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THE GHETTO
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THE GHETTO
A Drama in Four Acts
Freely Adapted from the Dutch of
HERMAN HEIJERMANS, JR.
By
CHESTER BAILEY FERNALD
London: William Heinemann
MDCCCXCIX
Copyright, 1899
All rights, including Acting rights in the English Language, reserved
Entered at the Library of Congress
Washington, U.S.A.
_DRAMATIS PERSONAE_
RAFAEL.
SACHEL.
AARON.
RABBI HAEZER.
SAMSON.
DANIEL.
MORDECAI.
ESTHER.
REBECCA.
ROSA.
_A Watchman. Inhabitants of The Ghetto._
_The action takes place in The Ghetto, Amsterdam, at the present time._
_The incidental music composed by Mr. N. CLIFFORD PAGE._
_PREFACE_
_In the not wholly grateful task of adapting this play to the present
demands of the English and American stage, partly as those demands have
been interpreted by others than me, numerous alterations have been
thought necessary. I hope that this adaptation does not conceal the fact
that Mr. Heijermans' original is a work of very admirable unity and
force._
_CHESTER B. FERNALD._
_September, 1899._
THE GHETTO
THE FIRST ACT
SCENE: _A street in the Ghetto in Amsterdam. On the left the shop of
SACHEL. Running down from the centre to the right, diagonally, the
wall of a canal; a bridge across the canal; a vista of the river and
the city at the back._
_Enter SAMSON and DANIEL._
SAMSON.
Have trade and traffic gone to bed for Sabbath?
DANIEL.
Not till old Sachel shuts his shop. See, he sits there in the gloom
like a spider waiting in its web. He would keep open all night for two
cents.
SAMSON.
He's waiting for his son. What if the old man knew that Rafael spent
half his time composing music--music for which he gets nothing? He
would lock the door on Rafael to-night.
DANIEL.
Let him! The world shall hear from Rafael. Wait till we play his
music.
SAMSON.
But he still has time to devote to his father's Christian
servant-maid.
DANIEL.
Eh--you have noticed too? [_They look into the shop._] Ah, see her! I
say, she's the handsomest in Amsterdam--high or low! You had better be
careful what you say about her to Rafael.
SAMSON.
I am. When I spoke a trifle lightly of her, he offered to smash my
head with your 'cello.
DANIEL.
And you apologized?
SAMSON.
Not wanting it smashed.
DANIEL.
Meaning your head.
SAMSON.
No, meaning your 'cello. But I shall proceed with her. She is
unhappy--I think she needs _me_!
_Enter MORDECAI, with a piece of lace, by way of the bridge. He goes
into the shop._
I thought we had done with trade in this street. There goes an old
sheep to pawn his fleece. I say--bah!
DANIEL.
So will the old sheep say "Bah!" when Sachel has shorn him. See the
old man feeling it over--they say he can tell brass from gold by the
touch of his talons.
SAMSON.
It is well the old man is blind; if he saw the look of disgust on the
girl's face--ay, she'd like to rush out in the air!
DANIEL.
If she hates trade so, why does she stay in the Ghetto?
SAMSON.
She has nowhere else to go--she doesn't appear to want to get away.
Are they cursing each other over a copper? See the curl of her lip!
Look! look!
[_ROSA rushes out of the shop._
ROSA.
[_As if stifling._] Oh! oh! they have no souls--there is not a soul
among them, save Rafael's!
[_She sees DANIEL and SAMSON._
SAMSON.
Good evening!
ROSA.
[_Coldly._] Good evening.
SAMSON.
It's a fine evening, isn't it?
ROSA.
No.
SAMSON.
No, I suppose not. Is Rafael at home?
ROSA.
No.
SAMSON.
No--he stays away, he is in love?
DANIEL.
With whom?
SAMSON.
With somebody--somebody. I read between the notes of his music. He's
fallen in love and he's put it all into music. [_Insinuatingly._] Do
you know who she is?
ROSA.
[_She gets a broom and begins to sweep._] How should I, a Christian,
be so deep in his confidence?
SAMSON.
As deep in his confidence as need be. But do not trust him too much.
Ah--[_quasi-regretful_]--and I am his friend. But it is love that has
made a fool of me.
ROSA.
No, I should not lay it to the door of love.
SAMSON.
It _is_ love. If I could look into such eyes as yours, and my heart
not smoke like--like a burning haycock, then I should be more fool
than now.
ROSA.
You could not be. With whom do you mean to insinuate that Rafael is
carrying on a love affair?
SAMSON.
Oh, not you!
ROSA.
Oh! With whom, then?
SAMSON.
[_Whispering._] To-morrow, when you are alone----
[_He pauses, hearing SACHEL in the shop._
SACHEL.
No, no!
MORDECAI.
But----
SACHEL.
No, no, no!
_Enter MORDECAI, followed by SACHEL._
MORDECAI.
Half a guilder! Half a guilder! Oh! if it isn't worth four guilders,
it is worth nothing.
[_He begins to roll up his lace._
SACHEL.
If it is worth four guilders to you, keep it. H'm! Because I am blind,
cannot I feel with my fingers? No, it is tatters.
MORDECAI.
It's beautiful. I leave it to any one.
SACHEL.
So do I. I leave it to Rosa; she's a Christian, she knows nothing
about trade. Rosa!
ROSA.
[_Coming to him._] Yes.
SACHEL.
Am I not right? Is it not charity to offer him half a guilder for that
lace?
DANIEL.
[_Mischievously._] A beautiful piece of lace!
SAMSON.
A splendid piece of lace; he could not have come honestly by that!
SACHEL.
I have not summoned every idler in the street. Rosa!
[_Exeunt DANIEL and SAMSON._
MORDECAI.
[_Whispering to ROSA._] My son is dead, how can I bury him without
money? It was his mother's--the only fragment I have left of hers----
SACHEL.
I hear you; is he giving you something?
ROSA.
[_In compassion._] It is not so badly worn; surely it is worth four
guilders!
SACHEL.
