“To what class does your uncle belong, Juffrouw?”
“Why, to the class—you mean the mussel-shells and eggs?”
“No, no, Juffrouw, I mean on which rung of the ladder is he—how high up. I repeat it, on what rung—it’s a figure, Juffrouw—on what rung of the social ladder?”
“In the grain business? Is that what you mean?”
“That is not sufficient, Juffrouw Laps. One may be in the grain business as a pastry cook, a baker, a retailer, a wholesaler, or as a broker; and all these vocations have their peculiar sub-divisions. Take Joseph in Egypt, for example. This man of God, whom some place in the class of patriarchs, while others claim—but let that be as it may. It is certain that Joseph bought corn and was on the topmost rung of the ladder, for we read in Genesis, chapter 41——”
“Yes, indeed, he rode in Pharaoh’s carriage, and he wore a white silk coat. My uncle is an agent, and my father was the same.”
“So-o-oo? Agent! That’s something Moses doesn’t mention, and I don’t know in what class——” He spoke slowly, puzzling over his words.
“Besides, my uncle is a widower.”
“Ah, there we have the difference! We read that Joseph wooed Asnath, the daughter of Potiphar; but nowhere do we read that his spouse was already dead when he went into the corn business. Therefore, Juffrouw Laps, if it is your earnest desire to have a pious poem written on your uncle, I advise you to go to my pupil, Klaasje van der Gracht.”
He explained to her where that prodigy might be found.