Chapter II: Part 2

This ring--it's so tight--it hurts my finger so! I took it from
Isaac's son one time--when we played that our fathers had engaged us
to marry. I don't suppose it was quite proper of me, was it, Rafael?
It was years ago--but--but--[_pulls_]--it doesn't come easily! [_She
stretches out her hand to him._] Don't you want to clear it away,
Rafael?

RAFAEL.

[_Goes to the cupboard._] Just a moment.

REBECCA.

[_With her hand still out._] Everybody out, Rafael?

RAFAEL.

[_Bringing a plate._] There's not a Jew in the house.

[_He removes the ring easily, and gives it to her on the plate._

REBECCA.

[_Vexed._] Your servant--that Christian person--I suppose she's
listening at that door?

RAFAEL.

[_He sits on the table._] You might go up and see.

REBECCA.

[_After hesitating, she runs up the stairs and opens the door._] Oh! I
don't believe there is any one in the house but us! I'm afraid to come
down!

RAFAEL.

You needn't be!

REBECCA.

You mustn't come up!

RAFAEL.

They'll be home soon. Let us proceed to business.

REBECCA.

[_Archly coming down one step._] Do you call it business?

RAFAEL.

I can't say I do. I weigh 12 stone, Rebecca, and your father won't
give but 8000 guilders. That's--that's 666 guilders a stone; 14 into
666, that's only 45 guilders a pound! And----

REBECCA.

No, it's over 47-1/2 guilders a pound.

RAFAEL.

I am sure you are right--only 47-1/2 guilders a pound he'll give for
me. No, I can't say I call that business.

REBECCA.

[_Coming down a step._] You don't seem to have much sentiment about
it, Rafael.

RAFAEL.

Ah, if it were only a matter of sentiment! [_She comes down two
steps._] But sentiment after business, Rebecca, after business. I
am 40 inches round the chest, Rebecca; and if my heart should swell
I should be doubtless 45. But at eight thousand guilders, Rebecca,
it doesn't swell!

REBECCA.

But I--I don't like to talk this way, Rafael; it doesn't seem to me
quite--quite nice.

RAFAEL.

That is your delicacy, Rebecca, your extreme delicacy. But we must not
mix delicacy with business, Rebecca. He sticks at eight thousand, and
not a thing, I suppose, in the way of dresses, finery, rigging----?

REBECCA.

It's really most unpleasant to have to talk of such things. Of
course I shall have a dozen of everything; father has told me
so--when I am--when I--I can't say it! I really can't speak of it.

RAFAEL.

That's your shrinking nature, Rebecca, your extreme sensitiveness!
H'm! How should a man's heart know which way to beat? On the one
side the daughter, with her delicacy, her shrinking nature; on the
other side the father, who sticks at eight thousand guilders! No;
at eight thousand I will not love you. It would not be dignified at
eight thousand!

REBECCA.

[_Coming down the remaining steps._] But you don't suppose that if
my father were willing to give, say, ten thousand, he would begin at
more than eight thousand; not with _your_ father--now would he,
Rafael? But I think that nowadays, when young people are to be--when
they intend--they ought to have some sentiment for each other.

RAFAEL.

H'm!

REBECCA.

And, moreover, I think that young men should be more careful as to
how they let themselves be talked about--more careful than you are.
They call you an infidel, Rafael, and they say disagreeable things
about you and this impertinent servant of yours.

RAFAEL.

They do! [_A pause._] Of course, if we were to contemplate
matrimony--you and I--such a matter would be very serious.

REBECCA.

It certainly would.

RAFAEL.

And so it's very fortunate, Rebecca, that we have been talking in a
kind of irony--you and I--over a matter which was never even
remotely possible! Isn't it?

REBECCA.

[_After a pause._] Yes, _very_ fortunate. It would have been most
unfortunate for you if you had ever entertained the idea. If your
father or mine entertain it, we must speedily end that. Go on with
your scullerymaid; it's nothing to me.

RAFAEL.

No, it's nothing to you, Rebecca! You and I don't want to marry, and
they are trying to chain us together against our wills! We must
fight them, Rebecca! We must put our backs against the wall! Your
father will whisper avarice to you. He'll bid you look around. "This
is thy neighbour's house," he'll say. "It will all be Rafael's;
see--see--treasure, value, gain; see the jewels there, the gold and
silver, the rich laces and old articles of art--all his, my
girl--and his father will die soon! He'll die of joy if he gets
eight thousand guilders with his daughter-in-law. And then it will
be all yours--yours and Rafael's; yours to hug and wrap your soul
around, my girl; all--all, from the last atom of diamond dust in
the cases there, to the rust on the nail in the latch on the door
that keeps away the moans of the starving!"

REBECCA.

But do you think----?

RAFAEL.

But you won't be betrayed by an old man's lust for gold. No! You'll
say: "Father, I have a heart; I will not give myself to one I do not
love, to soothe your itching palm!" You'll look well saying that,
Rebecca! You'll stand and face him in the dignity of truth! You'll
be defending the next generation against the crawling viper of
greed! I'd like to be there! I'd like to see the flash in your eyes;
even now you cannot think of it without fire in your look! I see the
anger of righteousness; I cannot too deeply express my respect,
Rebecca!

REBECCA.

Do you think I don't know what you mean? You think I want to marry
you--to get you away from this vile creature--this unthinkable
person who----

_Enter ROSA._

RAFAEL.

Will you be so good as to say no more about Rosa! If a man--[_He
checks himself._] Let me tell you what she is to me----

ROSA.

Rafael, Rafael!

REBECCA.

Oh! She calls you Rafael! She was listening all the time! What they
say is true: you thrust your shameful doings in my face! I shall
tell my father--I shall tell everyone; they will stone you from the
Ghetto! You tried to make a fool of me; and you--you----

[_She bursts into tears. Exit._

RAFAEL.

