The Iola register., 1902-08-01
A STRANGE PROFESSION.
People Who Make Lucrative Living by
Telling Stories.

London to-day who get their living
by telling stories. Chief among these
are the "marshalliks,' or testers, of
the Jewish community, who are
much in request in Hebrew circles,
especially when there is a birth, a
wedding, or a confirmation at the
synagogue. At such eventful cpl
sodes the weaver of allegories is pleas
antly conspicuous, and augments his
income considerably.
The peculiar profession Of the
marshallik is threefold in character,
says London Tit-Bits. Like his more
favored facsimile of the music halls,
he can tell a capital story, sing a
good song, and even compose topical
verses to suit the festivity he at
tends, but he draws the line at dane
ing. At Hebrew marriage feast
he will enter as an unlimited but well
come visitor, and at a signal from the
bridegroom he will begin to enter
tain the assembled guests.
The instrument he favors may be
a harp, cornet, or violin. lie will
play thereon the weird old Hebrew
melodies beloved by his audience,
then improvise congratulatory
rhymes appropriate to the occasion.
But he is most brilliant in his elect
vocation of story-teller, and his al
legories are listened to with intense
interest. In the story ne tells of
some traditional couple who welded
beneath oriental skies and were hap
py ever after, he will make some apt
allusion to the happy pair before him,
and so keep in sympathetic touch
with his audience.
When one story is finished the itin-
Grant entertainer passes his hat
round, and every guest is expected
to contribute something. Then
will follow another song or story
and another collection, after
which the marshalik is invited
to share in the wedding feast,
and, with closing song and story,
he takes his leave of the merry as
scmblage and proceeds to some other
house in the district where festivities
of similar kind are transpiring.
When things are quiet in the mar
riage line the story-teller makes it
his business to visit the Jewish work.
shops in the neighborhood, where he
finds it profitable to weave his fascin-
ating tales for the delectation of
Yiddish workmen. Some masters
are averse to this procedure, except
during the dinner-hour, but in many
places the story-teller is welcome TO
enter at almost any tine.
In shops wheHs the narshallik is
an old fayorite it is lie uncommon
thing for the master himself to start
the collection with a pleasant little
donation. A good story-tcller will
often earn a pound a week by "work-
ing the shops of his co-religionists,
and more than that amount when
there are weddings and christenings
to be attended.
There is at least one lady in Lon
don who makes a lucrative living by
the charming art Of storytelling.
She is an expert at the business, and
her style is most graphic and en-
thralling. Her speciality is the tale
of adventure, though she has some
stories Of the supernatural which are
Of the most weird and thrilling or
der. She attends the evening par
ties and "at-homes," ;" and her numer-
Gus engagements at half a guinea per
visit yield her most acceptable in
come.
Another parsonage of the same oc-
cupation discovered early in life that
he possessed the profitable gift of
graphic storytelling, which he
turned to account among his school
fellows by spinning yarns in the
dormitories for rewards of money and
eatables. Later on he developed into
an accomplished raconteur, whose
abilities made him a welcome guest
at society dinners, which might 9th
erwise have been insuiTerably dull.
His fame spread, and to-day he often
has more engagements than he can
fulfill. In every instance he is an
honored guest, enjoys a splendid re-
past free of cost, and is afterwards
the recipient of an acceptable little