Leopold Kompert

“ Gudule suddenly cried, with uplifted voice, "what this Sechûs is like? It has the form of an angel, and it stands near the Throne of the Almighty. . . . But, since the days of Rachel, our mother, it is the Sechûs of a mother that finds most favor in God's eyes. When a mother dies, her soul straightway soars heavenward, and there it takes its place amid the others.
"'Who art thou?' asks God. 'I am the Sechûs of a mother,' is the answer, 'of a mother who has left children behind her on earth.' 'Then do thou stand here and keep guard over them!' says God. ”

“ Not another Ghetto in all Bohemia could show a handsomer and happier couple than Ascher and his wife. “Wild” Ascher was one of those intrepid, venturesome spirits, to whom no obstacle is so great that it cannot be surmounted. And the success which crowned his long, persistent wooing was often cited as striking testimony to his indomitable will. Gudule was famous throughout the Ghetto as “the girl with the wonderful eyes,” eyes—so the saying ran—into which no man could look and think of evil. ”

“ One Friday evening, shortly after the seven-branched Sabbath lamp had been lit, Gudule, seated in her arm-chair, out of which she had not moved all day, called the two children to her. A bright smile hovered around her lips, an unwonted fire burned in her still beautiful eyes, her bosom heaved... in the eyes of her children she seemed strangely changed. “Children,” said she, “come and stand by me. Ephraim, you stand here on my right, and you, dear Viola, on my left. I would like to tell you a little story, such as they tell little children to soothe them to sleep. Shall I?”
“Mother!” ”

“ Ascher answered with equal firmness, "Gudule's eyes will save me!" Ascher had uttered no untruth when he gave his father-in-law this assurance. He spoke in all earnestness, for like every one else he knew the magnetic power of Gudule's eyes.
Nowhere, probably, does the grim, consuming pestilence of gaming claim more victims than in the Ghetto. The ravages of drink and debauchery are slight indeed; but the tortuous streets can show too many a humble home haunted by the spectres of ruin and misery which stalked across the threshold when the first card game was played. ”

“ Ascher was saved. The terrible blow which had struck him down had not crushed the life from him. He was awakened. But when, after four weeks of gruesome fever and delirium, his mind had somewhat regained its equilibrium, his hair had turned white as snow, and his children beheld an old, decrepit man.
That which Viola had denied her father when he returned to them in all the vigor of his manhood, she now lavished upon him in his suffering and helplessness, with that concentrated power of love, the source of which is not human, but Divine. ”

“ The uncle then insisted that Viola at least should accompany him, for he had daughters at home whom she could assist in their duties in the house and on the farm. But the child clung to Ephraim, and with flaming eyes, and in a voice of proud disdain, which filled the simple farmer with something like terror, she cried:
“Uncle, you have enough to do to provide for your own daughters; don't let me be an additional burden upon you; besides, sooner would I wander destitute through the world than be separated from my brother.” ”

“ Let her remember that her husband is but a common gambler."
How different would have been their thoughts had they known that the children were Gudule's sole comfort. What their father had never heard from her, she poured into their youthful souls. No tear their mother shed was unobserved by them; they knew when their father had lost, and when he had won; they knew, too, all the varying moods of his unhinged mind; and in this terrible school of misery they acquired an instinctive intelligence, which in the eyes of strangers seemed mere precocity. ”

“ Open is the window, no grating noise has accompanied the unbolting of the shutter.... The evil spirits have taken care that the faintest sound shall die away... even the rough iron obeys their voices... it is they who have bidden: “Be silent; betray him not; he is one of us.”
Even the key in the door of the old bureau is turned lightly and without noise. Groping fingers are searching for a bulky volume. ”

“ The children were growing up. Ephraim had entered his fifteenth year. Viola was a little pale girl of twelve. In the opinion of the Ghetto they were the most extraordinary children in the world. In the midst of the harassing life to which her marriage with the gambler had brought her, Gudule so reared them that they grew to be living reflections of her own inmost being. People wondered when they beheld the strange development of “Wild” Ascher's children.
Their natures were as proud and reserved as that of their mother. They did not associate with the youth of the Ghetto ”

“ Viola was seated on her brother's knee, her arms round his neck, whilst Ephraim with the gentle love of a brother for a younger sister, was stroking her hair, and whispering in her ear sweet words of solace.
The bird-cage was empty. . . . That evening Ephraim sat up till midnight. Outside in the Ghetto reigned the stillness of night.
All at once Ephraim rose from his chair, walked to the old bureau which stood near the door, opened it, and took from it a bulky volume, which he laid upon the table in front of him. But he did not seem at all bent upon reading. ”

“ So there's your chance, Ephraim, my child; you've got the money, buy!" All at once a dark cloud overspread his smiling face.
"It's a lot of money, Ephraim, that I am giving you . . . many a merchant can't lay his hands on it," he said, hesitatingly;" but if . . . you were to . . . gam—"
The word remained unfinished, for upon his arm he suddenly felt a sensation as of a sharp, pricking needle.
"Uncle Gabriel!" cried Viola—for it was she who had gripped his arm—and the child's cheeks were flaming, whilst her lips curled with scorn, and her white teeth gleamed like those of a beast of prey. ”

