a> 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?"</p> + +<p>Again those remarkable observations!</p> + +<p>"Are poisoned wells necessary, and evil-smelling fires, and foul dreams, +and maggots in the bread of life?"</p> + +<p>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?</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>My eye fell again on the daguerreotype—<a name="page_041" id="page_041"></a>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.</p> + +<p>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 +Röntgen rays.</p> + +<p class="r"><span class="smcap">September 28.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>The <i>Rebbetzin</i>! 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<a name="page_042" id="page_042"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_043" id="page_043"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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,<a name="page_044" id="page_044"></a> +and self-effacement, the utmost piety and self-sacrifice—all this they +demand of him.</p> + +<p>"In a way he was to take upon himself all the <i>Tzores</i> and wickedness +and stupidity of the <i>Baale-Batim</i>," continued Simon Eichelkatz, "and +the more aggressions they allowed themselves, the more virtue they +expected of him. A wonder! <i>Nu</i>, Dr. Merzbach held up his end, and +really atoned for the sins of the 'black' Khille."</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_045" id="page_045"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>"And our Rebbetzin, Frau Dr. Merzbach, <i>she</i> 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?"</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_046" id="page_046"></a> 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<a name="page_047" id="page_047"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>"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,<a name="page_048" id="page_048"></a> gone to pieces sometimes, if his life in his own +home had not weighed in the balance against the lowness of the Khille.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"You can imagine, Herr Doktor, what<a name="page_049" id="page_049"></a> 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.'"</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_050" id="page_050"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>"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,<a name="page_051" id="page_051"></a> of the purest +and highest joy, of the greatest contentment.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p class="r"><i>September 30.</i><br /> +</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_052" id="page_052"></a> melancholy, if I did not have my profession +and—Simon Eichelkatz.</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_053" id="page_053"></a> hope, Simon +Eichelkatz will by and by bring to life for me.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +"æsthetic <i>salons</i>" of the fine Jewish houses as I did yesterday, when +Simon told<a name="page_054" id="page_054"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>It was on the hottest and longest of Jewish fast days, <i>Shivoh oser +be-Tamuz</i>. 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<a name="page_055" id="page_055"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>Toward noon the report spread that the teacher Sandberg was missing. He +had been seen in Shul at the morning service,<a name="page_056" id="page_056"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_057" id="page_057"></a> 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<a name="page_058" id="page_058"></a> 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<a name="page_059" id="page_059"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_060" id="page_060"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>"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,<a name="page_061" id="page_061"></a> and he had to have a misfortune just on the +fast day."</p> + +<p>"Just as if you were to put a fur coat on in this heat," said another +man.</p> + +<p>"No jokes," warned a third; "it's a sad business."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"You can't tell!" answered his neighbor.</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_062" id="page_062"></a> 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:<a name="page_063" id="page_063"></a></p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_064" id="page_064"></a> atonement and repentance God has inflicted so hard a trial +upon us."</p> + +<p>At these words the people began to lament and weep. "<i>Waigeschrieen!</i> +God cares nothing for our repentance!" some exclaimed, while others hit +their breasts and cried: "<i>Oshamnu, bogadnu</i>...."</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>The words had an uncanny ring. A dark shadow seemed to creep over the +bright day, the brilliant sunshine.</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_065" id="page_065"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>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 <i>Tashlich</i> on Shivoh +oser be-Tamuz."</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_066" id="page_066"></a> 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<a name="page_067" id="page_067"></a> 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 <i>Minyan</i> +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<a name="page_068" id="page_068"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>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.<a name="page_069" id="page_069"></a> Half aloud he said +to his neighbor: "Everybody is certainly happy not to be so famous as +Teacher Sandberg is to-day."</p> + +<p>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 <i>Kashte</i>, 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<a name="page_070" id="page_070"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>"To-morrow they'll recover the body of Teacher Sandberg."</p> + +<p>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—<a name="page_071" id="page_071"></a>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.</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_072" id="page_072"></a> 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!</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>Finally the rabbi recovered enough self-possession to address the man +standing before him in the garb in which the Lord had fashioned him.</p> + +<p>"Is that you, Sandberg?" he asked in a tone of mingled severity and +mildness.<a name="page_073" id="page_073"></a></p> + +<p>"Yes, Herr Rabbiner, it's I," came the plaintive reply.</p> + +<p>"Your wife, your children, the congregation, the city, all are mourning +you as dead."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_074" id="page_074"></a> 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<a name="page_075" id="page_075"></a> 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<a name="page_076" id="page_076"></a> 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!</p> + +<p>His savior in need was the Rebbetzin. With averted face she listened to +the half-comic, half-pitiful narrative, and suddenly<a name="page_077" id="page_077"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p class="r"><span class="smcap">October 6.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_078" id="page_078"></a> 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,<a name="page_079" id="page_079"></a> I did not come in contact with them; if chance +brings us together, we give each other a cool if courteous greeting.</p> + +<p>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:<a name="page_080" id="page_080"></a></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">Weisse, höfliche Manschetten,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Ach wenn sie nur Herzen hätten,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Herzen in der Brust und Liebe,—wahre Liebe in den Herzen,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Denn mich tötet ihr Gesinge von erlogenen Liebesschmerzen.</td></tr> +</table> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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,<a name="page_081" id="page_081"></a> 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<a name="page_082" id="page_082"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_083" id="page_083"></a> 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:</p> + +<p>"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 <i>is</i> +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 <i>Goy</i> 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,<a name="page_084" id="page_084"></a> 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<a name="page_085" id="page_085"></a> +the <i>Shikker</i> 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!"</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_086" id="page_086"></a> 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.</p> + +<p class="r"><span class="smcap">October 11.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_087" id="page_087"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_088" id="page_088"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>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?</p> + +<p>A question rose to my lips.</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_089" id="page_089"></a> have felt that +he would give his old mother infinite pain."</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>What had moved the soul of this woman to such conclusions on married +life?</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_090" id="page_090"></a> 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?</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_091" id="page_091"></a> provide for them +carefully. Her husband would not be deceived in her; the sacrifice of +his life was not made in vain.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"And you, Frau Schlochauer?" I hastily asked.</p> + +<p>"I? I shall do my duty."</p> + +<p>The words sounded so natural, yet it<a name="page_092" id="page_092"></a> 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:</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_093" id="page_093"></a> because +practical considerations and hindrances determined the course of her +life.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"Herr Jonas Goldstücker."</p> + +<p>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 Goldstücker! 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<a name="page_094" id="page_094"></a> 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 <i>pince-nez</i>, one +felt correctly catalogued and pigeonholed. Herr Jonas Goldstücker began +to interest me. Without waiting for me to ask his business, he said:</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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:</p> + +<p>"You certainly don't run after practice among well-to-do patients; no +one can reproach<a name="page_095" id="page_095"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>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:</p> + +<p>"Yes, Herr Kreisphysikus, in a little town you get to know people, and +all about them."</p> + +<p>"But I don't know <i>you</i>," I interrupted, my patience at last exhausted.</p> + +<p>"I am Jonas Goldstücker."</p> + +<p>"So your card tells me. But I should like to permit myself the question, +to what I owe the honor of your visit."</p> + +<p>"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 Sanitätsrat Ehrlich<a name="page_096" id="page_096"></a> +has been treating me for six years—since the time his daughter Annie +married Herr Rechtsanwalt Bobrecker of Leobschütz. An excellent match. +Any day Bobrecker might have gotten sixty thousand marks, and Löwenberg, +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 Sanitätsrat Ehrlich is no +vain delusion."</p> + +<p>My breath was completely taken away by this information regarding +private matters.</p> + +<p>Next came the abrupt question:</p> + +<p>"In general, Herr Kreisphysikus, are you in favor of wet or dry +treatment in rheumatism?"</p> + +<p>A patient after all! I breathed more freely. Herr Jonas Goldstücker had +given me a creepy sensation.</p> + +<p>"I don't understand what you mean by that."<a name="page_097" id="page_097"></a></p> + +<p>"I mean, are you in favor of massage and electricity or in favor of +baths?"</p> + +<p>The impudent assurance of the question utterly astounded me, and I +wanted to give him a brusque reply, when he continued:</p> + +<p>"Sanitätsrat 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."</p> + +<p>Doubtless, he meant "emphatic," because a few moments later another +pretentious word was incorrectly applied.</p> + +<p>"But Sanitätsrat 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."</p> + +<p>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 Goldstücker meant to say. The humor of the situation at last began +to dawn upon me, and I<a name="page_098" id="page_098"></a> awaited the further utterances of my remarkable +guest in amused curiosity.</p> + +<p>"And his house, Herr Kreisphysikus, his house! Really, very fine. The +Frau Sanitätsträtin knows how to do the honors and to keep her +distance."</p> + +<p>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 Goldstücker assured me.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"Brahms, Herr Goldstücker, Brahms."</p> + +<p>"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."<a name="page_099" id="page_099"></a></p> + +<p>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:</p> + +<p>"It's really a shame that you don't visit at Sanitätsrat 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<a name="page_100" id="page_100"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_101" id="page_101"></a> 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 <i>dolus eventualiter</i>."</p> + +<p>Of course, what Herr Jonas Goldstücker wanted to say was <i>dolus +eventualis</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_102" id="page_102"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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.<a name="page_103" id="page_103"></a> 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<a name="page_104" id="page_104"></a> be by-gones.' Sometimes even +physicians and lawyers aren't so particular about 'antecedents.'"</p> + +<p>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:</p> + +<p>"Herr Rabbiner Grünbaum 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<a name="page_105" id="page_105"></a> +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 +Grünbaum, 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."</p> + +<p>What gave the man the right to remonstrate<a name="page_106" id="page_106"></a> 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 Goldstücker" +was not on my visiting list. Curious! All I said was: "You must leave me +to judge of that."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>Since I last saw my cousin he must have developed into a garrulous old +woman.<a name="page_107" id="page_107"></a> 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:</p> + +<p>"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...."