"
The caf? rose in my estimation
I learned from Tevkin that many of Yampolsky's patrons were poor
working-men and that some of these were poets, writers of stories,
or thinkers, but that the caf? was also frequented by some
professional and business men. At this he directed my attention to
a "Talmud-faced" man whom he described as a liquor-dealer who
"would be a celebrated writer if he were not worth half a million."
The last piece of information was a most agreeable surprise to me.
It made me feel safe in the place. I regarded the liquor-dealer with
some contempt, however. "Pshaw! half a million. He's probably
worth a good deal less.
Anyhow, I could buy and sell him." At the same time I said to
myself, "He's well-to-do and yet he chums around with people in
whom intellectual Gentiles take an interest." I envied him. I felt
cheap
I felt still cheaper when I heard that the literary liquor-dealer
generously contributed to the maintenance of The Pen, the
Hebrew weekly with which Tevkin was connected, and that he,
the liquor-dealer, wrote for that publication
It appeared that Tevkin had an office which was a short distance
from the bohemian caf?.
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