thought I would object, eh?
ESTHER.
But he doesn't know any girls. He never looks at them!
RAFAEL.
I know one.
ESTHER.
Indeed! And whom, pray?
RAFAEL.
Aaron's daughter--Rebecca. Do you know her?
[_SACHEL nudges THE RABBI._
ESTHER.
This is where she lives; and she came to see us yesterday, with her
father.
RAFAEL.
Indeed! What did he come for?
ESTHER.
To sell some wool! She's a fine girl, I should say.
RAFAEL.
A delicate person--a retiring person--a shrinking person!
ESTHER.
Oh, not too much so.
RAFAEL.
[_As if disappointed._] Then you think she is not so sensitive a
creature?
ESTHER.
Well, I should say she _was_ perhaps rather sensitive.
THE RABBI.
Shrinking, I should say.
SACHEL.
Shrinking; she is shrinking, I should say! [_A pause._
ESTHER.
Well----
THE RABBI.
And----
SACHEL.
And did----?
RAFAEL.
Eh? Rain--rain? Oh no!
THE RABBI.
Speaking of Rebecca reminds me, and I will tell you an anecdote----
RAFAEL.
Curious coincidence that, just as my mind was full of thoughts of love
and matrimony, in should burst this same Rebecca!
SACHEL.
Eh? eh? [_He nudges THE RABBI._
THE RABBI.
Curious? Not at all! Beauty, health, cleverness--the idea is in the
air, wherever she goes. If I were a young man--but such matters are
not for my concern until they are brought to the synagogue--I
should----
[_REBECCA appears at the window of AARON'S house._
RAFAEL.
True, Rabbi, true! And you do wisely not to meddle with them. Do you
know there was a faint suggestion in the air--like the subtle odour
of some tender flower--that possibly Rebecca would not be averse to
marrying me!
SACHEL.
Well, well, well! Hee, hee! [_He nudges THE RABBI._
ESTHER.
Dear me; love at first sight!
RAFAEL.
Not at first sight; we have had previous interviews----
SACHEL.
Eh? eh? The rascal!
RAFAEL.
----about fourteen years ago. And now we have met again, and I
thought she would be willing to marry me, but being so shrinking a
creature, like--what shall I say--like a snail withdrawing into its
shell---- [_REBECCA draws back in pain._
ESTHER.
[_Mildly deprecating._] Oh!
RAFAEL.
She would not say so in as many words.
[_REBECCA looks out again._
ESTHER.
I am sorry for the poor girl; for, if the truth be told--But, there,
you are not serious about anything!
SACHEL.
Why do you say "poor girl" when she would bring----
THE RABBI.
But Rafael doesn't look to dowries; he has a romantic turn. The fact
that she would bring five or six thousand guilders----
SACHEL.
Ten thousand guilders!
RAFAEL.
Ten thousand guilders! [_In irony._] H'm! But--Oh, well, I'm not a
very keen observer, Rabbi; it is probable that Rebecca never----
THE RABBI.
On the contrary. For, speaking of that very matter, which, of course,
is no affair of mine, she----
RAFAEL.
Quite true, quite true! What did you say, aunt?
ESTHER.
Eh? Oh, I was going to say that she begged your photograph of me
yesterday, and when it dropped into the canal she was almost ready to
cry.
RAFAEL.
H'm! But it was careless of her to drop me into that nasty canal!
SACHEL.
It blew in; there came a great gust of wind.
RAFAEL.
The wind must have been Aaron, disputing the value of his wool!
THE RABBI.
Good! Good! Ha, ha, ha! He has a mind; he will not let his heart run
away with his head!
RAFAEL.
And so Rebecca----H'm! But I shall not let my heart run away with my
purse. I should hold my hot young blood in bounds!
SACHEL.
Not always! Not always! A young man must have his day!
RAFAEL.
But is she well? Is she sound? One cannot be too cautious. I knew of
a girl who seemed as strong as a green peach on a tree; and she had
not been two days married when, what do you think? Why, she died!
