Eliza Orzeszkowa

“ Leopold grew very red, threw the cigarette on the floor, and crushed it angrily with his foot.
"Such is your civility!" said he to Meir.
"And why do you smoke on the Sabbath?"
"Don't you smoke?" asked the guest satirically looking Meir in the face.
"No," answered Meir
"And you wish to lead human souls out of darkness! And you believe that it is a holy law not to smoke on the Sabbath!"
"No, I don't believe it," answered Meir, with as much determination as before.
"You wish to cause the people to rebel against the great Rabbi and the kahal, and you yourself give way before the enemy." ”

“ Her laugh had a sharp sound, for the cold gleam of the baron's eyes fell on her boldly and persistently.
"No," contradicted he, "no; the combination of a death's head with a butterfly makes a dissonance. That bites and sticks a new pin in the soul."
"But the Greek harmony?" she inquired.
With a flattering smile, which conquered her, the baron answered:
"Never mention harmony. That is the milk with which babes were nourished. We subsist on something else. You like game, do you not? but only when it begins to decay. There is no good game, except that which is rank. ”

“ Meir stood before him as though petrified, but in his eyes, looking into space, there was reflected a bottomless precipice of sad and rebellious sentiments.
"Zeide," he said finally, half in prayer and half abruptly, "then permit me to be an artisan. I will live in the same street with the poor. I will work with them and guard their souls from sin, And when they ask me something I will always answer them 'Yes' or 'No' When they lack bread I will divide with them all the bread I have in my house!"
Again his face burned and the tears shone on his eyelids. ”

“ In that abundant light Darvid stood near the desk, with bent shoulders; a number of wrinkles between his brows; his face inclined low toward the paper which he held in his hand. At his feet, on the rug, like a tiny statue, sat the motionless Puffie; with upraised head, and through silken hair, the dog looked into the face of the man. But Darvid did not see the little animal, and did not read the flattering phrases on the paper; he only repeated the words which, on a time, he had heard from his daughter:
"What do you want of so many people, father? Do you love them? Do they love you? ”

“ They opened widely and covered Meir's pale face with deep hatred.
"Karaims!" he shouted, tossing himself in his chair, and tearing his beard and his hair—"You went to rescue the Karaims, heretics, infidels, accursed! Why should one rescue them? Why do they not light candles on Sabbath—why do they sit in darkness? Why do they not kill birds and animals as we do? Why do they not know Mishma, Gemara and Zahor?"
He choked with excitement and became silent, and in that interruption
Meir's pure and sonorous voice resounded:
"Reb, they are very poor!" ”

“ He loved nature. Yes, yes, Darvid knew that many people loved nature. Art and nature must be powers, since a multitude of men bow down to them. Perhaps he, too, would have done so if the career of his life had led him into their presence, but the path of his life led him in another direction, far from nature and art, hence he did not know them; he had not had the time. He looked at a field, at snow, at a forest—and he saw a field, snow, a forest—nothing higher, nothing more. He was of those who call a cat a cat, a rogue a rogue, and hold every hyperbole, ode, and enthusiasm in silent contempt. ”

“ But from Meir's lips the slight smile had vanished.
He sighed and said, as if to himself:
"How shall I act? What ought I to do?"
Golda, with her hands crossed above her head, looked thoughtfully up to the starry sky. After a while she whispered timidly:
"I will ask zeide; zeide is very learned; he knows the whole Bible by heart."
"Ask him," said Meir.
The girl turned her head towards the dark interior, and called out:
"Zeide! What does Jehovah command a man to do, from whom the people have turned away because he will not act against his conscience?"
Abel interrupted his prayers. ”

“ He was strong, unbending—she was ever alone. Alone in society! Alone in the house—for the children were small yet, and she so sensitive and weak, needing friendship and the fondling of a devoted heart. I fell on my knees in spirit before her—she felt that. He, when going away, left me near her as an adviser, a guardian for the time, even a protector, yes, a pro-tec-tor—the parvenu! the idiot! So wise, yet so stupid—ha! ha! ha!"
Sneering, vengeful laughter contorted Kranitski's face, the red spots spread over his brows and covered half of his forehead, which was drawn now into thick wrinkles. ”

