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_SOLOMON MAIMON._
SOLOMON MAIMON:
_AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY._
TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN, WITH ADDITIONS AND NOTES,
BY
J. CLARK MURRAY, LL.D., F.R.S.C.,
_Professor of Mental and Moral Philosophy, M'Gill College, Montreal_.
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ALEXANDER GARDNER,
PAISLEY; AND 12 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON.
DAWSON BROTHERS, MONTREAL; CUPPLES AND HURD, BOSTON.
1888.
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CONTENTS.
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PAGE
TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE, ix.
INTRODUCTION.--State of Poland in last century, 1
CHAPTER--
I.--My Grandfather's Housekeeping, 6
II.--First Reminiscences of Youth, 19
III.--Private Education and Independent Study, 22
IV.--Jewish Schools--The Joy of being released from them causes
a Stiff Foot, 32
V.--My Family is driven into Misery, and an old Servant loses by his
great Faithfulness a Christian Burial, 38
VI.--New Abode, New Misery--The Talmudist, 42
VII.--Joy endureth but a little while, 49
VIII.--The Pupil knows more than the Teacher--A theft _à la
Rousseau_, which is discovered--"The ungodly provideth, and
the righteous putteth it on," 54
IX.--Love Affairs and Matrimonial Proposals--The
Song of Solomon may be used in the service
of Matchmaking--A new _Modus Lucrandi_--Smallpox, 59
X.--I become an object of Contention, get two Wives
at once, and am kidnapped at last, 65
XI.--My Marriage in my eleventh Year makes me the
Slave of my Wife, and procures for me
Cudgellings from my Mother-in-Law--A
Ghost of Flesh and Blood, 74
XII.--The Secrets of the Marriage State--Prince
Radzivil, or what is not all allowed in
Poland? 79
XIII.--Endeavour after mental Culture amid ceaseless
Struggles with Misery of every Kind, 89
XIV.--I study the Cabbalah, and become at last a
Physician, 94
XV.--A brief Exposition of the Jewish Religion from
its Origin down to the most recent Times, 111
XVI.--Jewish Piety and Penances, 132
XVII.--Friendship and Enthusiasm, 138
XVIII.--The Life of a Family Tutor, 145
XIX.--Also on a Secret Society, and therefore a Long
Chapter, 151
XX.--Continuation of the Former, and also Something
about Religious Mysteries, 176
XXI.--Journeys to Königsberg, Stettin, and Berlin, for
the purpose of extending my Knowledge of
Men, 187
XXII.--Deepest Stage of Misery, and Deliverance, 197
XXIII.--Arrival in Berlin--Acquaintances--Mendelssohn--Desperate
Study of Metaphysics--Doubts--Lectures
on Locke and Adelung, 210
XXIV.--Mendelssohn--A Chapter devoted to the Memory
of a worthy Friend, 221
XXV.--My Aversion at first for Belles Lettres, and my
subsequent Conversion--Departure from Berlin--Sojourn
in Hamburg--I drown myself in
the same way as a bad Actor shoots himself--An
old Fool of a Woman falls in Love with
me, but her Addresses are rejected, 234
XXVI.--I return to Hamburg--A Lutheran Pastor
pronounces me to be a scabby Sheep, and
unworthy of Admission into the Christian
Fold--I enter the Gymnasium, and frighten
the Chief Rabbi out of his Wits, 253
XXVII.--Third journey to Berlin--Frustrated Plan of
Hebrew Authorship--Journey to Breslau--Divorce, 265
XXVIII.--Fourth journey to Berlin--Unfortunate
circumstances--Help--Study of Kant's Writings--Characteristic
of my own Works, 279
CONCLUDING CHAPTER, 290
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TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.
