Page:Yiddish Tales.djvu/376

 372 S. LIBIN

With the second child it was not so.

The Ginzburgs loved their Dvorehle, loved her pain- fully, infinitely, but when it came to the anniversary of her birth they made no rejoicings.

I do not think I shall be going too far if I say they did not dare to do so.

Dvorehle was an uncommon child : a bright girlie, sweet-tempered, pretty, and clever, the light of the house, shining into its every corner. She could be a whole world of delight to her parents, this wee Dvorehle. But it was not the delight, not the happiness they had known with the first child, not the same. That had been so free, so careless. Now it was different: terrible pic- tures of death, of a child's death, would rise up in the midst of their joy, and their gladness sudden- ly ended in a heavy sigh. They would be at the height of enchantment, kissing and hugging the child and laughing aloud, they would be singing to it and romping with it, everything else would be forgotten. Then, without wishing to do so, they would sudden- ly remember that not so long ago it was another child, also a girl, that went off into just the same silvery little bursts of laughter and now, where is it ? dead ! how it goes through the heart ! The parents turn pale in the midst of their merry- making, the mother's eyes fill with tears, and the father's head droops.

"Who knows?" sighs Dobe, looking at their little laughing Dvorehle. "Who knows ?"

Ginzburg understands the meaning of her question and is silent, because he is afraid to say anything in reply.