_The Mendele Review_: Yiddish Literature and Language
              (A Companion to _MENDELE_)
______________________________________________________
Contents of Vol. 04.007
14 May 2000

1) more on "nisht fun tog [= _tok_?], nor fun shok" (Leonard Prager)
2) Table of Contents of _Khulyot_ ('Links') vol. 6
3) "oylem habe"  (sholem-aleykhem) [hemshekh] [3rd of 4 installments]

For Yiddish version:

http://www2.trincoll.edu/~mendele/tmrarc.htm

1)----------------------------------------------------
Date: 14 May 2000
From: Leonard Prager 
Subject: more on "nisht fun tog [= _tok_?], nor fun shok"


       more on "nisht fun tog [= _tok_?], nor fun shok"

The _tog_ vs.  _tok_ tug-of-war has continued since the last issue of
_The Mendele Review_ (vol. 5.006) appeared on April 28.  Seth Wolitz was
on the right path when he wrote me that we should be consulting Polish
farmers as well as Yiddish linguists.  Meyer Wolf leads us deeper into
this discussion by directing us to halachic sources -- the Mishna is
full of agricultural information and a Yiddish translation of the Mishna
such as Simkhe Pyetrushke's _Mishnayes mit iberzetsungen un peyresh in
yidish_ (Montreal, 1945, ershter band, seyder zroim) is a logical place
to look for answers to some of our questions.

A number of agricultural issues need to be resolved.  First we ask
what grain is Kotik referring to.  What he calls _korn_ ('corn') is
surely not the American corn-on-the-cob but rather a cereal grain such
as rye.  Kotik uses the word _zang_ which MEYYED defines as 'stalk; ear
(of corn)'.  The SOED, defines _ear_ as 'A spike or head of corn; the
fruit of a cereal plant which contains its flowers or seeds'.  The
cereal could be rye, barley, etc.  In Kotik's usage, the definition
'ear' fits best.  On the word _zang_ we have received many interesting
comments.(1) Here is Meyer Wolf's valuable Mishnaic insight:

"You might want to have a look at the halakhic literature on _peye_(2),
_mayser_, etc.  For instance, Pyetrushke writes in masekhes peye alef,
mishne vov:  'di mishne lernt do, az khotsh peye darf men gebn
"bemekhubar", dos heyst fun di zangen, velkhe zenen nokh baheft tsum
feld...'  (p. 42) And further on, he writes:  'ober dos is nor ven men
git di peye fun der opgeshnitene tvue, oder afile nokh dem vi men hot di
tvue shoyn oysgedroshn un gemakht fun derfun kupes veyts (oder andere
tvue)...'  (p.42) Note, too:  'zogt do R' Akive, az tvue, vos me hot
genumen fun der kupe...'  (p. 43) The phrase 'genumen fun der kupe'
corresponds to 'venotel min hagoren'.  Throughout the Yiddish commentary
on _peye_, Pyetrushke refers to _zangen_ and _shayer_, apparently
Northeastern terms for what, at least regionally in Southern Yiddish,
are called _shokn_ and _tok/toyk_.  I suspect that Kotik's phrase
derives from 'min hamekhubar' and 'min hagoren', though I have not found
an exact Hebrew correspondent."

In Stutshkov we find _toyk_, _tok_, _dreshtok_ (p. 213); Meyer
Wolf reports _toyk_ in Sholem-Aleykhem's _Funem yarid_.  Jan Jonk (from
Utrecht) informs us:  Russian-English Dictionary 'Daglish', Moscow 1987:
p. 556 _tok_ (II) = 'threshing-floor'; _tok_ (III) 'courting place'.
(In Holland the threshing floor is also used for dances by the
villagers.)  The question has arisen as to whether the threshing floor
was in a building or in the open air.

Meyer Wolf wrote:  "It seems to me what is meant is that the work was
not done properly, i.e. in the building for threshing, but rather
directly from the _bundles_ or _piles_ of harvested grain that should
have been brought to the _tok_ for threshing.  In other words, sheaves,
perhaps, but maybe just piles or even bundles of 60 sheaves (you may
recall pictures of a harvest with groups of sheaves standing upright in
groups in a harvested field)."  Hugh Denman claims that "A threshing
floor cannot be a building (only for convenience does Stutshkov list it
under 'virtshaft-binyonim'), since the presence of wind is essential to
the process."  I would imagine that there were both indoor and outdoor
threshing floors depending on geography, climate and the specific grain
being threshed.