And now I'm going to break my poor old father's heart. I am going to
tell him that you and I were married by the Civil Authority beyond
the Ghetto, that we are one and indivisible. Poor old man! I am not
without love for my father, you know. He will think that I am lost
for ever; he will turn me away from his door with a curse on his
lips; and then, when we are gone, he'll sink down in his chair and
weep; a broken life, an old age come to nothing! And he may die at
any moment--it may kill him--and he _might_ have died and never have
known it.

ROSA.

Rafael, I can't be the cause of his death! Don't tell him, Rafael! I
will try to live on--as we are.

RAFAEL.

Live on as we are, with this doubt in your heart? You have said I
dared not face poverty for your sake. Such a doubt must be killed at
any cost. I won't have it coming back to you to mar your faith in me
in after years. No; there's no question of my not telling him;
there's only the question of how to tell him.

ROSA.

Rafael, I would rather you wouldn't! I have been selfish; I forgot
about your father; I forgot about your music.

RAFAEL.

My father will probably speak first of Rebecca. I shall say: "No,
father, I will marry no woman I do not love." Then that will be
settled; my father will let the matter drop. Then I shall tell him
about you. Either he will be violent or he will ask me a few
questions between his teeth, such as: "How much money have you?"

ROSA.

Nothing!

RAFAEL.

Or, "What vocation are you master of?"

ROSA.

The music--if he could only hear----!

RAFAEL.

My father is as deaf to my art as he is blind. "Are you master of an
art, when it will not yield you bread?" he will say.

ROSA.

But it will yield you bread, if you will but wait, Rafael!

RAFAEL.

I was very happy when I came through that door. I saw Hanakoff this
morning. He is going to play my Fantasia to-night, Rosa, before the
aristocracy; he is going to let me lead his orchestra! And in a
month he would have played my Symphony!

ROSA.

Would have! Why not, then?

RAFAEL.

Why not? It won't be possible, Rosa.

ROSA.

It must be possible! Why not? Why not?

RAFAEL.

Well, because the Symphony isn't finished, and in the time when I
thought to finish it I shall be working with my hands to keep us
from starving--if a man can keep from starving by working with his
hands!

ROSA.

Rafael, you shall not tell your father! You shall not sacrifice your
career to me. I wounded you too deeply. I didn't mean what I said--I
didn't realise what I was doing. See, dear, we must wait for the
Symphony. You must go on with your work--you must have peace--you
must know that I love you--that I cannot doubt you! Don't you feel
that the music will succeed?

RAFAEL.

It must succeed! It's beautiful. My God, I know it's beautiful!
Because it is you, Rosa, shining through my art, lifting up my
spirit till I can't call the work mine. It comes from you and from
God!

ROSA.

Then, against my will, will you put me between God and the message
he sends to the world through you? No!

RAFAEL.

I must accept the challenge you have made. I am a musician; but I'm
a man first!

ROSA.

But--but I---- [_She weeps._

RAFAEL.

Don't--don't! And this is the day I had looked forward to for so
many weary months; my music has found a great man who believes in
it, and on that day my spirit is sunken within me; I am waiting to
give my father a blow that may kill him, and the woman I love so
tenderly is sobbing her foolish little heart out on my knee!

ROSA.

[_Springing up._] Not now! I have stopped sobbing--the tears have
cleared my eyes--I see better than you! I will not have you magnify
the doubt I threw into my angry words. There was no doubt; I spoke
falsely. Have I not given you my life? I should not dare to doubt
you! There are things that must not, shall not be done. We are going
to pass through a fire of hatred, scorn, ridicule. We _must_ have
success, we _must_ triumph, and we must protect your father from
harm. Go! Tell your father you cannot marry Rebecca; tell him he
must not think of that. Lead him home, speak kind words to him, but
don't tell him of me. And then go to work on your Symphony. You say
I inspired it. You touch my vanity. I want to inspire it to the end!
Don't mind me, don't think of me. Work, work, and only let me once
in a while come softly, silently, and----

[_She kisses his hand._

RAFAEL.

Rosa! Rosa! How you tempt me! I want to do what is right. I can't
tell which it is, but the child of my soul is coming forth into the
world, and your kiss is so like a mother's kiss--it seems to bid me
be gentle to my child--not to kill it before it is born. Oh, how I
love my music--love it because it lets me express my love for you! I
say the world shall never forget how I loved you when my music goes
down to history! Rosa, Rosa, can you wait--can you trust me?

ROSA.

[_Joyfully._] You are going to grant my prayer--you're going to
wait--wait! I'm so glad--I'm so glad!

RAFAEL.

Unless they force me to it, I'll wait. I must go and find my father;
it's late already. And then to the Symphony! Ah, you--you are my
Symphony--it cannot fail! We must have success--and then let the
Ghetto do what it can! I ought to be back in an hour. Will you steal
a moment to let me tell you how things stand?

ROSA.

Yes! yes! Good-bye! good-bye! Remember, there is no Rosa--she does
not exist!

[_RAFAEL shakes his head laughingly; kisses her. Exit. She stands
smiling and happy._

A VOICE WITHOUT.

That was the man; he's going to marry a Christian!

ROSA.

Oh!

ANOTHER VOICE.

He's going to marry the Christian servant in his father's house!

VARIOUS VOICES.

Oh! Shame! shame! [_ROSA runs to the window._] Oh! Oh!

THE SECOND VOICE.

It's a sacrilege! He's an infidel!

THE THIRD VOICE.

He's a dog! [_Mingled cries of "Yes, yes!"_

ROSA.

What will they do? That girl! that girl! she has told them!

THE FIRST VOICE.

Shall he do this in our teeth and not suffer?

VARIOUS VOICES.

No, no!

ROSA.

Ah! they'll stone him! Ah! O God, it might be the last time he ever
touched my lips!

A WOMAN'S VOICE.

Stone him! Stone him! He mocks our God!

ROSA.

Ah, Rafael! What shall I do?

VARIOUS VOICES.

He does! He's a dog! He insults us all! Out of the Ghetto with him!
Come on!

[_A number of rough men and women charge along the street, and are
seen through the window, repeating their cries, which then begin
to diminish in the distance._

ROSA.

