'They think they are only coming to a farewell glass of brandy,' chuckled the grandmother. 'But they will find themselves at a secret wedding.'
'And to-morrow we shall depart publicly for Trieste,' Yossel wound up calmly.
'But this is too absurd!' the artist broke in. 'I forbid this marriage!'
A violent expression of amazement overspread the ancient dame's face, and the tone of the far-away years came into her voice. 'Silence, Vroomkely, or I'll smack your face. Do you forget you are talking to your grandmother?'
'I think Mr. Mandelstein forgets it,' the artist retorted, turning upon the heroic hunchback. 'Do you mean to say you are going to marry my grandmother?'
'And why not?' asked Yossel. 'Is there a greater lover of God in all Galicia?'
'Hush, Yossel, I am a great sinner.' But her old face was radiant. She turned to her grandson. 'Don't be angry with Yossel--all the fault is mine. He did not ask me to go with him to Palestine; it was I that asked _him_.'
'Do you mean that you asked him to marry you?'
'It is the same thing. There is no other way. How different would it have been had there been any other woman here who wanted to die in Palestine! But the women nowadays have no fear of Heaven; they wear their hair unshorn--they----'
'Yes, yes. So you asked Yossel to marry you.'
'Asked? Prayed, as one prays upon Atonement Day. For two years I prayed to him, but he always refused.'
'Yossel is so proud. It is his only sin.'
'Oh, Yenta!' protested Yossel flushing, 'I am a very sinful man.'
'Yes, but your sin is all in a lump,' the _Bube_ replied. 'Your iniquity is like your ugliness--some people have it scattered all over, but you have it all heaped up. And the heap is called pride.'
'Never mind his pride,' put in the artist impatiently. 'Why did he not go on refusing you?'
'I am coming to that. Only you were always so impatient, Vroomkely. When I was cutting you a piece of _Kuchen_, you would snatch greedily at the crumbs as they fell. You see Yossel is not made of the same clay as you and I. By an oversight the Almighty sent an angel into the world instead of a man, but seeing His mistake at the last moment, the All-High broke his wings short and left him a hunchback. But when Yossel's father made a match for him with Leah, the rich corn-factor's daughter, the silly girl, when she was introduced to the bridegroom, could see only the hump, and scandalously refused to carry out the contract. And Yossel is so proud that ever since that day he curled himself up into his hump, and nursed a hatred for all women.'