Page:Yiddish Tales.djvu/200

 196 KOSENTHAL

Berel begau to recite this in pleasing, artistic fashion, weeping and whimpering like a spoiled child, and drawl- ing out the words, when it grew dark before his eyes. Berel had suddenly become aware that he was in the position of one about to go in through an open door. He advances, he must enter, it is a question of life and death. And without any warning, just as he is stepping across the threshhold, the door is shut from within with a terrible bang, and he remains standing outside.

And he has read this in the Prayer of Expiation ? With fear and fluttering he reads it over again, looking nar- rowly at every word a cold sweat covers him the words prick him like pins. Are these two verses his pitiless judges, are they the expression of his sentence? Is he already condemned? "Ay, ay, you are guilty," flicker the two verses on the page before him, and prayer and tears are no longer of any avail. His heart cried to God: "Have pity, merciful Father! A grown-up girl what am I to do with her ? And his father wanted to break off the engagement. As soon as I have earned the money, I will give it back . . . " But he knew all the time that these were useless subterfuges; the Lord of the Universe can only pardon the sin committed against Himself, the sin committed against man cannot be atoned for even on the Day of Atonement!

Berel took another look at the Prayer of Expiation. The words, "unless he asks his neighbor's forgiveness," danced before his eyes. A ray of hope crept into his despairing heart. One way is left open to him : he can confess to Moisheh Chalfon ! But the hope was quickly extinguished. Is that a small matter? What of my