It has come! He's alone--he'll face them--he will not yield an inch!
[_A rising yell of the mob is heard._] Rafael! No, he shall not be
alone! No! No!

[_She opens the door. A yell from the mob farther in the distance;
she locks the door and runs off past the window. A still more
distant yell from the mob dying away._

END OF THE SECOND ACT.

THE THIRD ACT

SCENE: _A street. At the right the entrance to the synagogue, with
steps and a portico. At the left the house of AARON, before which
are some chairs, in the shade of an awning. Some trees and shrubs
give a grateful contrast to the surroundings of SACHEL'S house, seen
in ACT I._

_The final chant of a Jewish service is heard within the synagogue.
Enter REBECCA, flushed from her interview with RAFAEL, as the chant
ends, and among others, AARON comes out of the synagogue._

AARON.

Ah, you've come back! Did you find Esther at home?

REBECCA.

No; you knew she would not be at home!

AARON.

Eh! After you had gone, my dear, there I saw her, going into the
synagogue.

_Enter ROSA; she looks about anxiously._

Well, how did you--how did you get on?

REBECCA.

[_Angrily, seeing ROSA._] I----

AARON.

[_Seeing ROSA._] 'Sh! It's all arranged, my girl! You wanted him; now
you have him. Are you happy?

REBECCA.

[_Her eyes on ROSA, with growing malevolence._] Yes.

AARON.

Go in. Rafael is coming here, and the Rabbi--a quiet talk. Make
yourself look well; the boy's a little high-strung, you know.
By-and-by we will go out by the shop door; we will come round this
way and join them. We must use tact. Will you come in?

REBECCA.

[_Still facing ROSA._] In a moment. [_Exit AARON._

ROSA.

[_Overcoming a reluctance._] Have you seen Rafael?

REBECCA.

He's not here. [_Malignantly._] He went home again.

ROSA.

Do you speak the truth?

REBECCA.

If I spoke all the truth I know you would not stay to hear it!

ROSA.

All the truth you know would not take long to tell! [_Exit._

REBECCA.

She hates me! She shall hate me more!

[_Exit into the house._

_Enter SACHEL and ESTHER from the synagogue; she looks about._

SACHEL.

You do not see him?

ESTHER.

Not yet.

SACHEL.

He won't come; he suspects that the Rabbi will try to influence him.

_Enter SAMSON and DANIEL._

ESTHER.

He said he would walk home with us. Good afternoon, have you seen
Rafael?

DANIEL.

Good afternoon. [_To SAMSON._] _Have_ we seen Rafael!

SAMSON.

Is he looking for us?

SACHEL.

He might be; he does not care what vagabond he goes with.

DANIEL.

It is true! For I hear he is about to turn Christian and marry his
father's maid-servant!

SAMSON.

And any one who dislikes it is to be thrown out of the house--even if
it be his father! Daniel, shall we stay to meet such a person?

DANIEL.

I scorn the interview! [_Exeunt._

SACHEL.

You are rascals and liars! [_To ESTHER._] They speak the truth! It
is Rosa who has turned my son against me!

ESTHER.

Oh, be still! Here comes the Rabbi!

_Enter THE RABBI, with a father, a mother, and their son, who seems
subdued, as if after an exhortation by THE RABBI. THE RABBI
dismisses them blandly._

THE RABBI.

That boy came as stubborn as a donkey, but a little touch of
sympathy, enough concession to soothe his pride, a little tact
withal, and he departs as meek as a lamb.

SACHEL.

But Rafael is my son, and you cannot twist him about your finger. He
has no heart; he treats me like a dog. They say he is foul of my
maid-servant. If it's true----

THE RABBI.

'Sh! 'sh! Scandalous! Are you every gossip's plaything? Come!
Violence, violence--we shall do nothing with violence. Rafael is
young, short-sighted and stubborn; but he's a good fellow at heart.
We must handle him delicately, like a big trout. You leave him to
me, and he will stay at home and marry Aaron's daughter, willingly.

[_They sit in front of AARON'S house._

ESTHER.

Now what did I tell you, you silly old man!

THE RABBI.

Silly old man! Not at all. An affectionate father, deeply troubled
about his only child--sorely vexed because too many things have gone
wrong at once! Would you have him sit still and not open his month?
Oh no, Sachel is not the man to let things take care of themselves!

SACHEL.

It is true! What does she know about the feelings of a parent? Ah, I
would mould things now, Rabbi, but times have changed. Once, as it
is written in the Books of Moses, a son must obey his father, or he
would be stoned to the gates of the city! That was right!

THE RABBI.

It was right then; but, as you so very rightly observe, Sachel,
times have changed; and when one throws stones now, one must pay for
the windows. So, instead of stoning Rafael, we shall marry him to
Rebecca; and in time you shall be the grandfather of a boy; a boy, I
say! Ha, ha, ha! You don't laugh enough, Sachel!

SACHEL.

I cannot laugh! I tell you there is a serpent in my house. This
girl--this Rosa, I could swear that she----

THE RABBI.

Shame! shame! I won't hear about it! It was for you that I was
preaching, but you do not listen when you come to synagogue. Of
course, you were thinking about Rafael. You leave him to me. He
shall marry Rebecca, do you hear? In such matters as this you are a
child!

SACHEL.

He shall do my bidding, or he shall go in rags! 'Sh!

[_They all listen. Enter RAFAEL, with his hand bound up carelessly
in a handkerchief._

THE RABBI.

Why, it's Rafael! What an unexpected pleasure!

RAFAEL.

It _is_ a long time since I have seen you.

SACHEL.

Daniel and Samson are liars! But if it were true, I would----

THE RABBI.

Tut, tut! What's the matter? Mumbling about business matters on the
Sabbath! Well, well, how you've shot up since--since----

RAFAEL.

Since last I came to the synagogue I have had time to grow.

THE RABBI.

I pass that over. I don't look upon you as gone astray. You are
seeking for the light, and when you find it, whether you think so
now or not, you will find it there! [_Indicating the synagogue._]
Just as when you find happiness you will find it here.