</p> + +<p>I jumped from my seat, and came near laughing out loud. At last the +mystery was solved. Herr Jonas Goldstücker, who honored me with so +curious and intimate a visit, was a <i>Shadchen</i>, the marriage broker of +the congregation!</p> + +<p>It was highly entertaining. But apparently he did not care to notice +that I took<a name="page_108" id="page_108"></a> the matter as a joke, for he remained quietly seated and +continued:</p> + +<p>"And Herr Sanitätsrat prefers a physician, who might take up his +practice later...."</p> + +<p>"Marry into the profession, so to speak," I interjected.</p> + +<p>"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...."</p> + +<p>The association of ideas was delicious.</p> + +<p>"She has a fine figure, medium size, and when I think how glad your old +mother would be...."</p> + +<p>I do not know whether I politely showed Herr Jonas Goldstücker the door, +or whether he went voluntarily. At all events he was<a name="page_109" id="page_109"></a> gone. But this +very day I mean to write a letter to my cousin, Doktor Feilchenstein, +and give him a piece of my mind.</p> + +<p class="r"><span class="smcap">October 10.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>"Do you know what a <i>Roshekol</i> is?" Simon Eichelkatz asked me with a +mischievous smile, when I visited him this afternoon.</p> + +<p>"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:</p> + +<p>"A Roshekol is a disagreeable fellow."</p> + +<p>"But not always, Herr Eichelkatz?"</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_110" id="page_110"></a> 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 +<i>Mishpocheh</i>, 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 <i>Narronim</i> 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<a name="page_111" id="page_111"></a> +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."</p> + +<p>I shook my finger at Simon laughingly and said:</p> + +<p>"Reb Shimme, I think you are looking at things through dark spectacles; +they can't be so bad as you paint them."</p> + +<p>"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, <i>Doktor</i> 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<a name="page_112" id="page_112"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"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.<a name="page_113" id="page_113"></a> 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<a name="page_114" id="page_114"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_115" id="page_115"></a> his head so high you'd think +he was trying to bump against the <i>Mogen Dovid</i>, and expanding his chest +as if to beat for <i>Al Chet</i> upon it, the whole Khille trembles, because +he's so swell and eats <i>Trefa</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_116" id="page_116"></a> 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 +Sanitätsrat 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 Sanitätsrat 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<a name="page_117" id="page_117"></a> 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 Friedländer 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<a name="page_118" id="page_118"></a> 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 <i>Shammes</i> 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 <i>Pleitegeher</i>, 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<a name="page_119" id="page_119"></a> 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<a name="page_120" id="page_120"></a> +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<a name="page_121" id="page_121"></a> had once been +draped about the shoulders of Teacher Sandberg:</p> + +<p>"'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.'</p> + +<p>"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 <i>Amrazim</i>."</p> + +<p>"That's what you call punishment for the sake of discipline," I +interpolated laughingly.<a name="page_122" id="page_122"></a></p> + +<p>"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 <i>Amhorez</i> who did not know more of <i>Yiddishkeit</i> than +a coarse dealer in hides and a Jewish cook could show him."</p> + +<p>He came to a sudden stop.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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.<a name="page_123" id="page_123"></a></p> + +<p class="r"><span class="smcap">October 18.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>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.<a name="page_124" id="page_124"></a></p> + +<p>Yesterday my old friend was very talkative. I felt it pleased him to +glance back at his own life; and <i>he</i> 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 rôle in modern life; and I believe that if strong +individualities<a name="page_125" id="page_125"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>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,<a name="page_126" id="page_126"></a> 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<a name="page_127" id="page_127"></a> life +and work; yet I have something to give me inner satisfaction—Simon +Eichelkatz.</p> + +<p>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 +<i>you</i> 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<a name="page_128" id="page_128"></a> 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 <i>Mikveh</i>. 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:<a name="page_129" id="page_129"></a> '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.'</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_130" id="page_130"></a> 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 <i>davvening</i> 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 <i>Chutzpeh</i> 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<a name="page_131" id="page_131"></a> 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 <i>Chazen</i>, the cantor Elias, who had been appointed a short time +after the rabbi.</p> + +<p>"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 <i>Gemoreh</i>.'</p> + +<p>"He was right, Herr Kreisphysikus, and the worse he thought and spoke of +the<a name="page_132" id="page_132"></a> 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 <i>Omed</i> on Shabbes and <i>Yontef</i> 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 Schäfer's. Reb +Shäfer would stand at the door and declare, when the Herr Kantor came, +his heart laughed in his body. When<a name="page_133" id="page_133"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>"'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.'</p> + +<p>"'And the Rebbetzin?' some one asked in the midst of their laughter.</p> + +<p>"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 <i>Malkeh</i> and <i>Melech</i> only on cards.'<a name="page_134" id="page_134"></a> 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.'</p> + +<p>"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!'</p> + +<p>"And I, I really did need someone who understood what was going on in my +soul. I myself hardly understood."</p> + +<p>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:</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_135" id="page_135"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>His face took on a thoughtful expression.</p> + +<p>"Do you know, Herr Kreisphysikus,<a name="page_136" id="page_136"></a> 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<a name="page_137" id="page_137"></a> things, his life +has not been short, but a thousand years long and more."</p> + +<p>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?</p> + +<p>What <i>had</i> Simon Eichelkatz lived through?</p> + +<p>As though he read the question on my face he continued:</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_138" id="page_138"></a> 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 <i>Get</i>. 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 <i>bekovet</i><a name="page_139" id="page_139"></a> 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 'gnädige 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."</p> + +<p>Poor Simon Eichelkatz! So jealousy was his life's woe.</p> + +<p>As if endowed with clairvoyance and the ability to read my thoughts, he +looked at me sharply and said:</p> + +<p>"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, +<i>née</i> Böhm, there was no talk of love between us. We married as all +people married then. I had entered Joseph Böhm's business as clerk, and +later I married into it, because Böhm<a name="page_140" id="page_140"></a> 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.'</p> + +<p>"It flattered my ambition that Herr Joseph Böhm, 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 Böhm! Such a thing had never +been! But to become a son-in-law you must have a wife; and I<a name="page_141" id="page_141"></a> took +Friederike Böhm, who was aristocratically brought up, and could speak +French."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p class="note">[*] 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, <i>Leit</i> instead of <i>Leute</i>; using <i>ä</i> +instead of the article <i>ein</i> (an), and very slightly changing the +correct order of the words.</p> + +<p>"What did they know at that time of<a name="page_142" id="page_142"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>"And yet," I interposed, "Jewish marriages as a whole were seldom +unfortunate."</p> + +<p>"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, <i>née</i> Böhm, 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<a name="page_143" id="page_143"></a> could tell at the first glance +whether a piece of cloth came from Cottbus or from Brünn, 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.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"How can you say anything like that,<a name="page_144" id="page_144"></a> 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?"</p> + +<p>He listened to me attentively, and a melancholy smile played about his +mouth.</p> + +<p>"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 <i>have</i> 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—<a name="page_145" id="page_145"></a>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—"</p> + +<p>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:</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_146" id="page_146"></a> 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 <i>mésalliance</i>.' 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?<a name="page_147" id="page_147"></a> But I made a +mental note of the word, and I kept repeating it to myself: +<i>mésalliance</i>, <i>mésalliance</i>. Then, the next Shabbes, after <i>Mairev</i>, 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 <i>was</i> a +<i>mésalliance</i>. 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 Böhm, 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 <i>Shnorrers</i>, 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<a name="page_148" id="page_148"></a> +and more conceited and foolish; she was ashamed of her husband; and one +day she had visiting cards engraved with 'Madame Eichelkatz, <i>née</i> +Böhm.' The name stuck to her in the Khille. They began to despise her +and to pity me."</p> + +<p>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, <i>née</i> Böhm."</p> + +<p class="r"><span class="smcap">October 23.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>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 <i>en passant</i>, and I cherished the secret hope that<a name="page_149" id="page_149"></a> 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:</p> + +<p>"It occurred to me to-day that I wanted some time or other to tell you a +<i>Maaseh</i>, which is half funny, half sad."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"All over the mining district typhus, for<a name="page_150" id="page_150"></a> 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<a name="page_151" id="page_151"></a> 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 +<i>Sukkoth</i>. 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<a name="page_152" id="page_152"></a> lambskin. I tell +<i>you</i>, Herr Kreisphysikus, it was a marvel."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"Besides Teacher Sandberg there were two other teachers in the +congregational school at that time, Teacher Deutsch and Teacher +Herrnstädt, 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<a name="page_153" id="page_153"></a> +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<a name="page_154" id="page_154"></a> 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 Herrnstädt, 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."</p> + +<p>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:</p> + +<p>"Yes, at that time things didn't go very well with us, Herr +Kreisphysikus. Feiwel, do you still remember the year 1859?"<a name="page_155" id="page_155"></a></p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>With this he shambled out of the room and Simon said:</p> + +<p>"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.<a name="page_156" id="page_156"></a> 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;<a name="page_157" id="page_157"></a> 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.'"</p> + +<p>A dumbfounded expression probably came on my face, because Simon looked +at me, and with that furtive smile of his he said:</p> + +<p>"Every word of what I tell you is true, Herr Kreisphysikus. Herr +Manasse, <i>Zichrono livrochoh</i>, 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<a name="page_158" id="page_158"></a> 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,<a name="page_159" id="page_159"></a> carried his motion, and Teacher +Deutsch's petition was refused."</p> + +<p>Simon looked into space, then said: "Do you know the real meaning of the +word '<i>nebbich</i>' Herr Kreisphysikus?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I do, <i>nebbich</i>."</p> + +<p class="r"><span class="smcap">October</span> 29.<br /> +</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_160" id="page_160"></a> 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 <i>cholera nostras</i>, 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."</p> + +<p>"And your wife?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_161" id="page_161"></a> 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.'"</p> + +<p>Simon Eichelkatz looked down thoughtfully, then he blew a thick cloud of +tobacco smoke into the air and added:</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_162" id="page_162"></a> 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, <i>née</i> Böhm, 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<a name="page_163" id="page_163"></a> 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<a name="page_164" id="page_164"></a> +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<a name="page_165" id="page_165"></a> Rabbiner shook his head and +asked: 'How about your son's future?'</p> + +<p>"'Each of us will probably wish for a different future,' I answered. And +that's the way it was, Herr Kreisphysikus. What <i>she</i> 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."