"Why sigh you so heavy, Bram? Every sigh still lower sinks the heart."
"A light heart I shall never have again, mother."
"You talk some foolishness. A young man like you! A quarrel with your
sweetheart, is it? Well, it will be over as quick as a rainy day. Then
the sunshine again."
"For me there is no hope like that. So quiet and shy was my love."
"Oh, indeed! Of all the coquettes, the quiet, shy ones are the worst."
"No coquette is Miriam Cohen. My love life is at the end, mother."
"When began it, Bram?"
"It was at the time of the duel. I loved her from the first moment. O
mother, mother!"
"Does she not love you, Bram?"
"I think so: many sweet hours we have had together. My heart was full of
hope."
"Her faith, Bram, should have kept you prudent."
"'In what church do you pray?' Love asks not such a question, and as for
her race, I thought a daughter of Israel is the beloved of all the
daughters of God. A blessing to my house she will bring."
"That is not what the world says, Bram. No, my son. It is thus, and like
it: that God is angry with His people, and for that He has scattered
them through all the nations of the earth."
"Such folly is that! To colonize, to 'take possession' of the whole
earth, is what the men of Israel have always intended. Long before the
Christ was born in Bethlehem, the Jews were scattered throughout every
known country. I will say that to the dominie. It is the truth, and he
cannot deny it."
"But surely God is angry with them."
"I see it not. If once He was angry, long ago He has forgiven His
people. 'To the third and fourth generation' only is His anger. His own
limit that is. Who have such blessings? The gold and the wine and the
fruit of all lands are theirs. Their increase comes when all others'
fail. God is not angry with them. The light of His smile is on the face
of Miriam. He teaches her father how to traffic and to prosper. Do not
the Holy Scriptures say that the blessing, not the anger, of the Lord
maketh rich?"
"Well, then, my son, all this is little to the purpose, if she will not
have thee for her husband. But be not easy to lose thy heart. Try once
more."