------------------------

Notes

1) Jan Jok, diresting us to M.Lexers _Mhd.  Taschenwoerterbuch_, is of
the opinion that _zang_ comes from _sange_ = swf. mhd.:  bueschel von
aehren u. dgl.  _sangen_ swv. das getreide schneiden und in garben
binden.  Consulting Kluge, _Etym.  Woerterbuch d.dt.Sprache_, 1910, p.
385.:  he finds _ Sange_ = ein durch Deutschland weitverbreitetes
Dialektwort (auch Zwiebelsang wird gebraucht z.B. auf dem westerwald;
vereinzelt Sange tirol.  'Handvoll Mohnkspfe':  aus mhd. mndd.  _sange_
'Bueschel von aehren u. dgl. ahd.  _sanga_ 'manipulus'; entsprechend
engl. dial.  _sangle_ 'aehrenbueschel'.  Jan Dijkstra, from Nes, told
Lucas Bruyn that a large stack of sheaves is called a 'skune' (with a
roof over the u) in Frisian.

2) _peye_ [Hebrew _peyo_ 'end'] is the title of a tractate and is also a
technical term for the edge or corner of a field whose grain must be
left for the poor.  Conceivably, were the farm a Jewish one and were
gleaning leftover grain a local practice, the Jewish arendar or posesor
might regard the lost kernels as tsdoke rather than as lost income.]

2)----------------------------------------------------
Date: 14 May 2000
From: Leonard Prager 
Subject: Table of Contents of _Khulyot_ ('Links') vol. 6 (2000)

NOTE:  _Khulyot_ abstracts from vol. 1 on may be viewed at
http://research.haifa.ac.il/~yiddish

                      TABLE OF CONTENTS

"The tongs were made with tongs" (Avot 5,6):  A word from the editors

Shalom Luria.  Reb Elye Bakhur and his Poem on Bovo the Knight

Shmuel Werses.  From Change of Words to Change of Meaning: The Play
    _Saul's Kingdom_ in Yiddish

Alyssa Quint. Abraham Goldfaden's Play _Bar-Kokhba_

Mendele Moykher-Sforim. "Purim-Shpil" [Selection from the play _Der
    priziv_ ('Military Conscription')]

Zev (Velvl) Tshernin. Simon Samuel Frug -- Between Russian and Yiddish

Micah Joseph Berdichevski. "From Military Service" [Original and
   translation]

Avner Holzman.  On M.J. Berdichevsky's Story "Fun der sluzshbe" ('From
   Military Service')

Miriam Trin.  Anticipation of the Shoah in the Poetic Works of Aaron
   Zeitlin

Bilha Rubinstein.  Poetic Duality:  "Gimpel Tam" and "Mayse Tishevits":
  Two Sides of I. Bashevis-Singer's Narration.

Yosef Bar-El.   On the Tempesuous Character and Fate of Moyshe Nadir

Tamar Wolf-Monson.  Uri Zvi Grinberg's Prologue to _Eyma Gedola
   Veyareach_ ('Great Fear and the Moon'): Manifest and Concealed _ars
   poetica_ as a Response to Hostile Criticism

Ziva Shamir.  "Heaven, however, like a white goat, has climbed up to
   graze our thatched roofs":  On the Creative Use of Yiddish Idioms in
   Alterman's Poetry

Yechiel Szeintuch.  The Czernowitz Conference and Yiddish Culture

Dov Sadan.  Chaim Grade

-----

Shalom Luria: Pearls of Yiddish Poetry (David Hofstein's "Shneyen"
   and Abraham Sutzkever's "Ikh leyg aleyn zikh verter".

FOLKLORE

Y.-L. Cahan.  The Yiddish Folksong.

