Rafael.
I did not sleep until nearly morning.
[ExitEsther.Sachelgoes to try the shutters.
Well, good-night, father. You won't answer? Well, good-night! [Music begins in the house at the back.] [Aside.] They are playing my music. Give me time—I will show you what is in my soul!
Sachel.
[Aside.] The scales—that is not the only reason!
EnterRosa,who does not seeSachel.She starts to go toRafael.Sachelhears her.
Rosa, why are you not in bed? [Rosastops motionless, mute, frightened.] Is that Rosa?
[He is suspicious.
[They do not answer. ExitSachelinto the house, evidently with a purpose.
Rosa.
[Rushing toRafael.] Rafael! Rafael! Tell me the truth. Am I not your wife? Don't you love me? Do you love some one else? Do you love Aaron's daughter? They are planning to marry her to you.What does it mean? [He motions her to be silent.] Does it mean that you wish it? No—no, it can't be that: you have said you were going away; but you didn't tell them of me. Why? Why do you not tell them of me?—soon enough you'll have to; and then—then you will have to choose—choose between the rage of your father—between disinheritance—poverty—the wrath of all the Ghetto, and me—only me! Rafael, my life is in your hands. Love me—love me, Rafael! Don't let me doubt you! [He stops her mouth. SuddenlySachelopens the window over the shop-door; he leans out, listens, hears nothing, withdraws.] He's in my room—he's searching for me—he suspects us—he has said so. He's coming down now; he's going to accuse us; he's going to tell you to desert me—desert me or starve! Rafael, what are you going to say? Rafael, what are you going to say?
[He stops her mouth again; they look in through the door. A pause.
EnterSachel.
Sachel.
She's not in the house! Rosa—where are you?
Rosa.
[Whispering toRafael.] Where? Where?
Rafael.
[Quietly taking her in his arms.] Rosa is here, father.
A Watchman.
[Heard in the distance.] Ten o'clock, and all's well! Ten o'clock, and all's well!
[Sachelshakes his head.
END OF THE FIRST ACT.
THE SECOND ACT
Scene:A living room in the rear ofSachel'sshop. A door at the back opens into the street; at the left a staircase runs up over a fireplace to a gallery which gives access to two rooms off the stage.
Rosais discovered at the fireplace.Estheris at the dining-table, which is set with the Sabbath-cloth.Esthercrosses to a door at the left.
Esther.
Sachel, your medicine!
[Rosabrings a jug of hot water to the table;Estherprepares some medicine with the water.
EnterSachel.
Sachel.
That girl—where is she?
Esther.
She's here.
Sachel.
[Aside.] That's what Rafael said last night. Rosa! Go and water the flowers in my window and pick off the dead leaves, and be sure you give plenty of time to it.
[ExitRosa.
Esther.
Well! Since when have you taken such an interest in flowers?
[She goes upstairs.
Sachel.
I want to talk; I've been awake all night. This girl keeps lying to me. Last night she had the effrontery to tell me—[with calculation]—she told me she was considered beautiful!
Esther.
[Not interested.] Well, she is beautiful!
[ExitEsther.
Sachel.
H'm! [He thinks deeply; rises.] Rosa!
EnterRosa.
Last night you tried to make me think you were ugly;—you deceived me. You are not a woman—you are a fiend come into my house—come in out of the Christian world—to do what? What do you expect to do here? Do you know you are in the heart of the Ghetto? What do you expect to do in my house?
Rosa.
Nothing but what my God gives me the right to do!
Sachel.
Your God? I tell you the wall your God built against us still shuts Him away from here! You came into my house to divide it against itself. You have been getting too near my son. Do you think I don't know? You've been trying to turn him against his religion, you've been trying to turn him against me!
Rosa.
If I have, then I have failed. Rafael loves you.
Sachel.
You say so? I ask no better proof that he hates me! You came into my house to accomplish this, you vampire! Could you not have fastened on someoneelse than Rafael? Who sent you here to find him? Did your Christian God send you here?
Rosa.
[Thinking ofRafael.] Yes, yes, my God did send me here—[checks herself]—or else I should have starved.
Sachel.
Starve! Does a demon ever starve? Not while young men have hot blood! Hah! It is well that I have found you out before this thing has gone too far. Don't I know your damned tricks;youwouldn't be satisfied with a passing touch of his lips. You've got a brain—a lying, scheming, devilish brain! You want his heart—you want his soul! By God! [He goes vigorously and opens the door, to the street.] Do you know what I'm going to do? There's where we found you—out there in the streets, without a friend, without a cent, and your dead father——
Rosa.
