And she will be the same."
"Then, father, we will bear our sorrows together."
"Yes; and what happens when sorrows come from such causes? The man
learns to hate the woman who has caused them, and ill-uses her, and
feels himself to be a Cain upon the earth, condemned by all, but by
none so much as by himself. Do you think that you have strength to bear
the contempt of all those around you?"
Anton waited a moment or two before he answered, and then spoke very
slowly. "If it be necessary to bear so much, I will at least make the
effort. It may be that I shall find the strength."
"Nothing then that your father says to you avails aught?"
"Nothing, father, on that matter. You should have spoken sooner."
"Then you must go your own way. As for me, I must look for another son
to bear the burden of my years." And so they parted.
Anton Trendellsohn understood well the meaning of the old man's threat.
He was quite alive to the fact that his father had expressed his
intention to give his wealth and his standing in trade and the business
of his house to some younger Jew, who would be more true than his own
son to the traditional customs of their tribes.
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