FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95  
96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   >>   >|  
one morning they climbed into the attic of the synagogue. There they found the whole treasure--a pile of candles, several "_poods_" of wax, a score of new "_Tallissim_," a bundle of prayer-books of different sorts that had never been used. It may be that to you these things would not have been of great value, but to a beadle they were worth a great deal. This treasure was taken down from the attic very ceremoniously. I will let you imagine the picture for yourself. On the one hand, Isshur with the big nose, terrifying eyebrows, and the beard of brass that started thick and heavy, and finished up with a few thin terrifying hairs. On the other hand, the young heathens, insolent ones, fearless ones, devils and wretches dragging out his treasure. But you need not imagine Isshur lost himself. He was not of the people that lose themselves for the least thing. He stood looking on, pretending to be puzzling himself with the question of how these things came to be in the attic of the synagogue. Early next morning, the following announcement was written in chalk on the door of the synagogue:-- "Memorial candles are sold here at wholesale price." Next day there was a different inscription. On the third day still another one. Isshur had something to do. Every morning he rubbed out with a wet rag the inscriptions that covered the whole of the door of the synagogue. Every Sabbath morning, on their desks the congregants found bundles of letters, in which the youngsters accused the beadle and his bought-over committee-men of many things. Isshur had a hard time of it. He got the committee-men to issue a proclamation in big letters, on parchment. "Hear all! As there have arisen in our midst a band of hooligans, scamps, good-for-nothings who are making false accusations against the most respected householders of the village, therefore we, the leaders of the community, warn these false accusers openly that we most strongly condemn their falsehoods, and if we catch any of them, we will punish him with all the severities of the law." Of course, the boys at once tore down this proclamation. A second was hung in its place. The boys did not hesitate to hang up a proclamation of their own in its stead. And the men found on their desks fresh letters of accusation against the beadle and the committee-men. In a word, it was a period when the people did nothing else but write. The committee-men wrote proclamations, and the boys, the sca
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95  
96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

committee

 

synagogue

 

Isshur

 
morning
 
beadle
 

letters

 
proclamation
 

treasure

 

things

 

imagine


people
 

terrifying

 

candles

 

parchment

 

accusation

 
scamps
 

hooligans

 

arisen

 

youngsters

 
accused

bought

 
bundles
 

proclamations

 

congregants

 

period

 

punish

 

Sabbath

 
falsehoods
 

severities

 

condemn


strongly

 

accusations

 

hesitate

 

respected

 

making

 

householders

 

village

 

accusers

 

openly

 

community


leaders

 

nothings

 

picture

 

ceremoniously

 

eyebrows

 

finished

 
started
 

climbed

 

Tallissim

 

bundle