One effect of _Daniel Deronda_ was to make known to a wide circle of
readers the vitality of Judaism as a system which still holds sway over
the mental as well as the external life of men. During the few years
which have passed since the publication of that great fiction, the
interest in modern Judaism has continued to grow. It is but a short time
since the Western world was startled by the outbreak of an ancient
feeling against the Jews, which had been supposed to be long dead, at
least in some of the quarters where it was displayed. The popular
literature of the day also seems to indicate that the life of existing
Jewish communities is attracting a large share of attention in the
reading world. The charming pictures which Emil Franzos has drawn of
Jewish life in the villages of Eastern Galicia, are not only popular in
Germany, but some have been reproduced in a cheap form in New York to
meet the demand of German Americans, and some have also been translated
into English. The interest of English readers in the same subject is
further shown by the recent translation of Kompert's _Scenes from the
Ghetto_, as well as by Mr. Cumberland's still more recent and powerful
romance of _The Rabbi's Spell_. Among students of philosophical
literature a fresh interest has been awakened in the history of Jewish
thought by the revival of the question in reference to the sources of
Spinoza's philosophy. The affinities of this system with the familiar
tendencies of Cartesian speculation have led the historians of
philosophy generally to represent the former as simply an inevitable
development of the latter, while the affinities of Spinozism with the
unfamiliar speculations of earlier Jewish thinkers have been almost
entirely ignored.
In these circumstances a special interest may be felt in the life of one
of the most remarkable Jews of modern times--a life which forms one of
the most extraordinary biographies in the history of literature.
Readers of _Daniel Deronda_ may remember that, in his search among the
Jews of London for some one who could throw light on the sad story of
Mirah, the hero of the novel was attracted one day to a second-hand
book-shop, where his eye fell on "that wonderful bit of
autobiography--the life of the Polish Jew, Solomon Maimon." There are
few men so remarkable as Maimon who have met with so little recognition
in English literature. Milman, in his _History of the Jews_, refers
once[1] to the autobiography as "a curious and rare book," but
apparently he knew it only from some quotations in Franck's _La
Cabbale_. Among English metaphysical writers the only one who seems to
have studied the speculations of Maimon is Dr. Hodgson.[2] Even the new
edition of the _Encyclopedia Britannica_ gives no place to Maimon among
its biographies. And yet he is a prominent figure among the
metaphysicians of the Kantian period. Kuno Fischer, in his _Geschichte
der Neueren Philosophie_,[3] devotes a whole chapter to the life of
Maimon, while the contemporary critics of Kant are dismissed with little
or no biographical notice. Fischer's sketch is just sufficient to whet
curiosity for fuller details; but, amid the dearth of rare literature in
Colonial libraries, I certainly never expected to come, in a Canadian
town, upon "a curious and rare book" of last century, which was known
even to the learned Milman only through some quotations from a French
author. One day, however, in Toronto, in order to while away an
unoccupied hour, I was glancing, like Daniel Deronda, over the shelves
of a second-hand bookseller, when I was attracted by a small volume, in
a good state of preservation, with "S. Maimon's Lebensgeschichte" on the
back; and on taking it down I found it to be the veritable autobiography
which I had been curious to see.
Some account of the work was given in an article in the _British
Quarterly Review_ for July, 1885; but I thought that a complete
translation would probably be welcomed by a considerable circle of
English readers. The book has many attractions. If the development of
the inner life of man can ever be characterised as a romance, the
biography of Maimon may, in the truest sense, be said to be one of the
most romantic stories ever written. Perhaps no literature has preserved
a more interesting record of a spirit imprisoned within almost
insuperable barriers to culture, yet acquiring strength to burst all
these, and even to become an appreciable power in directing the course
of speculation. The book, however, is much more than a biography; it
possesses historical interest. It opens up what, to many English
readers, must be unknown efforts of human thought, unknown wanderings of
the religious life. The light, which it throws upon Judaism especially,
both in its speculative and in its practical aspects, is probably, in
fact, unique. For the sketches, which the book contains, of Jewish
speculation and life were made at a time when the author had severed all
vital connection with his own people and their creed; and they are
therefore drawn from a point of view outside of Jewish prejudices: but
they are penned by one who had been brought up to believe the divine
mission of his people, as well as the divine authority of their
religion; and the criticism of his old faith is generally tempered by
that kindly sympathy, with which the heart is apt to be warmed on
lingering over the companionships and other associations of earlier
years. Maimon's account of Jewish philosophy and theology acquires an
additional value from the fact, that he was caught in the full tide of
the Kantian movement, and he was thus in a position to point out
unexpected affinities between many an old effort of speculative thought
among the Jews and the philosophical tendencies of modern Christendom.
