he turns and faces her, and sees that hand and tongue are
equally helpless from passion; his eyes grow smaller; he catches a bit
of handkerchief between his teeth, retreats a little further, takes a
deeper breath, and mutters:

"Listen, woman, do you know what Bittul-Torah means? And not letting a
husband study in peace, to be always worrying about livelihood, ha? And
who feeds the little birds, tell me? Always this want of faith in God,
this giving way to temptation, and taking thought for _this_ world ...
foolish, ill-natured woman! Not to let a husband study! If you don't
take care, you will go to Gehenna."

Receiving no answer, he grows bolder. Her face gets paler and paler, she
trembles more and more violently, and the paler she becomes, and the
more she trembles, the steadier his voice, as he goes on:

"Gehenna! Fire! Hanging by the tongue! Four death penalties inflicted by
the court!"

She is silent, her face is white as chalk.

He feels that he is doing wrong, that he has no call to be cruel, that
he is taking a mean advantage, but he has risen, as it were, to the top,
and is boiling over. He cannot help himself.

"Do you know," he threatens her, "what Skiloh means? It means stoning,
to throw into a ditch and cover up with stones! Srefoh--burning, that
is, pouring a spoonful of boiling lead into the inside!
Hereg--beheading, that means they cut off your head with a sword! Like
this" (and he passes a hand across his neck). "Then Cheneck--strangling!
Do you hear? To strangle! Do you understand? And all four for making
light of the Torah! For Bittul-Torah!"

His heart is already sore for his victim, but he is feeling his power
over her for the first time, and it has gone to his head. Silly woman!
He had never known how easy it was to frighten her.

"That comes of making light of the Torah!" he shouts, and breaks off.
After all, she might come to her senses at any moment, and take up the
broom! He springs back to the table, closes the Gemoreh, and hurries out
of the room.

"I am going to the house-of-study!" he calls out over his shoulder in a
milder tone, and shuts the door after him.

The loud voice and the noise of the closing door have waked the sick
child. The heavy-lidded eyes open, the waxen face puckers, and there is
a peevish wail. But she, beside herself, stands rooted to the spot, and
does not hear.

"Ha!" comes hoarsely at last out of her narrow chest. "So that's it, is
it? Neither this wo