“ Reb Moshe raised his face from the plate, and stuttered with his mouth full of food:
"Good deeds bring upon man an inexhaustible stream of blessing and forgiveness. They open for him the secrets of the heavens and earth and carry his soul among the Sefirots!"
A silence full of respect was the only answer. But after a few seconds it was interrupted by the sonorous voice of the youth:
"Reb Moshe! what do you call a good deed? What must one do in order to save one's life from sin and draw upon one's self a great stream of grace?" asked Meir aloud.
The melamed raised his eyes at the question. ”

“ Darvid pressed their hands a little more firmly than he was wont to do; perhaps his side-whiskers dropped a little less symmetrically than usual, along cheeks somewhat paler than usual, but there was no other change in the man. And when the cloud of dark garments flowed from the blue room to the chamber of his daughter, a spark of triumph glittered in his eye. Let one giantess fight with the other; we shall see which one wins. The power of science was one of the very few articles of Darvid's faith. That power had to be great, since it was indispensable in the conquest of wealth. ”

“ Why trouble so much about Meir? Give him his liberty; let him go into the world, and do not punish him either by your anger or by dooming him to poverty. What wrong has he done? He keeps all the commandments faithfully; has studied the holy books; all the members of our family, and even the poor, ignorant people love him like their own soul. What do you want from him? What has he done? Why should you punish him?"
Ber's speech, delivered in a lazy, half-timid voice, made a deep impression on all those present. ”

“ Darvid had never had time for such thoughts. The stream which bore him on was rushing and roaring, glittering and turbulent.
But the giantess, because of her power, sprang over all golden mountains—and came! He was thinking of this at the moment when Kranitski saw him standing at the wall and squeezing into its snowy drapery, just as a frightened insect might squeeze itself into a cranny. That was a cranny in one more of his golden mountains. In the great city, people had spoken with amazement of the cost, well-nigh fabulous, of that last chamber of the millionnaire's little daughter. ”

“ And he pointed at the old bookcase.
Freida gave no answer, but continued in a whisper:
"He said: 'You alone will know the secret. And when the time is drawing near and your soul is about to leave your body, tell it to the son or grandson who resembles most your husband'—'and which of my sons or grandsons is most like my husband Hersh?' 'It is Meir, the son of Benjamin, who is like him as two grains of sand are like each other. He is my child, the dearest of all. Freida will tell him the secret.'"
Meir took both the hands of his great-grandmother in his own, and covered them with kisses. ”

“ The architect looked at the tree and said, with a smile:
"No man, not even a Greek master, has ever finished a pillar like that."
"The only pity is that it cannot be used," replied Darvid, smiling also.
"You are not a lover of nature, that is true; while I—" began the engineer.
"On the contrary, on the contrary. During intervals I have looked at nature here and there," said Darvid, playfully. "But to become her lover, as you say, I have not had leisure. To love nature is a luxury which iron toil does not know—a luxury which must have leisure." ”

“ When the young man had finished the prayers and approached the table to take his place, there was heard a voice from among those present, enouncing the words in such a way that they seemed sung:
"Meir, where have you been for such a long time? What were you doing in the town after the Sabbath had begun, and no one is allowed to work any longer? Why did you not celebrate Kiddish with your family to-day? Why is your forehead pale and your eyes sad, when to-day is the joyful Sabbath? In heaven the whole celestial family rejoices, and on earth all pious people should keep their souls mirthful." ”

“ She shone in the great world with a charm, an elegance, a power of speech which were the same as if she had been its own daughter. She was radiant with satisfaction, with serenity, often even with joyous animation, and only now and then did a slight wrinkle, with a barely discernible line furrowing her Grecian forehead, sink itself and cast on her face an expression of weariness, or the corners of her lips, still red and shapely, drop downward and make that oval, white, delicate face ten years older than it seemed to be usually. ”

“ Every word is a tear, every word a melody expressing the tragic history of a great people.
There were as different expressions in the faces of the two young men as their characters were unlike each other. Eliezer's blue eyes were full of tears, his delicate features full of dreaminess and rapture; Meir stood erect, his burning eyes fixed on the sky, and his brow contracted as if in anger. They both prayed from the depths of their hearts until the end, and then their formally united souls parted. Eliezer intoned a prayer for the Wise Men of Israel:
"O Lord of heaven! ”