</p> + +<p>He paused, as though revolving his words in his mind and added:</p> + +<p>"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 name="page_166" id="page_166"></a> 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, <i>née</i> Böhm, and Simon Eichelkatz should have said, +that is our happiness, that's the way it looks, that's the way it should +look."</p> + +<p>He waved his hand.<a name="page_167" id="page_167"></a></p> + +<p>"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 +<i>her</i> 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!"<a name="page_168" id="page_168"></a></p> + +<p>I followed his words with increasing astonishment. How do such ideas +regarding individuality and such clearly-defined notions of eudæmonism +arise in the brain of this old man living remote from the world? Whence +this wisdom? While these questions agitated my mind, he continued:</p> + +<p>"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 Blücher 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.</p> + +<p>"'How do you do, Herr Doktor,' the<a name="page_169" id="page_169"></a> 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.'</p> + +<p>"Dr. Merzbach answered quietly:</p> + +<p>"'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.'</p> + +<p>"'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.'</p> + +<p>"'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.<a name="page_170" id="page_170"></a> I pledge myself for Haberstroh's +innocence.'</p> + +<p>"'Tut, tut tut, Herr Doktor, will you be answerable for the +consequences?'</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>I was just about to put a question to Simon Eichelkatz about the spy, +when he suddenly said:</p> + +<p>"Do you believe, Herr Kreisphysikus, that to be good and noble and help +your fellow-beings is happiness?"</p> + +<p>"Have you ever read anything by Goethe or heard of him?" I returned, +evading the question.<a name="page_171" id="page_171"></a></p> + +<p>"No, Herr Doktor, I never read anything by him, but I've heard of him."</p> + +<p>"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?"</p> + +<p>"Who can tell?"</p> + +<p class="r"><span class="smcap">November</span> 11.<br /> +</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.<a name="page_172" id="page_172"></a> 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 Sanitätsrat 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;<a name="page_173" id="page_173"></a> why, the very fact of being Kreisphysikus presupposes an age not +exactly youthful.</p> + +<p>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 Goldstücker! +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 Fräulein Edith Ehrlich were known in Rawitsch also. I had +to laugh; but I determined at all events to<a name="page_174" id="page_174"></a> interrogate my old friend +about the persons in question.</p> + +<p>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:</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"We keep up good fires here in Upper Silesia," said Simon, "but what's +the use when you begin to freeze inside?"</p> + +<p>There was a touch of melancholy in his voice. I laughed and said:</p> + +<p>"Feiwel will heat you inside, too."</p> + +<p>Then I ordered hot tea and rum for him<a name="page_175" id="page_175"></a> at once; and a glass of mulled +wine every morning during the cold weather.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_176" id="page_176"></a> 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?"</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_177" id="page_177"></a> 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?"</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"Have you never heard of the immortality of the soul, Herr Eichelkatz?" +I asked.</p> + +<p>"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."<a name="page_178" id="page_178"></a></p> + +<p>I had to laugh at the curt way in which he disposed of spiritualism and +all its excrescences.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>He wrapped himself more tightly in his cover. A slight shiver went +through his body.</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_179" id="page_179"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>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:</p> + +<p>"By the way, Herr Eichelkatz, I wanted to ask you something that is of +personal interest to me. Who is Herr Jonas Goldstücker?"</p> + +<p>He looked at me slyly.</p> + +<p>"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 +Goldstücker is to help you on to immortality?"</p> + +<p>"We haven't reached that point yet, Herr<a name="page_180" id="page_180"></a> 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 Sanitätsrat Ehrlich.</p> + +<p>"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 Sanitätsrat Ehrlich is the son of the Sanitätsrat 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 Sanitätsrat 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<a name="page_181" id="page_181"></a> 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 Sanitätsrat 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 <i>Yom +Kippur</i> light, and in the Khille it may be said of this family: <i>Ehrlich +währt am längsten</i>."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p class="r"><span class="smcap">November</span> 18.<br /> +</p> + +<p>My old friend grows perceptibly weaker. There are no symptoms of a +definite trouble but <i>senectus morbus ipsa</i>. The nasty cold penetrates +the chinks at door and window<a name="page_182" id="page_182"></a> 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 æsthetic 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<a name="page_183" id="page_183"></a> 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. <i>Naïveté</i> 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!</p> + +<p>Simon Eichelkatz awakened these thoughts in me. Yesterday he told me a<a name="page_184" id="page_184"></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.</p> + +<p>"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 <i>Shiveh</i>. 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—<a name="page_185" id="page_185"></a>baptized! He had +had himself <i>baptized</i>, 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!</p> + +<p>"'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!</p> + +<p>"I did not know. And that's where I<a name="page_186" id="page_186"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>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:</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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.<a name="page_187" id="page_187"></a> And again, for +after a little pause he said:</p> + +<p>"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 +<i>is</i> 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."</p> + +<p>A startling thought flashed through my mind; but before I could answer +him, he said, almost hastily:</p> + +<p>"I knew it, Herr Kreisphysikus; you can't tell me. Why? Because there's +not a soul who could have discovered it—nobody<a name="page_188" id="page_188"></a> knows what—we don't +know anything."</p> + +<p><i>Ignorabimus!</i></p> + +<p>Ay, there's the rub. The thought has given pause to many another besides +Simon Eichelkatz!</p> + +<p>But now I was determined to give expression to the thought which a +moment before had flashed through my mind.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>He looked at me with great, astonished eyes. A light of comprehension +spread over his face, although he softly said:</p> + +<p>"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,<a name="page_189" id="page_189"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>"That is called philosophy," I said.</p> + +<p>"I know the word," he murmured under his breath.</p> + +<p>"And the greatest minds of all times have occupied themselves with it."</p> + +<p>"And has anything ever come of it?" he said, an ironical smile flitting +about the corners of his sunken mouth.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>He was obviously trying to adjust the<a name="page_190" id="page_190"></a> meaning of my words in his mind, +for it was after a few minutes' pause that he said:</p> + +<p>"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 <i>Shulchan Oruch</i>. 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<a name="page_191" id="page_191"></a> 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!"</p> + +<p>His voice had risen as he conveyed the contents of the letter to me; but +then, as though tired out, he added:</p> + +<p>"I know every word by heart. I read the letter a thousand times; and, do +you<a name="page_192" id="page_192"></a> know, Herr Kreisphysikus, so that I'd be sure to understand it and +read it perfectly, he wrote it in Hebrew letters."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>The depths of my soul were stirred.</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_193" id="page_193"></a> frivolous Madame +Eichelkatz do, and how could she hinder a man who 'gives himself to +mankind,' nebbich?</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>Simon reached out again for the book, took a slip of paper out, set his +horn-rimmed spectacles on his nose, and read:</p> + +<p>"'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.'</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_194" id="page_194"></a> +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."</p> + +<p>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 <i>fromm</i>." Then he fell asleep again.</p> + +<p>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.<a name="page_195" id="page_195"></a></p> + +<p class="r"><span class="smcap">November</span> 23.<br /> +</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"Myself I sacrifice to my love, and my neighbor I sacrifice as myself, +thus runs the speech of all creators."</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>And there—</p> + +<p>In a soft though intelligible voice the solitary man repeated the Hebrew +words, as he shovelled the earth onto the coffin:</p> + +<p>"Dust thou art, to dust returnest; but the spirit returns to God who +gave it."</p> + +<p>Then he raised himself up, his eye fastened on the growing mound.</p> + +<p>Friedrich Eichner!</p> + +<p><a name="page_196" id="page_196"></a></p> + +<p><a name="page_197" id="page_197"></a></p> + +<h1><a name="THE_PATRIARCH" id="THE_PATRIARCH"></a>THE PATRIARCH</h1> + +<p><a name="page_198" id="page_198"></a></p> + +<p><a name="page_199" id="page_199"></a></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"Very good," he muttered, with a complacent smile, "first-rate. Elkish +has put the matter well. <i>A la bonheur!</i> 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."</p> + +<p>He pressed the electric button.</p> + +<p>"Tell Mr. Elkish to come up when he<a name="page_200" id="page_200"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>"Five o'clock already! Tell Elkish to be here by half-past five."</p> + +<p>The servant bowed; as he was leaving the room, his master called after +him:</p> + +<p>"Is my son at home?"</p> + +<p>"No, Herr Geheimrat."</p> + +<p>"And my daughter?"</p> + +<p>"She and Mlle. Tallieu drove to Professor Jedlitzka's for her music +lesson."</p> + +<p>"Hm! Very well! Be sure to give my message to Mr. Elkish, Francis."</p> + +<p>At this moment an elderly lady of distinguished appearance entered the +room.</p> + +<p>"Do I disturb you, Joe?"</p> + +<p>He dismissed the servant with a nod.</p> + +<p>"No, Fanny, if a half-hour will suffice; in half an hour I expect +Elkish. At half-past five, Francis."</p> + +<p>The servant withdrew as quietly as he<a name="page_201" id="page_201"></a> had entered, and husband and wife +were left alone.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_202" id="page_202"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Glorious old Flemish tapestries hung above the sofa, forming the +background for book-cases filled with the classics of all literatures, +and for various <i>objets d'art</i>,<a name="page_203" id="page_203"></a> 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 <i>Kiddush</i> cup, +the <i>Besomim</i> box, the <i>Menorah</i>, and the large silver <i>Seder</i> 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 Friedländer, under whom he had studied.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Benas's demeanor unconsciously reflected the dignity of such +ancestry. She took it as a matter of course that her lot in<a name="page_204" id="page_204"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_205" id="page_205"></a> that Joshua was allowed to court Fanny and win +her as his life companion.</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_206" id="page_206"></a> Jews, and rendered the dignity +of a Geheimer Kommerzienrat the highest to which they dared aspire.</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_207" id="page_207"></a> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>"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...."</p> + +<p>During this rapid-fire interrogation she<a name="page_208" id="page_208"></a> had approached the desk and +sunk into an arm-chair.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"Well, from whom? You make me curious. How should I guess from whom?"</p> + +<p>"I shall tell you immediately, but please sit down quietly next to me; +for we must decide upon the answer."</p> + +<p>He glanced at the clock: "I ordered Elkish to come at half-past five."</p> + +<p>"Elkish can wait."</p> + +<p>"Indeed not! I must consult him about to-morrow's committee meeting of +the Magdeburg Machine Construction Company."</p> + +<p>"Now, Benas," she interrupted, "there are weightier matters than the +Magdeburg Machine Construction...."<a name="page_209" id="page_209"></a></p> + +<p>"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 +<i>that</i>, 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!"</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"Well, what of it? Elkish may come at any moment."</p> + +<p>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.<a name="page_210" id="page_210"></a></p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"A family affair? He! What does he want of the family? and so +unexpectedly! That's really curious. A family affair!"</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"Gracious, how swell! The Foreign Office! And thus do we attain to the +honor of telephoning to the Foreign Office," he added satirically.</p> + +<p>"What shall the answer be, Joshua? that we are at home?"</p> + +<p>"Surely, if you wish to receive him. I cannot understand your +excitement, dearest.<a name="page_211" id="page_211"></a> You have received a Regierungsrat in your +drawing-rooms before this, even an Oberregierungsrat. There was a time +when Mr. Breitbach found our Moët rather fair...."</p> + +<p>"There <i>was</i> a time, Benas!"</p> + +<p>He frowned. "Well, that's something that cannot be altered, dear child."</p> + +<p>At this moment his confidential clerk, Elkish, was announced.</p> + +<p>"Even though the 'Magdeburgs' rise ever so high," she answered +ironically.</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"I do not know to what you refer."