'Who's mutilating the poesy now?' Kloot frowned angrily from under his peaked cap. 'You'll spoil the scene.'
'Peace, liar! You promised me your wife for Ophelia!'
Kloot's frown relaxed into a smile. 'Sure! The first wife I get you shall have.'
Pinchas gnashed his teeth. Goldwater's voice rose in a joyous roulade.
'I think you owe me a car-fare,' said Kloot soothingly.
Pinchas waved the rejoinder aside with his cane. 'Why does Hamlet sing?' he demanded fiercely.
'Because it's Passover,' said Kloot. 'You are a "greener" in New York, otherwise you would know that it is a tradition to have musical plays on Passover. Our audiences wouldn't stand for any other. You're such an unreasonable cuss! Why else did we take your "Hamlet" for a Passover play?'
'But "Hamlet" isn't a musical play.'
'Yes, it is! How about Ophelia's songs? That was what decided us. Of course they needed eking out.'
'But "Hamlet" is a tragedy!' gasped Pinchas.