The King of Schnorrers: Grotesques and Fantasies — John Shaqi
The King of Schnorrers: Grotesques and FantasiesZangwill, Israel
General
The King of Schnorrers: Grotesques and Fantasies
Zangwill, Israel
Humorous stories; Jewish fiction; Jews -- England -- Fiction; London (England) -- Fiction
"Good Sabbath!" faltered Yankelé, and crawled home heavy-hearted to
Dinah's Buildings, Tripe Yard, Whitechapel, where the memory of him
lingers even unto this day.
Rabbi Remorse Red-herring was an unofficial preacher who officiated at
mourning services in private houses, having a gift of well-turned
eulogy. He was a big, burly man with overlapping stomach and a red
beard, and his spiritual consolations drew tears. His clients knew him
to be vastly self-indulgent in private life, and abstemious in the
matter of benevolence; but they did not confound the _rôles_. As a
mourning preacher he gave every satisfaction: he was regular and
punctual, and did not keep the congregation waiting, and he had had
considerable experience in showing that there was yet balm in Gilead.
He had about five ways of showing it--the variants depending upon the
circumstances. If, as not infrequently happened, the person deceased
was a stranger to him, he would enquire in the passage: "Was it man
or woman? Boy or girl? Married or single? Any children? Young 'uns or
old 'uns?"
When these questions had been answered, he was ready. He knew exactly
which of his five consolatory addresses to deliver--they were all
sufficiently vague and general to cover considerable variety of
circumstance, and even when he misheard the replies in the passage,
and dilated on the grief of a departed widower's relict, the results
were not fatal throughout. The few impossible passages might be
explained by the mishearing of the audience. Sometimes--very
rarely--he would venture on a supplementary sentence or two fitting
the specific occasion, but very cautiously, for a man with a
reputation for extempore addresses cannot be too wary of speaking on
the spur of the moment.
Off obituary lines he was a failure; at any rate, his one attempt to
preach from an English Synagogue pulpit resulted in a nickname. His
theme was Remorse, which he explained with much care to the
congregation.
"For instance," said the preacher, "the other day I was walking over
London Bridge, when I saw a fishwife standing with a basket of
red-herrings. I says, 'How much?' She says, 'Two for three-halfpence.'
I says, 'Oh, that's frightfully dear! I can easily get three for
twopence.' But she wouldn't part with them at that price, so I went
on, thinking I'd meet another woman with a similar lot over the water.
They were lovely fat herrings, and my chaps watered in anticipation of
the treat of eating them. But when I got to the other end of the
bridge there was no other fishwife to be seen. So I resolved to turn
back to the first fishwife, for, after all, I reflected, the herrings
were really very cheap, and I had only complained in the way of
business. But when I got back the woman was just sold out. I could
have torn my hair with vexation. Now, that's what I call Remorse."
[Illustration: "'I COULD HAVE TORN MY HAIR.'"]
After that the Rabbi was what the congregation called Remorse; also
Red-herring.
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.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account