You lie! I say you lie! Do you think you can make a fool of me--you
thieves! Ah, I know you are standing there, twisting your cheeks at
me! But you shall not rob me; no, no! Give me that! [_He takes the
lace and examines it with his fingers._] I knew it! It has been
patched--by some bag-maker. You minx--you hussy! Do I feed you that
you may rob me? Everybody lies to me--but they do not deceive me! I
will not give half a guilder--only thirty cents.
MORDECAI.
Sachel! I must have _two_ guilders! He died in my arms. You have a
son--for pity's sake--for pity's sake!
SACHEL.
Have you had pity on my eyes? You say this lace is whole; it is a lie.
You say your son is dead; that is a lie too, for all I know. I'll give
no more--no more.
MORDECAI.
Oh! Oh! Give me that! You black-hearted miser. [_He snatches it._] You
are rich--you have known me for years--and you would let my son be
buried in the pauper's field! A curse on you! May your son _live_ to
hate you--desert you--disown you--curse you, as I do!
[_Exit MORDECAI._
SACHEL.
Rosa! Run and offer him a guilder and a half! Run!
ROSA.
Mordecai! He will not stop! He's gone!
SACHEL.
With a curse! Could I be more cursed than I am? Come here. You have
driven the trade from my door.
ROSA.
I?
SACHEL.
Yes, you--you misbegotten wretch! Had you not whined and pleaded for
him, he would have taken a guilder. If you, too, had said, "Tatters!
nothing but tatters." Why did you not?
ROSA.
Because I will not lie for you!
SACHEL.
I employ you to do my bidding! What are you doing now--idling, wasting
precious time? [_ROSA begins to sweep._] In the middle of last
night--were you up?
ROSA.
No!
SACHEL.
[_Ironically._] You will not lie for me! Why are you so disturbed
about it?
ROSA.
I am not disturbed.
SACHEL.
I say you are. You are red in the face--I know it. Why were you up?
ROSA.
I was not up.
SACHEL.
I heard you! I heard you, and you cannot deceive me. Did I not lie
awake until Rafael came home? It struck twelve as he went to his room.
It was not five minutes later when I hear steps along the hall--yes, I
can hear steps, though the shoes be off! I heard steps, and then your
door opened. Why do you stop? I heard your door open; what does it
mean?
ROSA.
Do you mean that--that some one came--some one opened my door?
SACHEL.
Some one--some one! I mean you--you opened it--and you went
downstairs. Why? What were you doing while you thought I slept?
ROSA.
I did not leave my room.
SACHEL.
And she will not lie for me! If you are honest, why does your voice
tremble so? You were up, and why? If I miss anything;--do you want to
be turned into the streets? [_He hears the noise of a window opening._]
Who's that? Some fresh enemy? I cannot move but some one's hand is
raised against me! Enemies--enemies I cannot strike nor battle
with--because I cannot see!
ROSA.
I--I am not your enemy!
SACHEL.
How do I know? Have I ever looked into your eyes? Ay, if I could look
into them at this moment, God knows what I should find. You are not my
enemy! Why, then, were you up last night prowling about my house--at
midnight--when my son--when Rafael;--Rafael--? Come here! [_She comes
to him._] Your hand! Was it Rafael? Did Rafael--? No, no, my beautiful
boy--with such as you--an ugly, misshapen wench like you! [_Pause._]
Unless--unless they lied to me! Did not Esther sniff and say that you
were white and thin, when we rescued you from pauperdom--when you were
threatened with the streets--you thankless vagabond? They knew I would
not have had you else! Rafael said that "pretty" was no word for such
a face as yours; did he mean that you were beautiful;--did he mean
that? Your form--yes, your form! [_He passes his hand over her._] Hold
still! Do you fear an old blind wreck like me? Ay, you are like a
Madonna, damn you! Your face--hold still--your nose--[_he passes his
hand over her face_]--your brow--your chin;--they lied to me! You are
beautiful! It _was_ Rafael!
ROSA.
What do you mean? I tell you I am not beautiful!
SACHEL.
Are you ugly? Do you swear you are ugly?
ROSA.
You cannot see the colour of my skin--you cannot see the rings under
my eyes.
SACHEL.
You swear--do you swear you are not beautiful?
ROSA.
I may have been pretty once--but now----
[_She is silent._
SACHEL.
[_Thoughtfully._] When she says that--h'm! H'm! No woman would deny
her beauty if she had it. No, no! H'm! Rafael--my beautiful boy; why,
I only mentioned it to frighten you!
_Enter ESTHER, over the bridge._
ESTHER.
What's the matter now--you troublesome old person?
SACHEL.
My sister--my compassionate sister! H'm! I know you're waiting,
watching my face from day to day for a sign of death.
ESTHER.
You silly old man, does any one put a pin in your way?
SACHEL.
Any one? Every one! Has she not just driven away a customer because
she would not----
ESTHER.
I don't want to hear about it!
SACHEL.
H'm! A little money--it is nothing! I have given my life for it--and
my eyes--my eyes! By God's right, do not the blessings of thrift
belong to me? And here I drag my gloomy, empty life away, with a son
who brings me nothing, a sister who watches me like a vulture and this
hussy who drives my customers to curse me!
ESTHER.
Who do you think gave me this letter for you? Aaron.
SACHEL.
Aaron! He hasn't been near us for years! What does he want? Read!
ESTHER.
When the Sabbath has already begun?
SACHEL.
Well, what do we have this Christian for? Rosa!
_Enter ROSA._
ESTHER.
Rosa, open this letter and read it.
ROSA.
[_Reading._] "I shall be at your house to-night, on a matter of
business.--AARON HEINE." [_Exit ROSA._
SACHEL.
Business? What business can he have with me?
ESTHER.
His daughter, I think. There was something in the way he spoke that
made me feel it!
SACHEL.
To marry his Rebecca to my son. H'm! I'll make him speak first. I'll
worry him! I'll make him sweat.
ESTHER.
Rosa! Put up the shutters.
SACHEL.
I will not trust her to put up the shutters.
ESTHER.
You never had a better servant in your house.
SACHEL.