She knew she was going to die, but she never told him! That's awful,
awful! Oh! Oh! I could not stand a thing like that! [_THE RABBI
rises to look at RAFAEL'S face._] I have a soul, Rabbi, I know,
because you taught me so, and a deception like that--it would kill
my love.
[_REBECCA draws in, distressed._
THE RABBI.
Are you serious?
RAFAEL.
Am I serious? He asks me if I am serious! But that was not Rebecca.
You think Rebecca is----
THE RABBI.
She's as honest as her father!
RAFAEL.
Ah! Two of them, as honest as each other! [_THE RABBI has growing
appreciation of the irony._] H'm! But a good housewife? A good
needlewoman? Sharp over the counter? My father has not slaved to
feed the idleness of another man's daughter!
ESTHER.
I'll answer for that. I thought I could bake cakes, but she's coming
to-morrow to teach me how! You never tasted such cakes!
THE RABBI.
Indeed, I believe I have heard them spoken of.
SACHEL.
[_Who has been musing._] Eh--cakes? You cannot expect a girl to know
everything. Anyway, she's coming to-morrow; and Esther is going to----
RAFAEL.
Esther is going to learn from her. Excellent!
SACHEL.
Eh? [_He is nudged by ESTHER._] Yes, yes!
RAFAEL.
Good, good! I half suspect that--that you look with favour on
Rebecca. We--we had considerable conversation this morning, we
talked of money--and love--and----
SACHEL.
They talked of love! Now, what did you say of love?
RAFAEL.
And we talked of money--and of children--and of--money.
[_ESTHER looks at THE RABBI; she also now in dawning suspicion of
RAFAEL'S irony._
SACHEL.
Ha, ha! They talked of love and children! Of love and children! We
must have some wine, Rafael--this is the house of a friend. Esther,
you go and fetch it. Now what----
ESTHER.
They charge two prices at that place around the corner.
SACHEL.
I say we will have some wine! Some good wine! Go!
ESTHER.
Very well; it is a season of denial with us.
THE RABBI.
But the extreme heat! [_Whispers._] Get some from my house.
[_Exit ESTHER._
SACHEL.
H'm! They talked of children and love! And what did you say about
children, my boy? Ah, they are beautiful things; though I could not
see one, I could fondle it! What about children, my boy?
RAFAEL.
We said that they should each have two cradles; one with a soft
pillow of burnt wool and one with a hard pillow of burnt cotton, so
that they should learn the difference before they were old enough to
tell the sun from a silver coin.
[_An angry gesture from THE RABBI._
SACHEL.
Eh, what--H'm! Yes, yes, but later--later would do as well. And
about love, Rafael; what did she say about love?
RAFAEL.
Oh, she is a shrinking creature--as shrinking as wool unmixed with
cotton! And, at first, she would not talk of love, but at length she
said that when she was married she expected to have a dozen----
SACHEL.
A dozen! That's too large a family in such times as these!
RAFAEL.
A dozen of everything.
SACHEL.
Ah yes--a dozen of everything, Rafael; a dozen of the finest. Her
father has told me so.
_Enter ESTHER, followed by a servant with glasses of wine on a
tray._
And a dowry of ten thousand guilders! What do you think of that, my
boy? The wine--here! I shall propose a toast! [_He takes a glass and
gives glasses to the others; ESTHER and THE RABBI take theirs
unwillingly._] Here! Here!
THE RABBI.
[_Holding his glass toward RAFAEL._] I suggest a toast to an open
heart--to a tongue that leads no man astray!
RAFAEL.
Hear! The Rabbi suggests that--with _his_ tongue! I'll drink that
toast with _you_, Rabbi!
SACHEL.
It is my wine! I am proposing the toast! I----
THE RABBI.
[_To SACHEL._] You had better drink in silence, and go home. You are
deceiving yourself: you know not where you stand!
RAFAEL.
What! What does he mean, father? Am I deceiving myself? Are you not
planning to marry me to Rebecca? Do you fear, then, that I have
fallen in love with her? Is she not an honest girl--a shrinking
girl--a girl as good as Father Aaron?
SACHEL.
Yes, and better!
RAFAEL.
Will she not bring me a dozen of everything, and ten thousand
guilders? Could man ask more? What's wrong here? Why do they not
raise their glasses?
