If my pen were an artist's brush, or at the very least a photographic
camera, I would create for you, my friend, a picture, for a present in
honour of "_Shevuous_," of a rare group of three pretty little heads, of
three poor naked, barefoot Jewish children. All three little heads are
black, and have curly hair. The eyes are big and shiny and burning. They
gaze out in wonder, and seem to be always asking of the world the one
question: Wherefore? You look at them, and marvel at them, and feel
guilty towards them, just as if you were really responsible for
them--for the existence of three little superfluous mortals in the
world.
The three pretty little heads are of two brothers and a little sister,
Abramtzig, Moshetzig, and Dvairke. They were brought up by their father
in the true Russian style, petted and spoiled. Their father was Peisa
the box-maker. And if he had not been afraid of his wife, Pessa, and if
he had not been such a terribly poor man, he would have changed his
Jewish name of Peisa into the Russian name of Petya. But, since he was a
little afraid of his wife, Pessa, and since he was extremely poor--may
it remain far from us!--he kept to his own name of Peisa the box-maker,
until the good time comes, when everything will be different, as Bebel
says, as Karl Marx says, and as all the good and wise people say--when
everything, everything will be different. But until the good and happy
time comes, one must get up at the dawn of day, and work far into the
night, cutting out pieces of cardboard and pasting boxes and covers of
books. Peisa the box-maker stands at his work all day long. He sings as
he works, old and new songs, Jewish and non-Jewish, mostly gay-sorrowful
songs, in a gay-sorrowful voice.
"Will you ever give up singing those Gentile songs? Such a man! And how
he loves the Gentiles. Since we have come to this big town, he has
almost become a Gentile."
All three children, Abramtzig, Moshetzig, and Dvairke, were born and
brought up in the same place--between the wall and the stove. They
always saw before them the same people and the same things: the gay
father who cut cardboards, pasted boxes, and sang songs, and the
careworn, hollow-cheeked mother who cooked and baked, and rushed about,
and was never finished her work. They were always at work, both of
them--the mother at the stove, and the father at the cardboards. What
were all the boxes for? Who wanted so many boxes? Is the whole world
full of boxes? That was what the three little heads wanted to know. And
they waited until their father had a great pile of boxes ready, when he
would take them on his head and in his arms--thousands of them--to the
market. He came back without the boxes, but with money for the mother,
and with cakes and buns for the children. He was a good father--such a
good father. He was gold. The mother was also gold, but she was cross.
One got a smack from her sometimes, a dig in the ribs, or a twist of an
ear. She does not like to have the house untidy. She does not allow the
children to play "fathers and mothers." She forbids Abramtzig to pick up
the pieces of cardboard that have fallen to the floor, and Moshetzig to
steal the paste from his father, and Dvairke to make bread of sand and
water. The mother expects her children to sit still and keep quiet. It
seems she does not know that young heads will think, and young souls are
eager and restless. They want to go. Where? Out of doors, to the light.
To the window--to the window.
* * *
There was only one window, and all three heads were stuck against it.
What did they see out of it? A wall. A high, big, grey, wet wall. It was
always and ever wet, even in summer. Does the sun ever come here? Surely
the sun comes here sometimes, that is to say, not the sun itself, but
its reflection. Then there is a holiday. The three beautiful heads press
against the little window. They look upwards, very high, and see a
narrow blue stripe, like a long blue ribbon.
"Do you see, children?" says Abramtzig. He knows. He goes to "_Cheder_."
He is learning "_Kometz Aleph_." The "_Cheder_" is not far away, in the
next house, that is to say, in the next room. Ah, what stories Abramtzig
tells about the "_Cheder_"! He tells how he saw with his own eyes--may
he see all that is good!--a big building, with windows from top to
bottom. Abramtzig swears that he saw--may he see all that is good!--a
chimney--a high chimney from which there came out smoke. Abramtzig tells
that he saw with his own eyes--may he see all that is good!--a machine
that sewed without hands. Abramtzig tells that he saw with his own
eyes--may he see all that is good!--a car that went along without
horses. And many more wonderful things Abramtzig tells from the
"_Cheder_." And he swears, just as his mother swears--that he may see
all that is good. And Moshetzig and Dvairke listen to him and sigh. They
envy Abramtzig because he knows everything--everything.
For instance, Abramtzig knows that a tree grows. It is true he never saw
a tree growing. There are no trees in the street--none. But he knows--he
heard it at "_Cheder_"--that fruit grows on a tree, for which reason one
makes the blessing--"Who hast created the fruit of the tree." Abramtzig
knows--what does he not know?--that potatoes and cucumbers and onions
and garlic grow on the ground. And that's why one says the blessing over
them--"Who hast created the fruit of the ground." Abramtzig knows
everything. Only he does not know how and by what means things grow,
because, like the other children, he never saw them. There is no field
in their street, no garden, no tree, no grass--nothing--nothing. There
are big buildings in their street, grey walls and high chimneys that
belch out smoke. Each building has a lot of windows, thousands and
thousands of windows, and machines that go without hands. And in the
streets there are cars that go without horses. And beyond these,
nothing--nothing.