RAFAEL.

In the house of Aaron?

THE RABBI.

With your father, and at home, under the roof where your mother
lived. Ah! what a fine career is open to you in following out your
father's business! It isn't every boy who has such opportunities!

RAFAEL.

Business! You in your synagogue--you ought to be the enemy of
business. You ought to preach it to our people without end that
their life of morning, noon, and night, and not a breath drawn but
for sake of gain, is a sickly mockery of life, and that it is
against the law of Moses!

THE RABBI.

Another prophet! Business, gain, contrary to the laws of Moses! Go
on, my boy! Let us have the sermon you would preach! Ha, ha! Go on!
Now I shall learn something.

RAFAEL.

Have I not read in the Book of Moses how the people divided the
soil, and there was no one who had more than another; and there was
no grinding of the poor, and there was never any selling of lands:
"For mine is the soil, and you are but strangers unto Me!" And
among them was not business despised? How did Jacob speak of
Issachar?

THE RABBI.

Bravo! "A strong ass," eh? Ha, ha, ha! You've been deep in the
Pentateuch. Where will you find such inspirations in any other
Sacred Book? But you should read them under guidance, you foolish
boy!

RAFAEL.

Under guidance! There is a guidance born in me that takes me where I
am, and I do not fear! It is a guidance that lives to-day; it is not
a guidance dug from the bones of a dead people of the dim past! I
know. You are going to say that Solomon did business, that David did
business. I don't care if they did! And you tell me that I skim the
surface, that I miss the spirit of the Jewish faith; and I tell you
that it is this spirit that my soul revolts against--the spirit that
holds our people in chains--the chains of the Ghetto!

THE RABBI.

Ghetto! There is no Ghetto! We do not live in Ghettos now, my boy!
Preposterous!

RAFAEL.

And now _you_ are skimming the surface, and _you_ will not see the
truth that underlies! You say there is no Ghetto! Could I ever play
with any but another Jew when I was a child? Could I ever eat with a
Christian? Was I ever taught by any but a Jew? No, you have taught
me to despise the Christians!

THE RABBI.

They persecuted us for ages; they have not taught us to admire them.

RAFAEL.

They have ceased to persecute us, they have taken down the stones of
the Ghetto walls, but still we are taught to despise them; still we
try to think ourselves the chosen people. We set ourselves as a race
against them and the universal brotherhood of man. This is the proof
of it: _our women we marry, theirs we pay!_

THE RABBI.

That is not true; it's a shameful calumny!

RAFAEL.

I can pick you ten young men to prove it--out of those that heard
you preach to-day!

THE RABBI.

How dare you say such a thing! Are you a Jew no longer? Am I
speaking to a Christian?

RAFAEL.

You are speaking to a Jew who claims to-day and to-morrow as his
own--not yesterday! A Jew who believes that it shall not be asked if
a man worship in a synagogue or in a cathedral, in a chapel or in a
mosque, or in silence and solitude under God's own dome! And the
falsehood you have brought me up by; our hatred and our bigotry
which keeps us away from them, our cursed earthiness which keeps
them away from us--I loathe it all--I hate it--I will fight it as
long as I live! I am a Jew--a Jew of to-day and to-morrow; and every
man whom God created in his image is my brother!

THE RABBI.

The boy's gone daft! Daft!

SACHEL.

No, not that; he's been poisoned--poisoned by this damned creature in
my house! She's his----

THE RABBI.

Be still! I lost my self-control--set me a better example. I--I--it
is many years--indeed, I may say I have never listened to such a
tirade! Let me tell you, you will live to regret what you have said
here in the very shadow of the synagogue. I will not treat it
seriously; I cannot! That you--a mere boy who has gobbled a bit here
and a bit there from the Book of Law, should have the monstrous
effrontery to--to----

RAFAEL.

Father, are you ready to walk home now?

SACHEL.

I--I am not rested yet. [_He pokes THE RABBI._

RAFAEL.

From the sermon?

_Enter two rough fellows, supporting another, who has a swollen eye;
they stand at a distance, with sinister looks at RAFAEL._

SACHEL.

Ha, ha! [_Pokes THE RABBI._] You don't laugh enough!

THE RABBI.

As I was about to say, when I was interrupted, you have said that
Rafael wants to go away. Then let him go! When he comes back he'll
have a different view of his people. Do you fear he won't come back;
not come back to his home--to his blind old father? You are foolish,
Sachel! Drive him away, and he'll find that there is no home in the
world like a Jewish home--that a clock ticks nowhere in the world as
it does by one's own hearth. Ah, the Christians don't know what
family life is; they have nothing to compare with ours. It is
because we stay by one another, because we are sober and temperate
and industrious and respectful of our elders!

[_RAFAEL goes up, faces the three men at the back; they slink off.
He returns, showing a new determination in his face._

SACHEL.

He ought to marry; then he would appreciate that.

THE RABBI.

Marry? Who spoke of marrying? He doesn't want to marry yet; I
wouldn't have him marry yet. Don't try to hurry Rafael; he's not the
fellow to stand it. My dear friends, when the time comes, and a
strong, fine-looking young fellow makes up his mind that----

RAFAEL.

It is a good idea. I have been thinking of marriage all day.

SACHEL.

Eh, you have? Now what sort of thoughts did you have? I suppose you
thought I would object, eh?

ESTHER.

But he doesn't know any girls. He never looks at them!

RAFAEL.

I know one.

ESTHER.

Indeed! And whom, pray?

RAFAEL.

Aaron's daughter--Rebecca. Do you know her?

[_SACHEL nudges THE RABBI._

ESTHER.

This is where she lives; and she came to see us yesterday, with her
father.

RAFAEL.

Indeed! What did he come for?

ESTHER.

To sell some wool! She's a fine girl, I should say.

RAFAEL.

A delicate person--a retiring person--a shrinking person!

ESTHER.

Oh, not too much so.

RAFAEL.

