Soon enough the time came when
my parents _had_ to understand what they would not understand when
the rabbi wanted to give me up in place of the famous Avremel. For
they caught my oldest brother Simhah, may he rest in peace. And
Simhah was a privileged person; he was not only the Shohet of the
community and a great Lamdan, but also a married man, and the father
of four children to boot. Only then, it seems, my parents
understood what the rabbi had understood before: that it was not
fair to deliver up my brother when I, the ignorant fellow, the lover
of dogs, might take his place. A few days later mother came and
took us home. As to the rest, others had seen to it.--
Here the old man stopped for a while. He was puffing and snorting,
tired from the hard walk uphill. Having reached the summit, he
turned around, looked downhill, straightened up, and took a deep
breath. "This is an excellent way of getting rid of your tired
feeling," said he. "Turn around and look downhill: then your
strength will return to you."--
IV
We had left the coach far behind, and had to wait till it overtook
us.
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