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PARTISAN REVIEW
ity of the neighborhood came to the wedding. It is not the custom
that a bride, even if she is a widow, should be dressed in mourning
when she remarries. But Aliza insisted that she dress in black for the
wedding. They showered her with flowers and gifts. The priest gave
a sermon. One has never heard of peasants attending a noble wed–
ding on their own volition. But peasants came from many villages.
Since she lived in a peasant's hut, they considered her one of their
own. She came to the wedding in the elder's britsk. But from the
church to Chwalski's estate she rode in a carriage drawn by eight
horses and peasants dressed like dragoons rode in front. They had
erected a gate hung with plants and flowers at the entrance of
Chwalski's estate. A Jewish and Gentile band played a 'good night'
melody for the couple. Chwalski was not especially rich, but he
guarded his possessions and nobody could steal from him. It seemed
that Aliza's bad luck had begun to shine. But wait a minute, I need
a drink."
I brought Aunt Yentl a pitcher of water, and she murmur,td a
blessing and drank. "Don't laugh at me," she said, "I feel like crying."
And she blew her nose into her batiste handkerchief. Then she con–
tinued:
"Shortly after the wedding, Jan Chwalski threw the type of ball
which was considered rare even for a king. It was a few weeks after
Passover and the weather was balmy. Aliza was against it. She was
quiet, proud, and no longer young. But Chwalski wanted to an–
nounce his joy to the world. He invited hundreds of nobles who even
came then from far away cities. Carriages rolled in early in the
morning and it lasted all day. The stores in Turbin profited. There
was a band from Zamosc and another from Lublin. For years people
spoke about that ball: the food, the wine, the dances, the music. Reb
Betzalel revealed later that Chwalski was forced to sell a portion of
his forest for less than nothing to pay for all this. Of course Jews and
peasants were not invited. But many young people stood outside
and listened in, even dancing. The servants treated them to wine
and food. The next day the nobles went hunting and killed, God
knows, how many animals. When they left, the estate was in sham–
bles. Aliza had pleaded with Chwalski not to squander his fortune.
But he was insane from happiness.
"My dear people, all this good fortune lasted not longer than a
year. Suddenly one heard that Aliza was sick. What the illness was I
don't know until today. But Aliza slowly began to waste away.
Chwalski again sold a part of his estate and sent for the biggest doc-