Yitskhak Ganoz.  "Ten Daughters": A Yiddish Folksong Sung Among
   Kolobyeler Hasidim

DOCUMENTS

Samuel Berger.  The Beginnings of Yiddish Journalism

P. Klein [pseudonym of  Zelik Kalmanovitsh].  A Theory Of Yiddish

Nathan Susskind.   How Yiddish Originated

Yechiel Szeintuch.   In the Reflection of _Der Ashmodai_ (Berlin/Warsaw
   1912-1913)

REVIEWS

Shalom Luria.  _Ma sheraiti: zikhronotav shel yekhezkl kotik_ (David
   Assaf) [English t.p.: _What I Have Seen: The Memoirs of Yechezkel
   Kotik_]

Vera Solomon.  _Moyshe Broderzon, un ecrivain yiddish d'avant-garde_
   (Gilles Rozier)

Vera Solomon. _Birshut harabim uvirshut hayakhid : aharon tseytlin
    vesifrut yidish_ (Yechiel Szeintuch) [English t.p.: _Aaron Zeitlin
    and Yiddish Literature in Interwar Poland_]

Yiddish Abstracts

English Abstracts

3)------------------------------------------------------
Date: 14 May 2000
From: Leye Krikun 
Subject: "oylem habe" (sholem-aleykhem) [hemshekh][3rd of 4 installments]


     "oylem habe" (Sholem-aleykhem) (continued from TMR vol. 4.006)


[229, l. 14] shteyen mir, heyst dos, mitn shlitn in mitn mark un vartn
biz es vet vern rekht tog un di shtot vet onhoybn aroysvayzn simonim, az
zi lebt. un kakh-have. es hot zikh gelozt hern ergets a ruk fun a tir, a
krekhts fun an emer, fun a tsvey-dray koymens hot zikh bavizn a roykh,
un a kreyen fun hiner hot zikh gelozt hern ale mol shtarker un
lebediker; es hobn zikh geefnt ale tirn un es hobn zikh ongehoybn
bavayzn gots bashefenishn in geshtaltn fun beheymes, kelblekh, tsign un,
lehavdl, yidn, vayber un meydlekh, farbundn mit vareme shaln un farviklt
vi di lyalkes, ayngehoykert in drayen un ibergefroyrn vi di kislitses --
hakitser, mayn shtetl hot oyfgelebt, vi a lebediker mentsh, a shteyger.
es hot zikh oyfgekhapt, opgegosn negl-vaser, gekhapt oyf zikh dos
malbesh un genumen zikh tsu der arbet:  di mansbiln tsu avoydes-haboyre,
davnen, lernen, zogn tilim, un di vayber tsu di oyvns, tsu di bak
dayshes, tsu di kelblekh mit di tsign, un ikh hob [230] mikh genumen tsu
nokhfregn zikh oyf di gaboim:  vu zitst do ergets reb shepsl, reb
Elyezer-Moyshe, reb yoysi? nemt men mikh tsum ekzamen:  voser shepsl,
voser Elyezer-Moyshe un voser yoysi! faran, zogn zey, do in shtetl
itlekhe shepslen, itlekhe Elyezer-Moyshes un itlekhe yoysim. un az ikh
hob zey gezogt, az ikh darf tsu di gaboim fun khevre-kdishe, hobn zey
zikh vi dershrokn un genumen oystapn bay mir, vos badarf es a yungerman
azoy fri tsu di gaboim fun khevre-kdishe? hob ikh mikh nisht gelozt lang
tapn un hob zey antplekt mayn harts, oysgezogt dem gantsn sod mit der
bombe, vos ikh hob oyf zikh genumen. hot ir badarft zen vos es hot zikh
geton! ir meynt, me hot zikh gekhapt mikh bafrayen funem umglik? khas
vesholem! me iz nor gelofn itlekher bazunder in droysn a kuk ton oyfn
shlitn, tsi es ligt take dortn a mes, tsi s'iz an oysgetrakhte mayse? un
dervayl iz gevorn arum undz a redl fun mentshn, vos hobn zikh gebitn,
dos heyst, makhmes kelt zenen di mentshn avek un oyf zeyer ort hobn zikh
tsunoyfgekumen andere mentshn, gekukt in shlitn arayn, geshoklt mit di
kep, gekneytsht mit di pleytses, zikh tsefregt, ver is der barminan, un
fun vanen, un ver bin ikh, un vi kumt er tsu mir, un nisht gegebn mir
keyn hilf fun danen ahin. koym-koym hob ikh gepoylt, me zol mir onvayzn,
vu zitst do ergets reb shepsl der gabe. hob ikh im getrofn shteyn mitn
ponim tsu der vant, ayngeviklt in tales vetfiln un davnen azoy geshmak,
mit aza zisn nign un mit azoy fil hispayles, az mamesh di vent hobn
gezungen. er hot geknakt mit di finger, gebomket un gedevket zikh,
gemakht meshune-modne hevayes. ikh hob mikh, hert ir, nor mekhaye geven,
vorum. ershtns, hob ikh lib glat hern aza min [231] davnen, vehasheynis,
hob ikh gekont dervayl onvaremen abisl di ibergefroyrene beyner. un az
der reb shepsl hot oysgedreyt tsu mir dos ponim, zenen in di oygn bay im
nokh geshtanen trern, un oysgezen hot er bay mir in di oygn vi a
getlekher mentsh, a koydesh, vos di neshome zayne iz azoy vayt fun der
erd, vi der groyser feter guf zayner iz vayt funem himl. un makhmes er
hot nokh gehaltn in mitn davnen un hot nisht gevolt mafsik zayn, hot er
zikh oysgeshmuest mit mir oyf "loshn-koydesh", dos heyst, oyf aza min
shprakh, vos bashteyt fun makhn mit di hent, vinkn mit di oygn, kneytshn
mit di pleytses, dreyn abisl mitn kop un abisl mit der noz un a por
loshn-koydesh verter varft zikh oyk durkh besoykhom. oyb ir vilt, kon
ikh aykh ibergebn dem dozikn shmues vort bay vort; mistame vet ir shoyn
aleyn farshteyn velkhes hot gekert tsu mir un velkhes tsu im.

