The Family Moskat (32 page)

In a day or two the real quarreling and wrangling began. The whispered suspicions turned to open accusations. The women -202-demanded that

Rosa Frumetl take an oath that she did not have the jewelry. Rosa Frumetl immediately burst into a flood of tears, protesting her innocence, reciting her distinguished lineage, and lifting her hands to call God to witness that the accusations were false and the accusers evil. But the more she wept, the more convinced were the others that she was guilty. Koppel called her into the library and locked the door.

"Wives have the right to take whatever they want," he said craftily, "and the daughters have the right to complain." He suggested that he was ready to give her a promise in writing, on behalf of the daughters, that as soon as the jewelry was recovered she would get her full share of it. But Rosa Frumetl pursed her lips contemptuously and said: "I don't need any of your promises. You're no better than the best of them."

The unsigned will that had been found in the old man's desk disinherited Hama and provided that her portion was to be divided between Stepha and Bella three years after their marriage.

Meshulam had also made bequests to charities. After a good deal of discussion the family agreed to disregard the will, on the ground that in recent years the old man had had too many things on his mind. But before that decision was reached, Abram and Nathan almost came to blows. Then Joel insisted that he, as the oldest, was entitled by Mosaic law to a double share. Pinnie put in a demand for his uncollected dowry of three thousand rubles, together with the accumulated interest. The others asked if he had any kind of note or document, and Pinnie shouted: "I had it, but I lost it somewhere."

"In that case you're a jackass," Joel observed.

"And if I'm a jackass you're a thief," Pinnie answered.

Many years before, Meshulam had registered a building in the name of his first wife. Pearl, the widowed oldest daughter, maintained that this house should go to her, Joel, and Nathan, since this was an inheritance from their mother. Rosa Frumetl offered a document, black on white, to the effect that Meshulam had agreed in Karlsbad, before they were married, to leave her a house and to provide a dowry for her daughter. She banged her fist on the table and declared that she would summon them all to a rabbinical court.

Joel bit his cigar in anger.

"You'll not scare us with any rabbis," he declared. "Is there no fear in your heart for God?" was her answer. It looked as though the division of the estate would be a long--203-drawn-out affair. There were scores of documents to be prepared, deeds and certificates to be copied, appraisals of buildings and lots to be made, and searching around in archives. Every one in the family knew that Naomi had placed a substantial sum of money in Meshulam's hands, but, with all her reputation for shrewdness, she had not had the foresight to get a receipt for it. The others had now to take her word for the details of the investment. Meanwhile, by common agreement, Koppel carried on the family business affairs. On the Friday following the eighth of every month the Moskat sons and sons-in-law turned over the rents to him. They soon found that Koppel was just as necessary to them as he had been to their father. Joel and Nathan came to the office every forenoon, and Koppel brought them glasses of tea and gave them an accounting of the way things were going.

Abram bellowed that Koppel would steal everything in sight.

He called his brothers-in-law asses. But nobody paid any attention to him. Instead they tried to talk him into making up with the bailiff, but Abram sneered.

"Not while I'm alive!" he shouted.

In the changed situation Abram had some money again. True, he no longer collected rents; Hama and Bella took care of that. But every Friday he received forty rubles for the family expenses. He bought some presents for Ida and began to think seriously of making preparations for his travel abroad. Two or three evenings a week he was at Hertz Yanovar's place. Adele was preparing to leave Poland, too. Now that her stepfather was dead, she had only one wish--to get out of Poland as soon as possible and resume her studies--although she had no clear idea of what or why she should study. After a family council the Moskat sons agreed to allow her a weekly stipend of ten rubles and to put aside a dowry of two thousand rubles to be given her if she should marry within the next eighteen months.

On a rainy May afternoon, when Adele was returning home from the municipal library, she found a letter waiting for her, postmarked Switzerland. She tore open the envelope. It was from Asa Heshel, written in Polish, in an uneven hand, on a page torn from a notebook.