[_As if disappointed._] Then you think she is not so sensitive a
creature?

ESTHER.

Well, I should say she _was_ perhaps rather sensitive.

THE RABBI.

Shrinking, I should say.

SACHEL.

Shrinking; she is shrinking, I should say! [_A pause._

ESTHER.

Well----

THE RABBI.

And----

SACHEL.

And did----?

RAFAEL.

Eh? Rain--rain? Oh no!

THE RABBI.

Speaking of Rebecca reminds me, and I will tell you an anecdote----

RAFAEL.

Curious coincidence that, just as my mind was full of thoughts of love
and matrimony, in should burst this same Rebecca!

SACHEL.

Eh? eh? [_He nudges THE RABBI._

THE RABBI.

Curious? Not at all! Beauty, health, cleverness--the idea is in the
air, wherever she goes. If I were a young man--but such matters are
not for my concern until they are brought to the synagogue--I
should----

[_REBECCA appears at the window of AARON'S house._

RAFAEL.

True, Rabbi, true! And you do wisely not to meddle with them. Do you
know there was a faint suggestion in the air--like the subtle odour
of some tender flower--that possibly Rebecca would not be averse to
marrying me!

SACHEL.

Well, well, well! Hee, hee! [_He nudges THE RABBI._

ESTHER.

Dear me; love at first sight!

RAFAEL.

Not at first sight; we have had previous interviews----

SACHEL.

Eh? eh? The rascal!

RAFAEL.

----about fourteen years ago. And now we have met again, and I
thought she would be willing to marry me, but being so shrinking a
creature, like--what shall I say--like a snail withdrawing into its
shell---- [_REBECCA draws back in pain._

ESTHER.

[_Mildly deprecating._] Oh!

RAFAEL.

She would not say so in as many words.

[_REBECCA looks out again._

ESTHER.

I am sorry for the poor girl; for, if the truth be told--But, there,
you are not serious about anything!

SACHEL.

Why do you say "poor girl" when she would bring----

THE RABBI.

But Rafael doesn't look to dowries; he has a romantic turn. The fact
that she would bring five or six thousand guilders----

SACHEL.

Ten thousand guilders!

RAFAEL.

Ten thousand guilders! [_In irony._] H'm! But--Oh, well, I'm not a
very keen observer, Rabbi; it is probable that Rebecca never----

THE RABBI.

On the contrary. For, speaking of that very matter, which, of course,
is no affair of mine, she----

RAFAEL.

Quite true, quite true! What did you say, aunt?

ESTHER.

Eh? Oh, I was going to say that she begged your photograph of me
yesterday, and when it dropped into the canal she was almost ready to
cry.

RAFAEL.

H'm! But it was careless of her to drop me into that nasty canal!

SACHEL.

It blew in; there came a great gust of wind.

RAFAEL.

The wind must have been Aaron, disputing the value of his wool!

THE RABBI.

Good! Good! Ha, ha, ha! He has a mind; he will not let his heart run
away with his head!

RAFAEL.

And so Rebecca----H'm! But I shall not let my heart run away with my
purse. I should hold my hot young blood in bounds!

SACHEL.

Not always! Not always! A young man must have his day!

RAFAEL.

But is she well? Is she sound? One cannot be too cautious. I knew of
a girl who seemed as strong as a green peach on a tree; and she had
not been two days married when, what do you think? Why, she died!
She knew she was going to die, but she never told him! That's awful,
awful! Oh! Oh! I could not stand a thing like that! [_THE RABBI
rises to look at RAFAEL'S face._] I have a soul, Rabbi, I know,
because you taught me so, and a deception like that--it would kill
my love.

[_REBECCA draws in, distressed._

THE RABBI.

Are you serious?

RAFAEL.

Am I serious? He asks me if I am serious! But that was not Rebecca.
You think Rebecca is----

THE RABBI.

She's as honest as her father!

RAFAEL.

Ah! Two of them, as honest as each other! [_THE RABBI has growing
appreciation of the irony._] H'm! But a good housewife? A good
needlewoman? Sharp over the counter? My father has not slaved to
feed the idleness of another man's daughter!

ESTHER.

I'll answer for that. I thought I could bake cakes, but she's coming
to-morrow to teach me how! You never tasted such cakes!

THE RABBI.

Indeed, I believe I have heard them spoken of.

SACHEL.

[_Who has been musing._] Eh--cakes? You cannot expect a girl to know
everything. Anyway, she's coming to-morrow; and Esther is going to----

RAFAEL.

Esther is going to learn from her. Excellent!

SACHEL.

Eh? [_He is nudged by ESTHER._] Yes, yes!

RAFAEL.

Good, good! I half suspect that--that you look with favour on
Rebecca. We--we had considerable conversation this morning, we
talked of money--and love--and----

SACHEL.

They talked of love! Now, what did you say of love?

RAFAEL.

And we talked of money--and of children--and of--money.

[_ESTHER looks at THE RABBI; she also now in dawning suspicion of
RAFAEL'S irony._

SACHEL.

Ha, ha! They talked of love and children! Of love and children! We
must have some wine, Rafael--this is the house of a friend. Esther,
you go and fetch it. Now what----

ESTHER.

They charge two prices at that place around the corner.

SACHEL.

I say we will have some wine! Some good wine! Go!

ESTHER.

Very well; it is a season of denial with us.

THE RABBI.

But the extreme heat! [_Whispers._] Get some from my house.

[_Exit ESTHER._

SACHEL.

H'm! They talked of children and love! And what did you say about
children, my boy? Ah, they are beautiful things; though I could not
see one, I could fondle it! What about children, my boy?

RAFAEL.

We said that they should each have two cradles; one with a soft
pillow of burnt wool and one with a hard pillow of burnt cotton, so
that they should learn the difference before they were old enough to
tell the sun from a silver coin.

[_An angry gesture from THE RABBI._

SACHEL.

Eh, what--H'm! Yes, yes, but later--later would do as well. And
about love, Rafael; what did she say about love?