[_Fetches shutters and awkwardly adjusts them._] She is a Christian.
It is bad luck--it was wrong for us to take her in.
ESTHER.
You were glad enough to have her. Would a Jewess light your fire on
Sabbath--would a Jewess open your letters for you? Shall I send her
away?
SACHEL.
Not yet.
ESTHER.
No. Because on Sabbath your feet would be cold and your letters would
lie unopened, even if you were not blind. I pity the girl; I have
heard that her father was a gentleman and died poor and in exile,
because he had given succour to the persecuted Jews.
_Enter ROSA._
SACHEL.
Who can prove it? It is a good story to work upon our sympathies. They
cannot deceive me. I will have no sympathies.
ESTHER.
[_To ROSA._] Isn't it warm.
[_They look off over the river._
ROSA.
But aren't those clouds beautiful? They are bringing a blessed rain;
but they lower as if they brought a pestilence.
ESTHER.
You call them beautiful? You know very well that we are speculating in
produce: if the drought keeps on the rich will have to pay dear for
their vegetables, and the poor won't have any; it will profit us
handsomely! And you only think of your own pleasure!
ROSA.
It was only the beauty, the majesty of the clouds; they are massed
together like enemies ready to destroy us. But the poor; ah, I can see
the hand of God in those clouds!
ESTHER.
Which God, Rosa?
ROSA.
The God of all peoples, of all faiths--the God who knows no ceremony
but the way of living, and no creed but what He plants in the hearts
of every one.
ESTHER.
You are a strange sort of Christian! You talk like Rafael! [_Exit
ROSA, as if to avoid the subject._] I wonder if she ever talks with
Rafael! Sachel, I see Aaron!
SACHEL.
I'll make him speak first.
_Enter AARON._
AARON.
[_To SACHEL._] Good evening. [_No answer._] What's the matter with
you, old friend? I have a bit of business with you.
ESTHER.
Good evening. Rather late for business, isn't it? Sit down.
AARON.
It's never too late for business. It was never too early when we were
young--eh, Sachel? Do you remember forty years ago, when you and I and
Abram stood in line at two o'clock in the morning--to get the best
places at the sale? Poverty wasn't trumps then, as it is now.
ESTHER.
H'm! I fancy not with you, now.
SACHEL.
What did you come about?
AARON.
Eh? Well, I have something I think you'll want.
SACHEL.
What?
AARON.
Eh? Why, some wool, I'll sell it cheap. Feel that! As soft as my
daughter's cheek!
[_Gives SACHEL a packet of wool._
SACHEL.
[_Returning the packet._] I didn't think you'd have anything I wanted.
ESTHER.
No; it wouldn't interest us. Have some coffee, Rosa!
AARON.
You think it is not good. You don't know! That wool was bought by my
daughter, Rebecca, and I'll back her judgment against any man's in the
Ghetto! [_Gives a little to SACHEL._] Feel that!
SACHEL.
[_Breaking the fibres, and listening to the sound they make._] His
daughter! Cotton! More cotton! His daughter!
AARON.
I will match her with your son, any day!
SACHEL.
My son is in no hurry to marry.
AARON.
Marry? I meant as a judge of wool. You are the only one that's
thinking of marrying him. What's the matter--doesn't any girl's father
want him?
SACHEL.
[_Picking the wool apart._] H'm!
AARON.
There _is_ a keen demand for handsome young wives nowadays, judging from
the way my daughter is besieged.
SACHEL.
Your daughter? You speak as if she had had an offer.
_Enter ROSA with the coffee._
AARON.
H'm, _an_ offer! But I came here to talk about wool! If it were not
the Sabbath I would burn a little for you, and you could tell by the
smell there is not a shred of cotton in it!
SACHEL.
Let the Christian burn it for us, then. Rosa, light that!
[_ROSA burns a little of the wool in the spirit lamp._
AARON.
[_Laughingly._] If you can smell cotton in that, then the sheep have
been eating cotton-seed, and it has sprouted through their shins. Do
you smell any cotton? Ah!
[_Exit ROSA._
SACHEL.
No; because I have picked all the cotton out. Rubbish!
ESTHER.
Have some coffee?
AARON.
[_Putting away packet of wool._] Oh, well, if you don't know a good
thing when you see it. Ah! Those cakes of yours, Esther; I remember
them, I remember them of old! Let me send my daughter to learn how to
make them, will you?
ESTHER.
Certainly.
AARON.
That's the only thing under the sky that my daughter can't do to
perfection. Well, how is that son of yours?
SACHEL.
Where is he, you had better ask! Unless I stay up till midnight, I
never meet him.
AARON.
Oh, well, a young fellow has to have his day I suppose.
SACHEL.
Did I have my day? I was one of eight souls who crawled and starved in
a room half as big as my shop parlour. I have known hunger to gnaw at
my belly, till I cried myself to sleep, and dreamt that I was
disembowelled. And my grandmother died, and my little sister too, from
sheer want. Sheer want! At his age I could have bought and sold him
twice a day. The fellow is a worthless vagabond!
AARON.
H'm. I suppose, if the truth be said, he _is_ a worthless vagabond!
SACHEL.
You--what affair is it of yours? You would give half you have--and
that wouldn't be much--to have him in your household!
AARON.
Ha! My daughter has no haste to wed.
SACHEL.
Who said anything about wedding? It is you that seem to have the
subject on your mind.
AARON.
With my girl? With Rebecca? You rely too much upon your son's good
looks and upon the lot of money he will have.
SACHEL.
Who said he would have a lot of money? I am not dead yet.
AARON.
Even so, your only child is not going empty-handed.
SACHEL.
He will go empty-handed, by the Commandments, if he does not obey his
father! And, in any case, I have not slaved my eyes away that another
man's child may be fed.
_Enter REBECCA._
AARON.
Still he must marry some day.
SACHEL.
Marry whom? No girl who does not bring twelve thousand guilders shall
marry my son!
[_Exit ESTHER._
[_REBECCA pauses at the bridge unobserved and interested._
REBECCA.
[_Aside._] They are getting on!
AARON.
