Page:Three stories by Vítězslav Hálek (1886).pdf/156

 have no objection to it, and have merely to add that it never occurred to me to exhibit his character in a more favourable light than that in which it exhibited itself.

But the truth is, that though he stood agape and blushed at the question, still the question itself ran in his head. “When are you two going to pair off” continually buzzed in his mind, and every “hee,” every “heesta” was the outward expression of that enquiry, every oath was a sort of a rejection of all possible obstacles, every smack of the whip was an asseveration that pair off they must. Ay, yet more. From that moment every time Poldik looked at Malka, he always saw in her that smile which had been called into existence by the original enquiry “When are you two going to pair off.” Thus things evolve themselves from one another.

At that time he used to stop less frequently at the ale-house and the fruit stall. He had indeed saved and put by sundry groschen at home, but still it appeared to him that he ought to add every penny he could to what he had already scraped together, in order to have enough capital to begin housekeeping. And he saved and added and reckoned in his mind when the marriage could come off. Malka pleased him, about that there was no longer any doubt.

One Sunday she brought his dinner into the stable where his horses were stalled, and here for the first time Poldik said “And perhaps, Malka, on