It was a habit on Sabbath eve for Aaron to read to his wife something from the general literature of the times, or from the newspapers, and to accompany his reading with shrewd or sympathetic remarks, to which Rachel always listened in delight. Occasionally he read from a book of Hebrew prayers, and commented upon them, throwing a light upon poem and allegory which made their meaning clear to Rachel's understanding. Invariably, also, he blessed her as Jewish fathers who have not wandered from the paths of orthodoxy bless their children on the Sabbath. Now, as she stood before him, he placed his hand on her head, and said,--
"God make thee like Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah. May the Eternal bless and preserve thee! May the Eternal cause His face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee! May the Eternal lift up His countenance1 towards thee, and grant thee peace!"
It was something more than a blessing2; it was a prayer of heartfelt love. Rachel raised her face to his, and they tenderly kissed each other. Then he took his seat on one side of the fire, and she on the other. A prayer-book and one of Charles Dickens's stories were on the table, but he did not open them; he had matter for thought, and he was in the mood for conversation. He was in a light humour, which exhibited itself in a quiet laugh, which presently deepened in volume.
"I am thinking of the little girl," he explained to Rachel. "It was amazing the way she puffed3 out the candles and poked4 out the fire--quick as lightning. It was the most comical thing! And her black face--and Victoria Regina's sticky fingers! Ha, ha, ha!"
His merriment was contagious5, and it drew forth6 Rachel's; the room was filled with pleasant sound.
"I saw Mr. Whimpole to-day," said Aaron, "and I made him a bow, which he did not return. My Jewish nose offends him. How unfortunate! Yes, my life, no one can dispute that the Jew has a big nose. It proclaims itself; it is a mark and a sign. He himself often despises it; he himself often looks at it in the glass with aversion. 'Why, why, have I been compelled to endure this affliction?' he murmurs7, and he reflects with envy upon the elegant nose of the Christian8. Short-sighted mortal, not to understand that he owes everything to his big nose! A great writer--a learned man, who passed the whole of his life in the study of these matters--proclaims the nose to be the foundation, or abutment, of the brain. What follows? That the larger is the nose of a man, the better off for it is the man. Listen, my dear." He took a book from a little nest of bookshelves, and turned over the pages. "'Whoever,' says this learned writer, 'is acquainted with the Gothic arch will perfectly9 understand what I mean by this abutment; for upon this the whole power of the arch of the forehead rests, and without it the mouth and cheeks would be oppressed by miserable10 ruins.' He lays down exact laws, which govern the beautiful (and therefore the large) nose. Its length should equal the length of the forehead, the back should be broad, its outline remarkably11 definite, the sides well defined, and, near the eye, it must be at least half an inch in breadth. Such a nose, this great authority declares, is of more worth than a kingdom. It imparts solidity and unity12 to the whole countenance; it is the mountain--bear in mind, my dear, the mountain--that shelters the fair vales beneath. How proud, then, should I be of my nose, which in some respects answers to this description! Not in all, no, not in all. I am not so vain as to believe that my nose is worth more than a kingdom; but when I am told that a large nose is a sign of sensibility, and of good nature and good humour, I cannot help a glow of conceited13 satisfaction stealing over me. How many great men have you known with small noses? There are, of course, exceptions, but I speak of the general rule. Our co-religionist, Benjamin Disraeli--look at his nose; look at the noses of all our great Jewish musicians and composers--it is because they are of a proper size that they have become famous. Some time since in London I had the opportunity of looking over a wonderful Bible--six enormous volumes published by Mr. Thomas Macklin nearly a century ago--embellished with grand pictures by the most eminent14 English artists; and there I saw the figures of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, and other ancestors of ours. There is not a small nose on one of the faces of these great patriarchs and prophets. The great painters who drew them had learned from their studies how to delineate the biblical heroes. Moses the law-giver--what an administrator15, what a grand general was that hero, my dear! How thoroughly16 he understood men and human nature! Aaron, the high priest; King Solomon, the man of wisdom; Isaiah, the prophet and poet--they all had tremendous noses. A big nose is a grand decoration, and I would sooner possess it than a bit of red ribbon in my button-hole, or a star on my breast. Indeed, my life, I have it--the nose of my forefathers17!" Aaron made this declaration in a tone of comic despair. "And, having it, I will not part with it except with life."
There was so much playful humour in the dissertation18 that Rachel laughed outright19. Her laugh was the sweetest in the world, and it fell like music on Aaron's heart. He smiled, and there was a gleam in his eyes, and presently he spoke20 again.
