ly
if one has spoken unkindly of another during a period of quiet, on a
Sabbath or a holiday.

Each talks with a special enthusiasm, and deep in her sunken eyes with
their blue-black rings there burns a proud, though tiny, fire, as she
recalls how she got the better of a customer, and sold something which
she had all but thrown away, and not only sold it, but better than
usual; or else they tell how late their husbands sleep, and then imagine
their wives are still in bed, and set about waking them, "It's time to
get up for the market," and they at once pretend to be sleepy--then,
when they have already been and come back!

And very soon a voice is heard to tremble with pleasant excitement, and
a woman begins to relate the following:

"Just you listen to me: I was up to-day when God Himself was still
asleep."--"That is not the way to talk, Sheine!" interrupts a
second.--"Well, well, well?" (there is a good deal of curiosity). "And
what happened?"--"It was this way: I went out quietly, so that no one
should hear, not to wake them, because when Lezer went to bed, it was
certainly one o'clock. There was a dispute of some sort at the Rabbi's.
You can imagine how early it was, because I didn't even want to wake
Soreh, otherwise she always gets up when I do (never mind, it won't hurt
her to learn from her mother!). And at half past seven, when I saw there
were no more peasants coming in to market, I went to see what was going
on indoors. I heard my man calling me to wake up: 'Sheine, Sheine,
Sheine!' and I go quietly and lean against the bed, and wait to hear
what will happen next. 'Look here!--There is no waking her!--Sheine!
It's getting-up time and past! Are you deaf or half-witted? What's come
to you this morning?' I was so afraid I should laugh. I gave a jump and
called out, O woe is me, why ever didn't you wake me sooner? Bandit!
It's already eight o'clock!"

Her hearers go off into contented laughter, which grows clearer, softer,
more contented still. Each one tells her tale of how _she_ was wakened
by her husband, and one tells this joke: Once, when her husband had
called to rouse her (he also usually woke her _after_ market), she
answered that on that morning she did not intend to get up for market,
that _he_ might go for once instead. This apparently pleases them still
better, for their laughter renews itself, more spontaneous and hearty
even than before. Each makes a witty remark, each feels herself in merry
mo