SACHEL.
Because they will not let me manage my own affairs! He is my son,
not yours! It is my wine, not yours! Drink, then, drink to Rebecca,
the richest girl in the Ghetto, a beautiful young girl, a marvellous
young girl----
[_ESTHER turns appealingly to THE RABBI; both look on in distress
and perplexity._
RAFAEL.
But they do not raise their glasses, father; they will not drink,
father! Why? Do they see handwriting on the wall? Do they think I
have forsaken my race? Do they think I have given my heart and soul
to the heart and soul of another? Why do they not raise their
glasses?
SACHEL.
Let them throw it on the ground if they will! Every one tries to
thwart me, every one but you; but they shall not! I am Sachel! Drink
with me! Drink to Rebecca, your wife, Rafael! For this day I have
seen Aaron; I have sat with him--yesterday and to-day I have sat
with him! I have laboured with him, my boy; your father was not
wanting! He would have squirmed into my house with eight thousand;
but I raised him! I raised him two thousand, my boy! We have agreed,
agreed! She is yours, Rafael--yours! To Rebecca, my daughter-in-law!
Now will you drink--will you clink your glasses? [_He reaches about;
no one clinks; RAFAEL turns away and pours his wine on the ground._]
Where are you? I'm all alone! What's the matter? What's the matter?
RAFAEL.
They have not touched their glasses, father! They stand staring at
you, without words!
ESTHER.
Sachel, come home!
SACHEL.
What do you mean? You fools, what do I care what you mean! He's
going to stay at home and be my boy, my comfort, my staff in my old
age; he's going to marry Rebecca! Rafael and Rebecca! Rafael and
Rebecca! Does it not sound beautiful--beautiful!
_Enter AARON by way of the street, dragging REBECCA by the hand;
she holds back in deep mortification._
AARON.
Ha, ha! It does! It does!
REBECCA.
Father!
AARON.
Don't be afraid, my girl. [_To the others._] I suspected what you
were doing! Rafael--[_effusively_]--since the day she was born I've
had an eye on you! Eh, what's the matter? Why are you all so glum?
RAFAEL.
[_He goes to the table and gets a glass, then back._] On this solemn
occasion, sir, I was about to propose a toast.
SACHEL.
Yes.
AARON.
[_Goes to table._] We'll drink it here.
[_He offers the glass to REBECCA._
REBECCA.
I don't want to drink, father; I want to go in, father!
AARON.
Bosh! What are you afraid of? Speak on, my boy!
SACHEL.
Yes, speak on, and speak your soul to them! They need not think to
thwart this marriage! Let them beware!
AARON.
[_Surprised._] What's this about?
RAFAEL.
It's about my soul--my soul that leaps its bounds at last--my soul
that speaks from the heart of a man! [_A passer-by at the back stops
to listen._] My soul that dwelt in the wilderness--a rumbling,
roaring, raging, lying, sweating wilderness of traffic in the things
of earth--my soul in the wilderness crying in vain, in vain, for the
love of another soul like mine. Is it not so, Rebecca?
AARON.
Hear, hear!
REBECCA.
Let me go, father!
RAFAEL.
Let _me_ go, father; let _me_ go! I would not be slain on the altar,
father! The knife is in my flesh! This is the blood of my heart! O
God, crieth my soul in vain? Where--where is the angel that shall
stay my father's hand?
[_A crowd slowly gathers._
AARON.
Masterly! Masterly! Here she is! What an auctioneer he would make!
RAFAEL.
What an auctioneer I should make! Ah! [_He runs and stands on the
synagogue steps._] My father bids me sell my soul! Shall I sell it
cheap--my soul and my heart's blood? Shall it be knocked down to the
solitary thirsty first who bids? I, to whom the stench of avarice is
the breath of morning and night--I, who have seen a man sell his
soul on the scales----
SACHEL.
What does he mean by that?
RAFAEL.
I--to be knocked down for two pink lips and a banknote! See--my red
heart's blood! See--see--see! And you would have me sell it for ten
thousand pieces of silver! And I say no! no! no!
