ISAAC BASHEVIS SINGER
607
town. It happened like this . The old woman who served the squire
was cooking grits for him and lit a fire. Her hands were shaky and a
piece of burning kindle-wood fell.
It
soon became a blaze. The old
woman began to scream and peasants came to see what was going
on . The firemen came running with their half-empty water barrels .
Someone burst open Aliza's locked bedroom door.
It
gives me the
creeps to talk about this . The squire lay in bed snoring- it seemed
he was drunk- and next to him lay a skeleton . Yes, Chwalski
himself had stolen Aliza from the grave. He yearned for her so, that
one winter night he dug her up, pried open the coffin, took out her
remains and carried them home. The night was a dark one and no–
body saw. He admitted to everything when the police officials took
him in for a hearing. She was already decayed he said and he peeled
off the flesh leaving only the bones . The Russians did not believe
their own ears . 'Hqw is it possible that a person can do such a wild
thing?' they asked . And he answered: 'I just could not bear the long–
ing. Better bones than nothing.
If
you want to hang me, hang me,
but bury me near her.'
"Nobody among the Russians knew what sort of punishment to
give for such a crime , They wrote a report out to the gubernoton in
Lublin. In Lublin they didn't know what to do either and inquired in
Warsaw and from
th~re
to Petersburg. Meanwhile they allowed
Chwalski to remain free . The skeleton they buried again. Chwalski
lived only one year f!lOre. He had become like a skeleton himself.
They buried him with all the honors right near his Aliza.
"What I mean to
SiiY
is: a person gets some idea in his head and
it begins to grow and ta}ce over the brain . It becomes an obsession.
You can even call it a dybbuk. Both he and she were people with
souls. If there is a paradi&e for Gentiles I am sure they will rest there
together forever. How is it written in the Holy Book, 'strong as death
is love, cruel as the grave !s jealousy.' Well, the Sabbath is over. I see
three stars in the sky .
.t\
&ood new week to all of us ."
Isaac Bashevis Singer's neUJ work,
Love and Exile,
will be published
by
Doubleday this fall.
