Lilah by Marek Halter Read Free Book Online Page A

reaction.
    In a wreath of steam, a mouth-watering aroma reached her nostrils. ‘Mmm, it smells wonderful.’
    â€˜Turnips, dates and chopped fish mashed together with cardamom, basil and curdled milk. A dish I invented.’
    â€˜But Master Baruch has a bad stomach and says he won’t eat anything!’
    â€˜Oh, he has a bad stomach until he gets this under his nose! You’ll see, as soon as he smells it, he’ll shake with pleasure.’ Sogdiam shook, too, but with laughter.
    Lilah laughed with him. ‘I didn’t know you were so fond of cooking.’
    â€˜I try this and that. I mix things, and taste them. If I like what I taste, I suggest it to Ezra and Master Baruch. They don’t eat much, but they taste. They aren’t hard to please. Sometimes, they really like it. Especially Master Baruch, to be honest. He always used to ask for barley gruel, because of his teeth – or, rather, his lack of them. And I was fed up with always smelling the same smell here in the kitchen . . .’
    Lilah had dipped a wooden spoon in the dish. The delicacy of the flavour surprised her. ‘It’s good.’
    Sogdiam glowed with pride.
    â€˜But you didn’t use everything in the baskets, making this kind of food,’ Lilah went on. ‘So tell me – the woman who came here, what was she complaining about?’
    â€˜You won’t let go, will you?’ Sogdiam sighed. ‘“No more flour,” she was bawling, “no more flour, nothing more to eat!” She said she had three boys and no more food left to give them.’
    â€˜What happened then?’
    â€˜She made such a commotion that Ezra had to leave his study. “Sogdiam, why do you let the courtyard get so noisy?” he asked. I explained to him. “Why doesn’t her husband give her enough to feed her children?” was his reply. How was I supposed to know? I asked the woman. She told me she didn’t have a husband. Ezra was angry. “She hasthree sons and no husband?” I reminded him that my mother had also had a son and no husband. “That’s why you took me in,” I said. Ezra gave me one of his black looks – like a moonless night, I always say. Master Baruch was laughing into his beard but, as usual, didn’t say anything. The woman was still weeping in the middle of the courtyard, moaning loud enough to set your teeth on edge. Ezra came to a decision. “Give her what she wants,” he said, “as long as she stops wailing. I need to study in peace.” And there you are.’
    â€˜What do you mean, there you are? Did you give her all your reserves?’
    â€˜No. Just enough for four days.’
    Lilah shook her head, too surprised to react. ‘How long ago was this?’
    â€˜The month of Kislev.’
    â€˜And you’ve been giving her grain since then? Is that why your baskets are always so empty?’
    Sogdiam lowered his eyes, trying to conceal a wicked little smile. ‘Her and others.’
    â€˜Others?’
    â€˜The woman came back four days later. Not alone, but with six other women. Younger than her, also from the
zorifes
. They weren’t weeping, but they told me they were all in the same situation, with one or two children and no husband. The summer and autumn were very dry, and the harvestswere poor, so they couldn’t glean. They were starving. You could see it, I swear.’
    â€˜And you gave them food, just like the first woman?’
    â€˜I asked Ezra first. He gave me another of his moonless-night looks. Then he asked if we had enough. I told him we did. “So give it, I don’t want them to cry – but be sure to share it fairly. They don’t all have the same number of children.”’
    Lilah was silent for a moment. ‘Is that what he said?’ she asked, in a low voice.
    â€˜Yes.’ Sogdiam was staring at her anxiously now, biting his lip. ‘Do you