AARON.
He wants more! Oh! I will not give it, do you hear? It is an insult
to ask more--an insult to my daughter!
REBECCA.
Father, come away!
ESTHER.
Sachel, come home!
SACHEL.
Let me be! What does he want? What does he mean?
AARON.
Ha, ha! he wants more!
RAFAEL.
I want more! The sale shall be public! [_The crowd thickens._] I
will have my price. Who bids more? Who bids? What do you bid, my
girl?
REBECCA.
Nothing--nothing--I---- [_Exit._
RAFAEL.
She bids all she has, and yet I will not take it! More--more--who
bids me more?
AARON.
Ha, ha! ten million guilders, idiot!
_Enter ROSA, at the back._
RAFAEL.
He bids ten million guilders, and that is still too small. You bid
nothing but money, money; have you nothing else? Who comes? Who
bids? Who bids? See, see--[_He points to ROSA, who has worked
forward, pressed by the crowd._] Another bidder! Another bidder! The
angel--the angel come to stay my father's hand!
[_ESTHER and others turn fiercely on ROSA._
ROSA.
[_Panic-stricken, pressed by the crowd._] Rafael! Rafael!
SACHEL.
It's Rosa! It's Rosa!
RAFAEL.
Rosa, Rosa, what do you bid? They bid money, nothing but money; and
you--you----
ROSA.
[_Wringing her hands._] Rafael!
SACHEL.
She calls him Rafael! A curse! A damning curse!
[_The crowd murmurs._
RAFAEL.
Silence! It is my blood we are drinking! It is my soul we are
selling! [_To AARON._] And you bid more than all you have, and yet
it will not do; and you, Rosa, angel--angel--for my heart--for my
soul--bid, bid!
ROSA.
For your heart--my heart! For your soul--my soul!
RAFAEL.
Ha, ha! Going! Going!
THE RABBI.
Going the way of the profligate--to the damned!
[_Exit into the synagogue, closing the doors._
RAFAEL.
Gone to the highest bidder! She has been my wife for months!
[_SACHEL sinks into a chair; hisses and groans from the crowd._] Now
let the Ghetto damn me if it can!
ONE OF THE CROWD.
She's a Christian!
[_The crowd surround RAFAEL, who holds them at bay._]
END OF THE THIRD ACT.
THE FOURTH ACT
SCENE: _The same as ACT I. It is seven days later. AARON discovered
at the door; he holds some letters in his hand._
AARON.
I had rather talk to you here.
_Enter SACHEL, pale, bowed and trembling; the two sit on a bench
at the right._
Then it is true that you have not heard from Rafael for a week? What
happened that day, after the officers had dispersed the crowd?
SACHEL.
[_With a sob, then restraining his emotions._] He brought her back
here to get the few things that belong to her. He said that as soon
as he had done with Hanakoff he would come and get her. Then he went
away. He said he would be back in the morning; and he has been gone
a week! My God, it was I who made him so anxious to leave--it is the
judgment of the Almighty upon my sins!
AARON.
[_Calculatingly, as he looks at the letters in his hand._] Oh, he's
your son; I fancy if he got in the vicinity of harm, he saw it
before it saw him! And the girl, why do you let her stay here?
SACHEL.
The Rabbi! The Rabbi came here and made me promise to keep the girl
until Rafael could find a home for her. I thought it would be the
next day; I promised. The Rabbi said he repented the strong words he
had uttered when he slammed the door of the synagogue. H'm! The
Rabbi is not much better than you, or at least, than me! The only
difference is that the Rabbi is always repenting! If Rafael would
only come back, I'd let him keep the girl here for ever--what do I
care! I want my son--the only thing I live for!
AARON.
But doesn't the girl know where he is?
SACHEL.
No, no. Esther kept telling me that Rosa has had no word from
Rafael. I would not believe it; and this morning I took hold of her;
I cursed her up and down for not telling me where he was. She said
if she knew where he was she would walk to him, if it was a thousand
miles, rather than stay another night under my roof. Then, for the
third time this week, she had a fit of hysterics--I never heard such
sobs in all my life! When she quieted down she went up and put on
the rags she first came here in; and since then she has refused to
take food from us; she won't enter the house; she is wandering about
here somewhere now. I don't know; though she be a Christian and a
pauper, I suppose I'll have to accept her for my daughter-in-law, if
he'll only come!
