Read Online Grantville Gazette, Volume 59 by Paula Goodlett - Free Book Online Page B

Latin. I'm afraid I can't allow any food or drink in the room with these papers, or any kind of liquids, but the dining room is right on the other side of those sliding doors. Just ask Sister Friedeberger for some refreshments when you want them."
    William's son John came in carrying a stack of type fonts wrapped for transportation, and set down the heavy load on the bench with care to keep them from any danger of scrambling.
    Albert went on, "Anything you want to go over, before I go out to take care of some morning chores?"
    John turned back from the door in surprise. "You will not remain with these guests, Brother Green?"
    "No, Brother Button. I'll come back in a while, but if Rabbi Leon is going to give the book his endorsement when it's published, he needs time to make his examination and reach his own conclusions without me hanging over his shoulder. Besides, you know our rules. Priesthood of all believers. If I didn't do my share of the farm work, the rest of you would turn me into the high priest, and that's a headache I don't want."
    "But you've studied so much longer and know so much more. Might you not be needed here?"
    Albert's smile was of the sort bestowed on a clever student. "The Bible is not a shovel. Remember? It's not a tool to be used for making a living. Let's remember to talk about that again. Anyway, if something comes up that needs my immediate attention, you can always find me. I'll be looking in at the sawmill first." His gaze changed direction. "You all set, Yakov?"
    Leon looked at Yakov. His eyes said, "Is he serious?"
    Yakov nodded and pulled out a chair. "Let's sit down." He put his hand on a folder tagged as Torah text, and a bland expression on his face. "You might like to start with this."
    ****
    Around noon Albert came back in. Leon hardly stirred when Yakov looked up from the Essene Rule of Order he was re-reading, a thing whose existence nobody had even imagined. A Jewish monastery? He motioned with his head toward the doors. Over a glass of cold water back in the kitchen, he lowered his voice. "I didn't want to disturb the Great Venetian Scholar. I've been enjoying watching him. He talked nonstop at the delicatessen and on the ride up here, about what a fool's errand this probably was. Then he took one good long look when he got your reading glass in his hand, and shut up. You should have seen his face! He hasn't said a word yet." He snickered. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to impress an ever-so-sophisticated Sephardic full-time professional Rabbi? Do you have any idea how much he is going to hate admitting that a German rabbi who works for a living knows what he's talking about? I'm so glad I don't have to get in a dither over the sin of pride and so forth, the way the Catholics do."
    Albert raised an eyebrow. "Surely there isn't that much rivalry!"
    Yakov snorted. "You Christians don't get along among yourselves, often enough. Why would you think we Jews do, even if we don't turn it into a Thirty Years' War?" He looked Albert in the eye and shook his head, "If he had anything to say, any way at all to tell me I was wrong, mistaken, confused or did not know what I was talking about, he would be telling me about it in pious detail. He would be perfectly polite about it, and perfectly thorough. He isn't doing that, because he can't. And right now he is lost among the pages making his mind see the common script when his eyes see the fuzzy odd block and then triangular script on the slick and shiny paper. Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh Mi-modena from Venice is staring at photocopies of Torah portions written when the temple still stood in Jerusalem. He understands what you have here, if anybody does. And I intend to keep my mouth shut and not tell him 'I told you so.' You and I agreed on what we want to accomplish, and it's not one-upmanship—charming word. We need Leon's endorsement to get this taken seriously when it's published. Not to mention his help editing. Have you heard from your