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"We made each other's acquaintance," said my Christian neighbor, "but nothing came of it in the way of closer friendship."
"Why not?" I asked, astonished.
"We went on looking at each other like the best of friends, but she could not come to us, nor we, to her.
"She had but to try it! It was a most orthodox town, where everyone but the Feldscher and the ladies' tailor wore kaftans. And there was something besides, I don't know what, that kept us back.
"Then the worst misfortune befell me that can befall a man.
"The apothecary's shop brought in next to nothing, and my wife began to fail in health.
"I saw more clearly every day that she was declining, and there was no hope of saving her. She needed Italy, and I could not even provide her with enough to eat; and, you know, when people are in that state of health, they are full of hope and do not believe in their illness.
"The whole pain, the whole anguish has to be suppressed, buried deep in the heart; and no matter how the heart is aching, you have to smile and wear a smooth brow. It dies within you every second, and yet you must help to make plans for this time next year, settle about enlarging the house, buying a piano."