</p> + +<p>"Well, what else can I refer to but our balance-sheet?"</p> + +<p>"As regards that, the firm of Joshua Benas has no need to hide its +head," the old clerk responded proudly.</p> + +<p>"Well, do you see, dear child?" he said to his wife. "Do as you think +best, I rely<a name="page_212" id="page_212"></a> upon your judgment. You always do the right thing."</p> + +<p>She rose. "I will not interrupt you any longer."</p> + +<p>"I should like to finish this matter before dinner. There is not much +time left."</p> + +<p>"Then I shall have Francis telephone that we are at home, and we expect +him." She waited at the door.</p> + +<p>"Yes, that's all right," he answered, already absorbed in the papers his +clerk had spread before him.</p> + +<p>"Good-by, Benas! Good-by, Mr. Elkish."</p> + +<p>"Good-by, my child," he called to her as she was leaving.</p> + +<p>"This only awaits your signature, Mr. Benas. Here. A dividend of +fourteen per cent and a half."</p> + +<p>"Really, Elkish? I'm delighted!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, and here, 240,000 mark in the sinking fund, then 516,000 mark for +surplus."</p> + +<p>"Excellent! Splendid!" He put on his<a name="page_213" id="page_213"></a> eyeglasses and signed the various +papers placed before him.</p> + +<p>"And who do you think will be elected to the board this year?"</p> + +<p>"I thought Glücksmann and Ettinger."</p> + +<p>"The time for the Breitbachs and Knesebecks is past.... Well, as far as +I am concerned, both of them may count upon my vote."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Breitbach has not been here for an age," remarked Elkish with a +shrewd look.</p> + +<p>"Well! To offset that, Herr Regierungsrat Dr. Weilen wishes to visit us +to-day—a cousin of my wife."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"That is not so certain," murmured the Kommerzienrat under his breath.</p> + +<p>"And merely to further his prospects! A grandson of Rabbi Eliezer!" +Unbounded<a name="page_214" id="page_214"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"And is a career everything?"</p> + +<p>"One is ambitious, and one must—why not succeed?"</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_215" id="page_215"></a> pictures +of Menzel, and busts of Begas, who, indeed? Krupp and Joshua Benas of +Lissa. That's what <i>I</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.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"He wishes to speak of family affairs."</p> + +<p>"Family affairs?" sneered the old man. "Chutzpeh! Perhaps he wants to +borrow<a name="page_216" id="page_216"></a> money of you. That's what usually makes such people remember +their family."</p> + +<p>"Why, you're in a fine mood to-day, Elkish."</p> + +<p>"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 <i>Zechus</i> to +belong to the family of Rabbi Akiba Friedländer, I should not have +allowed such a person to cross my threshold."</p> + +<p>"Calm yourself, Elkish."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"Yes, Elkish, after all, that is the main thing."</p> + +<p class="cb">* * *</p> + +<p>At precisely nine o'clock the servant brought in the card of +Regierungsrat Dr. Victor Weilen.<a name="page_217" id="page_217"></a></p> + +<p>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".</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_218" id="page_218"></a> +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.</p> + +<p>His rapid glance recognized "Stechlin."</p> + +<p>Immediately after the entrance of the guest, a young man stepped through +the half-open door of the adjoining billiard room.</p> + +<p>"My son Hugo," the Geheimrat introduced<a name="page_219" id="page_219"></a> him. "Referendar at the court +of appeals."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"I am indebted to you for your indulgence.<a name="page_220" id="page_220"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>"Not at all."</p> + +<p>In the meantime Rita had prepared the tea, and offered him a cup.</p> + +<p>"Thank you."</p> + +<p>"Do you prefer a cigar or a cigarette?"</p> + +<p>"Is smoking permitted?" he asked of the ladies.</p> + +<p>"During the tea hour my wife allows smoking."</p> + +<p>"Then may I ask for a cigarette?"</p> + +<p>"Hugo, there are the Russian——"</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_221" id="page_221"></a> him the cigarettes and a burning wax-taper.</p> + +<p>"Thank you, Herr Kollege."</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>"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?"</p> + +<p>"In the Exchequer. This is the last year of my preparatory service."</p> + +<p>"He has obtained his doctorate, and has served his year with the +Dragoons of the Guard," explained his father.</p> + +<p>"Then the greatest tasks are over. Would you not enjoy entering the +service of the Government?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir," he answered in a firm voice. "As a Jew I should have no +chances there."<a name="page_222" id="page_222"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>A harsh, ironic expression lay upon Hugo's face. The moment was ominous, +but Dr. Weilen rose to the occasion and said:</p> + +<p>"May I tell you now what prompted me to ask for the pleasure of a visit +here?"</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"In a few months our uncle, Mr. Leopold Friedländer, will celebrate his +ninetieth<a name="page_223" id="page_223"></a> 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 Friedländer'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."</p> + +<p>"To be sure," Mrs. Benas felt bound to say, in order to hide the +embarrassment which had come upon them. "One never<a name="page_224" id="page_224"></a> entirely loses the +recollections of one's childhood."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>Rita had regarded him throughout with fixed attention.</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"That is not altogether true," he responded with a smile. "It would +interfere<a name="page_225" id="page_225"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>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!<a name="page_226" id="page_226"></a></p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"But how did you happen to come upon this journal?" asked Mr. Benas, +merely for the sake of keeping up the conversation.</p> + +<p>"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 Friedländer—my—our uncle. The fine old man has attained the +age of a veritable patriarch."</p> + +<p>"Yes, Uncle Leopold is well-advanced<a name="page_227" id="page_227"></a> in years," Mrs. Benas added; "the +oldest of fourteen brothers and sisters, he is the only one living."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"Strangely enough, that is just as I had pictured him to myself. And +what of his direct descendants, his sons and daughters?"</p> + +<p>"Both daughters are still living, but only one of his three sons."</p> + +<p>"Where do they reside?"</p> + +<p>"They all married and remained in Rawitsch. Jacob, who is almost +seventy<a name="page_228" id="page_228"></a> years old, carried on his father's business, which is now in +the hands of one of his grandsons."</p> + +<p>"So the firm is perpetuated from generation to generation. The grandson, +no doubt, has a family also?"</p> + +<p>"Our cousin is still unmarried."</p> + +<p>"And do all live together?"</p> + +<p>"Uncle Leopold, since the death of his wife, about twenty years ago, +lives with his son."</p> + +<p>"My visit to him took place five years before that, when he was still in +active business."</p> + +<p>"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."<a name="page_229" id="page_229"></a></p> + +<p>"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?"</p> + +<p>"I knew all of them, excepting an uncle who died in London, and your own +mother."</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_230" id="page_230"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"I do not know the reasons for this, I merely know the result—an entire +estrangement<a name="page_231" id="page_231"></a> from her family, and that after my father's death I stood +quite alone."</p> + +<p>"But you might have approached the family."</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_232" id="page_232"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"Such things," he said, "frequently happen<a name="page_233" id="page_233"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>"I thank you, Mr. Benas."</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_234" id="page_234"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>"<i>I</i> do not think so, father," said Hugo.</p> + +<p>"You seem to be an enthusiastic member of your family."</p> + +<p>"I am a Jew."</p> + +<p>Dr. Weilen's glance rested with sympathy and interest on the young man.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_235" id="page_235"></a> father, Rabbi Akiba. Then I always come +to the conclusion anew that all Jews are related to one another."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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 Friedländer's +family traced."</p> + +<p>"It was not a simple matter," said Mr. Benas, "and the artistic +execution hardly cost Professor Zeidler more trouble than the<a name="page_236" id="page_236"></a> gathering +of the data. A young student, also from our home and distantly related, +worked almost two years at collecting and arranging the material."</p> + +<p>"I should suppose so. And did he succeed in making it quite complete?"</p> + +<p>"So far as I can judge, he did succeed. Do you care to see the drawing?"</p> + +<p>"Very much."</p> + +<p>Rita rose involuntarily.</p> + +<p>"Will you show it to Dr. Weilen, my dear?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly, mother."</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_237" id="page_237"></a> +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.</p> + +<p>Both stood regarding it without speaking.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"Curious," he said, half to himself, "who<a name="page_238" id="page_238"></a> 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?"</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"And you know your cousins personally?"</p> + +<p>"Quite many."</p> + +<p>"And what is their station in life?"</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_239" id="page_239"></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.</p> + +<p>"Well, Miss Rita, what branch is lacking on the golden tree of life?"</p> + +<p>A vivid blush suffused her face, which appeared all the prettier to him +in its embarrassed shyness.</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_240" id="page_240"></a> branch, quite symbolic, do you +see?—without a name,—that refers to me."</p> + +<p>Anxious fear took possession of her.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Herr Regierungsrat," she stammered.</p> + +<p>"That's just it—Regierungsrat! I have been deprived of the cousinship +on this genealogical tree. A scion without a name, disinherited!"</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_241" id="page_241"></a> 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!"</p> + +<p>She gazed at him with large, astonished eyes into which a dreamy +expression gradually crept.</p> + +<p>"To be sure," he continued, "I have no right to complain."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_242" id="page_242"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>"Please, say 'cousin.'"</p> + +<p>There was a moment of hesitation, then<a name="page_243" id="page_243"></a> she said: "You will not need +such protection, cousin."</p> + +<p>"But I may surely count upon you, should I happen to need it?"</p> + +<p>"You certainly may."</p> + +<p>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 Friedländer stands out conspicuous; and so the +family<a name="page_244" id="page_244"></a> tree continues to spread its limbs, luxuriant in leaf and +blossom."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"It was, indeed, a pleasure to me to see the work executed," Mr. Benas +remarked, "and my wife received it with great enthusiasm."</p> + +<p>"I should suppose so."</p> + +<p>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.<a name="page_245" id="page_245"></a></p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>He reflected a moment as if searching for the proper phrase.</p> + +<p>"When I read the notice of the anniversary celebration of Leopold +Friedländer, 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<a name="page_246" id="page_246"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_247" id="page_247"></a> 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...."</p> + +<p>"Of late years we have withdrawn from all intercourse, except with our +own family, and a few intimate friends," interrupted Mrs. Benas.</p> + +<p>"But your position involves certain social obligations."</p> + +<p>"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."<a name="page_248" id="page_248"></a></p> + +<p>"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 +<i>début</i>."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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."<a name="page_249" id="page_249"></a></p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"That has not always been the case, Hugo. Your views are too severe and +rigid."</p> + +<p>"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 name="page_250" id="page_250"></a></p> + +<p>A dull fire burned in his eyes. His face wore an expression of pride and +energy.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>Hugo bowed in silence.</p> + +<p>Dr. Weilen arose, saying:<a name="page_251" id="page_251"></a></p> + +<p>"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?"</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"I understand that perfectly."</p> + +<p>"But there is still plenty of time before the birthday celebration."<a name="page_252" id="page_252"></a></p> + +<p>"Diplomatic undertakings must be arranged long in advance," he laughed.</p> + +<p>"I will make use of your suggestion and start negotiations," she said, +cleverly responding to his pleasantry.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p class="cb">* * *</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_253" id="page_253"></a> beard and blinded his eyes. He pulled up +his fur collar more snugly, and hailed a passing cab.</p> + +<p>He hesitated a moment before giving directions.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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.<a name="page_254" id="page_254"></a></p> + +<p>"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 <i>comme il faut</i>,—so ladylike! +Why not? The Friedländers 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<a name="page_255" id="page_255"></a> 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!"</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"I wonder whether they <i>will</i> 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<a name="page_256" id="page_256"></a> will! I'm actually homesick for—for the +Ghetto!"