RAFAEL.

Oh, she is a shrinking creature--as shrinking as wool unmixed with
cotton! And, at first, she would not talk of love, but at length she
said that when she was married she expected to have a dozen----

SACHEL.

A dozen! That's too large a family in such times as these!

RAFAEL.

A dozen of everything.

SACHEL.

Ah yes--a dozen of everything, Rafael; a dozen of the finest. Her
father has told me so.

_Enter ESTHER, followed by a servant with glasses of wine on a
tray._

And a dowry of ten thousand guilders! What do you think of that, my
boy? The wine--here! I shall propose a toast! [_He takes a glass and
gives glasses to the others; ESTHER and THE RABBI take theirs
unwillingly._] Here! Here!

THE RABBI.

[_Holding his glass toward RAFAEL._] I suggest a toast to an open
heart--to a tongue that leads no man astray!

RAFAEL.

Hear! The Rabbi suggests that--with _his_ tongue! I'll drink that
toast with _you_, Rabbi!

SACHEL.

It is my wine! I am proposing the toast! I----

THE RABBI.

[_To SACHEL._] You had better drink in silence, and go home. You are
deceiving yourself: you know not where you stand!

RAFAEL.

What! What does he mean, father? Am I deceiving myself? Are you not
planning to marry me to Rebecca? Do you fear, then, that I have
fallen in love with her? Is she not an honest girl--a shrinking
girl--a girl as good as Father Aaron?

SACHEL.

Yes, and better!

RAFAEL.

Will she not bring me a dozen of everything, and ten thousand
guilders? Could man ask more? What's wrong here? Why do they not
raise their glasses?

SACHEL.

Because they will not let me manage my own affairs! He is my son,
not yours! It is my wine, not yours! Drink, then, drink to Rebecca,
the richest girl in the Ghetto, a beautiful young girl, a marvellous
young girl----

[_ESTHER turns appealingly to THE RABBI; both look on in distress
and perplexity._

RAFAEL.

But they do not raise their glasses, father; they will not drink,
father! Why? Do they see handwriting on the wall? Do they think I
have forsaken my race? Do they think I have given my heart and soul
to the heart and soul of another? Why do they not raise their
glasses?

SACHEL.

Let them throw it on the ground if they will! Every one tries to
thwart me, every one but you; but they shall not! I am Sachel! Drink
with me! Drink to Rebecca, your wife, Rafael! For this day I have
seen Aaron; I have sat with him--yesterday and to-day I have sat
with him! I have laboured with him, my boy; your father was not
wanting! He would have squirmed into my house with eight thousand;
but I raised him! I raised him two thousand, my boy! We have agreed,
agreed! She is yours, Rafael--yours! To Rebecca, my daughter-in-law!
Now will you drink--will you clink your glasses? [_He reaches about;
no one clinks; RAFAEL turns away and pours his wine on the ground._]
Where are you? I'm all alone! What's the matter? What's the matter?

RAFAEL.

They have not touched their glasses, father! They stand staring at
you, without words!

ESTHER.

Sachel, come home!

SACHEL.

What do you mean? You fools, what do I care what you mean! He's
going to stay at home and be my boy, my comfort, my staff in my old
age; he's going to marry Rebecca! Rafael and Rebecca! Rafael and
Rebecca! Does it not sound beautiful--beautiful!

_Enter AARON by way of the street, dragging REBECCA by the hand;
she holds back in deep mortification._

AARON.

Ha, ha! It does! It does!

REBECCA.

Father!

AARON.

Don't be afraid, my girl. [_To the others._] I suspected what you
were doing! Rafael--[_effusively_]--since the day she was born I've
had an eye on you! Eh, what's the matter? Why are you all so glum?

RAFAEL.

[_He goes to the table and gets a glass, then back._] On this solemn
occasion, sir, I was about to propose a toast.

SACHEL.

Yes.

AARON.

[_Goes to table._] We'll drink it here.

[_He offers the glass to REBECCA._

REBECCA.

I don't want to drink, father; I want to go in, father!

AARON.

Bosh! What are you afraid of? Speak on, my boy!

SACHEL.

Yes, speak on, and speak your soul to them! They need not think to
thwart this marriage! Let them beware!

AARON.

[_Surprised._] What's this about?

RAFAEL.

It's about my soul--my soul that leaps its bounds at last--my soul
that speaks from the heart of a man! [_A passer-by at the back stops
to listen._] My soul that dwelt in the wilderness--a rumbling,
roaring, raging, lying, sweating wilderness of traffic in the things
of earth--my soul in the wilderness crying in vain, in vain, for the
love of another soul like mine. Is it not so, Rebecca?

AARON.

Hear, hear!

REBECCA.

Let me go, father!

RAFAEL.

Let _me_ go, father; let _me_ go! I would not be slain on the altar,
father! The knife is in my flesh! This is the blood of my heart! O
God, crieth my soul in vain? Where--where is the angel that shall
stay my father's hand?

[_A crowd slowly gathers._

AARON.

Masterly! Masterly! Here she is! What an auctioneer he would make!

RAFAEL.

What an auctioneer I should make! Ah! [_He runs and stands on the
synagogue steps._] My father bids me sell my soul! Shall I sell it
cheap--my soul and my heart's blood? Shall it be knocked down to the
solitary thirsty first who bids? I, to whom the stench of avarice is
the breath of morning and night--I, who have seen a man sell his
soul on the scales----

SACHEL.

What does he mean by that?

RAFAEL.

I--to be knocked down for two pink lips and a banknote! See--my red
heart's blood! See--see--see! And you would have me sell it for ten
thousand pieces of silver! And I say no! no! no!

AARON.

He wants more! Oh! I will not give it, do you hear? It is an insult
to ask more--an insult to my daughter!

REBECCA.

Father, come away!

ESTHER.

Sachel, come home!

SACHEL.

Let me be! What does he want? What does he mean?

AARON.

Ha, ha! he wants more!

RAFAEL.