"a sheynim dank aykh, zog ikh, ir zolt derlebn onzogn besere psures! ven
vel ikh konen zikh mit zey zen?"

"vos heyst ven? im-yirtse-hashem, in der fri nokhn davnen."

"mazeltov aykh! vos zhe zol ikh ton dervayl? lozt mikh khotsh arayn a
bisl onvaremen zikh. s'iz bay aykh a min sodom. aponim?"

derhert di dozike verter, hot mayn balabosnye gants fayn farshlosn
tsurik dem tir -- un sha, shtil, vi oyf a beys hakvores. vos tut men
vayter? mir shteyn mitn shlitn in mitn gas, mikita fayert, vortshet,
kratst zikh in der potilitse, shpayt un shit mit draygorndike brokhes:
"a miese meshune zol kumen, zogt er, oyfn kretshmer un oyf ale
kretshmers fun der gantser velt. meyle er aleyn, zogt er, khapt im der
ruekh! ober zayn ferdl! vos hot men, zogt er, tsu zayn ferdl, vos me
moret dos fun hunger un fun kelt? an umshuldike beheyme, a skotine, vos
veyst zi?....s'iz mir a kharpe, a bushe far dem orl, un ikh trakht mir
beshas mayse:  vos klert, a shteyger, zayn kop vegn undz, yidn? vos far
a ponim hobn mir, yidn, rakhmonim bney rakhmonim, kenen zey, areylim,
grobe layt, az eyn yid dem andern vil di tir nisht efenen, lozt nisht
arayn zikh onvaremen afile, zenen mir dokh take vert dray mol azoy fil,
vos mir hobn!....un ot azoy bin ikh matsdik es hadin, dos heyst, ikh
gefin far rekht altsding, vos mir hobn, un makh shuldik dem gantsn klal,
vi geveyntlekh a yid beshas der anderer yid vil im nisht ton keyn toyve.
keyn ume veloshn ret nit oyf undz azoy fil shlekhts, vi mir aleyn.
toyzend mol a tog kont ir horkhn fun voser a yidn ir vilt azelkhe minim
verter:  "a yid iz dir keyn katoves nit!"  "mit a yidn vilt ir epes
makhn?"  "mit a yidn iz gut kugl esn!"  "dos kon nor a yid!"  "herst du,
deroyf iz dokh em a yidene!"  "oy, a yid, a yid!" vekedoyme azelkhe
sheyne atestatsyes, komplimentn. ikh volt a baln geven visn, vi azoy iz
bay 'zey', az es makht zikh, eyner dem andern vil nit helfn, -- falt men
oykh on oyfn klal un me zogt, az dos gantse folk iz nit vert vos di erd
trogt dos? nor sha! ikh bin shoyn, dakht mir, vider avek keyn
boyberik....

