His Biblical-looking wife was at the
table. So were Elsie and Emil. They were as uncompromising in
their atheism as Moissey, but they had consented to attend the
quaint supper to please their parents. As to Anna, Sasha, and
George, each of them had his or her socialism "diluted" with some
species of nationalism, so they were here as a matter of principle,
their theory being that the Passover feast was one of the things
that emphasized the unity of the Jews of all countries. But even
they, and even Tevkin himself, treated it all partly as a joke. In the
case of the poet, however, it was quite obvious that his levity was
pretended. For all his jesting and frivolity, he looked nervous. I
could almost see the memories of his childhood days which the
scene evoked in his mind. I could feel the solemnity that swelled
his heart. It appeared that this time he had decided to add to the
ceremony certain features which he had foregone on the previous
few Passover festivals he had observed. He was now bent upon
having a Passover feast service precisely like the one he had seen
his father conduct, not omitting even the white shroud which his
father had worn on the occasion.
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