</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p class="cb">* * *</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_257" id="page_257"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>"Yes, any one except Dr. Weilen."</p> + +<p>"But why? You're indulging in pure caprice! Has he done anything or +neglected to do anything to cause such brusque treatment?"</p> + +<p>Hugo frowned.<a name="page_258" id="page_258"></a></p> + +<p>"Did he not please you, Hugo?" his mother asked, in a pacific tone.</p> + +<p>"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...."</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_259" id="page_259"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>Mr. Benas spoke with irritation. He continued impatiently:</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"We must thank him for this condescension most humbly."</p> + +<p>"Hugo!" He met a look of warning and beseeching in his mother's eyes.</p> + +<p>"Well, enough of this. We'll invite Dr.<a name="page_260" id="page_260"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>"Joshua!"</p> + +<p>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.<a name="page_261" id="page_261"></a> Our +opinions in order to be sincere and effective need not take the form of +aloofness and discourtesy. Remember that!"</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_262" id="page_262"></a> +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?"</p> + +<p>"How would Professor Zeidler do—and Jedlitzka, and Hoffman, the +sculptor?"</p> + +<p>"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!"</p> + +<p>A smile of triumph flitted about the corners of Hugo's mouth.</p> + +<p>"Invite a few of our own family. Justizrat Friedheim, Robert +Freudenthal, the architect, and Amtsgerichtsrat Lesser, with their +wives. That makes six; we are<a name="page_263" id="page_263"></a> four; with Dr. Weilen eleven. We need a +bachelor."</p> + +<p>"Dr. Rosenfeld?"</p> + +<p>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—<i>Mahlzeit!</i>"</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_264" id="page_264"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>fait accompli</i>, 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.<a name="page_265" id="page_265"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_266" id="page_266"></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.</p> + +<p>"I'm not good for anything any more,"<a name="page_267" id="page_267"></a> he answered, "but all you need to +do is apply at the office."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"The Government is accustomed to evils," jestingly interposed Mr. +Friedheim.</p> + +<p>She hesitated to reply only one instant; then quick-wittedly: "So we are +in the same boat as the Government!"</p> + +<p>"We could wish for no pleasanter companions in our misery," Dr. Weilen +gallantly said, and raised his glass to touch hers.</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_268" id="page_268"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"Who plays so wonderfully?" asked Dr. Weilen.</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Freudenthal, a famous artist before<a name="page_269" id="page_269"></a> my cousin married her. +Perhaps you heard of her under her stage name, Flora Bensheimer."</p> + +<p>"O, of course, the great pianiste?" he asked with interest. "And is she +the wife of the architect? Has she given up her career?"</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"But that is a loss both to charity and to the public."</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_270" id="page_270"></a> notice; but he +must conceal his wife's art so as not to attract undue notice."</p> + +<p>"But that is egotistical."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps. He is peculiar. The marriage is a childless one, and his wife +is everything to him, wife and child in one."</p> + +<p>"And was it easy for her to decide to give up the fascinations of a +public career? She is known all over the world."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>The closing chords of the "Feuerzauber"<a name="page_271" id="page_271"></a> died away, as he arose quietly +and went to the adjoining room. He had observed Rita through the open +door.</p> + +<p>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?"</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"I suspect it is a Friedheim gift; for I myself am not at all musical."</p> + +<p>She reflected a moment before saying: "It seems so, Dr. Weilen, though I +never<a name="page_272" id="page_272"></a> thought of it before. Those on the Friedländer side have other +talents."</p> + +<p>He smiled. "You are very kind."</p> + +<p>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 Friedländer in Breslau, Professor Emil Friedländer +in Marburg, Professor Felix Friedländer of the Karlsruhe Polytechnic, +are all men of scientific note; as is also Professor Ernest Biedermann, +whose mother was a Friedländer, and who is a leader among modern German +painters."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"You are well acquainted with the positions your relatives occupy. Do +you visit them?"<a name="page_273" id="page_273"></a></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"Not at all. Occasionally we meet Professor Biedermann. As a rule his +calling takes him into quite different circles."</p> + +<p>"And who are the people who would not be glad to have the <i>entrée</i> in +such a home as your parents'?" he asked thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_274" id="page_274"></a> in the presence of a stranger,—of this stranger.</p> + +<p>She looked at him timidly, with a troubled expression.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"Indeed!" she answered suddenly becoming quite cold.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"How could you expect that?" she said eagerly. "You are unjust. You were +the one to withdraw entirely from the connection,<a name="page_275" id="page_275"></a> without possibility +of recall." Again she hesitated.</p> + +<p>"Do you believe that unprejudiced men would lay that up against me?"</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_276" id="page_276"></a> though it be only what was well +deserved, without...."</p> + +<p>"Say it openly, without baptism."</p> + +<p>A deep flush covered her face, and in her eyes there were restrained +tears.</p> + +<p>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...."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>She gazed at him with open doubt.</p> + +<p>"Aren't you unprejudiced, Miss Rita?"</p> + +<p>"Not any longer," she answered, with a sigh. At this moment her mother +entered.<a name="page_277" id="page_277"></a></p> + +<p>"Rita, Betty is going to sing, won't you accompany her?"</p> + +<p>She arose quickly, as though released from some dread oppression.</p> + +<p>"Gladly, mother."</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_278" id="page_278"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>"Our cousin Betty, Mrs. Lesser, has a charming voice."</p> + +<p>"So Miss Rita has just told me."</p> + +<p>"So, Rita, you have been entertaining our guest with the recital of the +talents of our family?"</p> + +<p>"She has done so, excellently; I have the liveliest interest in them, +and am truly grateful to your daughter."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"And ever longing asketh where!" was the sad, melancholy refrain. "Ever +where!"<a name="page_279" id="page_279"></a></p> + +<p>He shook his head as if to rid himself of a sad thought.</p> + +<p class="cb">* * *</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"You may say what you will, Benas, it is more congenial when we are by +ourselves," said Mr. Freudenthal.</p> + +<p>"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."<a name="page_280" id="page_280"></a></p> + +<p>"But it took a long time for him to remember," Mr. Friedheim said +ironically.</p> + +<p>"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."<a name="page_281" id="page_281"></a></p> + +<p>"But habit and education do. Whoever alienates himself and cuts himself +off, becomes an exile and a stranger," said Mr. Freudenthal.</p> + +<p>"Dr. Weilen is not a case in point. The manner of his coming here is, in +fact, an argument against your thesis."</p> + +<p>"A mere mood, father, a romantic whim," Hugo said scornfully.</p> + +<p>"In such matters your opinion does not count, because your views blind +you and make a fanatic of you."</p> + +<p>"After all, it is not a matter of great moment that he should have come +here," said the Justizrat.</p> + +<p>"Years ago you might have said so, but not now. Whoever seeks us now and +acknowledges us, belongs to us."</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_282" id="page_282"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>"Every individual case is at the present time a matter of universal +concern," said Hugo, his eyes glowering.</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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,<a name="page_283" id="page_283"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>"Yet there are few to whom the matter has been as vital as to you," said +Freudenthal.</p> + +<p>"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 +anæsthetic,—strenuous work, untiring activity, and the development of +my specialty. This for the world; and for myself,—a quiet family life."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>Earlier in their careers the cousins had harbored slight jealousies in +matters of this kind.</p> + +<p>"Now we have it again," cried Mr. Friedheim,<a name="page_284" id="page_284"></a> 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 <i>ad infinitum?</i> I know this war +cry, and I am not in the mood to-day to hear it again."</p> + +<p>Mr. Lesser and Mr. Freudenthal had also arisen.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"I'm entirely satisfied to hear no more of it for a time at least."</p> + +<p>"Desire and convenience do not regulate such affairs," said Mr. Lesser, +ironically.<a name="page_285" id="page_285"></a></p> + +<p>"Why not? What's to prevent our getting together comfortably without +these endless disputes and excited debates?"</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>The words seemed to echo from another world,—lamenting, exhorting, +warning.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"My dear Henry, you, too, carry matters<a name="page_286" id="page_286"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>"We expect you on Wednesday for Skat," said Mrs. Freudenthal.</p> + +<p>"Aha, the session for the next discussion is arranged," Mr. Friedheim +laughed.</p> + +<p>"Good-by, then, until Wednesday."</p> + +<p>"Good-by."</p> + +<p class="cb">* * *</p> + +<p>Hugo and Henry also took their leave to spend an hour at the Café Bauer, +where they were to meet several friends.</p> + +<p>Mr. and Mrs. Benas and Rita, left alone, went to Mrs. Benas's boudoir.</p> + +<p>"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.<a name="page_287" id="page_287"></a></p> + +<p>"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 Friedländers and the +Friedheims," he added, trying to tease his wife.</p> + +<p>"I, Joshua? I know others who don't lack the same trait."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>He liked to refer occasionally to his humble descent from simple +merchants; especially<a name="page_288" id="page_288"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>"Naturally, Joshua! Geheimer Kommerzienrat, that's nothing! You know you +don't believe that. I think we may well be satisfied with one another. +Friedländer, Friedheim, and Benas! That's an imposing triple alliance. I +think we may be well content."</p> + +<p>"And with all that belong to it."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"Besides, a bit of argument is entertaining, and brings life into the +shindig."</p> + +<p>His wife looked at him reproachfully.</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon! I withdraw 'shindig.'"<a name="page_289" id="page_289"></a></p> + +<p>"Indeed, you ought to be careful, Joe. One's language is bound to +deteriorate when one indulges in such vulgar expressions."</p> + +<p>"But they're so distinctive and expressive, almost as good as the Jewish +intonation."</p> + +<p>"Leave them to others."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>He was delighted and amused, and laughed at the embarrassment of his +wife. She quickly recovered herself, and answered:</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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."<a name="page_290" id="page_290"></a></p> + +<p>"Here we are again at the Jewish question," said Mrs. Benas, somewhat +displeased, "we three, here alone."</p> + +<p>"Papa, mamma, and the baby," laughed Mr. Benas.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"You exaggerate, Fannsherl. The imagination and the eloquence of the +Friedländers are awakening in you. We know how they think and speak, +always in superlatives," he teased good-humoredly, in order to calm her +excitement.</p> + +<p>"But you see how it is yourself, Joshua. We get here together cozily, in +order to<a name="page_291" id="page_291"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>"In the soup, <i>I</i> should have said," he added, trying to give the talk a +jesting turn.</p> + +<p>"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?"</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_292" id="page_292"></a> 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 Kurfürstendamm, 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."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Benas sighed.</p> + +<p>"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 Sanitätsrat 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,<a name="page_293" id="page_293"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_294" id="page_294"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>"Then Hugo and his friends are not so greatly in the wrong as you +sometimes declare?" she asked with tense expectancy in her voice.<a name="page_295" id="page_295"></a></p> + +<p>"No, not in principle, but in their aims. Those are phantoms, fantasies! +A dream which foolish boys dream,—and clever women."</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>"Well, that settles it. You, too—and he!"</p> + +<p>Her father kissed her tenderly on her forehead, and added jestingly, +"Pray, don't tell Hugo or Henry of this. Good-night, Rita."</p> + +<p>"Good-night, papa. Good-night, mamma." She respectfully kissed her +parents' hands.</p> + +<p>"Sleep well, dear child," her mother said, also kissing her upon her +forehead.</p> + +<p class="cb">* * *</p> + +<p><a name="page_296" id="page_296"></a></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"Why so late, Henry?" one of the young men called to him.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"I was detained by Professor Lisotakis,<a name="page_297" id="page_297"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>They all laughed, but the smile that played about Rosenfeld's lips was a +bit forced.