shteyen mir, heyst dos, mit'n shlitn in mitn mark un vartn biz es vet
vern rekht tog un di shtot vet onhoybn aroysvayzn simonim, az zi lebt.
un kakh hava. es hot zikh gelozt hern ergets a ruk fun a tir, a krekhts
fun an emer, fun a tsvey-dray koymens hot zikh bavizn a roykh, un a
kreyen fun hiner hot zikh gelozt hern ale mol shtarker un lebediker; es
hobn zikh geefnt ale tirn un es hobn zikh ongehoybn bavayzn gots
bashefenishn in geshtaltn fun beheymes, kelblekh, tsign un, lehavdl,
yidn, vayber un meydlekh, farbundn mit vareme shaln un farviklt vi di
lyalkes, ayngehoykert in drayen un ibergefroyrn vi di kislitses --
hakitser, mayn shtetl hot oyfgelebt, vi a lebediker mentsh, ashteyger.
es hot zikh oyfgekhapt, opgegosn negl-vaser, gekhapt oyf zikh dos
malbush un genumen zikh tsu der arbet:  di mansbiln tsu avoydes-haboyre,
davnen, lernen, zogn tilim, un di vayber tsu di oyvns, tsu di
bakdayshes, tsu di kelblekh mit di tsign, un ikh hob [230] mikh genumen
tsu nokhfregn zikh oyf di gaboim:  vu zitst do ergets reb shepsl, reb
elyezer-moyshe, reb yoysi? nemt men mikh tsum ekzamen:  voser shepsl,
voser elyezer-moyshe un voser yoysi! faran, zogn zey, do in shtetl
itlikhe shepslen, itlekhe elyezer-moyshes un itlekhe yoysim. un az ikh
hob zey gezogt, az ikh darf tsu di gaboim fun khevre-kdishe, hobn zey
zikh vi dershrokn un genumen oystapn bay mir, vos badarf es a yungerman
azoy fri tsu di gaboim fun khevre-kdishe? hob ikh mikh nisht gelozt lang
tapn un hob zey antplekt mayn harts, oysgezogt dem gantsn soyd mit der
bombe, vos ikh hob oyf zikh genumen. hot ir badarft zen vos es hot zikh
geton! ir meynt, me hot zikh gekhapt mikh bafrayen fun'm umglik? khas
vesholem! me iz nor gelofn itlekher bazunder in droysn a kuk ton oyfn
shlitn, tsi es ligt take dortn a mes, tsi s'iz an oysgetrakhte mayse? un
dervayl iz gevorn arum undz a redl fun mentshn, vos hobn zikh gebitn,
dos heyst, makhmes kelt zenen di mentshn avek un oyf zeyer ort hobn zikh
tsunoyfgekumen andere mentshn, gekukt in shlitn arayn, geshoklt mit di
kep, gekneytsht mit di pleytses, zikh tsefregt, ver is der bar minan, un
fun vanen, un ver bin ikh, un vi kumt er tsu mir, un nisht gegebn mir
keyn hilf fun danen ahin. koym-koym hob ikh gepoylt, me zol mir onvayzn,
vu zitst do ergets reb shepsl der gabe. hob ikh im getrofn shteyn mit'n
ponim tsu der vant, ayngeviklt in tales vetfiln un davnen azoy geshmak,
mit aza zisn nign un mit azoy fil hispales, az mamesh di vent hobn
gezungen. er hot geknakt mit di finger, gebomket un gedevket zikh,
gemakht meshune-modne hevyes. ikh hob mikh, hert ir, nor mekhaye geven,
vorum. ershtns, hob ikh lib glat hern aza min [231] davnen, vehasheynis,
hob ikh gekont dervayl onvaremen abisl di ibergefroyrene beyner. un az
der reb shepsl hot oysgedreyt tsu mir dos ponim, zenen in di oygn bay im
nokh geshtanen trern, un oysgezen hot er bay mir in di oygn vi a
getlekher mentsh, a koydesh, vos di neshome zayne iz azoy vayt fun der
erd, vi der groyser feter guf zayner iz vayt fun'm himl. un makhmes er
hot nokh gehaltn in mitn davnen un hot nisht gevolt mafsik zayn, hot er
zikh oygeshmuest mit mir oyf "loshn-koydesh", dos heyst, oyf aza min
shprakh, vos bashteyt fun makhn mit di hent, vinkn mit di oygn, kneytshn
mit di pleytses, dreyn abisl mit'n kop un abisl mit der noz un a por
loshn-koydesh-verter varft zikh oyk durkh betoykham. oyb ir vilt, kon
ikh aykh ibergebn dem dosign shmues vort bay vort; mistame vet ir shoyn
aleyn farshteyn velkhes hot gekert tsu mir un velkhes tsu im.