"I am not aware whether you have ever observed the attraction a big nose has for children. Take the most popular drama of all ages, 'Punch and Judy.' Where is the artist who would venture to present Punch with any but an enormous nose? Are the children frightened at it? No, they revel21 in it. Do they sympathise with Judy when she is slain22? Not at all; every whack23 Punch gives her is greeted with shrieks24 of laughter--because of his enormous nose. Introduce two strangers to a baby, one with a very small nose, the other with a very big nose. Let them both hold out their arms. Instinctively25 the baby flies to the man with the large nose. It is nature's silent voice that instructs the child. He or she--the sex is not material--instinctively knows which is the better nose of the two, which is the most promising26 nose, the most suggestive of kisses, and jumps in the air, and cakes, and songs, and all that is dear to a child's heart. The test is infallible. Nothing will convince me that you did not marry me because of my big nose."
"Indeed, dear," said Rachel, still laughing, "I hardly think I would have married you without it."
"Then the fact is established. I am about to make a confession27 to you, Rachel; I am going to tell you the true reason for my choosing this place to reside in, where I am separated by a long distance from the friends of my youth and manhood, and where you, too, my dear child"--in his moments of tenderness he occasionally addressed her thus--"will, I fear, be for a time without friends to whom you can unbosom yourself."
"I have you, my dear husband," said Rachel, in a tone of deep affection, drawing closer to him, and slipping her little hand into his great hand. A fine, large, nervous hand was Aaron Cohen's; a palmister would have seen great possibilities in it. Rachel's hand, despite her domestic work, was the hand of a lady; she took a proper pride in preserving its delicacy28 and beauty. "I have you, my dear husband," she said.
"Yes, my' life, but you used to kiss at least a dozen female friends a day."
"I kissed Prissy and the baby to-night."
"When their faces were washed, I hope. Listen to my confession. Pride and hard-heartedness drove me from the neighbourhood in which we were married. A thousand pounds did my dear father--God rest his soul!--bequeath to me. It dwindled29 and dwindled--my own fault; I could not say No. One came to me with a melancholy30 tale which led to a little loan; another came, and another, and another. I did not make you acquainted with the extent of my transgressions31. My dear, I encouraged the needy32 ones; I even went out of my way to lend, thinking myself a fine fellow, and flapping my wings in praise of my stupidity. Not half I lent came back to me. Then business began to fall off, and I saw that I was in the wrong groove33. I had grown into bad ways; and had I remained much longer in the old neighbourhood I should have been left without a penny. I thought of our future, of the injustice34 I was inflicting35 upon you. 'I will go,' said I, 'where I am not known, while I still have a little to earn a living with, among strangers who, when they borrow, will give me value in return, and where I shall not have to say to poor friends, "Come to me no more; I am poorer than yourselves." I have been foolish and weak; I will be wise and strong. I will grow rich and hard-hearted.' Yes, my dear, that is what I intend, and my heart will not be oppressed by the sight of suffering it is out of my power to relieve. Rachel, I am not so clever as I pretend to be; to speak the truth, I am afraid I am rather given to crowing; and when it is not alone my own welfare, but the welfare of one so dear to me as you are, that is concerned, I tremble, I begin to doubt whether I have done right. Give me your opinion of the step I have taken."
She gazed at him with serious, loving, trustful eyes. "It is a wise step, Aaron, I am sure it is. Whatever you do is right, and I am satisfied."
Ten o'clock struck, and a knock at the door announced the faithful Prissy, come to put the fire out. She entered with the baby in her arms, sound asleep. She was flushed and excited, and she held her hand over the right side of her face.
"Victoria ought to be a-bed," said Rachel, taking a peep at baby.
"She can't go," retorted Prissy, "afore 'er mother's ready to take 'er."
"Where is her mother?" asked Aaron.
"At the Jolly Sailor Boy, enjying of 'erself."
"Ah! And where is your aunt?"
"At the Jolly Sailor Boy, too, 'aving a 'arf-quartern. There's been a reg'lar row there about Mrs. Macrory's flannin peddicut."
"What happened to it?"
"It went wrong. Yes, it did. Yer needn't larf. Call me a story, do! I would if I was you!"
"No, no, Prissy," said Aaron, in a soothing36 tone. "How did the flannel37 petticoat go wrong?"