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps you are right, Hugo. I have been walking fast, lost in thought; +and when you think hard, you forget the weather."</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_298" id="page_298"></a> of dark +complexion, as he twisted his black moustache, and pushed his +gold-rimmed eyeglasses closer to his near-sighted eyes.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"That's possible, Sternberg," he answered, "why not?"</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"Never mind, Hugo, why shouldn't dreams become realities?" said +Rosenfeld, with sadness and longing in his voice.</p> + +<p>"Not in wanton jests, however."</p> + +<p>"A fellow might be allowed a joke now and then," muttered the culprit.</p> + +<p>"Hardly! Everything that belongs to our past is too beautiful; and now +that it is a departed glory, a lost sanctuary, it is<a name="page_299" id="page_299"></a> 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<a name="page_300" id="page_300"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>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:</p> + +<p>"There's a good deal of truth in what Benas says. We dare not deceive +ourselves;<a name="page_301" id="page_301"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"I meant no harm, Siegfried; and besides it was quite impersonal, you +know that. The subject made me forget myself."<a name="page_302" id="page_302"></a></p> + +<p>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:</p> + +<p>"<i>Prosit.</i>"</p> + +<p>"<i>Prosit</i>," they cried as they all touched glasses. And the little +unpleasantness that had seemed imminent was averted.</p> + +<p>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."<a name="page_303" id="page_303"></a></p> + +<p>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<a name="page_304" id="page_304"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_305" id="page_305"></a> 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.<a name="page_306" id="page_306"></a></p> + +<p>"Let us hear what Rakenius writes," demanded Sternberg. Henry read aloud +to them:</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_307" id="page_307"></a> in regard to that; and whether I separate the personal from +the more general view, I am unable to say.</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_308" id="page_308"></a> 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<a name="page_309" id="page_309"></a> 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.'</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_310" id="page_310"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_311" id="page_311"></a> veterans; but time will +bring maturity. If ever you should think otherwise than you do now, then +come to me...."</p> + +<p>"That is pure proselytizing," Sternberg burst forth.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"And I cannot say that I find the letter remarkably unprejudiced," said +Hugo, impatiently.</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_312" id="page_312"></a> letter has shown me anew that at +least he tries to understand the other man."</p> + +<p>"It is always the same story; even our defenders are our accusers," said +Magnus, sadly.</p> + +<p>"While on the one hand Feuerbach shows our course to be justifiable, he +on the other hand admits our inferiority, our mediocrity."</p> + +<p>"Among the masses."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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?"</p> + +<p>"O no, just a bit unstrung."<a name="page_313" id="page_313"></a></p> + +<p>"May I speak to you of another matter this evening?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly."</p> + +<p>"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!"</p> + +<p>Henry turned white, he bit his lips, rested his head on his hand, and +did not answer.</p> + +<p>"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?"</p> + +<p>"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."<a name="page_314" id="page_314"></a></p> + +<p>"Shall I go with you?"</p> + +<p>"No, I thank you. It is late, and there is no reason for your going out +into the cold."</p> + +<p>"Well, then, until to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"Good-night, Hugo."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"O, good evening, Dr. Rosenfeld," he greeted him good-humoredly.</p> + +<p>"Good evening, Dr. Weilen."</p> + +<p>"Hospitality seems to be exercised on all the floors of this house. You +have just been with Hugo?"</p> + +<p>He nodded in answer, and the two men left the house together.</p> + +<p class="cb">* * *</p> + +<p>It was about eleven o'clock when Dr. Rosenfeld left his friend, and Hugo +was<a name="page_315" id="page_315"></a> 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<a name="page_316" id="page_316"></a> 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.<a name="page_317" id="page_317"></a> 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<a name="page_318" id="page_318"></a> 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.<a name="page_319" id="page_319"></a></p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"What do I care about doctors and lawyers when, God forbid, danger +threatens us?"</p> + +<p>"What danger?"</p> + +<p>"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.<a name="page_320" id="page_320"></a> 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 <i>Posheh +Yisroel</i>, the aristocratic Herr Regierungsrat, comes and makes himself +agreeable, and poses as being one of the Mishpocheh and <i>Chavrusseh</i>, +and Rita is there, my Ritaleben, and listens to the Chochmes and the +brilliant conversation, and gazes at the handsome, noble gentleman .... +and .... and...."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"Just because of that! I am not afraid that he will seduce her the way a +<i>Baal-Milchomoh</i> seduces a <i>Shicksel</i>. 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<a name="page_321" id="page_321"></a> will make her forsake her religion, become an apostate as he +himself is."</p> + +<p>Hugo, himself suspicious of the friendly intercourse growing up between +Dr. Weilen and his own family, was alarmed at the old man's outburst.</p> + +<p>"You see things too sombrely, Elkish. There have always been people of +high position, even Christians, that have visited us."</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_322" id="page_322"></a> 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<a name="page_323" id="page_323"></a> 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 <i>we</i> began to feel we were what we are—Jews."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_324" id="page_324"></a> only our money, but our child, too,—our darling +Rita."</p> + +<p>His voice turned hoarse, and the last words sounded like a plaint.</p> + +<p>"Elkish!"</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"But a special occasion brought him to us, Uncle Leopold's birthday—"</p> + +<p>"Nonsense! That is a pretext! He had to say something. He had it all +planned. <i>He</i> wishes to celebrate Reb Löbl's birthday! <i>Oser!</i> not a +word of truth."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"But the other story sounds better, more romantic. That attracts a young +girl like<a name="page_325" id="page_325"></a> 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."<a name="page_326" id="page_326"></a></p> + +<p>Hugo listened thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"It wouldn't do any good."</p> + +<p>"Why not?"</p> + +<p>"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?"<a name="page_327" id="page_327"></a></p> + +<p>"Well, then, with what do girls fall in love?"</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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 Löb Friedländer."</p> + +<p>"But Rita did not care for young Reinbach; and I am sure no one can +blame her.<a name="page_328" id="page_328"></a> Such an arrogant upstart, without any ideals."</p> + +<p>"There are some with ideals and some without. Reinbach is so rich that I +cannot see why he needs ideals."</p> + +<p>"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 <i>à la mode de Paris</i>, 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.'"</p> + +<p>"That is a phrase, nothing more."<a name="page_329" id="page_329"></a></p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"I prefer a Jewish fool to a baptized philosopher."</p> + +<p>"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:</p> + +<p>"It is very late, Elkish."</p> + +<p>"A Jewish philosopher, however, is no good match," he persevered.</p> + +<p>"Rita must decide that, not we. So let us go to bed now."</p> + +<p>"But, Hugo, you must promise me one thing. Be on your guard,—be on your +guard."</p> + +<p>He shook the old clerk's hand: "Rest easy, Elkish. I share your fears, +and also your dislikes."<a name="page_330" id="page_330"></a></p> + +<p>"I knew it. That's why I came to you. Good night, Hugo, with God's help +all will come out right."</p> + +<p>"Let us hope so."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p class="cb">* * *</p> + +<p>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.<a name="page_331" id="page_331"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"I hope the snowdrifts will not cause<a name="page_332" id="page_332"></a> delays." She looked worried and +arose to go to the window.</p> + +<p>At this moment a rap came at the door, and the servant handed her a +card, and announced Dr. Weilen.</p> + +<p>"Ask him in."</p> + +<p>And then he stood before her, and grasped her hand, and pressed it to +his lips.</p> + +<p>"May I personally repeat the good wishes I sent in writing this +morning?"</p> + +<p>Early in the day he had sent beautiful flowers with the compliments of +the season.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>He gazed at her without speaking, and<a name="page_333" id="page_333"></a> the delicate blush that suffused +her face assured him that his unspoken answer was understood.</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_334" id="page_334"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>"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?"</p> + +<p>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.<a name="page_335" id="page_335"></a></p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>"Mother decided only yesterday,—there were several things she wished +to.... She believed...." She tried in vain to conceal her hesitation.</p> + +<p>"In this cold and stormy weather? It must have been quite an important +matter."</p> + +<p>"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,<a name="page_336" id="page_336"></a> and I am +sure that nowadays one travels comfortably and agreeably. The coupé 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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"Yes, at 3.28," she repeated.</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_337" id="page_337"></a> 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<a name="page_338" id="page_338"></a> own about him. +And on this occasion Victor Weilen, too, wishes to be present.'"</p> + +<p>She looked at him in timid bewilderment. She had slowly disengaged her +hand from his.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_339" id="page_339"></a> journey, to-day, on +New Year's Day, which people like to celebrate together at home. Am I +right, Rita?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," she answered simply.</p> + +<p>It seemed impossible to her to plead further excuses after he had +discovered the honest truth.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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!"</p> + +<p>And as though unable any longer to control his tumultuous feelings he +jumped up,<a name="page_340" id="page_340"></a> took her in his arms, and whispered softly in her ears, "My +Rita!"</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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,<a name="page_341" id="page_341"></a> tenderly. "Rita, dear sweet Rita, my precious +child. Why do you cry? What makes you sad? What frightens you?"</p> + +<p>"Happiness."</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>"You forget what separates us," she stammered, suddenly alarmed, and +tried to free herself from his arms.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p class="cb">* * *</p> + +<p>At dinner, Rita, to conceal from her father and Hugo the cause of her +quiet and reserve, pleaded a headache. She merely<a name="page_342" id="page_342"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>Rita cast a grateful glance at her father; her eyes shone with the +brightness of suppressed tears.</p> + +<p>"It is enough that we conduct ourselves<a name="page_343" id="page_343"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>"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!<a name="page_344" id="page_344"></a> 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 +<i>de trop</i> 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<a name="page_345" id="page_345"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p class="cb">* * *</p> + +<p><a name="page_346" id="page_346"></a></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"<i>De maman?</i>" she asked, without looking up from her journal.</p> + +<p>"<i>Ceça!</i>" Rita answered in a low voice.</p> + +<p>"<i>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 irréparable.</i>"</p> + +<p>Rita arose. She was accustomed to hear Mlle. Tallieu grow enthusiastic, +one day over Zola's "<i>J'accuse</i>," and the next day equally so for +<i>l'armée</i>. One of the uncultured or rather half-cultured, she was swayed +by the force of pathos, and was ever<a name="page_347" id="page_347"></a> of the opinion of others, if they +were forcibly expressed.</p> + +<p>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:</p> + +<p>"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,<a name="page_348" id="page_348"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_349" id="page_349"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_350" id="page_350"></a> 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<a name="page_351" id="page_351"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_352" id="page_352"></a> 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<a name="page_353" id="page_353"></a> language of its own. Its lines and shape expressed tenderness, +gentleness, kindness, as if it could dispense only blessings.</p> + +<p>"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 Friedländer. 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<a name="page_354" id="page_354"></a> 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 '<i>Yevorechecho Adonay +ve-yishmerecho</i>.' 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<a name="page_355" id="page_355"></a> 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 Friedländer +had a place among the portraits of the Vatican Gallery.