"sholem-aleykhem aykh, reb shepsl."

"aleykhem-sholem. ye-o....al hasafsal...."

"a dank, ikh bin shoyn genug gezesn."

"nu-o?....ma? ma?"

"ikh hob tsu aykh a bakoshe, reb shepsl. ir vet fardinen oylem habe."

"oylem habe? tov....ela ma? ma?"

"ih hob aykh gebrakht a mes."

"mes? mi mes (met?)"

"ot do nit vayt is faran a kretshme, zitst dort a yid an oreman nebekh,
iz bay im, nit do gedakht, geshtorbn dos vayb fun der tshakhatke, gelozt
kinder kleyne.  [232] a gots rakhmones. ven ikh derbarem zikh nit oyf
zey, veys ikh nit vos es volt nebekh geton der kretshmer in mitn feld
mit a barminan."

"borekh dayen emes...ele nu?....moes? khevre-kedishe?"....

"voser moes? ver mir moes? yener iz an oreman, an oni veevyen, a metupl
mit kinder! ir vet fardinen oylem habe, reb shepsl."

"oylem habe? tov, tov meod! ele ma? ma? hekdesh? yehudim! nu? gam ken
kabtsonim! ye-o! nu-fe!"

un makhmes ikh hob nit farshtanen, vos er meynt dermit, hot er zikh mit
kas oysgedreyt vider a mol mitn ponim tsu der vant un hot shoyn genumen
davenen nisht mit aza hits vi frier, shoyn abisl shtiler, nideriker mit
a ton, kemat oyf a kvitsh, un geshoklt zikh gikh-gikh, mitn kuryer-tsug,
aropgevorfn fun zikh dem talis vetfiln un ongefaln oyf mir nokh dem mit
a min kas, glaykh vi ikh volt im kalye gemakht a yarid, gekoylet di
kapote. staytsh, zogt er, dos shtetl iz an orem shtetl, hot oyf zikh
genug eygene kabtsonim, vos az zey shtarbn, muz men zey nokh makhn oyf
takhrikhim, kumt men aher nokh fun fremde erter, fun der gantser velt
aher! ale aher!.... hob ikh mikh farentfert vi vayt meglekh, az ikh bin
gor do avade got di neshome shuldik, az dos iz nisht mer vi a
mes-mitsve. elihey, me hot gefunen, zokh ikh, in gas a toytn un me darf
im ton zayn rekht, brengen tsu keyver yisroel! ir zent dokh, zog ikh, an
erlekher yid, a frumer, me kon dokh dermit fardinen oylem habe! iz er
nokh mer ongefaln oyf mir, kemat, kon men zogn, er hot mikh
durkhgetribn. dos heyst, nisht getribn mamesh, nor dergangen di yorn mit
verter:

[233] "azoy? ir zent a yungerman fun oylem habe? geyt zhe zikh durkh
abisl bay undz in shtetl, tut epes dertsu, me zol azoy gikh nit shtarbn
fun hunger un frirn fun kelt, vet ir zikh koyfn oylem habe! an
oylem-habe-yid! a yungerman, vos handlt mit oylem habe! geyt aykh
gezunterheyt mit ayer skhoyre tsu di hultays, efsher veln zey bay aykh
handlen oylem habe? mir hobn undzere eygene mitsves un maysem toyvim, un
az es vet zikh undz farglustn a kheylek loylem habe, veln mir zikh
gefinen an eytse on aykh!