AARON.
She, that broke up your home and took your son away from the finest
young woman in the Ghetto? She, that robbed him of his faith and
brought him to a pass where every one is saying that he has run away
rather than face the consequences of his acts? H'm!
SACHEL.
What am I going to do? If he's dead, I _will_ keep her! Isn't she
the only one in the world whose sorrow will approach mine?
AARON.
But if he is not dead? If he comes back? [_Circumspectly makes as if
to open one of the letters._] Look here--
[_Enter the RABBI; AARON hastily puts away the letters._
Oh, the Rabbi! [_Whispers._] We must get rid of him. I want to talk
to you.
RABBI.
Good evening! How is that girl? Is she still crying her eyes out? It's
pitiful! It is dangerous! I must see her! [_AARON nudges SACHEL._
SACHEL.
She's all right. I have not heard her stir since she went to bed.
RABBI.
Oh, she's gone to bed--good! Sachel, Rafael had my promise to
protect that girl; and I will protect her. Last Saturday we were all
overwrought; we were taken by surprise. But now that we all realise
it, it comes to this: Rafael has married a Christian girl; she knows
what an affront this is to the religion in which Rafael was reared,
and to which inevitably he must return his full devotion when he
grows an older and wiser man. Now there is but one remedy: Rosa must
become a Jewess. Not to-night or to-morrow; but she must be
influenced to open her heart to the faith of her husband; and she
must be urged to welcome a future day when she shall enter the
synagogue and come forth from there with all the hatred, all the
revulsion which she has seen in our faces to-day, buried for ever!
Teach her to be thankful that this is Holland, where a Christian
_may_ become a Jewess.
AARON.
Rabbi, your sentiments are worthy of your calling. Sachel and I have
been talking; we both regret our bitter words of that day. Sachel
has become reconciled--as much as any Jew could. And, to tell the
truth, we had gone so far as to dismiss the subject and to devote
ourselves to a very important matter of business which had to go
over from Friday.
THE RABBI.
I see--I see! I am very glad, then! We must make Rosa understand the
things that are glorious in our religion; the inspirations that have
sustained us through centuries of the bitterest persecution that
men have ever known. And she must believe that we shall cling to
them until that supreme day when Jerusalem is peopled anew with the
race which God has chosen for His own. Is it not so?
SACHEL.
Yes, yes! And we'll walk a little way with you. Then, Aaron, you can
come back, and we can go on with that business.
[_They go up: THE RABBI stops at the bridge._
THE RABBI.
Very well; but you will treat the young girl tenderly, my friends?
Look here; you and Esther and Rafael bring her to my house some
night when there will be no one else there. We'll let her feel the
warmth of our hearts, as if she were already a Jewess. We will show
her what the inner life of the Jews is; the life that the Christians
have no conception of. And so we will work upon her better nature;
but--yes, yes, I see you are busy. You are not worrying about
Rafael, then?
AARON.
Oh, he'll be all right. I'm sure of it.
[_They start off over the bridge._
THE RABBI.
I'm glad to see you here, Aaron. It does you credit to forget your
disappointments! [_Exeunt._
_A bell tolls ten o'clock. Enter ROSA. Her pallor and the tremor
of her voice show the effects of intense emotional strain._
ROSA.
The very hour that he went away, and seven days are gone! Seven
days--and he stood here and took me in his arms!
Oh!--[_turning_]--you who cry after me that Rafael has deserted his
Christian mistress; it is because you never knew the love of
anything but money! You look down--always down! But the same clear
sky was over our heads when he kissed me here, and we looked up to
it and thanked God, who made us dare to lead our life in open truth
before the world! Let _God_ punish us for loving each other, if that
be a crime! Oh, _does_ He punish us? Where is my Rafael, you star
that watched over us then! I love him, I love him; I cannot live
without him--sweet star, tell me where he is to-night! Oh, it is
from pity that you will not tell! And he lies cold and dead! Rafael,
Rafael, I'm all alone--all alone! [_Weeps._] No, no; it can't be
that! Dear God, who sees me here among these aliens, you could not
be so cruel to your own! Not so cruel as that! Not so cruel as that!
