The Washington herald., 1907-05-12

ice 10 Switzerland thence still going with
the tourist tide, the reader Is taken down
the legend-haunted Rhine. There Is a
week in Paris. another week in London
and visits 10 many Of the historic places
in England. N0rthward 70 Scotland then,
where there is a fine chapter on Edin-
burg. after which the tourist is taken to
the Scotch lakes and 20 the places which
Walter Scott made famous iu literature.
Finally there is "a day in the English lake
country with pleasant memories Of the
writers who have lived there, and then
the return voyage by way OF Newfound-
land.
The book Is interestingly written: 10
those who have already visited the places
here mentioned It's pages viii seem ike
delightful reminiscence. To those who
know nothing Of the countries here de-
scrlbed. it viii open pictures Of charming
possibilities. II Is q charming book Of
travel with not dull page in it. wash
ington. The Neale Publishing Coz
Ghetto Comedies" by Israel Zangwill.
Is another collection of those stories Of
the Jewish people which Mr.. zanswiII
always writes so well. But the title Of
the book displays something Of that
sardonic humor that has always been
marked characteristic Of this writer Il
viii be remembered perhaps that he used
IN his early days 20 sign all his writings
II. ZangWiH" until 10 London. where he
was living then, there seemed 10 be a
marked curiosity as 10 his personality.
AT a fashionable dinner one evening the
lady who sat next 90 him, more curious
/ than polite. turned 10 him and said: My
( dear Mr., ZaHgwii. what does the T
D q -HH
| tian nance"
Il have no Christian name. madame. %
Mr ZangwiI replied. MY first name is
/ Israel"
/ To call the stories that are in this book
/ comedies is TO betray the possession
I of humor that is unusual for TO the
ordinary thinking man. while there may
/ be a CLINT Of hum0r here and there, in
their last estate these stories are grim
and bitter tragedies There is always
/ something infinitely tragic about the sor-
rows and sufferiugs OF the Jews, and in
/ these stories. although ar ZangWil has
/ tried to portray the comedy aspect Of
! the sorrOws. he has succeeded far better
+ in showing how tenaCiousiy and bravely,
under dire and cruel circumstances, the
4 jew clings 10 hts faith, his home and his
/ hope.
/ Of Sorrows" is supposed TO be narrated
/ By an artist who has sought long time
in vain for a typical face from which
he could paint a picture Of the Christ.
/ lie finds him in an old man named
/ Israel QUarriar Russian Jew. who tells
a strange and sad story Of exile from
/ Russia with his wife and children. He
l tells how he was robbed by the way,
very often by his own people, and how IN
/ London he had a hare time 10 make both
/ ends meet so that this easy work Of
sitting for his picture is d godsend 10
him. The artist sympathizes with the old
mans sorrows and does all that he can
/ TO help him, and at the end he finds
that the old Jew has deceived him all
/ along. The result is that the artist, who
has made a beautiful ideal picture from
the old mans head. changes it until he
puts into the face look of craft and Mr..
Zangwil makes the artist say:
And the more I ponder upon this new face, the
more saw that this return 20 the tTuer homeliness
and more real realism did but enable me to achieve
q suhtler beauty. For surely here at last was the
true tragedy Of the people Of Christie have per
sisted subimey, and 10 be sordidly perverted; tC
be King and knave in one 70 survive for two thoa
sand years the loss Of Sutherland and the pressure
Of persecution. only to wear on its soul the yellow
badge which had defaced its garments
"The Jewish Trinity" a story of the
poor Jew who wanted to marry the rich
Jews daughter, comes perhaps a little
bit too near a bitter sneer at the Chris
tian religion to be quite to the popular
taste. The Sabbath Question in Sudmin-
ster," dealing as it does only with the
ritualism Of the Hebraic church, is much
better. It tells how Simeon samuels
comes to Sudminster and jois.s the Jewish
/ CONGREGATION there b5ft in sr,gta oF i,se
rigid attendance on the synagogue, keeps
shop open on the Sabbath 70 the disgust
of his competitors who are continually
getting the worst of IT, OF course the
Rabbi is asked to interfere and although
he breaches hard against the renegade
1t has no effect. Ii is perhaps a consis-
tently Jewish solution of the problem that
offers itself. The congregation meets and
decides &c buy out the renegade so as
TO get rid of him. But having bought his
stock at his own price, Mr. Samuels
soon gets another and continues TO keeI
the shop open. The result is that all the
members OF the synagogue keep theii
shops open.
Another story The Red Mark" tells
OF the fear of the superstitious Russian
Jews in London at being vaccinated
Other good stories are: The Bearer OF
Burdens" '"The Yiddish Hamlet The
Convert" "Elijah's Goblet" and THE
Hireling." They are all written with thai
briiliancy of style for which Mr. Zang
viii Is noted. All are intensely inter
esting. and like Mr.. Zangwilrs preYiOu:
book, this viii do 1uch to make the char
acter Of the Jew better understood ant
appreciated. (New York: The Macmillan
CO. Washington; BrentaRosl