⋙ Download Free The Happiest Man in Kodne edition by Sholom Aleichem Hannah Berman Literature Fiction eBooks

The Happiest Man in Kodne edition by Sholom Aleichem Hannah Berman Literature Fiction eBooks

Download As PDF : The Happiest Man in Kodne edition by Sholom Aleichem Hannah Berman Literature Fiction eBooks

Sholom Alechem’s “The Happiest Man in Kodne”—a short story about a Russian Jew with a gravely ill son—was originally published in “The Reform Advocate” magazine (April 24, 1920, edition).

Sample passage
It happened that in Kodni, where we know everything, we got to know that Itzickel Borodenka’s daughter got sick. What was her illness, do you think? A yesterday’s day! A love affair. She fell in love with a gentile. She took poison, only yesterday. And they ran off and brought a professor, the greatest professor. Such a rich man cannot care. I thought of a plan. Since the professor would not remain there, but would be going back this morning, driving through our station—that is, through Kodni—perhaps he would get off, and run into us by express. I have a child lying ill. What do you think is the matter with him? I do not know myself. He has some internal complaint. He does not cough, thank God. And he does not feel any pain at his heart either. What then? He has not a drop of blood in his body, and is weak as a fly because he eats nothing, nothing at all.

About the author
Sholem Aleichem (1859-1916) was a Yiddish novelist and playwright who wrote humorous tales about common Russian Jews who lived in small towns. His stories, especially “Tevye’s Daughters,” formed the basis for the musical “Fiddler on the Roof.”