Mr. Monday and other tales of Jewish Amsterdam

DISPUTES 117

crowd while commenting "That fellow hates himself but as a matter of fact he's as much an idealist a I am. Oy, so why does he make himself out to be a wild beast?"

Next to this circle another crowd is gathered around Cohennetje (little Cohen) who lectures the masses on the intricacies of Sex. He is a small, slim fellow with a face like a pear drop and wears a pointed hat, a loose tie with flaps, and a cape. At his feet is a gunnysack. What professors at the university do not know yet of Sex, has already been revealed to him. All by himself he assaults sacred cows. But he does not stop at words, he brings his theories into practice. His consistent attitude has landed him in jail many a time. But as soon as he is out he addresses himself to the masses again. For Cohennetje can't keep his mouth shut, when he doesn't do time, he talks.

The gunnysack contains a red and a white cabbage. This is because Cohennetje has discovered that among red and white cabbages there are sexual distinctions. There are male red cabbages and female red cabbages. Some white cabbages are ladies, whereas other white ones are gentlemen. But—and this is the brilliant discovery of Cohennetje—once per so many cabbages the sexual characteristics are a bit mixed up. In that case you find a red one which is both boy and girl. Or you have a cabbage which all by itself possesses a kind of "third sex". After he convinced himself of these truths, Cohennetje has gone out to teach humanity that in the field of sexuality, no aberrations or exceptions exist, because everything is arranged in, and by Nature.