Zalman, the tailor, lived in Essex Street on the same floor with the Rabbi Elsberg. Zalman possessed5 two treasures, each a rarity of exquisite6 beauty, each vying7 with the other for supremacy8 in his affections. The one was a wine glass of Venetian make, wonderful in its myriad-hued colouring, its fragile texture9, and its rare design. The mate of it rests in one of the famous museums of 300Italy, and the connoisseurs10 came from far and near to feast their eyes upon Zalman’s piece. Money, in sums that would have made Zalman a rich man in that neighbourhood, had been offered to him for this treasure, but he always shook his head.
“It has been in my family for hundreds of years,” he would say, “and I cannot part with it. Years ago—many, many years ago—our family was wealthy, but now I have nothing left save this one wine glass. I would rather die than lose it.”
His visitors would depart with feelings of mingled12 wonder and rage; wonder that so priceless a gem13 should be in the possession of a decrepit14, untidy, poverty-stricken East Side tailor; and rage that he should be so stubborn as to cling to it in spite of the most alluring15 offers that were made to him. Zalman’s other treasure was his daughter Barbara, whose name, like the wine glass, had descended16 from some long-forgotten Spanish or Italian ancestress. All the lavish17 praise that the most enthusiastic lover of things beautiful had ever lavished18 upon that wonderful wine glass would have applied19 with equal truth to Barbara. Excepting that Barbara was distinctly modern.
301Reuben sat in the Rabbi Elsberg’s sitting-room20, frowning and unhappy; the rabbi, puffing22 reflectively at a long pipe, gazing at him in silence. Through the walls they could hear Barbara singing. Barbara always sang when she was merry, and Barbara was merry, as a rule, from the moment she left her bed until she returned to it. The rabbi took a longer puff21 than usual, and then asked Reuben:
“What said her father?”
Reuben gulped23 several times as if the words that crowded to his lips for utterance24 were choking him.
“It is well for him that he is her father,” he finally said. “I would not have listened to so much abuse from any other living man.” (Reuben, by the way, had a most determined-looking chin, and there was something very earnest in the cut of his features.)
“He gave me to understand,” he went on, “that he knew perfectly25 well it was his wine glass I was after, and not his daughter. That I was counting on his dying soon, and already looked forward to selling that precious glass to spend the money in 302riotous living. And when I told him that Barbara and I loved each other, he said ‘Bosh!’ and forbade me to speak of it again.”
The rabbi puffed26 in silence for a moment.
“He evidently has not a flattering opinion of you, my young friend.”
“He knows nothing against me!” Reuben hurriedly exclaimed. “It is only because I want Barbara. He would say the same to anyone else that asked for his daughter. You know me, rabbi; you have known me a long time, ever since I was a child. I do not pretend to be an angel, but I am not bad. I love the girl, and I can take good care of her. I don’t want to see his old wine glass again. I’d smash it into a——”
Reuben’s jaw27 fell, and his eyes stared vacantly at the wall. The rabbi followed his gaze, and, seeing nothing, turned to Reuben in surprise.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Nothing,” replied Reuben, with a sheepish grin. “I—I just happened to think of something.”
The rabbi frowned. “If you are often taken with such queer ideas that make you look so idiotic28, 303I don’t think I can blame Zalman so very much.” But Reuben’s contrite29 expression immediately caused him to regret his momentary30 annoyance31, and holding out his hand, he said, affectionately:
“Come, Reuben, I will do what I can for you. You are a good boy, and if you and the girl love each other I will see if there is not some way of overcoming her father’s objections.”
Taking Reuben by the arm he led him into Zalman’s shop. Zalman was not alone. A little shrivelled old man, evidently a connoisseur11 of objets d’art, was holding the wonderful wine glass to the light, gloating over the bewildering play of colours that flashed from it, while Zalman anxiously hovered32 about him, eager to receive the glass in his own hands again, yet proudly calling the old man’s attention to its hidden beauties.