[_Swelling with indignation._] Twelve thousand guilders! Twelve
thousand guilders! A snap of the finger! And is your son a prince? You
talk like an imbecile. Suppose some one was fool enough to give his
daughter such a dowry, what would you give your son?
SACHEL.
Nothing! He has his share in the business--or will have.
AARON.
Oh, you're enough to make a man jump into the sea!
SACHEL.
Did I ask anything of you? Why should you jump into the sea?
AARON.
Eh, what? Rebecca! How did _you_ happen to be here?
SACHEL.
[_Ironically._] Yes, how did you happen to be here?
REBECCA.
Why, didn't you _tell_ me----
AARON.
[_Waving her away._] We're talking business, Sachel and I!
_Enter ESTHER._
Esther, those cakes are wonderful!
ESTHER.
Thanks! [_To REBECCA._] Look here. [_Showing a photograph--watching
her closely._] Rafael is a good-looking boy, isn't he?
REBECCA.
Oh, you'd better let me have this! He wouldn't mind, would he? What a
fine likeness--but so sad!
ESTHER.
That's for some nice girl to take out of him.
REBECCA.
[_Tapping the photograph._] And you'll let me----
ESTHER.
Have the picture? With pleasure! Have you seen Isaac's new warehouse?
[_Points up the canal. REBECCA retires to the bridge._
[_Sotto, to AARON._] I like your girl--she's remarkably discreet. When
she's married, you'll be lonely enough!
AARON.
[_Sotto._] And when she is married, Esther--[_meaningly_]--may I take
me a wife on the same day; one that can bake such cakes as those!
[_Aloud._] Esther, there is not another woman in Amsterdam that can
bake such cakes as those!
[_The two exchange meaning glances; they advance on SACHEL, as if
now in alliance._
REBECCA.
[_Aside._] I don't believe it was about me!
AARON.
But, outside of that, Rebecca is a wonderful housewife, and in the
shop--she brings me the trade!
SACHEL.
H'm! She'll never bring you a son-in-law! For you can't spare money to
give with her. You need it all in your business.
AARON.
Do I? With my daughter there will go a trifle of eight thousand
guilders. [_Pause._
REBECCA.
[_Aside._] It _is_ about me. They are getting on!
AARON.
And he thinks a girl will bring his son a matter of twelve thousand
guilders.
_Enter ROSA; she shows that she has been listening and is troubled._
SACHEL.
Let my son tell me he is going to marry a girl with less than twelve
thousand! I would give him the choice of starvation. I would lock the
door on him.
[_ROSA sees the photograph in REBECCA'S hand._
AARON.
Who's talking of your son? My daughter--Esther, just look at her--such
a figure, such a skin--such eyes! Esther, Esther, look at her walk!
Look at her walk!
REBECCA.
Is Rafael at home?
ROSA.
No.
ESTHER.
Rafael and Rebecca--that would sound rather well!
AARON.
My dear woman, I won't give twelve thousand guilders.
SACHEL.
And I won't give my son at less!
AARON.
Your son? Did I ask you for your son? Did I?
SACHEL.
Did I ask you for your daughter? What is she to me?
REBECCA.
[_Aside._] Oh, they are really getting on!
AARON.
Oh, my daughter! I wish your son were her equal! If _I_ had such a
son----
SACHEL.
I don't want your advice! [_Rises._] You manage your own child. I'll
manage mine. [_Starts for shop._
AARON.
You will? You can't manage him. Where is he now? Dallying with some
wanton, for all you know! My God, one would think him a second Joseph!
SACHEL.
Do you house him? Do you feed him? Does he trouble you? Speak well of
him, or go home!
AARON.
I will go home!
ESTHER.
Sit down! Now talk sense! It's a good match: you both know it's a good
match, and so--[_to REBECCA_]--have you seen the repairs to the old
bridge?
[_REBECCA moves farther away, leaving the photograph of RAFAEL on
the wall._
[_Lowering her voice._] They are both only children. And so, in any
case, the money will stay in the family. You let Sachel consider it.
[_ROSA takes the photograph of RAFAEL and hides it behind her._
REBECCA.
[_Aside._] I wonder how Rafael will consider it?
SACHEL.
It costs nothing to consider it, but----
ESTHER.
We'll see you to-morrow.
AARON.
At my house--before service. Come on, Rebecca; I have arranged about
the wool. Good-night! [_Exit._
ESTHER.
Good-night!
REBECCA.
Oh, where's my picture of Rafael? [_ROSA drops the photograph into the
canal._] It's gone!
[_She looks about for it._
ESTHER.
How could it have gone?
[_REBECCA sees it in the canal._
REBECCA.
It has fallen into the canal! It's ruined! [_Looks at ROSA._] I don't
understand. I don't understand!
ESTHER.
Oh, well; Rafael has some others. I'll see Rafael. Good-night.
REBECCA.
[_To ROSA._] If the portrait dropped in where I left it, then it must
have floated against the current.
ROSA.
[_Fiercely, sotto._] It did go against the current.
[_Exit REBECCA._
SACHEL.
Not a cent under twelve thousand.
[_ROSA, at the bridge, struggles with tears._
ESTHER.
We shall see! [_Exit._
SACHEL.
So we shall. Why doesn't he come? His miserable selfishness. My God,
if anything has happened to him! He doesn't come. He might have been
set upon and robbed--beaten, killed, by some cursed ruffian beyond the
Ghetto. My God--I'm harsh--too harsh with him. I shall be chastened
for it. I was harsh to his mother; yes, I know--I know; I broke her
heart perhaps, and Rafael, poor boy----[_Stops, listens._] His step!
Yes; even--steady--he's in no distress. He's not worrying about _me_.
He'll come home to sleep and get more money--that's all. He's a
vagabond--a rascally vagabond!
_Enter ESTHER._
_Enter RAFAEL by the bridge._
RAFAEL.
[_Wearily._] Good evening. [_No answer._] Good evening! [_No answer._]
[_He exchanges guarded looks with ROSA. Exit ROSA._
ESTHER.
