302
PARTISAN REVIEW
I wanted to go off to another town, but then everyone got busy
match-making and they were after me so they nearly tore my coat·
tails off. They talked at me and talked until I got water on the
ear. She was no chaste maiden, but they told me she was virgin
pure. She had a limp, and they said it was deliberate, from coyness.
She had a bastard, and they told me the child was her little brother.
I cried, "You're wasting your time. I'll never marry that whore."
But they said indignantly, "What a way to talk! Aren't you ashamed
of yourself? We can take you to the rabbi and have you fined for
giving her a bad name." I saw then that I wouldn't escape them
so easily and I thought, "They're set on making me their butt. But
when you're married the husband's the master, and
if
that's all
right with her it's agreeable to me, too. Besides, you can't pa$
through life unscathed, nor expect to."
I went to her clay house, which was built on the sand, and
the whole gang, hollering and chorusing, came after me. They
acted like bear-baiters. When we came to the well they stopped, all
the same. They were afraid to start anything with Elka. Her mouth
would open as
if
it were on a hinge, she had a fierce tongue. I en·
tered the house. Lines were strung from wall to wall and clothes
were drying. Barefoot she stood by the tub doing a wash. She was
dressed in a worn hand-me-down gown of plush. She had her hair
put up in braids and pinned across her head.
It
took my breath away,
almost, the reek of it all.
Evidently she knew who I was. She took a look at me and
said: "- Look who's here. He's come, the drip. Grab a seat."
I told her all; I denied nothing. "Tell me the truth," I said,
"are you really a virgin, and is that mischievous Yechiel actually
your little brother? Don't be deceitful with me, for I'm an orphan."
"I'm an orphan myself," she answered, "and whoever tries to
twist you up, may the end of his nose take a twist. But don't let
them think they can take advantage of me. I want a dowry of fifty
guilders, and let them take up a collection besides. Otherwise, they
can kiss my you-know-what." She was very plainspoken. I said:
"It's the bride and not the groom who gives a dowry." Then she
said: "Don't bargain with me. Either a flat yes or a flat no-go
back where you came from." I thought that no bread would ever
be baked from
this
dough. But ours is not a poor town. They con·