Sachel, my father helped your people!
Sachel.
Now let the Jews help his daughter! You've lied to me always! Shall I believe this story of your father?I believe he was a demon like you! I believe he was sent out of hell to steal away men's souls, as you were. You've found something to fight when you've come across me! Shall I feel a snake in my bosom and not cast it out? [He points to the door.] You—[He checks himself; a pause.] Shut the door! Go on with your work! [ExitRosa.] No, no, no—it won't do totearhim away from her. She is beautiful;—we must marry him to Rebecca. Rebecca is handsome, Rebecca is rich, Rebecca is minx enough. We must marry him to Rebecca if we can. If not, to some one else—any one else, as soon as we can. But we must handle him with care. Ah! I had better get the Rabbi to talk to him; the Rabbi has tact. And, for the present, we must let Rosa be.
EnterEsther.A knock on the door.
Aaron. Come in!
EnterAaron.
Aaron.
Good morning!
Sachel.
Good morning!
Esther.
Good morning!
Aaron.
I shouldn't have come, my friend, if I hadn't promised Esther. For I've been thinking it over; and if there is any question of your son marrying my daughter, I tell you I will give eight thousand guilders and no more!
Sachel.
All because I said "Good morning" to you. I have been considering it. I am willing to talk with you. As you probably said in your sleep last night, if you can get rid of your daughter without paying more than ten thousand guilders, you'll be pretty well satisfied.
Aaron.
Eh—what?
Sachel.
Come on, it's time to start to the synagogue; we'll have a talk on the way.
Aaron.
But, my dear sir, eight thousand——
Sachel.
No; as you said in your sleep—ten thousand!
[Exeunt all.
EnterSamson,cautiously.
Samson.
Rosa! Rosa! [Aside.] A little show of modesty! Rosa! Nevertheless she is listening at the other side of that door; she thinks I will betray myself in some soliloquy. H'm! [Loudly.] Ah—she's not here; how the blood rushed to my heart, like the sea beating against a rock, when I thought I should have two golden moments alone with her! [He stands on lowest cupboard shelf to be near her door, which is upstairs.] But she's gone!—gone forth to air her beauty. Such beauty! Such a face, such a form! Night after night she floats in my dreams—[he steps up one shelf nearer]—for I love her so that I have not slept a wink for weeks.
EnterDaniel,unobserved bySamson.
And if she were here I would tell her so! I could gratify her tastes! For once her love is mine. [He draws a bunch of keys from his pocket.] She shall hear such music as this from morn till night——
[He jingles the keys.
EnterRosa.
One—two—three—four—five—five gold pieces! Did I come abroad with only five? H'm! There are plenty more like these indoors—yes, in doors! Andhere I stand perishing with my ardour. Nay, I feel faint——
[Danielbursts into loud laughter.
Rosa.
[ToSamson.] You miserable cur! [Samsondescends sheepishly.] If I were of your faith—if I were not a servitor, without a father, without a brother, you would not dare! [Daniellaughs.] And you—if you were a little better than he, you would have struck him! What do you want here? Go!
Daniel.
Look here, my girl, you need not be so virtuous when you talk to us! We live next to you—our windows overlook yours—eh, Samson?
Samson.
Don't you be unpleasant to this lady!
Rosa.
[ToDaniel.] What do you mean?
Daniel.
Lady! What do we mean? What's the difference? Rafael is a friend of ours. We are most liberal—most charitable, eh, Samson?
Rosa.
Rafael? Why do you speak of Rafael? What do you mean?
Samson.
Now you needn't bring Rafael into it, Daniel. I don't want any—any misapprehension with Rafael.
Rosa.
You shall have an understanding with him, you cowards—you vulgar beasts! I shall tell him!
Daniel.
He'll tell you to hold your tongue. Are you his wife? No; you're a Christian servant in his father's house; we know all about that, and you'd better learn to take a joke.
Samson.
It was only a joke, you know—only a joke—(with a forced laugh.) [Rosa'sanger increases.] Now don't you tell Rafael that I was trying to get in his way!
Rosa.
What do you mean? Get in his way? He would flick you over his shoulder into the canal. I shall tell him!
Samson.
Don't—don't bring Rafael into it! Hasn't he enough on his mind already?
Rosa.
Would anything so slight as you increase his burden? You cowards! You both fear him! Youmayfear him!
EnterRafael.
Rafael.
Hallo! News! news! I've seen Hanakoff—and Hanakoff says—Hanakoff—what's the matter? What is the matter? Which of you was it? Rosa, what did they do?
Rosa.
[Pointing toSamson.] Let him speak.