[_Contemptuously._] The gentleman says "Good evening!" This is his
lodging-house, where he does us the honour to sleep!
RAFAEL.
I know I am rather late. I hope you were not anxious about me, father.
Were you? Father! Oh--well!
ESTHER.
Why should he answer you? What manner of son are you?
SACHEL.
Where have you been all day?
RAFAEL.
I--what does it matter? I know--I promised to do some business for
you--but--there were other things--I forgot--I am sorry.
ESTHER.
Oh, he's sorry.
SACHEL.
I asked you where you idled all this day, and you evaded me.
RAFAEL.
I have been everywhere--and the day vanished while I was thinking.
Have you something to eat, aunt?
SACHEL.
We have finished eating.
ESTHER.
At this time of night! H'm!
RAFAEL.
Very well. I will see what I can find.
SACHEL.
Oh, my Maker, how heavily thou visitest upon me! To be thus mocked by
a stranger within mine own house! If your poor dead mother knew how
you treated me!
RAFAEL.
Father, the rotten board that marked my mother's grave is falling to
pieces. And you can hardly find the spot for weeds--weeds!
SACHEL.
Is that where you've been? Where else?
RAFAEL.
Far away--in my thoughts.
SACHEL.
Another day--a whole precious day devoured by your drivelling
nonsense! Are you a son? Have you an old blind father? Oh, my
business, my splendid business, that I slaved and sweated out my
marrow for, dwindling, dwindling with every ticking of the clock! And
he wants me to buy a new headboard! I had better buy one for myself. I
had better be dead than not, with such a son.
ESTHER.
Sachel! Sachel! You cry--for a son like that! He is not worth one
tear.
SACHEL.
God punishes me for all my sins. When he was a child I have stolen the
bread from my mouth for him, weeks at a time; and now I may burrow
alone in the dark for all he cares, chained to my door-post, chained
to wait till some one comes to deal with me--to rob and swindle and
mock me--because I am alone--and blind.
RAFAEL.
And the saddest is, it is not my doing, and I cannot help it.
SACHEL.
Not his doing! Oh, my Maker! Can I keep him in irons and make him use
his eyes for me?
RAFAEL.
Father, between us matters cannot be improved--now nor ever!
ESTHER.
Well, upon my word!
SACHEL.
Why not? You have something you dare not tell. There is a woman in it.
You had forty guilders when you went away this morning. Have you a
cent of it left?
RAFAEL.
I gave it all to Mordecai to bury his son.
SACHEL.
I do not believe it.
RAFAEL.
Father! For the little time that I remain here need we add more
bitterness to what exists?
SACHEL.
What do you say?
RAFAEL.
I am going away.
SACHEL.
What--what--what do you say?
RAFAEL.
I am going away!
SACHEL.
Oh, oh, that crowns all! He can look into my dead eyes and threaten
this--without a quiver--without a qualm!
RAFAEL.
Ah, there was a time--there was a time, when I would have yielded any
sacrifice for you--when I was a boy and you had just gone blind, and
my heart was wrung with a pity for you that was a very pity in itself.
If I had seen tears in your poor sightless eyes, then my peace would
have been utterly destroyed; at the thought of having vexed you I
should have beaten my brow. And now it's gone--gone--and it won't come
back--it can't come back--because you robbed me of it.
SACHEL.
I? I? What have _I_ done? And why do you go away?
RAFAEL.
For reasons all of which I will not tell.
SACHEL.
You dog! To leave your father--sick and blind, and on the road to
poverty! God shall curse you for it!
RAFAEL.
No; God shall not! To live under this roof--to see, day in, day
out--nothing--nothing--but, no--no! There _are_ reasons, reasons
enough, Heaven be my judge!
[_Several musical instruments begin to tune up in the house where
DANIEL and SAMSON live._
ESTHER.
Heaven will be your judge! There _are_ reasons--reasons you are
ashamed of--reasons you dare not tell!
SACHEL.
It is true! You have fouled my name, you have been in the mire, you
have committed some contemptible thing you are ashamed of! You are
running away, you dare not tell why!
[_RAFAEL throws over a chair; regains his composure._
RAFAEL.
Is it but three years ago that I was so ignorant, so raw, and so
fond of you? I had known you with the fire of life in your eyes, and
now it had gone; the light of your soul was as hidden in a dungeon,
because you were blind. Ah, how I suffered! I shut my eyes to
imagine it--darkness, black nothing; God's beautiful sky gone for
ever, as if you were in your coffin under ground! Awful! Awful! And
this, this was my father--my father, whom I loved and honoured, of
all the world!
SACHEL.
Who asked your sympathy? Hold your tongue!
RAFAEL.
I honoured you because you asked the sympathy of no man. I
_honoured_ you. Shall I ever forget that Friday, when I stood alone
in the gloom of this warehouse, watching you, sorrowing over your
blindness, with tears in my eyes! You stood by the scales. They were
weighing out your merchandise; the man who had bought it stooped and
shifted the weights; and your creature Jacob read the figures out
and you wrote them down in great coarse scrawls--your grey head
bare, your face turned up to heaven. How I loved you--how I pitied
you! You bore yourself with such calm--such fortitude--as if, when
God had touched your eyes, He had whispered into your ears some
portion of the everlasting truth. No one saw me--I was back in the
shadow. And I started forward; I wanted to say, "Father--go in;
father, never labour again! Sit in your chair--rest always--while I
do your bidding--while I do everything!" But I did not say it. No! I
stopped; I slunk back into the deepest shadow like a criminal. I had
uttered a cry, but you and Jacob did not hear me. On the platform of
the scales, when your client stooped to balance them, I had seen a
foot go out--go out while your white face was turned in holy calm to
heaven--go out and press down--so that the scales read false--so
that the man who bought our goods was tricked and robbed--robbed of
the money we had not earned from him. And again I saw it, and again,
and again, father! And the man whose foot went out and did this
crime, the man who was stealing and stealing, time after time,
stealing his money, stealing my respect, my honour, my youth, before
my eyes--was it Jacob? No, it was you--you, my father--my father,
whom I loved and pitied, and they had trusted--because you were
blind!
