Page:Etta Block - One-act plays from the Yiddish (1923).pdf/172

 (She moves to her bed and sits upon it deep in thought. David and Channah have become engrossed in each other. Gerson approaches

Peseh dreamily. He sits down beside her on the bed.)

GERSON You remember it, too, Peseh? It all stands be- fore my eyes—as if it had just happened! PESEH (thoughtfully) It will be nineteen years, ha? GERSON (correcting her) Twenty at Chanukah. PESEH Remember what a biting frost there was? GERSON Poor thing, how you froze in that damp cellar where you lived with your father. Your poor, frozen little fingers refused to hold the needle any longer. Do you remember how I tried to warm your fingers in my hand? (He takes her hand between his own and strokes it.) PESEH (sighing heavily) I remember. GERSON Do you remember how I chafed your little fingers with my great, worked-out hands, so that your little bones crackled? PESEH (dreamily) I remember. GERSON And when that didn’t help, I tried to breathe on them with my warm breath, just like this.