Project Gutenberg's Jewish Children, by Sholem Naumovich Rabinovich

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

Title: Jewish Children

Author: Sholem Naumovich Rabinovich

Translator: Hannah Berman

Release Date: October 24, 2008 [EBook #27001]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JEWISH CHILDREN ***

Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was
produced from scanned images of public domain material
from the Google Print project.)

JEWISH CHILDREN

TRANSLATED FROM THE YIDDISH OF

"SHALOM ALEICHEM"

BY HANNAH BERMAN

NEW YORK ALFRED . A . KNOPF MCMXXII

COPYRIGHT, 1921, BY

ALFRED A. KNOPF, INC.

_Published January, 1922_

_Set up and printed by the Vail-Ballou Co., Binghamton, N. Y.
Paper furnished by W. F. Etherington & Co., New York, N. Y.
Bound by the H. Wolff Estate, New York, N. Y._

MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

CONTENTS

A PAGE FROM THE "SONG OF SONGS"

PASSOVER IN A VILLAGE. AN IDYLL

ELIJAH THE PROPHET

GETZEL

A LOST "L'AG BEOMER"

MURDERERS

THREE LITTLE HEADS

GREENS FOR "_SHEVUOUS_"

ANOTHER PAGE FROM THE "SONG OF SONGS"

A PITY FOR THE LIVING

THE TABERNACLE

THE DEAD CITRON

ISSHUR THE BEADLE

BOAZ THE TEACHER

THE SPINNING-TOP

ESTHER

THE POCKET-KNIFE

ON THE FIDDLE

THIS NIGHT

A Page from the "Song of Songs"

Busie is a name; it is the short for Esther-Liba: Libusa: Busie. She is
a year older than I, perhaps two years. And both of us together are no
more than twenty years old. Now, if you please, sit down and think it
out for yourself. How old am I, and how old is she? But, it is no
matter. I will rather tell you her history in a few words.

My older brother, Benny, lived in a village. He had a mill. He could
shoot with a gun, ride on a horse, and swim like a devil. One summer he
was bathing in the river, and was drowned. Of him they said the proverb
had been invented: "All good swimmers are drowned." He left after him
the mill, two horses, a young widow, and one child. The mill was
neglected; the horses were sold; the young widow married again, and went
away, so