</p> + +<p>"Years passed. The incidents of those<a name="page_356" id="page_356"></a> 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<a name="page_357" id="page_357"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>"Then, a few weeks ago, I happened upon<a name="page_358" id="page_358"></a> the notice of Rabbi +Friedländer'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<a name="page_359" id="page_359"></a> your +family, sought you! And how I found all of you—how I found you—</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_360" id="page_360"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>"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!'</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_361" id="page_361"></a> myself, but had to take you in my arms, in the happy +assurance that you were willing to be mine.</p> + +<p>"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!</p> + +<p class="r">Victor."<br /> +</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_362" id="page_362"></a> 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?</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p class="cb">* * *</p> + +<p>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 <i>Pesach</i> came early. The birthday, according +to Jewish reckoning, was on the twenty-sixth day of March, the first day +of the festival.<a name="page_363" id="page_363"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>The family were gathered at their evening<a name="page_364" id="page_364"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>"But, Fanny, dearest," teased her husband, "do you realize that you are +to feed sixty people on <i>Matzoth</i>, and for two entire days! Because, you +know, no one may leave before the evening of the second day of the +holiday."</p> + +<p>"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 <i>Chrimsel</i>, 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."</p> + +<p>"I'll enjoy the indigestion, too, I warrant. But you're right, dearest, +those fine dishes<a name="page_365" id="page_365"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>"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 Friedländers."</p> + +<p>"Now, don't forget the rest of us," her husband bantered.</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_366" id="page_366"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"But, tell me, I should really like to know how they will manage. It is +no small matter;<a name="page_367" id="page_367"></a> for instance, at the Seder, how many do you expect?"</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"Well, no one will expect to be provided with the accommodations of the +'Kaiserhof' or the 'Palace Hotel.'"<a name="page_368" id="page_368"></a></p> + +<p>"Certainly not," she laughed, "but there will be compensations. And now, +don't interrupt again, Joshua, else I will lose—"</p> + +<p>"The thread of the strategical plans for the invasion of Rawitsch!"</p> + +<p>"Joshua!" She assumed an injured air.</p> + +<p>"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, <i>avanti</i>."</p> + +<p>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 Friedländer family; and besides the whole +congregation considers—"<a name="page_369" id="page_369"></a></p> + +<p>"<i>Khille</i> is the proper term in this case," he laughingly suggested.</p> + +<p>"Well, then, the whole Khille, yes, the whole town, considers this day +of honor to Uncle Leopold as its own."</p> + +<p>She knew that much depth of feeling lay hidden in her husband's jests.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"Then perhaps it might be appropriate for us to found 'The Leopold +Friedländer Home for Widows and Orphans' on that day, too?"</p> + +<p>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.<a name="page_370" id="page_370"></a></p> + +<p>"With a capital of about one hundred thousand marks?"</p> + +<p>"Joshua!" her voice trembled with deep excitement. Hugo and Rita +regarded their father in astonishment.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>His good humor infected his wife.</p> + +<p>"Well, in regard to food. I shall send a capable Jewish cook, who knows +all about keeping <i>kosher</i>. There will be people to help her in +Rawitsch. A new table service will have to be bought,—that I attend +to,<a name="page_371" id="page_371"></a> here, and also whatever is necessary to complete the silver +service."</p> + +<p>"You will provide, then, as I judge, a complete Passover service for +sixty persons. And what is to become of all of it afterwards?"</p> + +<p>"I have not thought of that yet. But it will not be wasted."</p> + +<p>"Suppose each one were to receive his own service to take home as a +souvenir?"</p> + +<p>She and the children laughed gayly.</p> + +<p>"That would not be so bad."</p> + +<p>"And for us quite worth the while, we should return with four new sets +of table service."</p> + +<p>With an expression of content, he glanced at the costly silver service +on the tea-table at which they were seated.</p> + +<p>"That's what I have been wishing for a long time; and if we are +fortunate, we may receive a soup tureen with it."</p> + +<p>"You're a tease, Joshua. Why should there not be souvenirs of the day?"<a name="page_372" id="page_372"></a></p> + +<p>"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?"</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"Joe, if you don't stop joking, we shall<a name="page_373" id="page_373"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>"Mamma, it was only so curious,—the ideas that papa has—this silver."</p> + +<p>"Five dozen; everything necessary for sixty persons. Quite complete. +Renaissance, rococo, or Empire ... perhaps the English style pleases you +better?" he asked in fun.</p> + +<p>"Please, Joshua, do let the poor child alone. I should really like to +consider the matter seriously."</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_374" id="page_374"></a> 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 <i>Charoseth</i>. 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, <i>née</i> Friedheim, of the +family of Akiba Friedländer, can only be good and blessed."</p> + +<p>The last words were spoken gravely, with deep feeling. He arose, took +his wife's hand and kissed it.</p> + +<p>"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?"<a name="page_375" id="page_375"></a></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"I am decidedly curious to know what was your success."</p> + +<p>"He may come!"</p> + +<p>The face and attitude of the Geheimrat showed decided interest.</p> + +<p>"Really? How interesting! I was very doubtful of the issue."</p> + +<p>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!"</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_376" id="page_376"></a> the sigh that betokened her inner +struggle, and catching her breath, she said: "He is no stranger!"</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>Rita gave her father a look of gratitude.</p> + +<p>"He has no right to, and never shall have," Hugo answered angrily.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>Hugo ground his teeth, and refrained from answering.</p> + +<p>"Well, Fanny, how did it go?"<a name="page_377" id="page_377"></a></p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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 name="page_378" id="page_378"></a> 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, <i>Zecher Zaddik livrochoh</i>. 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, <i>boruch ha-Shem</i>, 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.<a name="page_379" id="page_379"></a> +For if a Jew is baptized, and he calls out in his hour of death, <i>Shema +Yisroel</i>, he shall be accounted a Jew! Shall I be more severe than <i>Shem +Yisborach</i>?' Profound humility and goodness were expressed in his words; +and no one contradicted him."</p> + +<p>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 Friedländer."</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"Do you believe that, also?" asked Mr. Benas of his wife.</p> + +<p>"I am convinced a man such as he is will strike the right note."</p> + +<p>"So that is settled, too; and we may look<a name="page_380" id="page_380"></a> forward to the celebration +without concern. You must let Dr. Weilen know the result of your +intercession."</p> + +<p>"I shall write to him to-morrow."</p> + +<p class="cb">* * *</p> + +<p>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.<a name="page_381" id="page_381"></a> 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,<a name="page_382" id="page_382"></a> 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 pæan 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.</p> + +<p>What would be the outcome of it all? For the present Mrs. Benas could +give no answer. But she quieted her, lovingly<a name="page_383" id="page_383"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>"But he may visit us?" Rita anxiously questioned.</p> + +<p>"Certainly; he may come as before."</p> + +<p>"And shall I say nothing to him, mamma? Not speak to him of his letter? +Not of all I think and feel?"</p> + +<p>"I can't prescribe as to that, dear child. But I trust your tact. The +private understanding that has existed between you two<a name="page_384" id="page_384"></a> 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?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, mamma; but Dr. Weilen?"</p> + +<p>"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 <a name="page_385" id="page_385"></a>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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Rita kissed her mother's hand in respect and gratitude.</p> + +<p>"And shall I not tell him that I have made you my confidante?"</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>Rita withdrew. Mrs. Benas was left to<a name="page_386" id="page_386"></a> her own thoughts, not free from +anxiety, yet full of hope for the happiness of her daughter.</p> + +<p class="cb">* * *</p> + +<p>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.<a name="page_387" id="page_387"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_388" id="page_388"></a> you +will last forever, no matter what may come. And you, Rita?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing shall separate me from you," she answered simply but +resolutely, as if registering a vow.</p> + +<p>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."<a name="page_389" id="page_389"></a></p> + +<p>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?"</p> + +<p>Then he became calm again. "Well, then, it must be."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"I do not quite understand why this<a name="page_390" id="page_390"></a> policy is so obstinately opposed +here," said Mr. Benas.</p> + +<p>"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 formulæ. They +have always<a name="page_391" id="page_391"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>"Do you set great store by our colonial policy?"</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"Surely it has; how can you doubt it? How could anyone who is chiefly +occupied with such affairs pass it by unheeding?<a name="page_392" id="page_392"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_393" id="page_393"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>"Are you amongst the leaders?"</p> + +<p>"Not yet, but I hope to be; at any rate my life is entirely dedicated to +the cause."</p> + +<p>He glanced involuntarily from Dr. Weilen to Rita, and a pained smile +flitted across his lips.</p> + +<p>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.<a name="page_394" id="page_394"></a> 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 name="page_395" id="page_395"></a></p> + +<p>A slight, somewhat skeptical smile played about Mr. Benas's lips, while +Hugo, not able wholly to control his excitement, exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"And you yourself, Dr. Weilen, what is your opinion of the movement?"</p> + +<p>"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;<a name="page_396" id="page_396"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_397" id="page_397"></a> +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 Friedländer. +With pride I recall that our great-grandfather, Rabbi<a name="page_398" id="page_398"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>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 +Friedländer should hold these views.<a name="page_399" id="page_399"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>"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.'"</p> + +<p>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:</p> + +<p>"Young Israel may not be deprived of its ideals; those ideals are too +worthy, too<a name="page_400" id="page_400"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>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:</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_401" id="page_401"></a> 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<a name="page_402" id="page_402"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>"Rosenfeld," teased Mr. Benas, "your allusions are plainly personal."</p> + +<p>"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<a name="page_403" id="page_403"></a> +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<a name="page_404" id="page_404"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Mr. Benas was lost in thought, while Hugo impulsively clasped his +friend's hand.</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_405" id="page_405"></a> +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?"</p> + +<p>"A student friend of Hugo's. Hugo brought him here, and he has become a +favorite of all of us."</p> + +<p>"Of you, too, Rita?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," she said simply.</p> + +<p>Her candor pleased him. "Have you been with him much?"</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"He loves you, Rita?"</p> + +<p>She looked at him with moist eyes, and said in a low voice: "He has +never told me so."</p> + +<p>"Who could live near you and not love you? But he is carved out of the +stuff of which martyrs are made."<a name="page_406" id="page_406"></a></p> + +<p>Involuntarily they both looked at Henry who was approaching with Hugo.</p> + +<p class="cb">* * *</p> + +<p>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 +Friedländer 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 Geheimrätin<a name="page_407" id="page_407"></a> deigned to superintend, in her own person, the +buying of turkeys and ducks and geese," the poulterer had reported at +the <i>Minchah</i> 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<a name="page_408" id="page_408"></a> strange to them. On the last evening before the beginning +of the Passover they had been present at the <i>Chometz batteln</i>. 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<a name="page_409" id="page_409"></a> 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.</p> + +<p>In order to make sufficient room for the table, two large chambers had +been thrown into one by the removal of the partition.</p> + +<p>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.<a name="page_410" id="page_410"></a></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"You have managed splendidly," he said, gallantly kissing his wife's +hand. "Truly, wonderfully!"