Since writing the above-mentioned article for the _British Quarterly
Review_, I learnt that a volume of _Maimoniana_ had been issued in 1813
by an old friend of our philosopher, Dr. Wolff[4]; and through the
kindness of a friend in Leipsic, I was enabled, after some delay, to
procure a copy. It is a small volume of 260 pages, and adds extremely
little to our knowledge of Maimon. Nearly one third is simply a
condensation of the autobiography; and the remainder shows the author
with the opportunities indeed, but without the faculty, of a Boswell. He
has preserved but few of the felicities of Maimon's conversation; and
what he has preserved loses a good deal of its flavour from his want of
the lively memory by which Boswell was able to reproduce the peculiar
mannerisms of Johnson's talk. Still I have culled from the little
volume a few notes for illustration of the autobiography, and I am
indebted to it for most of the materials of the concluding chapter. All
my additions are indicated by "_Trans._" appended.
The translation gives the whole of the biographical portion of the
original. There are, however, ten chapters which I have omitted, as they
are occupied entirely with a sketch of the great work of
Maimonides,--the _Moreh Nebhochim_, or _Guide of the Perplexed_. Owing
to their somewhat loose connection[5] with the rest, these chapters
excite just the faintest suspicion of "padding;" and at all events there
is no demand for such a sketch in English now, when our literature has
been recently enriched by Dr. Friedländer's careful translation of the
whole work.
In the performance of my task I have endeavoured to render the original
as literally as was consistent with readable English. Only in one or
two passages I have toned down the expression slightly to suit the
tastes of our own time; but even in these I have not been unfaithful to
the author's meaning.
In the spelling of Hebrew and other foreign words I have never, without
some good reason, interfered with the original. But as Maimon is not
always consistent with himself in this respect, I have felt myself at
liberty to disregard his usage by adopting such forms as are more
familiar, or more likely to be intelligible, to an English reader.
SOLOMON MAIMON.
INTRODUCTION.
The inhabitants of Poland may be conveniently divided into six classes
or orders:--the superior nobility, the inferior nobility, the
half-noble, burghers, peasantry and Jews.
The superior nobility consist of the great landowners and administrators
of the high offices of government. The inferior nobility also are
allowed to own land and to fill any political office; but they are
prevented from doing so by their poverty. The half-noble can neither own
land, nor fill any high office in the State; and by this he is
distinguished from the genuine noble. Here and there, it is true, he
owns land; but for that he is in some measure dependent on the lord of
the soil, within whose estate his property lies, inasmuch as he is
required to pay him a yearly tribute.
The burghers are the most wretched of all the orders. They are not, 'tis
true, in servitude to any man; they also enjoy certain privileges, and
have a jurisdiction of their own. But as they seldom own any property
of value, or follow rightly any profession, they always remain in a
condition of pitiable poverty.
The last two orders, namely the peasantry and the Jews, are the most
useful in the country. The former occupy themselves with agriculture,
raising cattle, keeping bees,--in short, with all the products of the
soil. The latter engage in trade, take up the professions and
handicrafts, become bakers, brewers, dealers in beer, brandy, mead and
other articles. They are also the only persons who farm estates in towns
and villages, except in the case of ecclesiastical properties, where the
reverend gentlemen hold it a sin to put a Jew in a position to make a
living, and accordingly prefer to hand over their farms to the peasants.
For this they must suffer by their farms going to ruin, as the peasantry
have no aptitude for this sort of employment: but of course they choose
rather to bear this with Christian resignation.