[_She sobs; exit._
_Enter AARON and SACHEL._
AARON.
Where is Esther?
SACHEL.
Can't you hear her snoring? I can, though she is away at the back of
the house! I have not slept seven hours in these seven days!
AARON.
Do you think the girl has any suspicion that Rafael may have found
that he has undertaken the impossible? If he did throw her off--I
don't say that he has--but if he did, it must strike her that she
wouldn't have a place to go in all the world!
SACHEL.
She believes in him.
AARON.
When he is with her, yes! But when he is away, and she waits and
waits, are not all women alike? Doesn't she know that he has
sacrificed every guilder that he might have had from you?
SACHEL.
I said that to them. Why did I not hold my cursed tongue! He hadn't
a copper in his pocket; the poor boy had given away everything he
had, to bury Mordecai's son.
AARON.
And does not she know that he gave up every friend he had, too, when
he forsook his religion? These things must have passed through her
mind.
SACHEL.
What do I care what is passing in _her_ mind!
AARON.
Of course, of course! [_Pulls the letters from his pocket._] But the
main probability is that Rafael will soon return. I am only thinking
whether before he returns this girl could not be influenced to leave
here, made to believe that the boy has deserted her? You can't blame
me for considering my daughter's feelings in this matter. Now
suppose we could let drop a few things in Rosa's presence, without
appearing to know that she overheard?
SACHEL.
I don't care about her! I want _him_ to come back.
AARON.
Don't you see: after a whole week, after all her waiting and
waiting, without a word from him and with her whole life trembling
in the balance, then if she overhears certain things----! Of course
if we try to persuade her he is gone, she'll suspect at once. But
there are certain remarks that we can let drop, quite casually, you
know, that will absolutely make her believe that he does not intend
to come back; that he has deserted her.
SACHEL.
But she _won't_ believe it!
AARON.
No, not if we try to convince her! But we won't try! You only make
certain statements within her hearing; and if she says they are not
true, just shrug your shoulders! What is in that girl's mind? Either
that he has met harm, or that he is afraid to come back to her; that
the poverty staring him in the face has been too much for him. Seven
days is a long time when a woman is alone on the rack of doubt. Now,
do you see what I mean?
SACHEL.
But I want my son! I don't care whether he marries your daughter! I
want my son!
AARON.
[_Tapping the letters._] Here are some letters. One for you and four
for Rosa.
SACHEL.
Where did _you_ get them? Is mine from Rafael? Yes? Ah, ah! Read it,
quick!
AARON.
[_Reads._] "Father: Rosa will tell you where I am. I am your son; do
not be harsh to Rosa. The Rabbi told me that he knew you would keep
her over night; as I left her for a night, relying upon his good
offices with you, so I feel I may leave her for a week. Good-bye,
father. Rafael."
SACHEL.
He's all right! He's all right! [_Pauses, suddenly._] Look here, you
miserable rascal, you've had this for a week. You've bribed that
postman; it's a crime!
AARON.
One for you and four for her. Will you listen to one of those he
wrote to her? [_Opens it._] Shall I open it?
SACHEL.
You have, already.
AARON.
Shall I read it?
SACHEL.
[_After hesitation._] Yes.
AARON.
[_Reads._] "My darling: If I take ship at once with Hanakoff for
London, I have the opportunity of a life time; it will fix me in my
career as I had never dreamed of. My mind tells my heart that I must
go; but I am as joyful as I am sorrowful; for in a week, dear, I
take you away from the stifling air you breathe to-night--out of the
Ghetto, into the freedom which is the right of our love. Good night,
my angel! Your Rafael."
SACHEL.
He'll have money now. He'll never look at me again. She's got him!
She's got him! O, I would to my Maker I were dead!
AARON.
No, no! She hasn't got him! She shan't have him! Don't you see, this
clears the way for the very thing I proposed to you.
SACHEL.