"May it turn out to be a real, true sacrifice for us all," said my mother to him. "The Lord will have to send us another bride-elect. What can we do? Shall we take our own lives? Perhaps it is not his destiny to marry this girl."
Amongst those who came to visit my father in his illness was Tchitchick the bandmaster.
When my father saw him, he took off his little round cap, sat up in his bed, stretched out his hand to him, looked straight into his eyes and said:
"Oh, 'Mr. Sergeant!' 'Mr. Sergeant!'"
He could not utter another sound, because he was smothered by his tears and his cough....
This was the first time in my life that I saw my father crying. His tears gripped hold of my heart, and chilled me to the very soul.
I stood and looked out of the window, swallowing my tears in silence. At that moment, I was heartily sorry for all the mischief I had done. I cried within myself, from the very depths of my heart, beating my breast: "I have sinned." And within myself, I vowed solemnly to myself that I would never, never anger my father again, and never, never cause him any pain.
No more fiddle!
This Night
"To my dear Son,