Samson.
Why—why, she can't take a joke—that's all.
Rafael.
Oh, a joke. What was the joke? What was the joke?
Daniel.
Oh, everything is a joke. Don't we live across thestreet? Can two people help putting their heads together once in a while? Well, of course, if you—if she—if we—why, of course——
Rafael.
What did they say?
Rosa.
They said—they insinuated that—that——
Rafael.
I know what they said. You—I—[He takes hold of them both.] Two people can't help putting their heads together! If you will meet me in some seclusion, my two good friends, I'll show you how two heads can be so put together that two people shall see stars enough to read their horoscopes. You shall read in those stars the name of Rosa—Rosa who, God search my soul, is purer than the snows on the crest of the Jungfrau. Quite properly—[as he causes them to bend low]—quite properly, they bend in homage, Rosa! And Daniel here, Daniel whom the starving lions would not taste—the story never seemed to me so true as now—he says that what he said he did not say, and can't remember what it was, and is most sorry that he said it—and see—[forces them]—bends low. I thank you for your courtesy. And Samson,he that slew the thousands with the jawbone of an ass—which is his jawbone to this day—he's swallowing those words he spoke, so eagerly that he chokes! Ha, ha! my ardent friends! [He turns them about ironically.] And must you go? Ah, well! [He pushes them towards the door.] If you insist—if you insist—Good-bye! Good-bye! [He throws them violently out.] [Then toRosa.] I have seen Hanakoff; he is going to play my music to-night; and if—Rosa—[Rosabursts into tears.] Rosa!
Rosa.
Go away from me!
Rafael.
But why, Rosa——
Rosa.
Let me be! You shall never touch me again! I hate you—I loathe you—all of you!
Rafael.
But have I not disposed of them! Is there anything else? My darling!
Rosa.
No, never again; never shall you lay your hand on me! I know what lies before me now. I am your wifeand you will not proclaim me. I am your wife and they insult me, and you bundle them off without a word such as I wanted, as if I were your mistress, who must not be vexed! I know now; last night you soothed me over—you took me in your arms before him; but he is blind—he did not understand—he only suspected something foul; and so it will grow, until his suspicion makes an open accusation; and then you will stand revealed—you will shrink away from me—you will cry, "I have sinned in the sight of the synagogue," and I shall be cast out of doors—a broken plaything, a husk of yesterday!
Rafael.
Rosa! Rosa! Are you not my wife?
Rosa.
Your wife—here in the Ghetto—here among your people? No, to them I am a Christian—to them I cannot be your wife—to them I am a sacrilege—an insult in their teeth! Oh! as one who enters hell I entered here—a steaming hell of avarice; not life—but a sickly poisoned dream of gain, gain—always gain. I thought I saw a bright light shining in this horrid place. I flew to you—I gave you my soul—to find myself—ugh!—only——
Rafael.
Horror! that you should even think such things!
Rosa.
Think such things! You say you love me with all your heart—with all your soul. How great is your soul that dares not the anger of a father who is wrong?—a soul that fears poverty, disinheritance, the hatred of the Ghetto? You fear that you would be cast off, that you would suffer want and ridicule, that your father would never feed you and clothe you again; and when that fear comes into your heart what room is left for me? Love! Ugh! Ugh! What isyourlove! The love of the way that is easiest, the love of the son of honest Sachel—the love of a Jew!
Rafael.
[Slowly, sorrowfully.] And nowyousay "Jew!" "Jew!" as they say it in the streets, among the mob, when I go beyond the Ghetto. It sounds strange from lips that I thought loved me; it sounds strange from the daughter of your father! Such a man he was! When you and I had our first long talks together, and you told me of the noble deeds your father had done in behalf of the Jews, I couldn't helploving you for his sake; and now you call me Jew! Iama Jew. Never forget that I am a Jew. I have married you; and when it is known I shall have no standing among Jews. The orthodox will avoid me as a pariah, and the mob of Jews will howl at me when I go into the street. And I shall still be a Jew—proud of my race, proud of its fortitude, of the great triumph which shall come to us Jews when we have shaken off the material shell which hides our spirits, and makes us no better and no worse than the Christians! No, no! You are angry—you don't care what you say! You are angry—and you sneer at my father. What do you know against my father's honesty?
Rosa.
He is the father of a man who has married me and dares not proclaim me.
Rafael.
