The Cleaver’s Daughter by Avrom Sutzkever Translated b y Zac k a r y Sho l e m be r g e r - from Yiddish - first published 1975
Link to the story
https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/language-literature-culture/yiddish-translation/cleavers-daughter
Abraham Sutzkever (Yiddish: אַבֿרהם סוצקעווער — Avrom Sutskever; Hebrew: אברהם סוצקבר; July 15, 1913 – January 20, 2010) was an acclaimed Yiddish poet. The New York Times wrote that Sutzkever was "the greatest poet of the Holocaust."
July 15, 1913 - Smarhón, Belarus
January 20, 2010 - Telaviv, Israel
“What potion should I give the night so she’ll always wonder?”
BY ABRAHAM SUTZKEVER
TRANSLATED BY ZACKARY SHOLEM BERGER
"What potion should I give the night so she’ll always wonder?
Her pounding heart’s a rider galloping from the burning wood.
Maybe my pharmacist is awake the next street over?
In a crucible of bone, snake tears mixed with herbs.
Should I hurry? Call the doctor? A heart like hers is rare.
And to tell the truth, if it shattered, what would I do?"
Last month I posted on a very interesting short story by Avrom Sutskever, "An Answer to a Letter". There is a letter from an immigrate in New York City and a reply by his friend back in Belarus.
Today's story is set in Vilna. Longer than the prior story it centers on the history of the narrator's long lasting romance with a local girl. It goes into detail in the descriptions of the general store where the girl works, an orphan, for relatives. We see a pre-adolescent relationship develop into a real romance. A story very much worth reading.
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