ESTHER.
Shame! That's a lie! Shame!
RAFAEL.
[_Turning to his father._] Is it a lie?
SACHEL.
[_Hoarsely._] Let him go on. Let him go on.
RAFAEL.
And that afternoon I went with my father to the synagogue; I did not
pray, I could not speak. I only gazed at my father's face, waiting
to see it soften into some shade of doubt, of repentance, of
remorse. And the dead eyes faced up to the rafters where the sun
shone through--they faced up there with the same impassive
stare--the same holy calm, as when he stood with his foot on the
scales. Ah, when we walked home, how cold and pitiless the sky
looked down at me that winter day! We sat at our Sabbath table. He
complained that I was silent. He said prayers, he dipped the bread
in the salt. The lamplight shone on him, and I stared into his face,
and I saw nothing--nothing I had always thought I saw--and my heart
was ice; and he rose and stumbled over a stool and fell, and I
picked him up--and my heart was still ice. He was no longer blind to
me--he was nothing--nothing but a--ah no, no,--what's the
use--what's the use?
SACHEL.
[_Hoarsely._] Have I been different from the others? Aaron, Levy,
Isaac, would they not have done the same? Is there any one who would
not take advantage of my eyes? No; business is business.
RAFAEL.
Business,--Aaron, Levy, Isaac! God, how I have despised them all my
life!
ESTHER.
Oh, he would give overweight!
RAFAEL.
I will quarrel no more with you. When I am gone----
SACHEL.
You are not going--you shall not go! [_Trembling._] I have nothing
in the world but you. Didn't I do it all for you? When I am dead the
money will be yours, and the blame sewed up in my shroud with me.
Can't you be content?
RAFAEL.
[_After looking at him for a moment, hopelessly._] It is getting late.
I am tired. Let us go to bed, and to-morrow let us part friends.
ESTHER.
You eat something. Then you'll feel differently. H'm! He go away! I
shall call up Rosa!
RAFAEL.
Thanks, no. I could not eat now. Has she not done enough this
sweltering day?
ESTHER.
Then I'm going to bed. No wonder, to be so irregular in your ways. You
were up last night. Couldn't you sleep?
RAFAEL.
I did not sleep until nearly morning.
[_Exit ESTHER. SACHEL goes to try the shutters._
Well, good-night, father. You won't answer? Well, good-night!
[_Music begins in the house at the back._] [_Aside._] They are
playing my music. Give me time--I will show you what is in my soul!
SACHEL.
[_Aside._] The scales--that is not the only reason!
_Enter ROSA, who does not see SACHEL. She starts to go to RAFAEL.
SACHEL hears her._
Rosa, why are you not in bed? [_ROSA stops motionless, mute,
frightened._] Is that Rosa? [_He is suspicious._
[_They do not answer. Exit SACHEL into the house, evidently with a
purpose._
ROSA.
[_Rushing to RAFAEL._] Rafael! Rafael! Tell me the truth. Am I not
your wife? Don't you love me? Do you love some one else? Do you love
Aaron's daughter? They are planning to marry her to you. What does
it mean? [_He motions her to be silent._] Does it mean that you wish
it? No--no, it can't be that: you have said you were going away; but
you didn't tell them of me. Why? Why do you not tell them of
me?--soon enough you'll have to; and then--then you will have to
choose--choose between the rage of your father--between
disinheritance--poverty--the wrath of all the Ghetto, and me--only
me! Rafael, my life is in your hands. Love me--love me, Rafael!
Don't let me doubt you! [_He stops her mouth. Suddenly SACHEL opens
the window over the shop-door; he leans out, listens, hears nothing,
withdraws._] He's in my room--he's searching for me--he suspects
us--he has said so. He's coming down now; he's going to accuse us;
he's going to tell you to desert me--desert me or starve! Rafael,
what are you going to say? Rafael, what are you going to say?
[_He stops her mouth again; they look in through the door. A
pause._
_Enter SACHEL._
SACHEL.
She's not in the house! Rosa--where are you?
ROSA.
[_Whispering to RAFAEL._] Where? Where?
RAFAEL.
[_Quietly taking her in his arms._] Rosa is here, father.
A WATCHMAN.
[_Heard in the distance._] Ten o'clock, and all's well! Ten o'clock,
and all's well!
[_SACHEL shakes his head._
END OF THE FIRST ACT.
THE SECOND ACT
SCENE: _A living room in the rear of SACHEL'S shop. A door at the
back opens into the street; at the left a staircase runs up over a
fireplace to a gallery which gives access to two rooms off the
stage._
_ROSA is discovered at the fireplace. ESTHER is at the dining-table,
which is set with the Sabbath-cloth. ESTHER crosses to a door at the
left._
ESTHER.
Sachel, your medicine!
[_ROSA brings a jug of hot water to the table; ESTHER prepares some
medicine with the water._
_Enter SACHEL._
SACHEL.
That girl--where is she?
ESTHER.
She's here.
SACHEL.
[_Aside._] That's what Rafael said last night. Rosa! Go and water
the flowers in my window and pick off the dead leaves, and be sure
you give plenty of time to it. [_Exit ROSA._
ESTHER.
Well! Since when have you taken such an interest in flowers?
[_She goes upstairs._
SACHEL.
I want to talk; I've been awake all night. This girl keeps lying to
me. Last night she had the effrontery to tell me--[_with
calculation_]--she told me she was considered beautiful!
ESTHER.
[_Not interested._] Well, she is beautiful!
[_Exit ESTHER._
SACHEL.
H'm! [_He thinks deeply; rises._] Rosa!
_Enter ROSA._
Last night you tried to make me think you were ugly;--you deceived
me. You are not a woman--you are a fiend come into my house--come in
out of the Christian world--to do what? What do you expect to do
here? Do you know you are in the heart of the Ghetto? What do you
expect to do in my house?
ROSA.
Nothing but what my God gives me the right to do!
SACHEL.
Your God? I tell you the wall your God built against us still shuts
Him away from here! You came into my house to divide it against
itself. You have been getting too near my son. Do you think I don't
know? You've been trying to turn him against his religion, you've
been trying to turn him against me!