Barbara stood in the doorway33 that led to the living-rooms in the rear. When she saw Reuben she blushed and smiled.
Zalman looked up and saw the rabbi and smiled; saw who was with him and frowned.
“I just dropped in to have a little chat,” said 304the rabbi, “but there is no hurry. I will wait until you are disengaged.”
The connoisseur carefully set the glass upon the counter, and heaved a long, painful sigh.
“And no price will tempt34 you to part with it?” he asked. Zalman shook his head and grinned. What followed happened with exceeding swiftness.
Zalman had got as far as, “It has been in our family for hundreds of years——” when a shadow caused him to turn his head. He saw Barbara throw up her hands in amazement35, saw the rabbi start forward as though he were about to interfere36 in something, and saw the precious wine glass in Reuben’s hand. Mechanically he reached forward to take it from him, and then instantly felt Reuben’s other hand against his breast, holding him back, and heard Reuben saying, quite naturally, “Wait!”
It had not taken ten seconds—Zalman suddenly felt sick.
The connoisseur hastily put on his glasses. The situation seemed interesting.
“Mr. Zalman,” said Reuben, speaking very slowly and distinctly, yet carefully keeping the 305tailor at arm’s length, “I told you this very day that your daughter Barbara and I love each other. We will not marry without your consent. So you must consent. If I cannot marry Barbara I do not care what happens to me. I will have nothing to live for. I can give her a good home, and we will be very happy. You can come to live with us, if you like, and I will always be a good son to you. I swear by the Torah that this glass is nothing to me. I want Barbara because I love her, and you can throw this glass into the river for all I care. But if you do not give your consent I also swear by the Torah that I shall fling this glass to the floor and smash it into a thousand pieces.”
Zalman, who had been clutching Reuben’s outstretched arm throughout this speech, and had followed every word with staring eyes and open mouth, dropped his arms and groaned37. Barbara had listened in amazement to Reuben’s first words, but when his meaning dawned upon her she had clapped her kerchief to her mouth and fled precipitately38 through the doorway whence now came faint sounds which, owing to the distance, might have been either loud weeping or violent laughter. The 306rabbi’s face had reddened with indignation. The connoisseur alone was smiling.
“Reuben,” said the rabbi sternly, “you have gone too far. Put the glass down!” He advanced toward the young man.
“Hold!” cried Reuben. “If anyone in this room touches me or attempts to take this glass from me, I shall quickly hurl39 it to the floor. Look, everybody!” He held the glass aloft. “See how fragile it is! I have only to hold it a little tighter and it will break into a dozen pieces, and no human skill will ever be able to put them together again!”
Zalman was in agony.
“I yield,” he cried. “Give me the glass. You shall marry Barbara to-morrow. Do not hold it so tightly. Put it down gently.”
He held out his hand. His lips were twitching40 with repressed curses on Reuben’s head. But Reuben only smiled.
“No, good father,” he said. “Not to-morrow. You might change your mind. Let it be now, and your glass is safe.”
(“What a pertinacious41 young man!” thought the connoisseur.)
307“May the fiends devour42 you!” cried Zalman.
“Now look you,” said Reuben, twirling the delicate glass in a careless way that sent chill shudders43 down the tailor’s spine44; “it is you who are stubborn. Not I. If you knew how devotedly45 I loved Barbara you would not, you could not be so heartless as to keep us apart.”
“The foul46 fiends!” muttered Zalman. Beads47 of perspiration48 stood out upon his forehead; he was very pale.
“You were young yourself once,” Reuben went on. “For the sake of your own youth, cast aside your stubbornness and give us your consent. Barbara! Barbara! Where are you?”
The young woman, blushing like a rose, came out and stood beside him with lowered head and downcast eyes.
“You see,” said Reuben, gently encircling her waist, “we love each other.”
“The foul fiends!” muttered Zalman.
