Is _that_ nice? A smart boy like you what has the most beautiful voice in the choir? You will never learn to sing until you know what the words mean. Now, listen, Moey. This is what it means. “I offer my prayer to you, when you are ready, O God, with your multitudes of benedictions—answer me, O God, with truth, and help me.” Sing it again, Moey. [MOEY _begins to sing again. The_ Cantor _rises, impatiently. He is irritated with_ MOEY, _yet he has forgotten the child. He speaks more to himself than to_ MOEY.] No, no! Oh, I wish I had my Jakie here. He could show you how to sing it. The words he understood even when he was a little boy smaller than you. And a voice he had like an angel. MOEY Why did Jakie run away from home? CANTOR [_Pause_]. Who said.... Where did you heard that? MOEY Gee, everybody knows that ... all the boys in the choir.... CANTOR Sometimes little boys know too much, Moey. Sometimes little boys think they know more than their papas. MOEY [_Rises_]. I’m hungry. Can I go home now, Cantor? My mama told me to come home early tonight for supper. CANTOR You shouldn’t speak from supper, Moey, when we are speaking from God. MOEY Can I help it? I’m hungry. CANTOR [_Craftily_]. In the kitchen we got nice cookies. MOEY Cookies? What kind? CANTOR With raisins in them. MOEY Oh, I like them. Can I have some? CANTOR Certainly, my child, but sing first. [MOEY _picks up the prayer book and sings the melody conscientiously and beautifully. He sings it straight through to the end. There is a quality of plaintiveness in this rendition which pleases the_ Cantor. _As_ MOEY _is singing,_ SARA _enters from the kitchen, a small brass chopping bowl in her hand. She pauses until the boy finishes._ SARA _is a small woman, thin, tense, with large, vivid black eyes and gray hair parted neatly and drawn back in a knot. She wears an apron over a black and white dotted voile dress. The_ Cantor _speaks with delight._] CANTOR Ain’t that beautiful, Sara? SARA It’s very nice the way you sing, Moey. I’m going to tell your mama what a good boy you are. MOEY You bet I am. Can I have some of your raisin cookies, Mrs. Rabinowitz? SARA Raisin cookies? CANTOR I promised Moey he could have some if he sang nice. SARA They ain’t ready yet. CANTOR Well, you come back in an hour, Moey. Then they’ll be ready.