about that,” said Jacob.
“Neither have I,” said Shoshanah.
“Then what grounds have you for saying what you did?”
“What did I say?”
“You know what you said.”
“Just idle talk,” said Shoshanah.
And Jacob too felt melancholy. This is the girl who wants to be my wife, he reflected. He felt restive as he considered her. This girl wants me to marry her, he thought again. And even while he pondered, he realized that without her the whole world would be lost to him.
The sound of voices startled Jacob. “People are coming!” Shoshanah nodded and replied, “It’s Papa with the old Baron.” As they approached, the Consul broke into a ribald laugh. Apparently the old man had just told him an off-color story. The laughter struck Jacob’s ears unpleasantly; he had always known the Consul as a serious-minded man, yet here he was behaving frivolously. Shoshanah stood up and said, “Let’s go.”
They walked away together. A little girl came by with a basket in her hand. Jacob turned to her. “What are you doing here?” he said. The little girl answered, “My Mommy sent me to get some lemons.” He bent down and swung her in the air. “Sweetheart, I’d love to carry you off. You and your basket together. Tell me, what would your Mommy say if I carried you away?” The child answered solemnly, “Mommy wouldn’t like it.” Jacob laughed. “Tell your mother that you’re a clever little girl.” “Yes, I’ll tell her,” she replied.
“Whose charming child is that?” asked Shoshanah.
“She’s the sister of a girl I teach.”
“One of those you were walking with here in the garden?”
Jacob hesitated a little. “You saw those two girls; how did they strike you?”
“They’re very lovely,” said Shoshanah.
“Does that mean that you approve of them?”
“If you think well of them,” replied Shoshanah, “so do I.”
“I don’t know how to take that.”
“I mean just what I said. But you have other friends besides, haven’t you? Tell me about them.”
Jacob began to tell her. When he had got round to describing Tamara, Shoshanah looked at him rather closely.
The two old men were coming back, the Baron laughing raucously. This time, it would seem, the Consul had capped his story with a spicier one.
“So you’re here, you two?” said the Consul.
“Yes,” answered Shoshanah, and went on to praise Jacob for his kindness in calling a carriage and bringing her back to the hotel.
“Happy is he who finds a good escort,” said the Baron, and he cast a benevolent glance on Jacob.
“But aren’t you cold, Shoshanah?” asked the Consul.
“No, I’m neither too cold nor too warm. I’m quite happy, Papa.”
The Consul looked at his daughter for a moment and went off with the Baron. At Shoshanah’s suggestion, she and Jacob sat down again together.
“Once,” said Shoshanah, “I dreamed that I was dead. I wasn’t happy, I wasn’t sad, but my body felt such rest as no one knows in the land of the living. And this was the best of it, that I wanted nothing, I asked for nothing, it just felt as if I were disappearing into blue distances that would never end. Next morning I opened a book and read in it that nobody dreams of himself as dead. If that’s so, perhaps it was not a dream but wide-awake reality. But then, how can I be alive after my death? It’s a puzzle to me, Jacob. Do you believe in the resurrection of the dead?”
“No, certainly not,” Jacob said.
“Don’t say ‘certainly.’ These certainties of yours bring me to tears.” As she spoke, she closed her eyes.
At that moment, Shoshanah seemed to hover over those blue distances she had spoken of. Then suddenly she answered Jacob’s gaze. She took out her handkerchief, wiped her eyes, opened them and looked at him with absolute love. After a while, she said, “I am going to close my eyes and you, Jacob, are to kiss me on the eyelids.”
Jacob’s own eyes filled with tears. With the tears still
“Neither have I,” said Shoshanah.
“Then what grounds have you for saying what you did?”
“What did I say?”
“You know what you said.”
“Just idle talk,” said Shoshanah.
And Jacob too felt melancholy. This is the girl who wants to be my wife, he reflected. He felt restive as he considered her. This girl wants me to marry her, he thought again. And even while he pondered, he realized that without her the whole world would be lost to him.
The sound of voices startled Jacob. “People are coming!” Shoshanah nodded and replied, “It’s Papa with the old Baron.” As they approached, the Consul broke into a ribald laugh. Apparently the old man had just told him an off-color story. The laughter struck Jacob’s ears unpleasantly; he had always known the Consul as a serious-minded man, yet here he was behaving frivolously. Shoshanah stood up and said, “Let’s go.”
They walked away together. A little girl came by with a basket in her hand. Jacob turned to her. “What are you doing here?” he said. The little girl answered, “My Mommy sent me to get some lemons.” He bent down and swung her in the air. “Sweetheart, I’d love to carry you off. You and your basket together. Tell me, what would your Mommy say if I carried you away?” The child answered solemnly, “Mommy wouldn’t like it.” Jacob laughed. “Tell your mother that you’re a clever little girl.” “Yes, I’ll tell her,” she replied.
“Whose charming child is that?” asked Shoshanah.
“She’s the sister of a girl I teach.”
“One of those you were walking with here in the garden?”
Jacob hesitated a little. “You saw those two girls; how did they strike you?”
“They’re very lovely,” said Shoshanah.
“Does that mean that you approve of them?”
“If you think well of them,” replied Shoshanah, “so do I.”
“I don’t know how to take that.”
“I mean just what I said. But you have other friends besides, haven’t you? Tell me about them.”
Jacob began to tell her. When he had got round to describing Tamara, Shoshanah looked at him rather closely.
The two old men were coming back, the Baron laughing raucously. This time, it would seem, the Consul had capped his story with a spicier one.
“So you’re here, you two?” said the Consul.
“Yes,” answered Shoshanah, and went on to praise Jacob for his kindness in calling a carriage and bringing her back to the hotel.
“Happy is he who finds a good escort,” said the Baron, and he cast a benevolent glance on Jacob.
“But aren’t you cold, Shoshanah?” asked the Consul.
“No, I’m neither too cold nor too warm. I’m quite happy, Papa.”
The Consul looked at his daughter for a moment and went off with the Baron. At Shoshanah’s suggestion, she and Jacob sat down again together.
“Once,” said Shoshanah, “I dreamed that I was dead. I wasn’t happy, I wasn’t sad, but my body felt such rest as no one knows in the land of the living. And this was the best of it, that I wanted nothing, I asked for nothing, it just felt as if I were disappearing into blue distances that would never end. Next morning I opened a book and read in it that nobody dreams of himself as dead. If that’s so, perhaps it was not a dream but wide-awake reality. But then, how can I be alive after my death? It’s a puzzle to me, Jacob. Do you believe in the resurrection of the dead?”
“No, certainly not,” Jacob said.
“Don’t say ‘certainly.’ These certainties of yours bring me to tears.” As she spoke, she closed her eyes.
At that moment, Shoshanah seemed to hover over those blue distances she had spoken of. Then suddenly she answered Jacob’s gaze. She took out her handkerchief, wiped her eyes, opened them and looked at him with absolute love. After a while, she said, “I am going to close my eyes and you, Jacob, are to kiss me on the eyelids.”
Jacob’s own eyes filled with tears. With the tears still
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