Audiobook
There’s no much information availabe about Benjamin Rosenblatt. We have to suppose he was a Jewish who lived in New York. We know he was active writing in the
beginning of the 20th century because it was then when his
short stories were published. On the Internet you can find only three
short stories by him.
Our story, “Zelig”, is about a character of the same name. He and his family (wife, son
and grandson) lived in Little Russia, that is, in a region in
Ukraine. But as things didn’t go well in Russia, his son, a
widower, took his child, an eleven-year-old boy, and migrated to the USA. Zelig chose to remain in Russia, notwithstanding the hard life conditions.
In New York, his son seemed to prosper and asked his father to come to live with him, but Zelig didn’t want to leave his country. However, one day, Zelig’s son got ill and he asked his father to come there to help him and his grandson. Reluctantly, Zelig travelled there with his wife, got a job in a cloak-shop and helped his son, who was no longer able to work. But he missed his homeland and longed to go back, even though he knew that conditions there with the pogroms was worse than ever. He was a huge man, a bit crazy, all the time lost in this thoughts, who rejected to belong to any community. He also paid a lot of attention to his money, and, according to the cliché, he was very mean.
But Zelig’s son didn’t recover from his illness and died. So Zelig had to take care of his grandson, who wanted to study at the university, pay for it, and forget about getting back to Russia.
In New York, his son seemed to prosper and asked his father to come to live with him, but Zelig didn’t want to leave his country. However, one day, Zelig’s son got ill and he asked his father to come there to help him and his grandson. Reluctantly, Zelig travelled there with his wife, got a job in a cloak-shop and helped his son, who was no longer able to work. But he missed his homeland and longed to go back, even though he knew that conditions there with the pogroms was worse than ever. He was a huge man, a bit crazy, all the time lost in this thoughts, who rejected to belong to any community. He also paid a lot of attention to his money, and, according to the cliché, he was very mean.
But Zelig’s son didn’t recover from his illness and died. So Zelig had to take care of his grandson, who wanted to study at the university, pay for it, and forget about getting back to Russia.