“ He repeated with the profoundest astonishment:
"You do not wish? You have the right?"
Everything in him—cheeks, wrinkles on his forehead, pale lips—trembled with excitement now beyond restraint. But he was master of his voice yet. He spoke in low tones, but with a hiss:
"What right? You have no right! You have lost every right! You do not wish? You have no right to wish, or not to wish. You must live as it happens you, and as is needed. As to conversations and serious theatrical scenes, I want none of them—I, who have not lost the right to wish. I am silent, and I will enforce silence. ”

“ Let him take the writing of the Senior to his heart, and leave everything, his house and wealth and family, and go forth into the world; for that writing is more precious than gold and pearls. It is the covenant of Israel with the Present, which flows like a great river over their heads and with the nations which tower around him like great mountains.'"
"Bobe! the elders of the family have risen up against me; the people have thrown stones at me—I am that dearest grandson of whom your husband Hersh spoke—tell me, is the writing among those old volumes?" ”

“ The superhuman is he who is able to will absolutely and unconditionally.
When Irene thought that perhaps she would soon become the baron's wife, and leave that house, her brows contracted and her jeering smile vanished. Oh, she would not let him escape her! She had an absolute condition to put before the baron; he would accept it most assuredly, through deference to the amount of her dower. Energy glittered in her blue eyes. She turned her face toward the door of her mother's room with so quick a movement that the metallic pin in her hair cast a gleam of sharp steel above her head. ”

“ A painful shiver passed over Saul's face.
"What has he done?" he asked in a low voice.
Kamionker began to speak, at first solemnly, and then very violently:
"Your grandson Meir spoils our sons! He causes their souls to rebel against the Holy Law; he reads to them excommunicated books, and sings worldly songs on the Sabbath! Besides this he is bound by an impure friendship to the Karaimian girl, and we saw in the meadow our sons lying at his feet as though at the feet of their master, and over his head the Karaimian girl stood and sang abominable songs with him." ”

“ Since she had gratified her favorite she wished to do it in the best manner possible. On her head was a cap as white as snow; the clattering overshoes were no longer on her feet; and a checkered kerchief was arranged neatly, even with elegance, across her bosom. On the tray were small glasses, a bottle of liqueur, a pate de foie gras, and three cups from which rose the excellent odor of coffee. All this she placed on a table before the sofa, and left the little drawing-room with gloomy eye, but firm foot.
Kranitski sprang up from the sofa. ”

“ With a last, almost superhuman effort, he pushed off his assailants, stooped down, and, before anybody had time to rush at him again, lifted a child up in his arms. It threw its arms around his neck, and looked with streaming eyes dilated with terror at the people.
"It is my child! it is my Lejbele! do not hurt him!" called the frightened voice of the tailor Shmul from the crowd.
"Reb!" called out several voices to the melamed, "he is shielding himself behind the child—the child loves him!"
"Take away the child and tear from him the writing!" yelled the melamed. ”

“ Why illusions, when after them disenchantment must conic? They merely cause useless exertion in life, disappointment, and suffering."
Irene's words and sententious, hard tones were in marvellous contrast with the maiden-roundness of her arms, which were bare in the broad sleeves of her dressing-gown, with the fresh red of her delicate lips, and the gleam of her blue eyes.
"Besides," added she, "I feel a sympathy for the baron; a certain kind of sympathy." Malvina, after a moment's silence, asked in a low voice:
"What kind of sympathy is it?" ”

“ Let all creation become his enemy, that the whirlwind crush him and the sword smite him. Let his ways be dangerous and covered with darkness, and let the greatest despair be hi only companion thereon. Let sorrow and unhappiness waste his body; let his eyes look upon the heavy blows falling upon him. Let the Lord never forgive him; nay, let the wrath and vengeance of the Lord eat deep into his marrow. Let him be wrapped up in the curse as in a garment; let his death be sudden, and drive him into utter darkness."
Here Todros paused again to draw breath into his exhausted lungs. ”

“ She will eat of his millions, seasoned with his contempt. She will array herself in his millions, interwoven with his hatred. Hatred? Oh, beyond doubt he hates her with passion, and only at times does her name move marvellously through his brain with such sounds as if they were the echo of things very dear, things lost forever and irreplaceable. Can it be? Is it possible that she did that? Malvina, once an ideal maiden, and ten years later a woman so loving that when he was going on a journey she threw herself on her knees and wept, and then besought him not to go from her! ”