azoy zogt tsu mir der gabe reb shepsl un bagleyt mikh aroys mit kas un
mit a rekhtn knak mit der tir, un ikh shver aykh binemones, -- mir zen
zikh dokh mit aykh dos ershte mol un efsher dos letste mol, -- fun yenem
frimorgn on hob ikh bakumen epes a bazundere min sine tsu erlekhe
alt-frenkishe yidn, faynt gekrign di, vos davnen hoykh un dveyken zikh
un bomken un makhn haveyes, faynt gekrign frumakes un ale minem yidn,
vos redn mit got, vos dinen got un vos tuen altsding nokh lesheym
shomayim, kloymersht fun gots vegn. emes, ir vet mir zogn, az bay di
hayntike, bay di oyfgeklerte, iz faran nisht mer, un efsher nokh
vintsiker, yoysher vi bay di amolike, bay di frumakes? es kon zayn, az
gerekht zent ir, nor vos den? der fardros iz khotsh nit azoy groys, me
ret khotsh nit mit got. ay, vet ir fregn, lemay shlogn zikh di hayntike
azoy far'n emes, lenen-ayn di velt, glaykh vi der roykh khapt zey avek,
un kumt tsu epes -- lozt zikh oys, az se hoybt zikh gor nit on? nor sha?
ikh bin shoyn, dakht zikh, vider in boyberik?....

hot mikh, heyst dos, der gabe rishon (rishn?) reb shepsl, mekhile,
durkhgetribn. vos tut men vayter? darf men geyn vayter, [234] tsu di
iberike, heyst dos, gaboim. hot zikh ober do getrofn a nes, a nes min
hashomayim; ikh hob farshport geyn tsu di gaboim, vorum di gaboim zenen
gegangen tsu mir, zikh bagegnt mit mir a noz kegn a noz bay der tir, un
a makh geton tsu mir:

"dos zent ir efsher der yungerman fun der tsig?"

"fun voser tsig?" freg ikh.

"der yungerman, heyst es, vos hot gebrakht tsu firn aher a mes -- zent
dos ir?"

"yo, s'iz ikh; vos iz den?"

"kumt tsurik, tsu reb shepslen, veln mir zikh ale ineynim haltn an
eytse."

"haltn an eytse?" zog ikh.  "vos iz shoyn do an eytse? nemt tsu bay mir
dem mes un lozt mikh op, vet ir zikh koyfn oylem habe."

"emitser halt aykh den?" makhn zey tsu mir." fort aykh mit'n mes vuhin
ir vilt, afile kayn radamishli, mir veln aykh nokh zogn a dank."        

"a dank aykh far der eytse." zog ikh tsu zey.

"nito far vos." makhn zey tsu mir, un mir khapn zikh arayn ale dray
tsurik tsu reb shepslen, un ale dray gaboim tshvisn zikh hoybn on redn,
shparn zikh, krign zikh, kemat me zidlt zikh. yene tsvey zogn oyf reb
shepslen, az er iz tomid a makhmir, a harter yid, vos im iz shver
ayntsubaysn; un reb shepsl varft zikh, shmitst zikh, dringt zey oys mit
psukim:  "eyni irkhe koydmin" -- az di shtot-oremlayt zenen bilkher.
faln az oyf im yene tsvey:

[235] "im ken, is vos? vilt ir, heyst dos, der yungerman zol forn mit'n
mes tsurik?"

"khas vesholim!""zog ikh.  --vos heyst, ikh vel forn mit'n mes tsurik?
ikh bin gekumen aher koym a lebediker, shier nit umgekumen in feld. der
orl hot mikh, lang lebn zol er, gevolt aroysvarfn in mit'n veg fun'm
shlitn. ikh bet aykh, hot rakhmones, bafrayt mikh fun'm mes, ir vet aykh
koyfn oylem habe.

"oylem habe is avade a guter bisn." entfert mir eyner fun yene tsvey, a
hoykher yid a darer mit dine finger, der vos me ruft im elyezer-moyshe.
"dem bar minan veln mir bay aykh tsunemen un ton zayn rekht, nor itlekhe
kerblekh vet dos aykh kostn.

"vos heyst?" zog ikh.  "loy-day ikh hob genumen oyf zikh aza mitsve,
shier nit umgekumen in feld, der orl hot mikh, lang lebn zol er, gevolt
aroysvarfn fun shlitn, zogt ir gor gelt?"

"hot ir derfar oylem habe!" makht tsu mir reb shepsl mit aza paskudne
shmeykhele, az se glust zikh mir im opbodn, vi se geher tsu zayn, nor
ikh halt mikh ayn mit ale koykhes, vorum ikh bin dokh bay zey in di
hent!
______________________________________________________
End of _The Mendele Review_ 04.007

Leonard Prager, editor

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