t Rikel the maid, in such a friendly, such a very
friendly way!

"So I think, and it seems to me, as I watch our guest, that he has read
my thoughts, and that his beautiful black eyes say to me:

"Keep it dark, little friend, wait till after Passover, then we shall
manage it!"

IV

I dreamt all night long. I dreamt of a desert, a temple, a high priest,
and a tall mountain. I climb the mountain. Diamonds and pearls grow on
the trees, and my comrades sit on the boughs, and shake the jewels down
onto the ground, whole showers of them, and I stand and gather them, and
stuff them into my pockets, and, strange to say, however many I stuff
in, there is still room! I stuff and stuff, and still there is room! I
put my hand into my pocket, and draw out--not pearls and brilliants, but
fruits of all kinds--apples, pears, oranges, olives, dates, nuts, and
figs. This makes me very unhappy, and I toss from side to side. Then I
dream of the temple, I hear the priests chant, and the Levites sing, and
the organ play. I want to go inside and I cannot--Rikel the maid has
hold of me, and will not let me go. I beg of her and scream and cry, and
again I am very unhappy, and toss from side to side. I wake--and see my
father and mother standing there, half dressed, both pale, my father
hanging his head, and my mother wringing her hands, and with her soft
eyes full of tears. I feel at once that something has gone very wrong,
very wrong indeed, but my childish head is incapable of imagining the
greatness of the disaster.

The fact is this: our guest from beyond the desert and the seven seas
has disappeared, and a lot of things have disappeared with him: all the
silver wine-cups, all the silver spoons, knives, and forks; all my
mother's ornaments, all the money that happened to be in the house, and
also Rikel the maid!

A pang goes through my heart. Not on account of the silver cups, the
silver spoons, knives, and forks that have vanished; not on account of
mother's ornaments or of the money, still less on account of Rikel the
maid, a good riddance! But because of the happy, happy land whose roads
were strewn with brilliants, pearls, and diamonds; because of the temple
with the priests, the Levites, and the organ; because of the altar and
the sacrifices; because of all the other beautiful things that have been
taken from me, taken, taken, taken!

I turn my face to the wall, and cry quietly to myself.

GYMNASIYE

A man's worst