ROSA.
If I have, then I have failed. Rafael loves you.
SACHEL.
You say so? I ask no better proof that he hates me! You came into my
house to accomplish this, you vampire! Could you not have fastened
on someone else than Rafael? Who sent you here to find him? Did
your Christian God send you here?
ROSA.
[_Thinking of RAFAEL._] Yes, yes, my God did send me here--[_checks
herself_]--or else I should have starved.
SACHEL.
Starve! Does a demon ever starve? Not while young men have hot
blood! Hah! It is well that I have found you out before this thing
has gone too far. Don't I know your damned tricks; _you_ wouldn't be
satisfied with a passing touch of his lips. You've got a brain--a
lying, scheming, devilish brain! You want his heart--you want his
soul! By God! [_He goes vigorously and opens the door, to the
street._] Do you know what I'm going to do? There's where we found
you--out there in the streets, without a friend, without a cent, and
your dead father----
ROSA.
Sachel, my father helped your people!
SACHEL.
Now let the Jews help his daughter! You've lied to me always! Shall
I believe this story of your father? I believe he was a demon like
you! I believe he was sent out of hell to steal away men's souls, as
you were. You've found something to fight when you've come across
me! Shall I feel a snake in my bosom and not cast it out? [_He
points to the door._] You--[_He checks himself; a pause._] Shut the
door! Go on with your work! [_Exit ROSA._] No, no, no--it won't do
to _tear_ him away from her. She is beautiful;--we must marry him to
Rebecca. Rebecca is handsome, Rebecca is rich, Rebecca is minx
enough. We must marry him to Rebecca if we can. If not, to some one
else--any one else, as soon as we can. But we must handle him with
care. Ah! I had better get the Rabbi to talk to him; the Rabbi has
tact. And, for the present, we must let Rosa be.
_Enter ESTHER. A knock on the door._
Aaron. Come in!
_Enter AARON._
AARON.
Good morning!
SACHEL.
Good morning!
ESTHER.
Good morning!
AARON.
I shouldn't have come, my friend, if I hadn't promised Esther. For
I've been thinking it over; and if there is any question of your son
marrying my daughter, I tell you I will give eight thousand guilders
and no more!
SACHEL.
All because I said "Good morning" to you. I have been considering
it. I am willing to talk with you. As you probably said in your
sleep last night, if you can get rid of your daughter without paying
more than ten thousand guilders, you'll be pretty well satisfied.
AARON.
Eh--what?
SACHEL.
Come on, it's time to start to the synagogue; we'll have a talk on the
way.
AARON.
But, my dear sir, eight thousand----
SACHEL.
No; as you said in your sleep--ten thousand!
[_Exeunt all._
_Enter SAMSON, cautiously._
SAMSON.
Rosa! Rosa! [_Aside._] A little show of modesty! Rosa! Nevertheless
she is listening at the other side of that door; she thinks I will
betray myself in some soliloquy. H'm! [_Loudly._] Ah--she's not
here; how the blood rushed to my heart, like the sea beating against
a rock, when I thought I should have two golden moments alone with
her! [_He stands on lowest cupboard shelf to be near her door, which
is upstairs._] But she's gone!--gone forth to air her beauty. Such
beauty! Such a face, such a form! Night after night she floats in my
dreams--[_he steps up one shelf nearer_]--for I love her so that I
have not slept a wink for weeks.
_Enter DANIEL, unobserved by SAMSON._
And if she were here I would tell her so! I could gratify her
tastes! For once her love is mine. [_He draws a bunch of keys from
his pocket._] She shall hear such music as this from morn till
night----
[_He jingles the keys._
_Enter ROSA._
One--two--three--four--five--five gold pieces! Did I come abroad
with only five? H'm! There are plenty more like these indoors--yes,
in doors! And here I stand perishing with my ardour. Nay, I feel
faint----
[_DANIEL bursts into loud laughter._
ROSA.
[_To SAMSON._] You miserable cur! [_SAMSON descends sheepishly._] If
I were of your faith--if I were not a servitor, without a father,
without a brother, you would not dare! [_DANIEL laughs._] And
you--if you were a little better than he, you would have struck him!
What do you want here? Go!
DANIEL.
Look here, my girl, you need not be so virtuous when you talk to us!
We live next to you--our windows overlook yours--eh, Samson?
SAMSON.
Don't you be unpleasant to this lady!
ROSA.
[_To DANIEL._] What do you mean?
DANIEL.
Lady! What do we mean? What's the difference? Rafael is a friend of
ours. We are most liberal--most charitable, eh, Samson?
ROSA.
Rafael? Why do you speak of Rafael? What do you mean?
SAMSON.
Now you needn't bring Rafael into it, Daniel. I don't want any--any
misapprehension with Rafael.
ROSA.
You shall have an understanding with him, you cowards--you vulgar
beasts! I shall tell him!
DANIEL.
He'll tell you to hold your tongue. Are you his wife? No; you're a
Christian servant in his father's house; we know all about that, and
you'd better learn to take a joke.
SAMSON.
It was only a joke, you know--only a joke--(_with a forced laugh._)
[_ROSA'S anger increases._] Now don't you tell Rafael that I was
trying to get in his way!
ROSA.
What do you mean? Get in his way? He would flick you over his shoulder
into the canal. I shall tell him!
SAMSON.
Don't--don't bring Rafael into it! Hasn't he enough on his mind
already?
ROSA.
Would anything so slight as you increase his burden? You cowards! You
both fear him! You _may_ fear him!
_Enter RAFAEL._
RAFAEL.
Hallo! News! news! I've seen Hanakoff--and Hanakoff
says--Hanakoff--what's the matter? What is the matter? Which of you
was it? Rosa, what did they do?
ROSA.
[_Pointing to SAMSON._] Let him speak.
SAMSON.
Why--why, she can't take a joke--that's all.
RAFAEL.
Oh, a joke. What was the joke? What was the joke?
DANIEL.