“Help me, Barbara! Help me to plead with your father,” urged Reuben. But Barbara, abashed49, could not find courage to raise her voice. 308Besides, she kept her kerchief pressed tightly against her lips.
“Would you make your own daughter unhappy for the rest of her life?” Reuben went on. (At every sentence Zalman murmured as far as “The foul fiends!” then stopped.) “Everything is ready save your consent. The good Rabbi Elsberg is here. He can marry us on the spot. We can dispense50 with the betrothal51. Our hearts have been betrothed52 for more than a year. I want no dowry. I only want Barbara. Can you be so cruel as to keep us apart?”
The glass slipped from his fingers as if by accident, but deftly53 his hand swooped54 below it and caught it, unharmed. The tailor almost swooned.
“Take her!” he cried, hoarsely55. “In the foul fiend’s name take her! And give me the glass!” He held out his trembling hands. With a joyful56 cry Reuben pressed the girl tightly against his heart, and was about to kiss her when the rabbi’s voice rang out:
“This is outrageous57! I refuse to have anything to do with marrying them!”
Reuben turned pale. To be so near victory, 309and now to lose everything through the desertion of his old friend, was an unexpected, disheartening blow. The tailor’s face brightened. Barbara, who had looked up quickly when the rabbi spoke58, began to cry softly.
“I have consented,” said Zalman. “That was what you asked, was it not? Now give me back my wine glass. I can do no more.”
A faint smile had come into his face. It must have been his evil guardian59 who prompted that smile, for it gave Reuben heart.
“If the rabbi will not marry us immediately,” said Reuben, “then I have lost everything, and have nothing more to live for.” With the utmost deliberation he raised an enormous iron that lay upon the counter, placed the glass carefully upon the floor, and held the iron directly over it.
“I shall crush the glass into a million tiny bits beneath this ponderous60 weight!”
“Hold!” screamed the tailor. “He shall marry you! Please, oh, please! Marry them, rabbi! For my sake, marry them! I beg it of you! I cannot bear to see my precious glass under that horrible weight! Don’t let it fall! For 310God’s sake, hold it tight! Oh, rabbi, marry them, marry them, marry them! Let me have my glass!”
The rabbi glared at Reuben, then at the tailor, who was almost on his knees before him, and then at the face of the connoisseur, who, somewhat embarrassed at finding himself observed in that exciting moment, said, apologetically, “I—I don’t mind being a witness.”
The rabbi married them.
“It is not for either of you that I am doing this,” he said, in stern accents. “You have disgraced yourselves—both of you. But for the sake of this old man, my friend, who holds that bauble61 so high that I fear he will lose his reason if any harm befall it, I yield.”
They were married. And then—and not until then—Reuben raised the precious wine glass, glittering and sparkling with multi-coloured fire, gently from the floor and placed it upon the counter. But he held fast to the iron. Zalman pounced62 upon his heirloom, examined it carefully to see whether the faintest mishap63 had marred64 its beauty, held it tightly against his breast, and with 311upraised arm turned upon his daughter and her husband. With flashing eyes and pallid65 lips, he cried:
“May the foul fiends curse you! May God, in His righteousness——”
There was a sound of crashing glass. Whether in his excitement the tailor’s fingers had, for one instant, relaxed their grip; whether mysterious Fate, through some psychic66 or physical agency had playfully wrought67 a momentary paralysis68 of his nerves; whether—but who may penetrate69 these things? The glass had slipped from his hand. That exquisite creation of a skill that had perished centuries ago, that fragile relic70 of a forgotten art which, only a moment ago, had sparkled and glittered as though a hundred suns were imprisoned71 within its frail72 sides, now lay upon the floor in a thousand shapeless fragments.