Highly esteemed Miss Adele [the letter began]: I cannot hope that you still remember me. I am the young man who worked on your late honored father's manuscript -204-and who,

unfortunately, fled, like a thief, before the task was completed.

Yes, I am still alive. I can well imagine what you, your mother, and the rest think of what I have done. I hope that at least I will be able to return the money that was paid to me for the work.

I would not venture to annoy you except that I am in a difficult and awkward situation. When I was fleeing across the border, everything I had was lost, including my notebook. The only addresses I remember are your own and Madame Gina's, in whose flat I had my lodgings. I wrote to the last-named person, but the letter was returned to me; unfortunately, I did not know her family name.

I would venture to ask a most important favor. Could you inform me of the address of Abram Shapiro? This information is of the utmost importance to me. And I will never forget your kindness.

I do not expect, of course, that you can have any interest in my personal circumstances. I would only say that I am living here in Berne, in the home of a man who comes from Galicia, but who formerly resided in Antwerp. I am teaching his children Hebrew and other Jewish subjects. I am also permitted to attend lectures at the university as a free listener and I am preparing to take my entrance examinations. I have long since abandoned all ambition and am resigned to my lot; only the eagerness to acquire knowledge is left to me. Switzerland is beautiful, but I can unfortunately take no joy in nature. I am always alone, as though I were living on the moon.

I extend a thousand thanks in advance for your kindness, and I sign myself with deep respect, Asa Heshel Bannet

Adele locked the door of her room and at once sat down to answer the letter. She covered eight pages in her ornamental handwriting, full of question marks and exclamation points. Her tone shifted from the light to the earnest. She enclosed a lilac blossom and her photograph, on the reverse side of which she wrote: "A memento to a provincial Don Quixote from an un-successful Dulcinea." She forgot completely to enclose Abram's address.

-205-

Letter from Adele to Her Mother
Dearest Mother:

It is almost two weeks since I sent you the telegram about my marriage. In that time I have received a telegram and two letters from you. I have been meaning every day to write, but I have been so occupied that I have literally not had a moment to myself.

But now I will tell you everything.

When I left Vienna I went to Switzerland. My ob-ject, as you know, was to enter the university again. I knew that Asa Heshel was in Berne, but that wasn't really on my mind. I never dreamed that things would turn out the way they have with us. After all, we knew each other so little, and we are such different types. When I saw him for the first time at Nyunie Moskat's house, he didn't make any particular impression on me.

Just the same, I thought it was the right thing when I got to Switzerland to go to see him and tell him about the people he knew in Warsaw. I thought, too, that I might be able to be of some help to him. It turns out that he has been in love with me all the time. When he saw me he practically threw himself at me.

It was quite plain that Hadassah has completely gone out of his mind. The whole thing was never anything more than an adventure for him; he hasn't even bothered to write to her. Without -206-intending to, I

let it slip that she was engaged to be married, and then it was very evident to him that she was really only a fickle person.

You will hardly believe it, Mother, but the very first evening we were together he told me he loved me and asked me to marry him. I was really surprised by his words, and I told him that an important thing like marriage wasn't decided on the spur of the moment. But all he would talk about was getting married. He said that he had been thinking about me all the time, and so on, and so on. I could tell that he was being sincere; you know, Mother, that I'm not fooled by empty compliments. He is a very strange young man, so full of feeling and so in-hibited. All the time he was talking to me I felt such sympathy for him. I really can't describe to you the condition I found him in. He didn't have a grosz to his name. I am sure he must have been going hungry, although he's too proud to admit it. I had to persuade him to let me lend him a few francs--I was careful to call it a loan. It would take too long to write you in detail how we finally decided to get married. He practically forced me into it, although I wanted to wait awhile. I have really never before met such an impulsive nature. I must say that here in Switzerland I saw him in an entirely different light. He is so romantic, and so deeply in love.

