Hebrew Humor and Other EssaysChotzner, J. (Joseph)
History
Hebrew Humor and Other Essays
Chotzner, J. (Joseph)
Hebrew wit and humor -- History and criticism
There are several novelettes in the _Machberoth_ dealing with various
piquant incidents, but the two following are perhaps most suitable for
quotation. In themselves they are slight enough, but they become a ready
vehicle for the author's satire. In one of them (chap. 14) a clever trick
is described; how a certain legacy hunter succeeded in obtaining a large
gift from some trustees. A wealthy Jew living in Rome had a quarrelsome
woman for a wife and a spendthrift and a fool for a son, both of whom
embittered his life. One day, the wretched man fled from his native town
with all his movables, and settled in Greece, where he lived for a number
of years in peace and contentment. Shortly before his death he made his
will, leaving all his property to his prodigal son. As executors of his
will he nominated some elders of the local community. When in due course
the father died, and the intelligence of his death and testament was made
known in Rome, the son took no steps to have the will executed. Meanwhile
a certain swindler, hearing of this, presented himself before the
executors with every sign of grief, and claimed the legacy as the son and
heir of the deceased. The executors, without troubling themselves very
much about his credentials, handed over the legacy to him. When some time
after the rightful heir appeared, he was laughed to shame, in spite of his
producing genuine credentials.
In the second novelette (chap. 23) an incident is recorded that occurred
to the author in his practice as a physician. He was once called in to a
patient, who was suffering from indigestion. Immanuel prescribed some
medicine, and advised him to remain in bed till the following morning,
when he hoped to see him again, and to find him completely recovered. Now,
the patient was by way of being a poet, and on that particular night,
feeling himself inspired, he got out of bed and composed a long poem. This
he proudly showed Immanuel on the following morning, telling him at the
same time that the medicine had done him no good. “Pardon me, my friend,”
said Immanuel, “my medicine has had an excellent effect upon you: it has
removed from your brain a large quantity of rubbishing poetry.”
Wit of another kind is shown in Immanuel's exegetical dialogue (chap. 11),
in which he explains some Biblical passages and phrases that had been
misunderstood by various persons, who had come to ask him for his opinion.
The following will serve as a specimen of the whole.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account