-2-The storks of Bociany
were majestic white birds, three, sometimes four feet in height, with
black flight feathers, dark-red bills, and spindly reddish legs. They
were inclined to stand motionless on one foot and meditate and would have
devoted entire days to this activity — were
it not for the prosaic problems of sustenance, which in comparison to
the problems of the hosts on whose roofs they lived, were not inordinately
severe.
The storks derived their livelihood from the swamps surrounding the shtetl,
which swarmed with frogs, tadpoles, snails, and earthworms. The human habit
of storing away supplies against a "black hour" was alien to them.
They could fill themselves and their offspring so far and no more, yet the thought
of their treasures in the swamps gave them no peace of mind. Several times a
day they felt compelled to check on their "gold mines," if only to
fish for a snack for their little ones, or merely to survey the marshes by cruising
above them. Because of this, the air above the shtetl always resounded
with their bustling cries and the clatter of their bills, sounds that expressed
with urgency the grave state of stork affairs.
It is therefore no
wonder that a wandering band of beggars, which regularly descended on
Bociany for the Tuesday market day, had coined the term "a Bociany
fair" for any racket loud enough to reach the sky. Every Tuesday,
the clamor from the humans below, and the cacophony from the birds above,
threatened to deafen the unprepared ears of a stranger, before he even
realized that he was actually caught between two towns, a Bociany on earth
and a Bociany in the heavens, both towns preoccupied in dead seriousness
with practical problems, one with having too much, the other with having
too little.
 For
the earthly Bociany fared not so "heavenly." The land around the shtetl
was indeed generous and fertile, but it belonged to a landowner and to his heirs,
who lived in a manor house at the foot of the White Mountain. Most of the peasants
owned little more than a small piece of swampy land. They labored as field hands
on the landlord's property. And as the Gentiles fared, so fared the Jews. The
shtetl of Bociany was distinguished by its poverty.
It could not be helped.
The pauper could neither escape his home nor his fate. What he could do was
wait with iron fortitude, the Christian for the Kingdom of Heaven and the Jews
for the coming of the Messiah, and in the meantime be consoled with whatever
solace he could find. And the storks were a solace for the shtetl.
When the Polish autumn
began to dip leaves in a pallet of sunset colors, when the sheaves of
grain appeared on the scythed fields like figures embracing in a melancholy
dance, and the time for blowing the ram's horn for the High Holy Days
was passed, a peculiar restlessness entered the hearts of the people of
Bociany and mixed with the usual autumnal sadness. That was the time when
the storks, as if by a prearranged signal, rose from the rooftops, fluttered
their wings as if waving good-bye, and soared toward the sky. For a while,
they circled the region, as if to fix the familiar panorama in their memory.
Then, as if on command, they formed themselves into long lines, and with
majestic dignity, flew off toward distant lands.
"Who knows if
they'll return," Manka the Washerwoman and the other peasant women
would sigh, crossing themselves in awe.
A bird was not like
a human being, who died where he was born. A bird was born free, soared
high, and could see what was behind and what was ahead. So perhaps the
storks could foresee that the abundant swamps would become arid, and they
would seek out new homes for future summers. The peasant women blinked
their moist eyes toward the sky, until the last quivering string of storks
wound itself into the horizon and vanished.....
1
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 From:
Chava Rosenfarb, Bociany. Translated from the Yiddish by the
author. © 2000 by Chava Rosenfarb (Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University
Press), pp. 8-13. Excerpted by permission of the publisher. |
BIRDS
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