In consequence of the ignorance of most of the Polish landlords, the
oppression of the tenantry, and the utter want of economy, most of the
farms in Poland, at the end of last century,[6] had fallen into such a
state of decay, that a farm, which now yields about a thousand Polish
gulden, was offered to a Jew for ten; but in consequence of still
greater ignorance and laziness, with all that advantage even he could
not make a living off the farm. An incident, however, occurred at this
time, which gave a new turn to affairs. Two brothers from Galicia, where
the Jews are much shrewder than in Lithuania, took, under the name of
_Dersawzes_ or farmers-general, a lease of all the estates of Prince
Radzivil, and, by means of a better industry as well as a better
economy, they not only raised the estates into a better condition, but
also enriched themselves in a short time.
Disregarding the clamour of their brethren, they increased the rents,
and enforced payment by the sub-lessees with the utmost stringency. They
themselves exercised a direct oversight of the farms; and wherever they
found a farmer who, instead of looking after his own interests and those
of his landlord in the improvement of his farm by industry and economy,
spent the whole day in idleness, or lay drunk about the stove, they soon
brought him to his senses, and roused him out of his indolence by a
flogging. This procedure of course acquired for the farmers-general,
among their own people, the name of tyrants.
All this, however, had a very good effect. The farmer, who at the term
had hitherto been unable to pay up his ten gulden of rent without
requiring to be sent to jail about it, now came under such a strong
inducement to active exertion, that he was not only able to support a
family off his farm, but was also able to pay, instead of ten, four or
five hundred, and sometimes even a thousand gulden.
The Jews, again, may be divided into three classes:--(1) the illiterate
working people, (2) those who make learning their profession, and (3)
those who merely devote themselves to learning without engaging in any
remunerative occupation, being supported by the industrial class. To the
second class belong the chief rabbis, preachers, judges, schoolmasters,
and others of similar profession. The third class consists of those who,
by their pre-eminent abilities and learning, attract the regard of the
unlearned, are taken by these into their families, married to their
daughters, and maintained for some years with wife and children at their
expense. Afterwards, however, the wife is obliged to take upon herself
the maintenance of the saintly idler and the children (who are usually
very numerous); and for this, as is natural, she thinks a good deal of
herself.
There is perhaps no country besides Poland, where religious freedom and
religious enmity are to be met with in equal degree. The Jews enjoy
there a perfectly free exercise of their religion and all other civil
liberties; they have even a jurisdiction of their own. On the other
hand, however, religious hatred goes so far, that the name of Jew has
become an abomination; and this abhorrence, which had taken root in
barbarous times, continued to show its effects till about thirteen years
ago. But this apparent contradiction may be very easily removed, if it
is considered that the religious and civil liberty, conceded to the Jews
in Poland, has not its source in any respect for the universal rights
of mankind, while, on the other hand, the religious hatred and
persecution are by no means the result of a wise policy which seeks to
remove out of the way whatever is injurious to morality and the welfare
of the State. Both phenomena are results of the political ignorance and
torpor prevalent in the country. With all their defects the Jews are
almost the only useful inhabitants of the country, and therefore the
Polish people found themselves obliged, for the satisfaction of their
own wants, to grant all possible liberties to the Jews; but, on the
other hand, their moral ignorance and stupor could not fail to produce
religious hatred and persecution.
CHAPTER I.
My Grandfather's Housekeeping.
My grandfather, Heimann Joseph, was farmer of some villages in the
neighbourhood of the town of Mir, in the territory of Prince
Radzivil.[7] He selected for his residence one of these villages on the
river Niemen, called Sukoviborg, where, besides a few peasants' plots,
there was a water-mill, a small harbour, and a warehouse for the use of
the vessels that come from Königsberg, in Prussia. All this, along with
a bridge behind the village, and on the other side a drawbridge on the
river Niemen, belonged to the farm, which was then worth about a
thousand gulden, and formed my grandfather's _Chasakah_.[8] This farm,
on account of the warehouse and the great traffic, was very lucrative.
With sufficient industry and economical skill, _si mens non laeva
fuisset_, my grandfather should have been able, not only to support his
family, but even to gather wealth. The bad constitution of the country,
however, and his own want of all the acquirements necessary for
utilising the land, placed extraordinary obstacles in his way.