I want more! The sale shall be public! [_The crowd thickens._] I
will have my price. Who bids more? Who bids? What do you bid, my
girl?

REBECCA.

Nothing--nothing--I---- [_Exit._

RAFAEL.

She bids all she has, and yet I will not take it! More--more--who
bids me more?

AARON.

Ha, ha! ten million guilders, idiot!

_Enter ROSA, at the back._

RAFAEL.

He bids ten million guilders, and that is still too small. You bid
nothing but money, money; have you nothing else? Who comes? Who
bids? Who bids? See, see--[_He points to ROSA, who has worked
forward, pressed by the crowd._] Another bidder! Another bidder! The
angel--the angel come to stay my father's hand!

[_ESTHER and others turn fiercely on ROSA._

ROSA.

[_Panic-stricken, pressed by the crowd._] Rafael! Rafael!

SACHEL.

It's Rosa! It's Rosa!

RAFAEL.

Rosa, Rosa, what do you bid? They bid money, nothing but money; and
you--you----

ROSA.

[_Wringing her hands._] Rafael!

SACHEL.

She calls him Rafael! A curse! A damning curse!

[_The crowd murmurs._

RAFAEL.

Silence! It is my blood we are drinking! It is my soul we are
selling! [_To AARON._] And you bid more than all you have, and yet
it will not do; and you, Rosa, angel--angel--for my heart--for my
soul--bid, bid!

ROSA.

For your heart--my heart! For your soul--my soul!

RAFAEL.

Ha, ha! Going! Going!

THE RABBI.

Going the way of the profligate--to the damned!

[_Exit into the synagogue, closing the doors._

RAFAEL.

Gone to the highest bidder! She has been my wife for months!
[_SACHEL sinks into a chair; hisses and groans from the crowd._] Now
let the Ghetto damn me if it can!

ONE OF THE CROWD.

She's a Christian!

[_The crowd surround RAFAEL, who holds them at bay._]

END OF THE THIRD ACT.

THE FOURTH ACT

SCENE: _The same as ACT I. It is seven days later. AARON discovered
at the door; he holds some letters in his hand._

AARON.

I had rather talk to you here.

_Enter SACHEL, pale, bowed and trembling; the two sit on a bench
at the right._

Then it is true that you have not heard from Rafael for a week? What
happened that day, after the officers had dispersed the crowd?

SACHEL.

[_With a sob, then restraining his emotions._] He brought her back
here to get the few things that belong to her. He said that as soon
as he had done with Hanakoff he would come and get her. Then he went
away. He said he would be back in the morning; and he has been gone
a week! My God, it was I who made him so anxious to leave--it is the
judgment of the Almighty upon my sins!

AARON.

[_Calculatingly, as he looks at the letters in his hand._] Oh, he's
your son; I fancy if he got in the vicinity of harm, he saw it
before it saw him! And the girl, why do you let her stay here?

SACHEL.

The Rabbi! The Rabbi came here and made me promise to keep the girl
until Rafael could find a home for her. I thought it would be the
next day; I promised. The Rabbi said he repented the strong words he
had uttered when he slammed the door of the synagogue. H'm! The
Rabbi is not much better than you, or at least, than me! The only
difference is that the Rabbi is always repenting! If Rafael would
only come back, I'd let him keep the girl here for ever--what do I
care! I want my son--the only thing I live for!

AARON.

But doesn't the girl know where he is?

SACHEL.

No, no. Esther kept telling me that Rosa has had no word from
Rafael. I would not believe it; and this morning I took hold of her;
I cursed her up and down for not telling me where he was. She said
if she knew where he was she would walk to him, if it was a thousand
miles, rather than stay another night under my roof. Then, for the
third time this week, she had a fit of hysterics--I never heard such
sobs in all my life! When she quieted down she went up and put on
the rags she first came here in; and since then she has refused to
take food from us; she won't enter the house; she is wandering about
here somewhere now. I don't know; though she be a Christian and a
pauper, I suppose I'll have to accept her for my daughter-in-law, if
he'll only come!

AARON.

She, that broke up your home and took your son away from the finest
young woman in the Ghetto? She, that robbed him of his faith and
brought him to a pass where every one is saying that he has run away
rather than face the consequences of his acts? H'm!

SACHEL.

What am I going to do? If he's dead, I _will_ keep her! Isn't she
the only one in the world whose sorrow will approach mine?

AARON.

But if he is not dead? If he comes back? [_Circumspectly makes as if
to open one of the letters._] Look here--

[_Enter the RABBI; AARON hastily puts away the letters._

Oh, the Rabbi! [_Whispers._] We must get rid of him. I want to talk
to you.

RABBI.

Good evening! How is that girl? Is she still crying her eyes out? It's
pitiful! It is dangerous! I must see her! [_AARON nudges SACHEL._

SACHEL.

She's all right. I have not heard her stir since she went to bed.

RABBI.

Oh, she's gone to bed--good! Sachel, Rafael had my promise to
protect that girl; and I will protect her. Last Saturday we were all
overwrought; we were taken by surprise. But now that we all realise
it, it comes to this: Rafael has married a Christian girl; she knows
what an affront this is to the religion in which Rafael was reared,
and to which inevitably he must return his full devotion when he
grows an older and wiser man. Now there is but one remedy: Rosa must
become a Jewess. Not to-night or to-morrow; but she must be
influenced to open her heart to the faith of her husband; and she
must be urged to welcome a future day when she shall enter the
synagogue and come forth from there with all the hatred, all the
revulsion which she has seen in our faces to-day, buried for ever!
Teach her to be thankful that this is Holland, where a Christian
_may_ become a Jewess.

AARON.

Rabbi, your sentiments are worthy of your calling. Sachel and I have
been talking; we both regret our bitter words of that day. Sachel
has become reconciled--as much as any Jew could. And, to tell the
truth, we had gone so far as to dismiss the subject and to devote
ourselves to a very important matter of business which had to go
over from Friday.

THE RABBI.