"Nobody knowed at fust. Aunty does Mrs. Macrory's washing, and a lot more besides, and the things gits mixed sometimes. Aunty can't 'elp that--'ow can she? So Mrs. Macrory's things was took 'ome without the peddicut. Mrs. Macrory she meets aunty at the Jolly Sailor Boy, and she begins to kick up about it. 'Where's my flannin peddicut?' she ses. ''Ow should I know?' ses aunty. Then wot d'yer think? Mrs. Macrory sees somethink sticking out of aunty's dress be'ind, and she pulls at it. 'Why,' she ses, 'you've got it on!' That's wot the row was about. Aunty didn't know 'ow it come on 'er--she's ready to take 'er oath on that. Ain't it rum?"
"Very rum. Put out the fire, Prissy. It is time for all good people to get to bed."
In the performance of this duty Prissy was compelled to remove her hand from her face, and when she rose from the floor it was seen that her right eye was sadly discoloured, and that she was in pain.
"Oh, Prissy, poor child!" exclaimed Rachel; "you have been hurt!"
"Yes, mum," said Prissy. "Mrs. Macrory's gal--she's twice as big as me; you should see 'er legs!--she ses, 'You're in that job,' she ses, meaning the peddicut; and she lets fly and gives me a one-er on account."
Rachel ran upstairs, and brought down a bottle of gillard water, with which she bathed the bruise38, and tied one of her clean white handkerchiefs over it. Prissy stood quite still, her lips quivering; it may have been the gillard water that filled the girl's unbandaged eye with tears.
"That will make you feel easier," said Rachel. "Blow out the candles now, and be here at half-past eight in the morning."
"I'll be sure to be," said Prissy, with a shake in her voice.
In the dark Aaron Cohen heard the sound of a kiss.
"Good-night, sir," said the girl.
"Good-night, Prissy," said Aaron.
The chain of the street door was put up, and the shutters39 securely fastened, and then Aaron and Rachel, hand in hand, went up the dark stairs to their room.
"My dear," said Aaron, drowsily40, a few minutes after he and his wife were in bed, "are you asleep?"
"No, Aaron," murmured Rachel, who was on the border-land of dreams.
"I've been thinking,"--he dozed41 off for a moment or two--"I've been thinking----"
"Yes, my dear?"
--"That I wouldn't give Prissy's aunt any flannel petticoats to wash."
Almost before the words had passed his lips sleep claimed him for its own.
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1
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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2
blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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3
puffed
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| adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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4
poked
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| v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交 | |
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5
contagious
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| adj.传染性的，有感染力的 | |
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6
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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7
murmurs
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| n.低沉、连续而不清的声音( murmur的名词复数 )；低语声；怨言；嘀咕 | |
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8
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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9
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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10
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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11
remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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12
unity
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| n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调 | |
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13
conceited
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| adj.自负的，骄傲自满的 | |
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14
eminent
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| adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的 | |
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15
administrator
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| n.经营管理者，行政官员 | |
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16
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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17
forefathers
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| n.祖先，先人；祖先，祖宗( forefather的名词复数 )；列祖列宗；前人 | |
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18
dissertation
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| n.（博士学位）论文，学术演讲，专题论文 | |
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19
outright
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| adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的 | |
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20
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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21
revel
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| vi.狂欢作乐，陶醉；n.作乐，狂欢 | |
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22
slain
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
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23
whack
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| v.敲击，重打，瓜分；n.重击，重打，尝试，一份 | |
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24
shrieks
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| n.尖叫声( shriek的名词复数 )v.尖叫( shriek的第三人称单数 ) | |
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25
instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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26
promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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27
confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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28
delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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29
dwindled
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| v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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30
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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31
transgressions
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| n.违反，违法，罪过( transgression的名词复数 ) | |
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32
needy
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| adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的 | |
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33
groove
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| n.沟，槽；凹线，（刻出的）线条，习惯 | |
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34
injustice
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| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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35
inflicting
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的现在分词 ) | |
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36
soothing
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| adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的 | |
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37
flannel
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| n.法兰绒；法兰绒衣服 | |
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38
bruise
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| n.青肿，挫伤；伤痕；vt.打青；挫伤 | |
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39
shutters
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| 百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 )； （照相机的）快门 | |
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40
drowsily
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| adv.睡地，懒洋洋地，昏昏欲睡地 | |
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41
dozed
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| v.打盹儿，打瞌睡( doze的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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