My grandfather settled his brothers as tenants under him in the villages
belonging to his farm. These not only lived continually with my
grandfather under the pretence of assisting him in his manifold
occupations, but in addition to this they would not pay their rents at
the end of the year.
The buildings, belonging to my grandfather's farm, had fallen into decay
from age, and required therefore to be repaired. The harbour and the
bridge also had become dilapidated. In accordance with the terms of the
lease the landlord was to repair everything, and put it in a condition
fit for use. But, like all the Polish magnates, he resided permanently
in Warsaw, and could therefore give no attention to the improvement of
his estates. His stewards had for their principal object the improvement
rather of their own condition than of their landlord's property. They
oppressed the farmers with all sorts of exactions, they neglected the
orders given for the improvement of the farms, and the moneys intended
for this purpose they applied to their own use. My grandfather indeed
made representations on the subject to the stewards day after day, and
assured them that it was impossible for him to pay his rent, if
everything was not put into proper condition according to the lease. All
this, however, was of no avail. He always received promises indeed, but
the promises were never fulfilled. The result was not only the ruin of
the farm, but several other evils arising from that.
As already mentioned, there was a large traffic at this place; and as
the bridges were in a bad state, it happened not infrequently that these
broke down just when a Polish nobleman with his rich train was passing,
and horse and rider were plunged into the swamp. The poor farmer was
then dragged to the bridge, where he was laid down and flogged till it
was thought that sufficient revenge had been taken.
My grandfather therefore did all in his power to guard against this evil
in the future. For this purpose he stationed one of his people to keep
watch at the bridge, so that, if any noble were passing, and an accident
of this sort should happen, the sentinel might bring word to the house
as quickly as possible, and the whole family might thus have time to
take refuge in the neighbouring wood. Every one thereupon ran in terror
out of the house, and not infrequently they were all obliged to remain
the whole night in the open air, till one after another ventured to
approach the house.
This sort of life lasted for some generations. My father used to tell of
an incident of this sort, which happened when he was still a boy of
about eight years. The whole family had fled to their usual retreat. But
my father, who knew nothing of what had happened, and was playing at the
back of the stove, stayed behind alone. When the angry lord came into
the house with his suite, and found nobody on whom he could wreak his
vengeance, he ordered every corner of the house to be searched, when my
father was found at the back of the stove. The nobleman asked him if he
would drink brandy, and, on the boy refusing, shouted: "If you will not
drink brandy, you shall drink water." At the same time he ordered a
bucketful of water to be brought, and forced my father, by lashes with
his whip, to drink it out. Naturally this treatment brought on a quartan
fever, which lasted nearly a whole year, and completely undermined his
health.
A similar incident took place when I was a child of three years. Every
one ran out of the house; and the housemaid, who carried me in her arms,
hurried forth. But as the servants of the nobleman who had arrived ran
after her, she quickened her steps, and in her extreme haste let me fall
from her arms. There I lay whimpering on the skirt of the wood, till
fortunately a peasant passing by lifted me up and took me home with him.
It was only after everything had become quiet again, and the family had
returned to the house, that the maid remembered having lost me in the
flight, when she began to lament and wring her hands. They sought me
everywhere, but could not find me, till at last the peasant came from
the village and restored me to my parents.
It was not merely the terror and consternation, into which we used to be
thrown on the occasion of such a flight; to this was added the
plundering of the house when deprived of its inhabitants. Beer, brandy,
and mead were drunk at pleasure; the spirit of revenge even went so far
at times, that the casks were left to run out; corn and fowls were
carried off; and so forth.
Had my grandfather, instead of seeking justice from a more powerful
litigant, rather borne the injustice, and built the bridge in question
at his own expense, he would have been able to avoid all these evils. He
appealed, however, persistently to the terms of his lease, and the
steward made sport of his misery.
And now something about my grandfather's domestic economy. The manner of
life, which he led in his house, was quite simple. The annual produce of
the arable lands, pasture-lands, and kitchen-gardens, belonging to the
farm, was sufficient, not only for the wants of his own family, but also
for brewing and distilling. He could even, besides, sell a quantity of
grain and hay. His bee-hives were sufficient for the brewing of mead. He
had also a large number of cattle.
