boy made, a little fellow who was called Hemalle. He was
a dry little boy with a wet little nose, and dirty bare little feet.
Hemalle played a curiously made instrument. It was a sort of sack which,
when you blew it up, let out a mad screech--a peculiar sound like a yell
of a cat after you have trodden on its tail. Hemalle beat time with his
little bare foot. And all the while he kept looking at me out of his
roguish little eyes, and winking to me as if he would say: "Well, isn't
it so? I blow well--don't I?" But it was Naphtali himself who worked the
hardest of all. Along with playing the fiddle, he led the orchestra,
waved his hands about, shifted his feet, and moved his nose, and his
eyes and his whole body. And if some one made a mistake--God forbid! he
ground his teeth and shouted in anger:

"Forte, devil, forte! Fortissimo! Time, wretch, time! One, two, three!
One, two, three!"

* * *

Having arranged with Naphtali "_Bezborodka_" that he should give me
three lessons a week, of an hour and a half each day, for two
"_roubles_" a month, I again and yet again begged of him that he would
keep my visits a secret of secrets; for if he did not, I would be lost
forever. He promised me faithfully that not even a bird would hear of my
coming and going.

"We are the sort of people," he said to me, proudly, fixing his collar
in place, "we are the sort of people who never have any money. But you
will find more honour and justice in our house than in the house of the
richest man. Maybe you have a few '_groschens_' about you?"

I took out a "_rouble_" and gave it to him. Naphtali took it in the
manner of a professor, with his two fingers. He called over "Mother
Eve," turned away his eyes, and said to her:

"Here! Buy something to eat."

"Mother Eve" took the "_rouble_" from him, but with both hands and all
her fingers, examined it on all sides, and asked her husband:

"What shall I buy?"

"What you like," he answered, pretending not to care. "Buy a few rolls,
two or three salt herring, and some dried sausage. And don't forget an
onion, vinegar and oil. Well, and a glass of brandy, say--"

When all these things were brought home and placed upon the table, the
family fell upon them with as much appetite as if they had just ended a
long fast. I was actually tempted by an evil spirit; and when they asked
me to take my place at the table I could not refuse. I do not remember
when I enjoyed a meal as much as I enjoyed the o