“ Ephraim felt compelled to ask himself . . . "how different our poor mother looked!"
With a violent effort he repressed the feelings which swelled his bosom. "Dear father," he said, with tears in his eyes, "make yourself quite comfortable; you have n't closed your eyes the whole night, you must be worn out. You are at home, remember . . . father!"
"It's all right," said Ascher, with a deprecating gesture, "we fellows know other ways of spending the night."
"We fellows!" The words cut Ephraim to the heart. ”

“ Eighteen years before, upon that very threshold which he now crossed with halting, stealthy steps, as of a thief in the night, stood a fair and loving wife, holding a sturdy lad aloft in her arms, so that the father might at once see, as he turned the street corner, that wife and child were well and happy. ”

“ Then he pocketed the money.
“Well, Ephraim,” said he, “may God bless you, and grant you further luck. But you won't blame me if I take the money,—I can do with it, and in oats, as you know, there's some chance of good business just now. But I am glad to see that you 're so prompt at paying. Never give too much credit! That 's always my motto; trust means ruin, and eats up a man's business, as rats devour the contents of a corn-barn.” ”

“ A womanly gentleness had come over her whole being, and already voices were heard in the Ghetto praising her grace and beauty, which surpassed even the loveliness of her dead mother in her happiest days. ”

“ And to all appearances Viola will keep her word.
Had she taken upon herself a voluntary penance for having, in her heart's bitter despair, presumed to abjure her faith in the Sechûs of her mother? Or was there yet another reason? The heart of woman is a strangely sensitive thing. It loves not to build its happiness upon the hidden ruins of another's life. ”

“ I need strength and sharp eyes, and they are things which only sleep can give. Ephraim, my son," he continued after a while in thick, halting accents . . . "tell the watch—Simon is his name, I think—he can give six knocks instead of three upon the door, in the morning, he won't disturb me . . . and to Viola you can say I'll find her a husband, handsomer than her eyes have ever beheld, and tell her on her wedding-day she shall wear pearls round her neck like those of a queen—no, no, like those of Gudule, her mother." ”

“ I'll make you rich, and as for Viola, I'll get her a husband—such a husband that all the girls in Bohemia will turn green and yellow with envy. . . . Ascher's daughter shall have as rich a dowry as the daughter of a Rothschild. . . . But there's one thing, and one thing only, that I need, and then all will happen as I promise, in one night."
"And what is that, father!" asked Ephraim, with a slight shudder.
"Luck, luck, Ephraim, my son!" he shouted. "What is a man without luck? Put a man who has no luck in a chest full of gold; cover him with gold from head to foot ”

“ But I must give you one bit of advice; it 's worth a hundred pounds to one in your position. Never leave a key in the lock of a bureau!”
Ephraim looked at his father as though stupefied. Was the man mad or delirious to talk in such a strain? At that moment, from the extreme end of the Ghetto, there sounded the three knocks, summoning the people to evening prayer. As in the morning, so again now the sound seemed to stun the vigorous man. His face blanched and assumed an expression of terror; he trembled from head to foot. Then again he cast a frightened glance in the direction of the window. ”

“ Ascher loved his wife, and when he saw the effect which his rough words had produced, he tenderly embraced her. "Am I not right, Gudule?" he said, "after a man has been working and slaving the livelong week, don't you think he looks forward with longing eyes for his dear children to welcome him at his door?" ”

“ Ephraim shall repay you to the last farthing. . . . Ephraim does n't gamble . . . you sha 'n't lose a single penny of it."
With a shake of his head the farmer regarded the strange child. He felt something like annoyance rise within him; an angry word rose to the lips of the usually good tempered man. But it remained unsaid; he was unable to remove his eyes from the child's face.
"As I live," he muttered, "she has Gudule's very eyes." ”

“ Ascher was walking up and down with heavy tread.
“Do you feel refreshed after your sleep, father?” Ephraim asked timidly.
Ascher stood still, and confronted his son. His face was still very flushed, but his eyes had lost their glassy stare; his glance was clear and steady.
“Ephraim, my son,” he began, in a kindly, almost cheerful tone, “you 've grown into a splendid business man, as good a business man as one can meet with between this and Vienna. I 'm sure of it. ”

“ Gudule, my child, the pearl necklet which I have given your little Viola has a clasp strong enough to last a hundred years . . . you need never, therefore, give it to your husband to have a new clasp made for it. ”

“ And yet, I have but to say one word... and I 'll wager that you will be the first to open the cage and say to the bird, 'Fly, fly away, birdie, fly away home!'”
“Never, never!” cried the girl.
“Viola,” said Ephraim beseechingly, “I have taken a vow. Surely you would not have me break it?”
“A vow?” asked his sister.
“Viola,” Ephraim continued, as he bent his head down to the girl's face, “I have vowed to myself that whenever he... our father... should return, I would give our little bird its freedom. It shall be free, free as he will be.”
“Ephraim!” ”

“ Ephraim, 't is true, told his sister where he had been, and what he had done, but in the simplest words there vibrated that tone of unutterable sadness which has its constant dwelling-place in such sorely-tried hearts.
Meanwhile, a great change had come over Viola. Nature continues her processes of growth and development 'mid the tempests of human grief, and often the fiercer the storm the more beautiful the after effects. Viola was no longer the pale child, "the little spit-fire," by whom her Uncle Gabriel's arm had been seized in such a violent grip. ”