The principal food consisted of a poor kind of corn-bread mixed with
bran, of articles made of meal and milk, and of the produce of the
garden, seldom of flesh-meat. The clothing was made of poor linen and
coarse stuff. Only the women made in these matters a slight exception,
and my father also, who was a scholar, required a different sort of
life.
Hospitality was here carried very far. The Jews in this neighbourhood
are continually moving about from place to place; and as there was a
great traffic at our village, they were frequently passing through it,
and of course they had always to stop at my grandfather's inn. Every
Jewish traveller was met at the door with a glass of spirits; one hand
making the _salaam_,[9] while the other reached the glass. He then had
to wash his hands, and seat himself at the table which remained
constantly covered.
The support of a numerous family along with this hospitality would have
had no serious effect in impairing my grandfather's circumstances, if at
the same time he had introduced a better economy in his house. This,
however, was the source of his misfortune.
My grandfather was in trifles almost too economical, and neglected
therefore matters of the greatest importance. He looked upon it, for
example, as extravagance to burn wax or tallow candles; their place had
to be supplied with thin strips of resinous pine, one end of which was
stuck into the chinks of the wall, while the other was lit. Not
unfrequently by this means fires were occasioned, and much damage
caused, in comparison with which the cost of candles was not worth
taking into consideration.
The apartment, in which beer, spirits, mead, herrings, salt and other
articles were kept for the daily account of the inn, had no windows,
but merely apertures, through which it received light. Naturally this
often tempted the sailors and carriers who put up at the inn to climb
into the apartment, and make themselves drunk gratuitously with spirits
and mead. What was still worse, these carousing heroes, from fear of
being caught in the act, often took to flight, on hearing the slightest
noise, without waiting to put in the spigot, sprang out at the holes by
which they had come in, and let the liquor run as long as it might. In
this way sometimes whole casks of spirits and mead ran out.
The barns had no proper locks, but were shut merely with wooden bolts.
Any one therefore, especially as the barns were at some distance from
the dwelling-house, could take from them at pleasure, and even carry off
whole waggonloads of grain. The sheepfold had, all over, holes, by which
wolves (the forest being quite near) were able to slink in, and worry
the sheep at their convenience.
The cows came very often from the pasture with empty udders. According
to the superstition which prevailed there, it was said in such cases,
that the milk had been taken from them by witchcraft,--a misfortune,
against which it was supposed that nothing could be done.
My grandmother, a good simple woman, when tired with her household
occupations, lay down often in her clothes to sleep by the stove, and
had all her pockets full of money, without knowing how much. Of this
the housemaid took advantage, and emptied the pockets of half their
contents. Nevertheless my grandmother seldom perceived the want, if only
the girl did not play too clumsy a trick.
All these evils could easily have been avoided of course by repairing
the buildings, the windows, the window-shutters and locks, by proper
oversight of the manifold lucrative occupations connected with the farm,
as also by keeping an exact account of receipts and disbursements. But
this was never thought of. On the other hand, if my father, who was a
scholar, and educated partly in town, ordered for himself a rabbinical
suit, for which a finer stuff was required than that in common use, my
grandfather did not fail to give him a long and severe lecture on the
vanity of the world. "Our forefathers," he used to say, "knew nothing of
these new-fashioned costumes, and yet were devout people. You must have
a coat of striped woolen cloth,[10] you must have leather hose, with
buttons even, and everything on the same scale. You will bring me to
beggary at last; I shall be thrown into prison on your account. Ay me,
poor unfortunate man! What is to become of me?"
My father then appealed to the rights and privileges of the profession
of a scholar, and showed moreover that, in a well-arranged system of
economy, it does not so much matter whether you live somewhat better or
worse, and that even my grandfather's misfortunes arose, not from
extravagant consumption in housekeeping, but rather from the fact that
he allowed himself by his remissness to be plundered by others. All this
however was of no avail with my grandfather. He could not tolerate
innovations. Everything therefore had to be left as it was.
