The "Ghetto Tragedies" collected in a little volume in 1893 have been
so submerged in the present collection that I have relegated the
original name to the sub-title. "Satan Mekatrig" was written in 1889,
"Bethulah" this year. Anyone who should wish to measure the progress
or decay of my imagination during the ten years has therefore
materials to hand. "Noah's Ark" stands on the firmer Ararat of
history, my invention being confined to the figure of Peloni (the
Hebrew for "nobody"). The other stories have also a basis in life. But
neither in pathos nor heroic stimulation can they vie with the literal
tragedy with which the whole book is in a sense involved. Mrs. N.S.
Joseph, the great-hearted lady to whom "Ghetto Tragedies" was
inscribed, herself walked in darkness, yet was not dismayed: in the
prime of life she went down into the valley of the shadow, with no
word save of consideration for others. I trust the new stories would
not have been disapproved by my friend, to whose memory they must now,
alas! be dedicated.