Even a little bird is seldom seen here. Sometimes an odd sparrow strays
in--grey as the grey walls. He picks, picks at the stones. He spreads
out his wings and flies away. Fowls? The children sometimes see the
quarter of one with a long, pale leg. How many legs has a fowl? "Four,
just like a horse," explains Abramtzig. And surely he knows everything.
Sometimes their mother brings home from the market a little head with
glassy eyes that are covered with a white film. "It's dead," says
Abramtzig, and all three children look at each other out of great black
eyes; and they sigh.
Born and brought up in the big city, in the huge building, in the
congestion, loneliness and poverty, not one of the three children ever
saw a living creature, neither a fowl, nor a cow, nor any other animal,
excepting the cat. They have a cat of their own--a big, live cat, as
grey as the high damp grey wall. The cat is their only play-toy. They
play with it for hours on end. They put a shawl on her, call her "the
wedding guest," and laugh and laugh without an end. When their mother
sees them, she presents them--one with a smack, a second with a dig in
the ribs, and the third with a twist of the ear. The children go off to
their hiding-place behind the stove. The eldest, Abramtzig, tells a
story, and the other two, Moshetzig and Dvairke, listen to him. He says
their mother is right. They ought not to play with the cat, because a
cat is a wicked animal. Abramtzig knows everything. There is nothing in
the world that he does not know.
* * *
Abramtzig knows everything. He knows there is a land far away called
America. In America they have a lot of relatives and friends. In that
same America the Jews are well-off and happy--may no evil eye rest on
them! Next year, if God wills it, they will go off to America--when they
get tickets. Without tickets no one can go to America, because there is
a sea. And on the sea there is a storm that shakes one to the very soul.
Abramtzig knows everything.
He even knows what goes on in the other world. For instance, he knows
that in the other world there is a Garden of Eden, for Jews, of course.
In the Garden of Eden there are trees with the finest fruits, and rivers
of oil. Diamonds and rubies are to be found there in the streets. Stoop
down and pick them up and fill your pockets. And there good Jews study
the Holy Law day and night, and enjoy the holiness.
That is what Abramtzig tells. And Moshetzig's and Dvairke's eyes are
burning. They envy their brother because he knows everything. He knows
everything, even to what goes on in the heavens. Abramtzig swears that
twice a year, on the nights of "_Hashono Rabo_" and "_Shevuous_," the
sky opens. It is true he himself never saw the sky opening, because
there is no sky near them. But his comrades saw it. They swore--may they
see all that is good!--And they would not swear to a lie. How can one
swear to a lie? It's a pity they have no sky in their street, only a
long, narrow blue stripe, like a long, narrow blue ribbon. What can one
see in such a tiny scrap of sky, beyond a few stars and the reflection
of the moon? In order to prove to his little sister and brother that the
sky opens, Abramtzig goes over to his mother, and pulls her by the
skirt.
"Mother, is it true that in the very middle of '_Shevuous_' night the
sky opens?"
"I will open your head for you."
When he got no satisfaction from his mother, Abramtzig waited for his
father, who had gone off to the market with a treasure of boxes.
"Children, guess what present father will bring us from the market,"
said Abramtzig. And the children tried to guess what their father would
bring them from the market. They counted on their fingers everything
that was in the market--everything that an eye could see, and a heart
desire--cakes and buns and sweets. But no one guessed aright. And I am
afraid you will not guess aright either. Peisa the box-maker brought
from the market this time neither cakes, nor buns nor sweets. He brought
the children grass--curious, long, sweet-smelling grass.
And all three children gathered around their father.
"Father, what is it--that?"
"It is grass."
"What is grass?"
"It is a bunch of greens for '_Shevuous_.' Jews need grass for
'_Shevuous_.'"
"Where do they get it, father?"
"Where do they get it? H'm! They buy it. They buy it in the market,"
said their father. And he strewed the green, sweet-smelling grass over
the freshly-swept floor. And he was delighted; it was green and smelt
sweet. He said to the mother gaily, as is his way:
"Pessa, good '_Yom-tov_' to you!"
"Good luck! A new thing! The young devils will now have something to
make a mess with," replied the mother, crossly, as is her way. And she
gave one of the children a smack, the second a dig in the ribs, and the
third a twist of the ear. She is never satisfied, always cross, and
always sour, exactly the opposite of father.
The three pretty heads looked at the mother, and at the father, and at
one another. The moment their parents turned away, they threw themselves
on the floor, and put their faces to the sweet-smelling grass. They
kissed it--the green grass that Jews need for "_Shevuous_" and which is
sold at the market.
Everything is to be found at the market, even greens. The father buys
everything. Jews want everything, even greens--even greens.