My grandfather was held in the place of his abode to be a rich man,
which he could really have been if he had known how to make use of his
opportunities; and on this account he was envied and hated by all, even
by his own family, he was abandoned by his landlord, he was oppressed in
every possible way by the steward, and cheated and robbed by his own
domestics as well as by strangers. In short, he was _the poorest rich
man_ in the world.
In addition to all this there were still greater misfortunes, which I
cannot here pass over wholly in silence. The pope, that is, the Russian
clergyman in this village, was a dull ignorant blockhead, who had
scarcely learned to read and write. He spent most of his time at the
inn, where he drank spirits with his boorish parishioners, and let his
liquor always be put down to his account, without ever a thought of
paying his score. My grandfather at last became tired of this, and made
up his mind to give him nothing more upon credit. The fellow naturally
took this very ill, and therefore resolved upon revenge.
For this he found at length a means, at which indeed humanity shudders,
but of which the Catholic Christians in Poland were wont to make use
very often at that time. This was to charge my grandfather with the
murder of a Christian, and thus bring him to the gallows. This was done
in the following way: A beaver-trapper, who sojourned constantly in this
neighbourhood to catch beavers on the Niemen, was accustomed at times to
trade in these animals with my grandfather; and this had to be done
secretly, for the beaver is game preserved, and all that are taken must
be delivered at the manor. The trapper came once about midnight, knocked
and asked for my grandfather. He showed him a bag which was pretty heavy
to lift, and said to him with a mysterious air, "I have brought you a
good big fellow here." My grandfather was going to strike a light, to
examine the beaver, and come to terms about it with the peasant. He
however said, that this was unnecessary, that my grandfather might take
the beaver at any rate, and that they would be sure to agree about it
afterwards. My grandfather, who had no suspicion of evil, took the bag
just as it was, laid it aside, and betook himself again to rest.
Scarcely, however, had he fallen asleep again, when he was roused a
second time with a loud noise of knocking.
It was the clergyman with some boors from the village, who immediately
began to make search all over in the house. They found the bag, and my
grandfather already trembled for the issue, because he believed nothing
else than that he had been betrayed at the manor on account of his
secret trade in beavers, and he could not deny the fact. But how great
was his horror, when the bag was opened, and, instead of a beaver, there
was found a corpse!
My grandfather was bound with his hands behind his back, his feet were
put into stocks, he was thrown into a waggon, and brought to the town of
Mir, where he was given over to the criminal court. He was made fast in
chains, and put into a dark prison.
At the trial my grandfather stood upon his innocence, related the events
exactly as they had happened, and, as was reasonable, demanded that the
beaver-trapper should be examined too. He, however, was nowhere to be
found, was already over the hills and far away. He was sought
everywhere. But the blood-thirsty judge of the criminal court, to whom
the time became tedious, ordered my grandfather three times in
succession to be brought to torture. He, however, continued steadfast in
his assertion.
At last the hero of the beavers was found. He was examined; and as he
straightway denied the whole affair, he also was put to the test of
torture. Thereupon at once he blabbed the whole story. He declared that,
some time before, he had found this dead body in the water, and was
going to bring it to the parsonage for burial. The parson however had
said to him, "There is plenty of time for the burial. You know that the
Jews are a hardened race, and are therefore damned to all eternity. They
crucified our Lord Jesus Christ, and even yet they seek Christian blood,
if only they can get hold of it for their passover, which is instituted
as a sign of their triumph. They use it for their passover-cake. You
will therefore do a meritorious work, if you can smuggle this dead body
into the house of the damned Jew of a farmer. You must of course clear
out, but your trade you can drive anywhere."
On this confession the fellow was whipped out of the place, and my
grandfather set free; but the pope remained pope.
For an everlasting memorial of this deliverance of my grandfather from
death, my father composed in Hebrew a sort of epopee, in which the whole
event was narrated, and the goodness of God was sung. It was also made a
law, that the day of his deliverance should be celebrated in the family
every year, when this poem should be recited in the same way as the Book
of Esther at the festival of Haman.[11]