of which Isroelkele had never heard before; for it seemed full of the sighing of leaves and trees and winds and the longing of ailing souls that pine for something distant and dear.
"Learn this melody, and if Shmul the Great looks thee askance, play it and he will know; before the second Exodus was this played; and the people were moved thereby. He should help thee."
And Isroelkele strove to entice the cunning of the wonderful tune into his fingers and the great Rov sustained him with kindly demeanor.
But when he had learned the wondrous melody, Isroelkele sighed and said tremblingly, "What if Shmul the Great does not heed me even then?"
And the brow of the Reader grew terrible, and he cried: "Then shalt thou say to him, 'Behold, if the Lord call and thou answer not, His people shall not fail for want of a guide; but thou and thine and all that are with thee and for thee shall vanish from the earth like smoke, their habitations shall be accursed of men, and their name shall be a stench for a little while and pass as though it had not been.' Thus shallt thou speak to whomsoever heeds not thy message, oh fiddler!"
Then was there sighing through the dread congregation terrible to hear, for it was the sound of the melancholy whistle of the wind through the trees of the great hill. And Israel stood among them and played the wondrous old-time melody and as he played the congregation sang and as they sang they seemed to fade, fade, fade.
* * * * *
On the morrow the shamos of the Shul was very wroth to find Isroelkele the fiddler sleeping on one of the benches. "Pray, pray, good friend," said Isroelkele, "check your spleen, for I do not myself understand how I came here, nor would I spend another night here for the mines of King Solomon!"
But the shamos growled disgustedly about "drunken louts" and "accursed fiddlers," while Isroelkele meekly gathered
up his belongings and shambled out again. And Isroelkele went to Shmul the Great, the foremost Jew in Russia, to deliver his message, and he found him praying devoutly.
Now when Isroelkele saw that Shmul the Great was at prayer, terror seized him, for he saw that the man considered himself justified in good works and was hard to move. Nevertheless, he told Shmul the Great of him whom he had seen. And when he looked askance, Isroelkele drew forth his fiddle and played the melody.
And when he had heard, Shmul believed him, and fingered his beard and muttered, "Some one should help him. Before the Second Exodus was this played. For he heard in it the sighing of leaves and trees and winds and the longing of ailing souls for something distant and dear. But, when Shmul the Great, the formost Jew in all Russia, considered within himself of his charities and gifts and good works and his banks and enterprises, piety and standing in the land, he thought, "Shall I compromise my position here by taking up the cause of this eternal wanderer and his kind?" And he turned to Isroelkele and shrugged his shoulders, saying, "Who shall question the ways of God? I am resigned here," and continued praying.
And Isroelkele stood in great fear, for the awful words of the Reader came to him, "Behold, if the Lord call and thou answer not, His people shall not fail for want of a guide; but thou and thine and all that are with thee and for thee shall vanish from the earth like smoke, their habitations shall be accursed of men, and their name shall be a stench for a little while and pass as though it had not been!" And Isroelkele trembled and hesitated, and Shmul turned to look at him, and fear seized Isroelkele and he hurried out with his fiddle.
So Isroelkele went forth over the world again with his bow and fiddle—he is a good fiddler and fiddles touchingly—and he is still wandering.