piness upon the bride and groom, proceeding to particu~
lars which greatly delight the young men, but which
cause Ona to blush more furiously than ever. Jokubas
possesses what his wife complacently describes as "poetis~
zka vaidintuve" -- a poetical imagination.

Now a good many of the guests have finished, and, since
there is no pretense of ceremony, the banquet begins to
break up. Some of the men gather about the bar; some
wander about, laughing and singing; here and there
will be a little group, chanting merrily, and in sublime
indifference to the others and to the orchestra as well.
Everybody is more or less restless -- one would guess that
something is on their minds. And so it proves. The last
tardy diners are scarcely given time to finish, before the
tables and the debris are shoved into the corner, and
the chairs and the babies piled out of the way, and the
real celebration of the evening begins. Then Tamoszius
Kuszleika, after replenishing himself with a pot of beer,
returns to his platform, and, standing up, reviews the
scene; he taps authoritatively upon the side of his
violin, then tucks it carefully under his chin, then waves
his bow in an elaborate flourish, and finally smites the
sounding strings and closes his eyes, and floats away in
spirit upon the wings of a dreamy waltz. His companion
follows, but with his eyes open, watching where he treads,
so to speak; and finally Valentinavyczia, after waiting for
a little and beating with his foot to get the time, casts
up his eyes to the ceiling and begins to saw -- "Broom!
Broom! Broom!"

The company pairs off quickly, and the whole room is
soon in motion. Apparently nobody knows how to waltz,
but that is nothing of any consequence -- there is music,
and they dance, each as he pleases, just as before they
sang. Most of them prefer the "two-step," especially
the young, with whom it is the fashion. The older people
have dances from home, strange and complicated steps
which they execute with grave solemnity. Some do not
dance anything at all, but simply hold each other's hands
and allow the undisciplined joy of motion to express

[[10]]

p009 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p010w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p011

v?