Home > Work > The Letters of Menakhem-Mendl and Sheyne-Sheyndl and Motl, the Cantor's Son
1 " Who could guess he’d have a tooth pulled by Shmelke the healer and lie down the next morning and die? It’s as my mother says: “Tomorrow is another day—but whose? "
― Sholom Aleichem , The Letters of Menakhem-Mendl and Sheyne-Sheyndl and Motl, the Cantor's Son
2 " How does the saying go? “Earning less and sleeping well is earning best. "
3 " But it’s as my mother, bless her, says: When a madman breaks a window, it’s never his own…. "
4 " You know what a clever woman my mother is. “What good,” she says to me, “are all his promises of tablecloths and handkerchiefs when he should be sending you cash? The Angel of Death doesn’t wait for a man to buy his shrouds… "
5 " Stay at home,” says my mother, “and you won’t wear out your boots! "
6 " Not that I’m waiting with bated breath for your presents. I need your diamond brooches and bracelets like last year’s snow. "
7 " As my mother says, there’s no need to show the beaten dog a stick…. "
8 " It seems there’s no way of making a living in this world that I haven’t tried. The one thing left is matchmaking. "
9 " Matchmaking, for example. What could be finer, better, easier, more respectable? What does it take, after all? Nothing but a bit of common sense and enough brains to see who goes with who. "
10 " But you know what my mother says: “With the right kind of luck you can break your nose falling on grass … "
11 " As your mother would say, “If you’re knee-deep in mud, keep on crawling. "
12 " But it’s as my mother says: “If you want to learn how to grow cabbages, ask the gardener, not the goat. "
13 " The wise man blesses the whip that flogs him,” says my mother. "
14 " But it’s as my mother says: “When a girl can’t dance, she blames the musicians … "
15 " I hope you and your partners have more luck than we have water in our river. "
16 " In short, things are going from bad to worse. But if you want peace and quiet, my mother says, you should look for it in the grave … "
17 " My brother-in-law—may my life be as long as his was short!—has died of the toothache. Of course, his health wasn’t too good before that. "
18 " A drunk grows sober before a fool grows wise,” says my mother, more health to her. "
19 " As my mother says, “God is a father. He punishes with one hand and heals with the other.” That’s something I don’t get. Why punish and then heal? You could save yourself the trouble by skipping both. "
20 " Well, to quote my mother, a worm lies in horseradish and thinks there’s nothing sweeter. "
