Samuel turned away, sick at heart. More than Ferd had passed away. Samuel’s dreams had died. With Ferd went the escape from the ghetto, the freedom, the beautiful house for Terenia and their children.
But a greater disaster was to befall.
The day after Ferd died, Samuel learned that Dr. Wal and his wife had arranged for Terenia to marry a rabbi. Samuel could not believe it. Terenia belonged to him! Samuel raced over to the Wal house. He found Dr. and Mrs. Wal in the parlor. He walked up to them, took a deep breath and announced, “There’s been a mistake, Terenia’s mistake, Terenia’s going to marry me.”
They stared at him in astonishment.
“I know I’m not good enough for her,” Samuel hurried on, “but she won’t be happy married to anyone but me. The rabbi’s too old for—”
“Nebbich! Out! Out!” Terenia’s mother was apoplectic.
Sixty seconds later Samuel found himself standing out in the street, forbidden ever to enter the Wal house again.
In the middle of the night Samuel had a long talk with God.
“What do you want from me? If I can’t have Terenia, why did you make me love her? Haven’t you any feelings?” He raised his voice in frustration and yelled, “Can you hear me?”
And the others in the crowded little house yelled back, “We can all hear you, Samuel. For God’s sake, shut up and let us get some sleep!”
The following afternoon Dr. Wal sent for Samuel. He was ushered into the parlor, where Dr. and Mrs. Wal and Terenia were gathered.
“It seems we have a problem,” Dr. Wal began. “Our daughter can be quite a stubborn young lady. For some reason she’s taken a fancy to you. I cannot call it love, Samuel, because I don’t believe that young girls know what love is. However, she has refused to marry Rabbi Rabinowitz. She thinks she wants to marry you.”
Samuel sneaked a glance at Terenia, and she smiled at him and he almost burst with joy. It was short-lived.
Dr. Wal was going on. “You said that you love my daughter.”
“Y—y—yes, sir,” Samuel stammered. He tried it again, his voice stronger. “Yes, sir.”
“Then let me ask you something, Samuel Would you like Terenia to spend the rest of her life married to a peddler?”
Samuel instantly saw the trap, but there was no way out of it. He looked at Terenia again and said slowly, “No, sir.”
“Ah. Then you see the problem. None of us wants Terenia to marry a peddler. And you’re a peddler, Samuel.”
“I won’t always be, Dr. Wal.” Samuel’s voice was strong and sure.
“And what will you be?” Mrs. Wal snapped. “You come from a family of peddlers, you’ll remain a family of peddlers. I will not allow my daughter to marry one.”
Samuel looked at the three of them, his mind filled with confusion. He had come here with trepidation and despair, had been lifted to the heights of joy, and now he had been plunged into a black abyss again. What did they want from him?
“We’ve agreed on a compromise,” Dr. Wal said. “We’re going to give you six months to prove that you’re more than just a peddler. If, by the end of that time, you cannot offer Terenia the kind of life she is accustomed to, then she is going to marry Rabbi Rabinowitz.”
Samuel stared at him, aghast. “Six months!”
No one could become a success in six months! No one, certainly, who lived in the ghetto of Krakow.
“Do you understand?” Dr. Wal asked.
“Yes, sir.” Samuel understood only too well. He felt as if his stomach were filled with lead. He did not need a solution, he needed a miracle. The Wals would only be content with a son-in-law who was a doctor or a rabbi, or who was wealthy. Samuel quickly examined each possibility.
The law forbade him to become a doctor.
A rabbi? One had to start studying for the rabbinate by thirteen, and Samuel was almost eighteen now.
Wealthy? That was out of the question. If he worked twenty-four hours a day peddling his wares in the streets of the ghetto until he was ninety, he would still be a poor man. The Wals had set an impossible task for him. They had seemingly given in to Terenia by allowing her to postpone her marriage to the rabbi, while at the same time setting conditions that they knew would be impossible for Samuel to meet. Terenia was the only one who believed in him. She had confidence that he could find some kind of fame or fortune in six months. She’s crazier than I am, Samuel thought in despair.