</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_411" id="page_411"></a> 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 Friedländer 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.</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_412" id="page_412"></a> more modern fashion however. The relatives from Pinsk still clung to +the old fashion of the silk <i>Sheitel</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>And the company was no less diverse in its composition than in the +appearance of its members. Along with the representatives<a name="page_413" id="page_413"></a> 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 Friedländers—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<a name="page_414" id="page_414"></a> picture,—a harmony created by the common sentiment +possessing all in this hour.</p> + +<p>Leopold Friedländer 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: "<i>Mah nishtaneh +ha-Layloh hazeh?</i>" This little boy, sitting at the table of his +ancestors, was the representative of the fifth living generation. He +traced his ancestry directly<a name="page_415" id="page_415"></a> back to the Rabbis Eliezer and Akiba +Friedländer, 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 Friedländer thinking of his father and +grandfather? For he bent over his Haggadah, and tears flowed from his +weary old eyes.</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_416" id="page_416"></a> 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, <i>Leshonoh habooh bi-Yerusholoyim</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>Hugo Benas was most deeply affected. "So it must be," he whispered to +his mother,<a name="page_417" id="page_417"></a> 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."</p> + +<p class="cb">* * *</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_418" id="page_418"></a> +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."</p> + +<p>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,<a name="page_419" id="page_419"></a> +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."</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_420" id="page_420"></a> his wife +according to the laws of the land in which they lived. But then ... +then!</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Mr. Benas frowned slightly: "That<a name="page_421" id="page_421"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>"Zion, father, Zion, wherever it may be."</p> + +<p>"<i>Noblesse oblige</i>," Mrs. Benas interrupted. "That was the lesson of our +visit to Uncle Leopold's, those memorable days under the shelter of the +Patriarch."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>His tone was cordial, convincing, and soothing.</p> + +<p>Involuntarily Rita stepped to his side, and he drew her gently to him.<a name="page_422" id="page_422"></a></p> + +<p>"And he who speaks thus, father, is—"</p> + +<p>"He is the <i>fiancé</i> of our daughter, of your sister, Hugo," Mr. Benas +quickly interrupted.</p> + +<p class="cb">* * *</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Hugo approached them with two open letters in his hand.</p> + +<p>"Mother said I should find you here."</p> + +<p>"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!"<a name="page_423" id="page_423"></a></p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>Her expression became sad: "We might have foreseen that," she said in a +low voice.</p> + +<p>"He wishes to return with his sister to his home in Lissa."</p> + +<p>"What does father say?"</p> + +<p>"He feels he must accept the resignation, and will, of course, allow him +a proper pension."</p> + +<p>Victor had listened in silence to the conversation between sister and +brother.</p> + +<p>"Is he an old retainer of your house?"</p> + +<p>Rita nodded assent.</p> + +<p>"Is he going because I have come? Does his fanaticism drive him away?"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps, but may be he is worn out."</p> + +<p>It was apparent from the tone of her voice that she herself had no faith +in her reassuring words.<a name="page_424" id="page_424"></a></p> + +<p>"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...."</p> + +<p>"He does not wish to see me again?" Rita cried out in pain.</p> + +<p>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?"</p> + +<p>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<a name="page_425" id="page_425"></a> 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."</p> + +<p>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.<a name="page_426" id="page_426"></a> And the consummation of their hopes was +glorified by the soft, golden radiance of the spring.<a name="page_427" id="page_427"></a></p> + +<p><a name="page_428" id="page_428"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="GLOSSARY" id="GLOSSARY"></a>GLOSSARY<a name="page_429" id="page_429"></a></h2> + +<p class="c">(<i>All words given below, unless otherwise specified, are Hebrew. The +transliteration aims to reproduce the colloquial pronunciation of Hebrew +words by German Jews.</i>)</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Al Chet.</span> "For the sin," beginning of a confession of sins.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Amhorez.</span> Ignoramus.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Amrazim.</span> Plural of the previous word. Ignoramuses.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Baal-Milchomoh.</span> Soldier.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Baale-Batim.</span> Householders. Substantial and respectable members of the +community, who contribute to its support.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Bar-Mitzvah.</span> Religious majority, at the age of thirteen, when a Jewish +lad is expected to take all religious duties upon himself.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Bekovet.</span> Honorable; dignified.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Besomim.</span> Spices, used at the ceremony of <i>Habdalah</i>, marking the end of +the Sabbath.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Boruch ha-Shem.</span> "Blessed be the Name" (of God).</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Charoseth.</span> A mixture of apples, raisins, wine, cinnamon, etc., used at +the <i>Seder</i>, symbolic of the mortar which the Israelites prepared in +Egypt.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Chas ve-Sholem.</span> "Mercy and peace." Heaven forbid!</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Chavrusseh.</span> Society; company.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Chazen.</span> Cantor; precentor.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Chochmes.</span> Wise ideas; oversubtle notions.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Chometz batteln.</span> To do away with all leaven (before Passover).</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Chutzpeh.</span> Arrogance; audacity; impudence.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Davvening</span> (?). Reciting the prayers of the liturgy.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Evadde.</span> Assuredly; certainly.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Fromm</span> (Ger.). Pious; observant (of religions and ritual ceremonies).</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Gemoreh.</span> The Talmud.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Get.</span> A bill of divorce.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Goy.</span> A non-Jew.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Khille.</span> Jewish congregation; Jewish community.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Kiddush.</span> Sanctification; the ceremony ushering in the Sabbath or a +holiday.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Kosher.</span> Ritually permitted.<a name="page_430" id="page_430"></a></p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Maaseh.</span> A story; an anecdote.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Mah nishtaneh ha-Layloh hazeh.</span> "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.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Mairev.</span> Evening service.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Malkeh.</span> Queen.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Matzoth.</span> Cakes of unleavened bread.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Melech.</span> King.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Menorah.</span> Candlestick used on <i>Chanukkah</i> or Sabbath.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Meshugge.</span> Crazy.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Meshummed.</span> Apostate.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Mikveh.</span> Ritual bath.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Minchah.</span> Afternoon service.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Minyan.</span> A company of ten men, the minimum for a public service.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Mishpocheh.</span> Family in the wider sense; collateral branches as well as +direct descendants; kin.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Mogen Dovid.</span> "The Shield of David." A Jewish emblem.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Narronim.</span> (Ger. with Heb. ending). Fools.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Nebbich.</span> (Slavic). An expression of pity. Poor thing! Too bad!</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Omed.</span> Reading desk of the cantor in the synagogue.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Oser.</span> "Forbidden." Expression of defiance: You bet I won't; I'd like to +catch myself, etc.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Oshamnu bogadnu.</span> "We have trespassed, we have dealt deceitfully." First +two words in the alphabetic confession of sins.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Ovinu Malkenu.</span> "Our Father, our King." Beginning of the lines of a +well-known prayer. <i>See next word.</i></p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Ovinu Malkenu chosvenu be-Sefer Parnossoh ve-Chalkoloh.</span> "Our Father, our +King, inscribe us in the book of sustenance and maintenance." One line +of a well-known prayer.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Parchonim.</span> Riff-raff; small fry; vermin.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Pesach.</span> Feast of Unleavened Bread; Passover.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Pleitegeher.</span> (Heb. and Ger.). An habitual bankrupt.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Posheh Yisroel.</span> "A sinner in Israel"; one who disregards the ceremonial +law of Judaism.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Rav.</span> Officiating rabbi.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Rebbetzin.</span> (Heb. with Ger. suffix). Wife of the officiating rabbi.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Roshekol.</span> Head of the Jewish community.<a name="page_431" id="page_431"></a></p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Seder.</span> Home service on the first two nights of the Passover.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Shabbes.</span> Sabbath.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Shabbes Goy.</span> 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.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Shadchen.</span> Marriage broker.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Shammes.</span> Verger; beadle; sexton.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Sheitel</span> (Ger.). A covering for the head, to hide the hair of a married +Jewess.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Shem Yisborach.</span> "The Name (of God) be blessed."</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Shema Yisroel.</span> "Hear, O Israel"; beginning of the Jewish confession of +faith.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Shicksel.</span> (Heb. with Ger. suffix). Drastic expression for a non-Jewish +girl.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Shikker.</span> Habitual drunkard.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Shiveh.</span> "Seven" days of mourning, immediately after a death occurs in a +family.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Shivoh oser be-Tamuz.</span> "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.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Shnorrers</span> (Ger.). Beggars.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Sholosh Sudes.</span> The third meal on the Sabbath.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Shul</span> (Ger.). Synagogue.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Shulchan Oruch.</span> The Jewish code of ritual laws, etc.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Sukkoth.</span> Feast of Tabernacles.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Talles.</span> Prayer-scarf.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Talmid Chochom.</span> A Jewish scholar, learned specifically in Jewish lore.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Tashlich.</span> "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.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Trefa.</span> Ritually unfit for food.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Tzores.</span> Trials; tribulations.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Waigeschrieen</span> (Ger.). Woe is me.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Yevorechecho Adonay ve-yishmerecho.</span> "May the Lord bless thee and keep +thee."</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Yichus.</span> Aristocracy; good family connections.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Yiddishkeit</span> (Ger.). Jewishness.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Yom Kippur.</span> Day of Atonement.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Yontef.</span> Holiday; festival.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Zecher Zaddik livrochoh.</span> "The remembrance of the righteous is for a +blessing."</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Zechus.</span> Merit; privilege.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Zichrono livrochoh.</span> "His memory is for a blessing."<a name="page_434" id="page_434"></a></p> + +<p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +</p> + +<p class="eng">The Lord Baltimore Press</p> + +<p class="c"><small>BALTIMORE, MD., U. S. A.</small></p> + +<p class="figcenter"> +<a href="images/back_lg.jpg"> +<img src="images/back_sml.jpg" width="341" height="550" alt="book's back cover" title="book's back cover" /></a> +</p> + +<hr class="full" /> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Simon Eichelkatz; The Patriarch, by Ulrich Frank + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SIMON EICHELKATZ; THE PATRIARCH *** + +***** This file should be named 37419-h.htm or 37419-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/4/1/37419/ + +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.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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