writing letters. I wrote to her, she wrote
to me--letters went and letters came. Peace to my beloved wife! Peace to
my beloved husband! "For Heaven's sake," I write, "what is to be the end
of it? After all, I'm no more than a man! A man without a
housemistress!" It was as much use as last year's snow; it was she who
had her way, she, and not I, as usual.

To make an end of my story, I worked and worried myself to pieces, made
a mull of the whole business, sold out, became a poor man, and carried
my bundle over to them. Once there, I took a look round to see where I
was in the world, nibbled here and there, just managed to make my way a
bit, and entered into a partnership with a trader, quite a respectable
man, yes! A well-to-do householder, holding office in the Shool, but at
bottom a deceiver, a swindler, a pickpocket, who was nearly the ruin of
me! You can imagine what a cheerful state of things it was. Meanwhile I
come home one evening, and see my boy come to meet me, looking
strangely red in the face, and without a badge on his cap. Say I to him,
"Look here, Moshehl, where's your badge?" Says he to me, "Whatever
badge?" Say I, "The button." Says he, "Whatever button?" Say I, "The
button off your cap." It was a new cap with a new badge, only just
bought for the festival! He grows redder than before, and says, "Taken
off." Say I, "What do you mean by 'taken off'?" Says he, "I am free."
Say I, "What do you mean by 'you are free'?" Says he, "We are _all_
free." Say I, "What do you mean by 'we are _all_ free'?" Says he, "We
are not going back any more." Say I, "What do you mean by 'we are not
going back'?" Says he, "We have united in the resolve to stay away." Say
I, "What do you mean by '_you_' have united in a resolve? Who are 'you'?
What is all this? Bless your grandmother," say I, "do you suppose I have
been through all this for you to unite in a resolve? Alas! and alack!"
say I, "for you and me and all of us! May it please God not to let this
be visited on Jewish heads, because always and everywhere," say I, "Jews
are the scapegoats." I speak thus to him and grow angry and reprove him
as a father usually does reprove a child. But I have a wife (long life
to her!), and she comes running, and washes my head for me, tells me I
don't know what is going on in the world, that the world is quite
another world to what it used to be, an intelligent world, an open
world, a free world, "a world," says she, "in which all are eq