I.
L.
PERETZ
414
-And how did it end?
-Don't ask! I translated a page of "The Four Categories of
Damages"... the ox, the pit, the grazing animal, and the incendi–
ary... together with the commentaries of Rashi, the Tossafos, and
the Maharasha..
.I
recited the lesson in the traditional singsong,
and she fell asleep as I read to her, night after night.. .lt is not for
women! I had a stroke of luck when, in the great blizzard which
took place that year, a peddler strayed into Konskivalia. I bought a
whole crate of story books from him...Now the situation became
reversed...She read to me and I fell asleep. To this very day-he
continued-! can't understand what there is in these stories. Men
surely won't find anything in them! Tell me, do you write only
for women?
* * *
Meanwhile daylight broke ... My neighbor's sallow,
long, thin face became visible in the dimly lit carriage... and so
did his black, tired, bloodshot eyes.
Apparently he wanted to go to the front of the wagon to say
the morning prayers; he was wiping the mist from the mail–
coach window when I interrupted him.
-Please don't take offense, my friend, but tell me, is your
wife content now?
-What do you mean content?
-Is she no longer bored?
-These days she has a stall with salt and herring...one child
at the breast... two to comb and to wash ...just wiping noses keeps
her busy all day...
He continues to clean the window pane, and I disturb him
again.
-Tell me, my friend, what does your wife look like?
My neighbor stands up, glances at me sideways, scrutinizes
me from head to toe, and asks me harshly:
-Say, do you know my wife, from Warsaw perhaps, eh?
-Of course not-1 answer him-I only ask so that if, by
chance, I get to Konskivalia I might recognize her. ..
