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    A Ghetto Violet From "Christian and Leah"
    A Ghetto Violet From "Christian and Leah"
    A Ghetto Violet From "Christian and Leah"
    Ebook69 pages49 minutes

    A Ghetto Violet From "Christian and Leah"

    By Alfred S. Arnold and Leopold Kompert

    ()

    Read preview
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArchive Classics
    Release dateNov 26, 2013
    A Ghetto Violet From "Christian and Leah"

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      Book preview

      A Ghetto Violet From "Christian and Leah" - Alfred S. Arnold

      The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Ghetto Violet, by Leopold Kompert

      This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with

      almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or

      re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included

      with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

      Title: A Ghetto Violet

             From Christian and Leah

      Author: Leopold Kompert

      Translator: A. S. Arnold

      Release Date: September 18, 2007 [EBook #22663]

      Last Updated: February 4, 2013

      Language: English

      *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A GHETTO VIOLET ***

      Produced by David Widger

      A GHETTO VIOLET

      By Leopold Kompert

      From Christian and Leah. Translated by A. S. Arnold.

      1869

      Through the open window came the clear trill of a canary singing blithely in its cage. Within the tidy, homely little room a pale-faced girl and a youth of slender frame listened intently while the bird sang its song. The girl was the first to break the silence.

      Ephraim, my brother! she said.

      What is it, dear Viola?

      I wonder does the birdie know that it is the Sabbath to-day?

      What a child you are! answered Ephraim.

      Yes, that 's always the way; when you clever men can't explain a thing, you simply dismiss the question by calling it childish, Viola exclaimed, as though quite angry. "And, pray, why should n't the bird know? The whole week it scarcely sang a note: to-day it warbles and warbles so that it makes my head ache. And what's the reason? Every Sabbath it's just the same, I notice it regularly. Shall I tell you what my idea is?

      The whole week long the little bird looks into our room and sees nothing but the humdrum of work-a-day life. To-day it sees the bright rays of the Sabbath lamp and the white Sabbath cloth upon the table. Don't you think I 'm right, Ephraim?

      Wait, dear Viola, said Ephraim, and he went to the cage.

      The bird's song suddenly ceased.

      Now you 've spoilt its Sabbath! cried the girl, and she was so excited that the book which had been lying upon her lap fell to the ground.

      Ephraim turned towards her; he looked at her solemnly, and said quietly:

      Pick up your prayer-book first, and then I 'll answer. A holy book should not be on the ground like that. Had our mother dropped her prayer-book, she would have kissed it.... Kiss it, Viola, my child!

      Viola did so.

      And now I 'll tell you, dear Viola, what I think is the reason why the bird sings so blithely to-day.... Of course, I don't say I 'm right.

      Viola's brown eyes were fixed inquiringly upon her brother's face.

      How seriously you talk to-day, she said, making a feeble attempt at a smile. I was only joking. Must n't I ask if the bird knows anything about the Sabbath?

      There are subjects it is sinful to joke about, and this may be one of them, Viola.

      You really quite frighten me, Ephraim.

      You little goose, I don't want to frighten you, said Ephraim, while a faint flush suffused his features. I 'll tell you my opinion about the singing of the bird. I think, dear Viola, that our little canary knows... that before long it will change its quarters.

      You 're surely not going to sell it or give it away? cried the girl, in great alarm; and springing to her feet, she quickly drew her brother away from the cage.

      No, I 'm not going to sell it nor give it away, said Ephraim, whose quiet bearing contrasted strongly with his sister's excitement Is it likely that I should do anything that would give you pain? And yet, I have but to say one word... and I 'll wager that you will be the first to open the cage and say to the bird, 'Fly, fly away, birdie, fly away home!'

      Never, never! cried the girl.

      Viola, said Ephraim beseechingly, I have taken a vow. Surely you would not have me break it?

      A vow? asked his sister.

      Viola, Ephraim continued, as he bent his head down to the girl's face, "I have vowed to myself

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