I see--I see! I am very glad, then! We must make Rosa understand the
things that are glorious in our religion; the inspirations that have
sustained us through centuries of the bitterest persecution that
men have ever known. And she must believe that we shall cling to
them until that supreme day when Jerusalem is peopled anew with the
race which God has chosen for His own. Is it not so?

SACHEL.

Yes, yes! And we'll walk a little way with you. Then, Aaron, you can
come back, and we can go on with that business.

[_They go up: THE RABBI stops at the bridge._

THE RABBI.

Very well; but you will treat the young girl tenderly, my friends?
Look here; you and Esther and Rafael bring her to my house some
night when there will be no one else there. We'll let her feel the
warmth of our hearts, as if she were already a Jewess. We will show
her what the inner life of the Jews is; the life that the Christians
have no conception of. And so we will work upon her better nature;
but--yes, yes, I see you are busy. You are not worrying about
Rafael, then?

AARON.

Oh, he'll be all right. I'm sure of it.

[_They start off over the bridge._

THE RABBI.

I'm glad to see you here, Aaron. It does you credit to forget your
disappointments! [_Exeunt._

_A bell tolls ten o'clock. Enter ROSA. Her pallor and the tremor
of her voice show the effects of intense emotional strain._

ROSA.

The very hour that he went away, and seven days are gone! Seven
days--and he stood here and took me in his arms!
Oh!--[_turning_]--you who cry after me that Rafael has deserted his
Christian mistress; it is because you never knew the love of
anything but money! You look down--always down! But the same clear
sky was over our heads when he kissed me here, and we looked up to
it and thanked God, who made us dare to lead our life in open truth
before the world! Let _God_ punish us for loving each other, if that
be a crime! Oh, _does_ He punish us? Where is my Rafael, you star
that watched over us then! I love him, I love him; I cannot live
without him--sweet star, tell me where he is to-night! Oh, it is
from pity that you will not tell! And he lies cold and dead! Rafael,
Rafael, I'm all alone--all alone! [_Weeps._] No, no; it can't be
that! Dear God, who sees me here among these aliens, you could not
be so cruel to your own! Not so cruel as that! Not so cruel as that!

[_She sobs; exit._

_Enter AARON and SACHEL._

AARON.

Where is Esther?

SACHEL.

Can't you hear her snoring? I can, though she is away at the back of
the house! I have not slept seven hours in these seven days!

AARON.

Do you think the girl has any suspicion that Rafael may have found
that he has undertaken the impossible? If he did throw her off--I
don't say that he has--but if he did, it must strike her that she
wouldn't have a place to go in all the world!

SACHEL.

She believes in him.

AARON.

When he is with her, yes! But when he is away, and she waits and
waits, are not all women alike? Doesn't she know that he has
sacrificed every guilder that he might have had from you?

SACHEL.

I said that to them. Why did I not hold my cursed tongue! He hadn't
a copper in his pocket; the poor boy had given away everything he
had, to bury Mordecai's son.

AARON.

And does not she know that he gave up every friend he had, too, when
he forsook his religion? These things must have passed through her
mind.

SACHEL.

What do I care what is passing in _her_ mind!

AARON.

Of course, of course! [_Pulls the letters from his pocket._] But the
main probability is that Rafael will soon return. I am only thinking
whether before he returns this girl could not be influenced to leave
here, made to believe that the boy has deserted her? You can't blame
me for considering my daughter's feelings in this matter. Now
suppose we could let drop a few things in Rosa's presence, without
appearing to know that she overheard?

SACHEL.

I don't care about her! I want _him_ to come back.

AARON.

Don't you see: after a whole week, after all her waiting and
waiting, without a word from him and with her whole life trembling
in the balance, then if she overhears certain things----! Of course
if we try to persuade her he is gone, she'll suspect at once. But
there are certain remarks that we can let drop, quite casually, you
know, that will absolutely make her believe that he does not intend
to come back; that he has deserted her.

SACHEL.

But she _won't_ believe it!

AARON.

No, not if we try to convince her! But we won't try! You only make
certain statements within her hearing; and if she says they are not
true, just shrug your shoulders! What is in that girl's mind? Either
that he has met harm, or that he is afraid to come back to her; that
the poverty staring him in the face has been too much for him. Seven
days is a long time when a woman is alone on the rack of doubt. Now,
do you see what I mean?

SACHEL.

But I want my son! I don't care whether he marries your daughter! I
want my son!

AARON.

[_Tapping the letters._] Here are some letters. One for you and four
for Rosa.

SACHEL.

Where did _you_ get them? Is mine from Rafael? Yes? Ah, ah! Read it,
quick!

AARON.

[_Reads._] "Father: Rosa will tell you where I am. I am your son; do
not be harsh to Rosa. The Rabbi told me that he knew you would keep
her over night; as I left her for a night, relying upon his good
offices with you, so I feel I may leave her for a week. Good-bye,
father. Rafael."

SACHEL.

He's all right! He's all right! [_Pauses, suddenly._] Look here, you
miserable rascal, you've had this for a week. You've bribed that
postman; it's a crime!

AARON.

One for you and four for her. Will you listen to one of those he
wrote to her? [_Opens it._] Shall I open it?

SACHEL.

You have, already.

AARON.

Shall I read it?

SACHEL.

[_After hesitation._] Yes.

AARON.

[_Reads._] "My darling: If I take ship at once with Hanakoff for
London, I have the opportunity of a life time; it will fix me in my
career as I had never dreamed of. My mind tells my heart that I must
go; but I am as joyful as I am sorrowful; for in a week, dear, I
take you away from the stifling air you breathe to-night--out of the
Ghetto, into the freedom which is the right of our love. Good night,
my angel! Your Rafael."

SACHEL.

He'll have money now. He'll never look at me again. She's got him!
She's got him! O, I would to my Maker I were dead!

AARON.

No, no! She hasn't got him! She shan't have him! Don't you see, this
clears the way for the very thing I proposed to you.

SACHEL.

What? What? It might succeed, with the girl in the state she is. But
if it does, what will Rafael say, to-morrow?

AARON.