ere very few
passers-by, and Reb Shloimeh remained standing at his door.
When he heard a sound of footsteps or voices, his heart began to beat
quicker. His old wife came out three times to call him into the house
again, but he did not hear her, and remained standing outside.
The street grew still. There was nothing more to be heard but the
rattles of the night-watchmen. Reb Shloimeh gave a last look into the
darkness, as though trying to see someone, and then, with a groan, he
went indoors.
Next morning he felt very weak, and stayed in bed. He began to feel that
his end was near, that he was but a guest tarrying for a day.
"It's all the same, all the same!" he said to himself, thinking quietly
about death.
All sorts of ideas went through his head. He thought as it were
unconsciously, without giving himself a clear account of what he was
thinking of.
A variety of images passed through his mind, scenes out of his long
life, certain people, faces he had seen here and there, comrades of his
childhood, but they all had no interest for him. He kept his eyes fixed
on the door of his room, waiting for death, as though it would come in
by the door.
He lay like that the whole day. His wife came in continually, and asked
him questions, and he was silent, not taking his eyes off the door, or
interrupting the train of his thoughts. It seemed as if he had ceased
either to see or to hear. In the evening the teachers began coming.
"Finished!" said Reb Shloimeh, looking at the door. Suddenly he heard a
voice he knew, and raised his head.
"We have come to visit the sick," said the voice.
The door opened, and there came in four workmen at once.
At first Reb Shloimeh could not believe his eyes, but soon a smile
appeared upon his lips, and he tried to sit up.
"Come, come!" he said joyfully, and his heart beat rapidly with
pleasure.
The workmen remained standing some way from the bed, not venturing to
approach the sick man, but Reb Shloimeh called them to him.
"Nearer, nearer, children!" he said.
They came a little nearer.
"Come here, to me!" and he pointed to the bed.
They came up to the bed.
"Well, what are you all about?" he asked with a smile.
The workmen were silent.
"Why did you not come last night?" he asked, and looked at them smiling.
The workmen were silent, and shuffled with their feet.
"How are you, Reb Shloimeh?" asked one of them.
"Very well, very well," answered Reb Shloimeh
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