423
PARTISAN REVIEW
tional dark garb of the orthodox..
.!
don't know myself what held
us back...but that's not what I was getting at...
.. .During this time I was struck by the greatest misfortune
that can befall a man. The pharmacy brought in very little...and
my wife became
ill.
With each passing day I was more certain
that she was dying, yet I didn ' t have the means to save her. She
needed Italy, and I didn't have money for food ...
...As you know, a starving patient is often full of hope,
believing that the illness is past! I had to suppress my te rrible pain
and sorrow, and bury it deep inside my heart. While my heart
bled I had to smile, no hint of worry dared wrinkle
my
brow...While I felt myself dying with her, I made plans with her
for the coming year: to enlarge the house, to buy a piano...
His voice became hushed...
-1 can't tell you everything, to relive my troubles... but
my
misfortune brought me together with her misfortune , and we
were drawn closer to one another. ...
Lukova appeared in the distance.
-In the few moments that remain I must tell you that in all
my life I have never seen such an unhappy woman , yet with so
much feeling and sympathy for others... and so unaffected, so
natural , nothing excessive...She didn't move from Maria's bed.
She prevailed upon her husband to arrange a loan at low interest
for me. She watched over us; she was our housekeeper, our cook,
our most devoted friend. And when Maria died she was, perhaps,
even more inconsolable than I...It was then that I realized that the
hatred between nations is unnatural.. .As soon as things are bad
and the hot-headed or the downtrodden want to protest, then the
hypocritical writer or the politician denounces the Jews.. .My ex–
perience has taught me that Jews are not our enemies, that we
can live together in peace!
We are drawing closer and closer to Lukova, and I, still ap–
prehensive about the end, interrupt him and ask:
-And what happened to the woman?
-1 don't know. I buried my wife, sold the pharmacy, wept
when I parted from my dear neighbor and... nothing! Now I live
in Lukova and things are no better for me...
-And tell me , what is the name of the small town in which
you used to live?
-Konskivala.
