Ion Luca Caragiale

“ The shrieks of the children which brutal blows silence, when they slit their bellies open—and then the last one to die, who had to sit in a corner and watch all that happened—until his own turn came. It was worse than an execution, and there is no hope for a Jew when he falls into the hands of the Christians.
The feverish lips of Leiba follow all these thoughts mechanically. Shivers run down his back; with trembling step he walks along the passageway in the rest-house.
“Without doubt,” thinks Sura—“Leiba is bad. He's ill. He has queer thoughts in his head.” ”

“ Never such deep silence as in this lonely valley of Podeni, between the black hills and the great speechless water. In Jassy there is a rest-house—right in an angular building on the corner—which is the finest place in the world for a rest-house. There, all night long girls dance and sing in a Café chantant. What noise they make! What merry life! There any hour of the day or night you can look out your windows and see the gentlemen who enforce the law amusing themselves with other gentlemen of the law—in coquetting with the girls. ”

“ Suddenly the traffic is held up and from Copou—a suburb of Jassy—a crowd of foot people approach, all gesticulating and hollering. They seem to accompany some one: soldiers, watchmen, spectators. In all the windows and doors are crowds of greedy observers.
“Ah, ha,” thinks Leiba. “Now they have caught a robber!”
The crowd comes nearer. Sura slips out of the crowd and comes up to where Leiba is standing on the rest-house steps.
“What's up, Sura?”
“A madman from Golia [1] — escaped.” ”

“ Zibal had freed himself from poverty, but now they are all ill, he and his wife and the child—ill with the marsh fever.
The people in Podeni are bad tempered and quarrelsome. Harsh words, scorn, curses, constant complaints that they are being poisoned with vitriol. But worst of all are the threats. A threat for a sensitive, nervous nature, is worse than a blow. And now what makes Leiba Zibal suffer more than the fever, is a threat.
“Ah!—dog of a Christian!” he thinks sadly. The one he refers to is friend George. ”

“ He groped in a drawer, found what he wanted, and hiding it with care, tiptoed back to watch the boring auger. But the work outside had ceased.
“What is the cause? Have they gone?” the questions flashed like lightning through his brain.
“Ha—ha—ha!” What a mistake! The work begins anew and he watches it now with pleasure and interest. He was filled with impatience. He wished them to finish it as speedily as possible.
“Quicker!” prayed Leiba. “Quicker!”
Again the Easter bells rang out, high above, in that church on the hill.
“Quicker,” ordered a voice outside. “Day will overtake us.” ”

“ The bad tempered Christians shoved a Jew out of the crowd, and the madman bit him on the cheek.”
From the front steps Leiba has a fine vantage point from which to see. On the step below Sura stands holding the baby.
There he goes—the madman whom two soldiers are trying to hold. His arms are bound by strong ropes. The man has the body of a giant. His head is just like a bull's; black, thick-curled. Hair covers his face—dark, in disorder. What a mass of hair covers his head! He is bare-footed; he keeps spitting blood and the hair he bit from the cheek of the Jew. ”

“ However, it may be, Zibal will have to remain in Podeni until the next quarter is over. Then with his money he will move to Jassy and open a nice little business, on the Market square—then Leiba will have good health again and not shake with fever. He will be right beside police headquarters. He will give tips liberally to all the policemen—to the inspector of police— Who pays well, is safe.
On a great market square like the one in Jassy, night is noisy, and just as light as day. ”

“ It is well protected by a bar shoved into the masonry on both sides. At the first step sand creaks under his shoes. He takes off his shoes and walks in his stockings. He reaches the door just at the moment the horsemen go by. ”