Sometimes he talks such playful nonsense, yet he mixes it up with so much philosophy and so many Talmudic quotations that you really never know exactly where you are. It appears that the Talmudists were great admirers of our gentle sex. All I keep thinking is--if only Papa were alive to see me married. Papa always said that he wanted a youth of learning as a son-in-law, even if he were one of the "emancipated" kind. And he has so much of Papa in him! Sometimes, when he begins to talk, I really have the illusion that it is Papa speaking. Just like two drops of water. It's really impossible to make you understand what I mean in a letter.

He wanted to go to the rabbi here in Berne the very next morning, but I absolutely refused to be hurried that way. And he almost went wild with impatience. Then I thought, well, the whole thing must be destined to happen this way. Once, Mamma, you said something to me that I've always remembered: "Marriage and death are things that can't be avoided." When you come to think of it, how strange it is that the young man who came to us to edit Papa's manuscript took Papa's place, -207-in a manner of

speaking! Now I really Know that I love him, and he is very close and dear to me. I've fallen in love with him after the wedding--just as it was with you and Papa.

Naturally, the wedding was quiet. Asa Heshel had managed to become acquainted with a few young men from Rus-sia. He met them in the restaurant they all took their meals in, and they all came to the ceremony. We bought a ring, some honey cake, and wine, and that was all. The sexton wrote our names and filled out a certificate. It's very comical to mention, but I noticed that the Jewish law says that if, God forbid, we should ever be divorced, he would have to pay me two hundred gulden separation money.

Two candles were lighted in the rabbi's study and they put a white robe on Asa Heshel. I was really so moved I wanted to cry. I was wearing my black silk dress and the hat I bought before I left Warsaw. The rabbi's wife escorted me to the canopy. I don't need to tell you, dearest Mamma, that never had I imagined that you wouldn't be with me when I got married. I was thinking about you and Papa. I remember I used to laugh whenever I saw a bride weeping beneath her veil, but I must confess that this time I cried myself. I had to cover my eyes with my handkerchief. The rabbi said the words of the ceremony and held a glass of wine for us to sip from. And then Asa Heshel put the ring on my finger. Four men held up the wedding canopy. And that was all. Then we all went to my hotel and we ordered a fine dinner, with wine. One of the guests bought a bottle of champagne.

We spent the night at my hotel and we were so happy, I really can't tell you. In the morning we started on our trip. First we went to Lausanne. The train travels along between the ranges of mountains and you just can't imagine the beauty of the mountains in the early summer. It seemed to me that all nature was rejoicing because of our happiness. Later the train runs along Lake Geneva. We stayed two days in Lausanne, at a Jewish pension, and we made the acquaintance of some very interesting people. It was strictly kosher. Everyone there seemed to know that we were just married, and there were all sorts of jokes at our expense. Asa Heshel almost got into a fight with one of the men, who was quite a fool. He is as bashful as a child and wants to conceal everything from other people. And at the same time he says things that are simply unbelievable. I have to watch him all the time, to make sure that people don't get the wrong -208-impression. I must tell you that in these last two months he had done very little studying. He has to take a qualifying examination here, but instead of preparing for it he wasted his time with a whole mass of useless books. He has absolutely no sense of discipline, but you may be sure that I'll be watching out for him from now on.

He is really very capable, and I'm sure that hell go far. He doesn't realize how lucky he is that he has me as his wife. Without me he would literally have died here.

From Lausanne we went to Montreux. The town is below, and up above rise terraces of vineyards and sheep pastures. You really expect that at any moment everything will come tumbling down. There was some sort of celebration going on while we were there. The boys and girls were dressed in their national costumes. The Swiss are as carefree as children. We foreigners really don't exist for them. We spent a night in Montreux, and from there we went to a village called Visp, where there's a little train that goes to Zermatt. From this village you can see the Matterhorn clearly, with its peak covered with snow as though it were the middle of the winter. Asa Heshel was so enthusiastic about it all. We spent two nights there and we were almost out of our minds with delight. I really can't communicate to you even the thousandth part of the things we experienced. From there we were supposed to go to Italy, which is very near, but Asa Heshel wasn't willing to let me spend so much money. When I think back, I really must admit that he's very comical in some respects. He writes down in a little book every penny we spend.