G.
Waiting is easier said than done. Our eyes almost creep out of our heads before we see a familiar face. The first to arrive are our neighbors Fat Pessi and her husband Moishe the bookbinder. We don’t actually see them — we are, as you remember, confined. We’re informed that a fat woman and her husband have come to see us. We realize it must be Pessi and her Moishe. They’re not allowed to see us but are being held in the examination room, which upsets us very much.
Someone advises us to tip the guards at the door, and maybe they’ll allow them to visit, even if from a distance. But our friend Pinni says that America is not Russia — in America you don’t bribe.
Our Heissen tailor, who pops up everywhere, pops up now and says it’s the same the whole world over: “Gold and silver make bastards legal.”
Pinni is speechless.
H.
Naturally the Heissen tailor is right. For a quarter, we can see our neighbor Pessi through the bars. Her red face and triple chins are sweating as she smiles at us from afar. My mother nods at her as both shed tears. From behind her broad back her husband Moishe peeks out, no longer wearing a Russian hat, as at home, but an American cap. Then in a moment Yoneh with his angry eyes appears. He’s hardly changed at all, except for his beard—oy vey! What’s happened to this beard! His wife of the fur cape also comes. We want to greet them, to hug and kiss them, to ask them how they are and what’s new in the world. How’s life here in America? For my part, I’m dying to know where Vashti is. And how is Bruche’s little sister Alteh? And how are the rest of the gang? But what can we do? We can’t budge. We’re locked up. We can only see through the bars. We’re like prisoners or convicts, or beasts.
I.
It’s a pity — our poor friend Pinni can’t look us straight in the eyes. He’s ashamed for America. You could swear it’s his own America and that he’s responsible for what happens here. He develops a hatred for Ellis Island and makes fun of it by calling it Ellie’s Island. This hurts my brother Elyahu’s feelings, because his name sounds like Ellie. This leads to the usual quarrel. Bruche intrudes, this time taking Pinni’s side, citing a proverb: “Don’t kick a dog when he’s down.” What can she mean by that?
IV
A SEA OF TEARS
A.
As if we don’t have enough of our own troubles, God has ordained that we share other people’s troubles on Ellis Island. As if my mother’s tears flowing since my father’s death aren’t enough, she now has to shed tears over others’ misfortunes. Almost every minute God presents her with a new tragedy. My mother takes everything to heart. She wrings her hands, hides her face, and cries quietly.
“You sin, Mama!” my brother Elyahu says to her, and I think he’s right. What does she have to cry about? We aren’t dragging ourselves around the world anymore. We’ve survived the voyage across the ocean, thank God. We’re almost in America. Another hour, another two hours, and we’ll be free. But how can a person not cry when surrounding him is so much misfortune, so many reasons for tears, for a sea of tears?
To convey to you all the misfortunes we’ve seen on Ellis Island, I’d have to sit down with you for a day and a night and talk and talk and talk.
B.
What will you say to this story? A father and mother and their four children were detained, not able to go back, not able to come here. During the examination a twelve-year-old daughter of theirs could not count backward. The official asked her how old she was, and she said, “Twelve years old.” They asked her further, “How old were you a year ago at this time?” She didn’t know. They said, “Count from one to twelve.” She did. Then they told her to count from twelve backward to one. She couldn’t. If they had asked me to do that, it would have been easy — no problem! They decide they cannot allow the girl to come to America.
To witness the agony of those parents and the misery of that child, you’d have to be made of stone. When Mother even catches sight of them, she breaks into tears. Bruche and Teibl can’t keep from crying either. Now ask yourself, what will happen to the parents and to the other children?
C.
Or how do you like this story? A woman has been traveling with us named Tzivyeh. Her husband left her long ago. She sent out letters all over and received news that her husband was in Cincinnati, a city in America. So now she’s going there to catch him. The “old sea dog” I told you about advised her to find some man in New York who would say he is her husband, and she would be allowed in. The Heissen tailor got mixed up in it too. The old sea dog tried to get a close friend to claim he was her husband. Finally the officials realized it was all a sham. The man was married and had nothing to do with the abandoned wife. Oh my, what went on then! All of Ellis Island went into an uproar.
Our friend Pinni got his revenge on the Heissen tailor. Although in his heart Pinni despised Ellis Island for detaining us, he wouldn’t show it to the Heissen tailor. To hell with him! Instead he even rubbed it in: “So, Mr. Tailor? Didn’t I say that America is not Russia? In America they don’t tolerate shams or tricks or cheating. Long live Columbus!”
But still he caught it from my mother, and even more so from Bruche. His wife Teibl added a little dig. In fact, the women almost scratched his eyes out for laughing at someone who was bleeding. My mother befriended the abandoned wife, becoming like a sister to her. Ellis Island will be sending the abandoned wife back, but the man who pretended to be her husband won’t be let off so easily. In the meantime they’re both detained, and my mother is beside herself.
D.
A young, innocent-looking wife is going to Boston to rejoin her husband. With her is her little girl with curly hair, pretty as a picture, named Ketzele. The girl’s real name is Kayla, after her grandmother, but they call her Ketzele. She isn’t yet three years old, but she runs around and talks and sings and dances. We met them on Prince Albert. Everyone there was in love with this child. They hugged and kissed her and passed her around from hand to hand. Ketzele! Ketzele! We’d become very attached to her young mother too. She never left my mother’s side for a moment and poured her heart out to her and read us all her husband’s letters. They hadn’t seen each other for over three years. He’s never seen his child. He dreams of her day and night and can’t let himself believe that he’ll soon set eyes on his daughter, his Ketzele. The young wife weeps, and my mother wipes her own eyes. I laugh at them both — why do they need to cry? I take Ketzele in my arms and feed her pieces of apple and orange, right in her mouth. Ketzele looks into my eyes, laughs, and pets me with her silken little hands as I kiss her small, warm fingers. Too bad I don’t have a paintbox, or I’d paint Ketzele on paper with her curly silken hair, her pretty blue eyes, and her face like an angel’s. My friend Mendl laughs at me for playing with a “doll.” To him she is just a doll!
As we were approaching America, Ketzele fell deathly ill. A chill passes over my body when I remember that time. That child took a part of me with her. I can barely speak about it or even think about it. Don’t make me tell you what they did with Ketzele. I’ll just tell you about the sorrow of the young mother when we reached Ellis Island. She didn’t cry. She stared at everyone with glassy eyes. Whenever anyone asked her a question, she didn’t answer. Now people are afraid the young woman has gone mad and will be sent back. My mother is frantic. My brother Elyahu is beside himself. He can’t bear our mother’s tears any longer. And Pinni hides and cannot be found.