Mr. Monday and other tales of Jewish Amsterdam

124 Air. Monday and Other Tales of Jewish Amsterdam

it got even worse when Aunt Breinie came back from the Rhine and for weeks afterwards was everywhere and all the time walking around humming:

Oh, a trip along the Rhine, Rhine, Rhine, Is so lovely and so fine, fine, fine, In a pleasure boat so dear, dear, dear, Glass of beer, beer, beer, Glass of beer, beer, beer...

It was not actually humming and it was not exactly what you could call singing, but it was sheer torture for Pessie, and the whole family knew that Aunt Pessie had to do something to get back.

But what could she do? What nobody thought about, is what she did. With her husband, Sakkie, she went to Paris! For fourteen long days the whole world got the most scandalous picture postcards from her, with naked girlies on them and new and then a scene of the city. Special for Aunt Breinie she sent a letter full of French words, which I don't remember except that I do know that one thing it said was "In Paris the traffic is so bad that one horse walks with his nose against the backside of the horse in front of him."

Then, when Pessie got back home, she deafened our ears with stories about a Yiddish family from the Rue de Peeyay, and she tossed around French words that she had learned from those people. Well, how could Aunt Breinie top that? I'll tell you right away.

Those were the days when huge sideboards were coming into style, so Breinie had her front parlour cleared out.