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'And to-morrow we shall depart publicly for Trieste, Yossel wound up calmly. 'But this is too absurd! the artist broke in. 'I forbid this marriage! A violent expression of amazement overspread the ancient dame's face, and the tone of the far-away years came into her voice. 'Silence, Vroomkely, or I'll smack your face. Do you forget you are talking to your grandmother? 'I think Mr.
But when Yossel's father made a match for him with Leah, the rich corn-factor's daughter, the silly girl, when she was introduced to the bridegroom, could see only the hump, and scandalously refused to carry out the contract. And Yossel is so proud that ever since that day he curled himself up into his hump, and nursed a hatred for all women. 'How can you say that, Yenta? Yossel broke in again.
'Oh, I'd lend you the money to ride, said the artist lightly. 'But I could never repay it. 'You can repay me in Heaven. Yossel shook his head. 'And after I had the fare, how should I live? Here I make a few Gulden by writing letters for people to their relatives in America; in Prague everybody is very learned; they don't need a scribe.
Indeed, those who discussed the new situation most avidly forgot how convinced they had been that marriage and not death was the hunchback's goal. How Yossel had found money for the great adventure was not the least interesting ingredient in the cup of gossip. It was even whispered that the grandmother herself had been tapped. Her skittish advances had been taken seriously by Yossel.
You see Yossel is not made of the same clay as you and I. By an oversight the Almighty sent an angel into the world instead of a man, but seeing His mistake at the last moment, the All-High broke his wings short and left him a hunchback.
'Amen! said Yossel, still propped assertively on his crutches. The grandson turned upon the interrupter. 'But you can't take her with you? 'Why not? said Yossel calmly. Schneemann found himself expatiating upon the responsibility of looking after such an old woman; it seemed too absurd to talk of the scandal. That was left for the grandmother to emphasize.
Yossel looked the picture of misery. The Bube unconsciously cut through the situation. 'A wicked man gave it to him, she explained, 'to pray away his sins in Jerusalem. 'Indeed! murmured the artist. 'Anyone you know? 'Heaven has spared her the pain of knowing him, ambiguously interpolated her anxious protector. 'I don't even know his name, added the Bube. 'Yossel keeps it hidden.
'And why should I not go to Palestine too? she said. 'But you are so old! 'The more reason I should make haste if I am to be luckier than Moses our Master. She readjusted her spectacles firmly. 'But the journey is so hard. 'Yossel has wisdom; he will find the way while alive as easily as others will roll thither after death. 'You'll be dead before you get there, said the artist brutally.
'Yes, it is going to the Land of Israel, she said. As the artist lifted his eyes from the two amorphous heaps on the floor Yossel and his bundle he became aware of a blank in the familiar interior. 'Why, where is the spinning-wheel? he cried. 'I have given it to the widow Rubenstein I shall spin no more. 'And I thought of painting you as a spinster! he murmured dolefully.
So this was all his Machiavellian scheming had achieved to bring about the very marriage it was meant to avert! He had dug a pit and fallen into it himself. All this would indeed amuse Rozenoffski and Leopold Barstein. He laughed bitterly. 'Nay, it was no laughing matter, said the Bube indignantly. 'For I know well how Yossel longed to go with me to die in Jerusalem.
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