So she did not
know whether he merely repeated the village gossip, or had his own
information in the matter. And when she asked her mother, the
latter would fly into a temper.
"Papa himself," said Marusya, "likes Jews; but mother hates them. I
like papa more than mamma; I also like Jews; I often play with
Moshko's girls when mother is not around. I do not understand why
mother dislikes Jews so much."
Then Marusya insisted I should tell her the real truth about the
Jews, as they are at home: were they like myself, or like Jacob, the
wild one? But I stopped listening to her chatter, and began to
think of what she had told me about her mother. For in case it was
true that Anna was a convert, then--why, then Marusya herself was
half a Jewess. I decided to solve the mystery.
Now let me tell you that as a result of our Cantonist training we
were not only as bold as eagles, as courageous as lions, as swift as
the deer in doing the will of our patrons, but also as sly as foxes
in finding a way out of a difficulty. And, by the way, that was
also the opinion of our late commander, Colonel Pavel Akimovich.
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