Page 42 - Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen

them." He reached out and patted Hannah on the head.
"What a strange little bird you are indeed, who has
found her way into our nest. Gitl is right. But come,
my little Americanisher, whose Yiddish is pure Lub-
linese, let us feed Hopel and Popel and discuss world
geography some other time. Lublin in America, Kra-
kow in Siberia." He chuckled again as he held out a
cloak for her and a pair of ugly black tie shoes.
Seeing that he was not taking her seriously, Hannah
decided there was nothing else to do but go along. She
took the clothes. The ugly shoes fit perfectly. Too per-
fectly. She shivered, then followed him out to the barn,
where they fed hay to the work horses, Popel and Hopel,
in companionable silence.

Hoping for a big breakfast, Hannah was disappointed
when all Gitl put on the table was a jug of milk, black
coffee, and a loaf of dark bread.
"No cereal?" Hannah asked. "No doughnuts? No
white bread for toast?"
"White bread? So that is what one eats in Lublin.
White bread is for rich folk, not for farmers." Shmuel
laughed. "But yesterday you would eat nothing. Noth-
ing at all. And today you want white bread. It is an
improvement, I think. From nothing to Lublin white
bread. Ah, but then I forget, you are not from Lublin,
you are from Rochelle."
"New Rochelle."
"And where is Old Rochelle?" Gitl asked.
"There isn't any," Hannah said, shaking her head.
What was the point in arguing with dream people, who

35