The Four Winds of Heaven by Monique Raphel High Read Free Book Online Page A

our traditions from our hearts. But that does not mean that God prefers our ways, necessarily.”
    Sonia said, “Titine was talking to Madame Gilina about the father of a family which was thrown out of their home because they had no money for the rent, and then she said that he was probably a Jew. Why did she say that, Papa?”
    David’s heart contracted, and he gazed with deep affection at his small daughter. “Because, my sweet, most people, especially here in Russia, are not Jewish. And to those who do not worship as we do, and who are not kind and intelligent people, something different means something bad. Many people think the Jews are bad, and so they hurt them.”
    â€œThat is like the Jews of the Bible,” Sonia said. Then she sat up brightly. “But why are we not being hurt?”
    David sighed. “Because we have enough money to prevent hurt.” For an instant his pale blue eyes flickered, and caught his wife’s piercing sapphire ones. The memory of Anna’s back loomed between them. “But it is our duty to help the Jews who have no money. Otherwise, people will keep on hurting them.”
    Mathilde was eating quietly. She was thinking of the double taxes, of the bribes to the police in St. Petersburg, and she murmured within: The wages of sin is death, but the wages of a Jew are measured in gold. She thought of the quotas, and wondered if even gold could stretch them. David was the first Jew to have been admitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and only because, in all the land, he alone could speak so many languages. There was another measure, then: intelligence. She was glad for her son, who was so sharp and who studied well. Had he been more like Anna, who never opened a book unless compelled to, no university would admit him when the time came. No, gold and brains worked in tandem, and without both, a Jew was lost indeed…
    David was announcing, “I think it is time you children saw Hashchévato. We shall drive there this afternoon.”
    Mathilde parted her lips to cry out against her husband’s plan to go to the shtetl; to ask at least that Ossip, whose back was so fragile, might be spared the long ride which she remembered with quiet tremors. But an abrupt thought struck her before she could utter a word. She looked at Ossip’s fine white profile, at Sonia’s tiny, well-formed hands, at the contained energy that had brought fine coral hues to Anna’s cheeks. Oh, my darlings, you will suffer, she said to them mutely. You will suffer, in spite of your status, your title, your intelligence. And there is no escape, for Gunzburgs do not escape from their duty. Mathilde knew that all too well. Gunzburgs do not choose, they accept with dignity. So go, go with your father, so that you will not be surprised when the pain comes to your own lives later. She rose, and with unusual swiftness for her condition, she left the room.
    That afternoon, Ossip was strapped into a special back brace, and the three children and David were settled into the Gunzburg victoria. Sonia burned with curiosity. What was this Hashchévato that had made Mama turn so pale, that had shot pain into Papa’s intense face? But she asked no questions. Anna had asked about Madame Gilina, and had been rebuked for her unseemly curiosity. So she sat quietly, gazing out the window at the immensity of Mohilna, her heart filling with joy when fields of fuchsia-colored flowers burst into view, when gold and orange butterflies rose in swoops above the wheat, and when the sun darted in and out of lamblike cloud formations.

    A fter a drive of several hours , they left Mohilna behind them and entered county property. It was there, Papa explained, that Hashchévato was located. An old statute had forbidden the inhabitants of that village to extend their boundaries to accommodate increases in their population. As the victoria approached, Sonia saw a jagged cluster of houses,