Dares not! Dares not! Ah, you little know me if you think that! Rosa, Rosa! Look here! My dear little girl, you are all wrong. We have agreed on this point. It was yourself who said that we must not tell of our marriage yet. [Rosasinks into a chair.] You said that I must give my time to my music, until I had made a name—until we could go forth onour own footing—not cast out of that door—without a cent between us, to be reviled and hustled by the mob. And I thought of my father—of his old age—of his pain. If heiswrong—if heiswhat he should not be, he's still my father——
Rosa.
He called me a demon just now! He opened the door and was about to bid me go from here. He said my father came out of hell. He called me a vampire—he called me a snake——
Rafael.
Oh—! Oh—! Rosa, poor little Rosa!
Rosa.
[Weeping.] I only want you to love me. I want to know it—to know that they cannot, shall not take you from me! Tell me so, Rafael; burn it into my heart, Rafael!
Rafael.
Yes, it must be burned into your heart, dear. Before to-night it shall be. I love you! I dare anything for the sake of my love for you!
Rosa.
Rafael!
[Knock at the door. She rushes upstairs.
Rafael!But your father—[knock]—you mustn't tell him!
Rafael.
Hush! [ExitRosa.Rafaelgoes to the window; seesRebecca.] Rebecca! She knows that the old people will be at the synagogue at this hour. What does she want here? A true daughter of her father, and yet she has many virtues, I suppose! I wish she would take her virtues and go home! I want to get at my music.
EnterRebecca.
Oh, some friend of Rosa, I suppose?
Rebecca.
What—don't you know me? I am Rebecca—I used to know you once.
Rafael.
Oh, Rebecca—Abram's daughter, of course. Won't you——?
[Points to a chair.
Rebecca.
Not Abram's daughter, Rafael; Aaron's daughter. My father was here only yesterday.
Rafael.
Oh, Aaron's daughter! Oh yes! Aaron was here only yesterday!
Rebecca.
Yes.
Rafael.
And now you are here.
Rebecca.
Yes. He came to sell some wool.
Rafael.
Some wool? I thought it was a lamb he came to sell. Ah well! [Motions to chair.] Let us proceed to business.
Rebecca.
But I did not come on business.
Rafael.
We are quite alone.
Rebecca.
From what your friends Samson and Daniel have just told me, I should think not.
[She examines the room.
Rafael.
How do you like it?
Rebecca.
[Laughs.] Father said I ought to come and see Esther.
Rafael.
Oh, so your father—a thoughtful man; your father, a man of tact, admirable tact!
Rebecca.
You say such strange things!
[A pause. She begins to struggle with a ring on her finger.
Rafael.
[Yawning.] Admirable tact!
Rebecca.
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 47½ guilders a pound.
Rafael.
I am sure you are right—only 47½ 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 thousandguilders! 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 withyourfather—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,veryfortunate. 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——
EnterRosa.
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 hemighthave 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 betweenGod 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. Wemusthave success,wemusttriumph, 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!
[Rafaelshakes 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! [Rosaruns 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 ofAaron,before which are some chairs, in the shade of an awning. Some trees and shrubs give a grateful contrast to the surroundings ofSachel'shouse, seen inAct I.
The final chant of a Jewish service is heard within the synagogue. EnterRebecca,flushed from her interview withRafael,as the chant ends, and among others,Aaroncomes 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.
EnterRosa;she looks about anxiously.
Well, how did you—how did you get on?
Rebecca.
[Angrily, seeingRosa.] I——
Aaron.
[SeeingRosa.] 'Sh! It's all arranged, my girl! You wanted him; now you have him. Are you happy?
Rebecca.
[Her eyes onRosa,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 facingRosa.] In a moment.
[ExitAaron.
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.
EnterSachelandEstherfrom 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.
EnterSamsonandDaniel.
Esther.
He said he would walk home with us. Good afternoon, have you seen Rafael?
Daniel.
Good afternoon. [ToSamson.]Havewe 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! [ToEsther.] They speak the truth! It is Rosa who has turned my son against me!
Esther.
Oh, be still! Here comes the Rabbi!
EnterThe Rabbi,with a father, a mother, and their son, who seems subdued, as if after an exhortation byThe Rabbi.The Rabbidismisses 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'splaything? 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 ofAaron'shouse.
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. EnterRafael,with his hand bound up carelessly in a handkerchief.
The Rabbi.
Why, it's Rafael! What an unexpected pleasure!
Rafael.
Itisa 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 untoMe!" 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 nowyouare skimming the surface, andyouwill 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 betterexample. 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 pokesThe Rabbi.
Rafael.
From the sermon?
Enter two rough fellows, supporting another, who has a swollen eye; they stand at a distance, with sinister looks atRafael.
Sachel.
Ha, ha! [PokesThe 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 lethim 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!