Oh, everything is a joke. Don't we live across the street? Can two
people help putting their heads together once in a while? Well, of
course, if you--if she--if we--why, of course----
RAFAEL.
What did they say?
ROSA.
They said--they insinuated that--that----
RAFAEL.
I know what they said. You--I--[_He takes hold of them both._] Two
people can't help putting their heads together! If you will meet me
in some seclusion, my two good friends, I'll show you how two heads
can be so put together that two people shall see stars enough to
read their horoscopes. You shall read in those stars the name of
Rosa--Rosa who, God search my soul, is purer than the snows on the
crest of the Jungfrau. Quite properly--[_as he causes them to bend
low_]--quite properly, they bend in homage, Rosa! And Daniel here,
Daniel whom the starving lions would not taste--the story never
seemed to me so true as now--he says that what he said he did not
say, and can't remember what it was, and is most sorry that he said
it--and see--[_forces them_]--bends low. I thank you for your
courtesy. And Samson, he that slew the thousands with the jawbone
of an ass--which is his jawbone to this day--he's swallowing those
words he spoke, so eagerly that he chokes! Ha, ha! my ardent
friends! [_He turns them about ironically._] And must you go? Ah,
well! [_He pushes them towards the door._] If you insist--if you
insist--Good-bye! Good-bye! [_He throws them violently out._] [_Then
to ROSA._] I have seen Hanakoff; he is going to play my music
to-night; and if--Rosa--[_ROSA bursts into tears._] Rosa!
ROSA.
Go away from me!
RAFAEL.
But why, Rosa----
ROSA.
Let me be! You shall never touch me again! I hate you--I loathe
you--all of you!
RAFAEL.
But have I not disposed of them! Is there anything else? My darling!
ROSA.
No, never again; never shall you lay your hand on me! I know what
lies before me now. I am your wife and you will not proclaim me. I
am your wife and they insult me, and you bundle them off without a
word such as I wanted, as if I were your mistress, who must not be
vexed! I know now; last night you soothed me over--you took me in
your arms before him; but he is blind--he did not understand--he
only suspected something foul; and so it will grow, until his
suspicion makes an open accusation; and then you will stand
revealed--you will shrink away from me--you will cry, "I have sinned
in the sight of the synagogue," and I shall be cast out of doors--a
broken plaything, a husk of yesterday!
RAFAEL.
Rosa! Rosa! Are you not my wife?
ROSA.
Your wife--here in the Ghetto--here among your people? No, to them I
am a Christian--to them I cannot be your wife--to them I am a
sacrilege--an insult in their teeth! Oh! as one who enters hell I
entered here--a steaming hell of avarice; not life--but a sickly
poisoned dream of gain, gain--always gain. I thought I saw a bright
light shining in this horrid place. I flew to you--I gave you my
soul--to find myself--ugh!--only----
RAFAEL.
Horror! that you should even think such things!
ROSA.
Think such things! You say you love me with all your heart--with all
your soul. How great is your soul that dares not the anger of a
father who is wrong?--a soul that fears poverty, disinheritance, the
hatred of the Ghetto? You fear that you would be cast off, that you
would suffer want and ridicule, that your father would never feed
you and clothe you again; and when that fear comes into your heart
what room is left for me? Love! Ugh! Ugh! What is _your_ love! The
love of the way that is easiest, the love of the son of honest
Sachel--the love of a Jew!
RAFAEL.
[_Slowly, sorrowfully._] And now _you_ say "Jew!" "Jew!" as they say
it in the streets, among the mob, when I go beyond the Ghetto. It
sounds strange from lips that I thought loved me; it sounds strange
from the daughter of your father! Such a man he was! When you and I
had our first long talks together, and you told me of the noble
deeds your father had done in behalf of the Jews, I couldn't help
loving you for his sake; and now you call me Jew! I _am_ a Jew.
Never forget that I am a Jew. I have married you; and when it is
known I shall have no standing among Jews. The orthodox will avoid
me as a pariah, and the mob of Jews will howl at me when I go into
the street. And I shall still be a Jew--proud of my race, proud of
its fortitude, of the great triumph which shall come to us Jews when
we have shaken off the material shell which hides our spirits, and
makes us no better and no worse than the Christians! No, no! You are
angry--you don't care what you say! You are angry--and you sneer at
my father. What do you know against my father's honesty?
ROSA.
He is the father of a man who has married me and dares not proclaim
me.
RAFAEL.
Dares not! Dares not! Ah, you little know me if you think that!
Rosa, Rosa! Look here! My dear little girl, you are all wrong. We
have agreed on this point. It was yourself who said that we must not
tell of our marriage yet. [_ROSA sinks into a chair._] You said that
I must give my time to my music, until I had made a name--until
we could go forth on our own footing--not cast out of that
door--without a cent between us, to be reviled and hustled by the
mob. And I thought of my father--of his old age--of his pain. If he
_is_ wrong--if he _is_ what he should not be, he's still my
father----
ROSA.
He called me a demon just now! He opened the door and was about to
bid me go from here. He said my father came out of hell. He called
me a vampire--he called me a snake----
RAFAEL.
Oh--! Oh--! Rosa, poor little Rosa!
ROSA.
[_Weeping._] I only want you to love me. I want to know it--to know
that they cannot, shall not take you from me! Tell me so, Rafael;
burn it into my heart, Rafael!
RAFAEL.
Yes, it must be burned into your heart, dear. Before to-night it
shall be. I love you! I dare anything for the sake of my love for
you!
ROSA.
Rafael!
[_Knock at the door. She rushes upstairs._
Rafael! But your father--[_knock_]--you mustn't tell him!
RAFAEL.
Hush! [_Exit ROSA. RAFAEL goes to the window; sees REBECCA._]
Rebecca! She knows that the old people will be at the synagogue at
this hour. What does she want here? A true daughter of her father,
and yet she has many virtues, I suppose! I wish she would take her
virtues and go home! I want to get at my music.
_Enter REBECCA._
Oh, some friend of Rosa, I suppose?
REBECCA.
What--don't you know me? I am Rebecca--I used to know you once.
RAFAEL.