given there according to the style of the house, they upbraid the
people, and even curse them, so the children are told to stand at the
doors with paras and cakes, etc. At some houses they are invited in.
Each carries a sack on his shoulder, expecting, I suppose, that it will
be filled with good things by the time Purim is over; and, as they never
pass a door without begging, they are not likely to be disappointed.

"The fun I enjoyed best was the uncovering of our plates and seeing what
Shalach-monus had been sent to us. A cap had been sent to Father, made
of velvet, with tails of sable and other skins round it. Father felt
very downcast, for he did not at all like the idea of giving up wearing
the high hat that he always wore in London on Sabbaths and holidays.
Whether he will wear the velvet schtramel or not I cannot tell, but I
will wait and see who wins--Father or the community--for we have some
idea who sent it.

"Mother received a beautiful, soft silk kerchief to wear on her head,
and it seemed a sign that the community wanted her to put her wig aside
and wear a kerchief instead. I was most thankful they did not send me a
pair of scissors. If they had, I should have thought they wanted me to
cut my plaits off. Well, I should have fought for my hair as I would for
life!

"In the afternoon I went to visit some friends, and I found a house full
of men, young and old, with their schtramel on their heads, and their
kaftans tied back, singing at the very top of their voices (and some
have very fine voices); others were clapping their hands, while eight
men, four on each side, were dancing what looked like a pantomime ballet
that I once went to. It was simply grand to watch them, for some were
old men with long, white beards, while others were serious-looking