The End
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1
surmount
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| vt.克服；置于…顶上 | |
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2
patrician
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| adj.贵族的，显贵的；n.贵族；有教养的人；罗马帝国的地方官 | |
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3
plebeian
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| adj.粗俗的；平民的；n.平民；庶民 | |
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4
maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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5
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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6
exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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7
vying
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| adj.竞争的；比赛的 | |
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8
supremacy
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| n.至上；至高权力 | |
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9
texture
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| n.(织物)质地；(材料)构造；结构；肌理 | |
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10
connoisseurs
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| n.鉴赏家，鉴定家，行家( connoisseur的名词复数 ) | |
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11
connoisseur
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| n.鉴赏家，行家，内行 | |
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12
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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13
gem
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| n.宝石，珠宝；受爱戴的人 [同]jewel | |
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14
decrepit
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| adj.衰老的，破旧的 | |
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15
alluring
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| adj.吸引人的，迷人的 | |
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16
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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17
lavish
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| adj.无节制的；浪费的；vt.慷慨地给予，挥霍 | |
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18
lavished
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| v.过分给予，滥施( lavish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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19
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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20
sitting-room
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| n.（BrE）客厅，起居室 | |
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21
puff
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| n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气 | |
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22
puffing
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| v.使喷出( puff的现在分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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23
gulped
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| v.狼吞虎咽地吃，吞咽( gulp的过去式和过去分词 )；大口地吸（气）；哽住 | |
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24
utterance
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| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
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25
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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26
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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27
jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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28
idiotic
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| adj.白痴的 | |
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29
contrite
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| adj.悔悟了的，后悔的，痛悔的 | |
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30
momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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31
annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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32
hovered
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| 鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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33
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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34
tempt
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| vt.引诱，勾引，吸引，引起…的兴趣 | |
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35
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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36
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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37
groaned
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| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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38
precipitately
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| adv.猛进地 | |
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39
hurl
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| vt.猛投，力掷，声叫骂 | |
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40
twitching
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| n.颤搐 | |
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41
pertinacious
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| adj.顽固的 | |
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42
devour
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| v.吞没；贪婪地注视或谛听，贪读；使着迷 | |
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43
shudders
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| n.颤动，打颤，战栗( shudder的名词复数 )v.战栗( shudder的第三人称单数 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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44
spine
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| n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊 | |
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45
devotedly
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| 专心地； 恩爱地； 忠实地； 一心一意地 | |
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46
foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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47
beads
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| n.（空心）小珠子( bead的名词复数 )；水珠；珠子项链 | |
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48
perspiration
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| n.汗水；出汗 | |
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49
abashed
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| adj.窘迫的，尴尬的v.使羞愧，使局促，使窘迫( abash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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50
dispense
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| vt.分配，分发；配(药)，发(药)；实施 | |
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51
betrothal
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| n. 婚约, 订婚 | |
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52
betrothed
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| n. 已订婚者 动词betroth的过去式和过去分词 | |
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53
deftly
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| adv.灵巧地，熟练地，敏捷地 | |
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54
swooped
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| 俯冲，猛冲( swoop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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55
hoarsely
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| adv.嘶哑地 | |
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56
joyful
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| adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的 | |
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57
outrageous
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| adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的 | |
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58
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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59
guardian
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| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
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60
ponderous
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| adj.沉重的，笨重的，(文章)冗长的 | |
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61
bauble
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| n.美观而无价值的饰物 | |
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62
pounced
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| v.突然袭击( pounce的过去式和过去分词 )；猛扑；一眼看出；抓住机会（进行抨击） | |
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63
mishap
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| n.不幸的事，不幸；灾祸 | |
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64
marred
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| adj. 被损毁, 污损的 | |
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65
pallid
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| adj.苍白的，呆板的 | |
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66
psychic
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| n.对超自然力敏感的人；adj.有超自然力的 | |
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67
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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68
paralysis
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| n.麻痹(症)；瘫痪(症) | |
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69
penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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70
relic
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| n.神圣的遗物，遗迹，纪念物 | |
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71
imprisoned
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| 下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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72
frail
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| adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的 | |
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