Bontsha the Silent by Isaac Leib Peretz
"Bontsha the Silent" is a poignant story by Isaac Leib Peretz that explores the life and afterlife of its titular character, Bontsha. Born into a poor Jewish family, Bontsha is characterized by his silence and passive acceptance of the hardships that define his existence. From a painful circumcision at birth to a series of misfortunes, including the loss of his mother and a difficult life with a stepmother, Bontsha endures suffering without complaint. His life culminates in tragedy when he dies unnoticed after being run over by a carriage belonging to a man he once helped.
In an ironic twist, upon his death, Bontsha finds himself in Heaven, where he is unexpectedly honored despite his humble, unremarkable life. The narrative unfolds in a heavenly court, where his defender recounts Bontsha's silent suffering, while a prosecuting angel humorously claims Bontsha's silence as his only fault. Ultimately, the judge offers Bontsha any reward in Paradise, to which he humbly requests a simple roll and butter for breakfast every day. This choice resonates with the themes of unacknowledged pain, the value of humility, and the irony of existence, prompting reflections on the nature of suffering and reward in life and beyond.
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Bontsha the Silent by Isaac Leib Peretz
First published: "Bontche Shveig," 1894 (English translation, 1899)
Type of plot: Satire
Time of work: The late 1800's
Locale: Eastern Europe and Heaven
Principal Characters:
Bontsha the Silent , the protagonist, a poor laborerThe defending angel , who recounts Bontsha's lifethe prosecuting angel
The Story
In this characteristically ironic tale, Isaac Leib Peretz recounts the tragic life of one of his best-known protagonists, Bontsha the Silent. By opening with Bontsha's death, Peretz projects his narrative into the realm of the folktale, as he unveils before the readers fantastic scenes of Heaven, its host, and the proceedings of the heavenly court.
In the opening phase of the story, Peretz presents a summary of Bontsha's traits and the troubled life he led. Bontsha, this insignificant man on earth, who "lived unknown, in silence, and in silence he died," is born to a poor Jewish family. He silently accepts pain from the outset when, at the age of eight days, his circumcision causes him undue bleeding and pain. Even at his Bar Mitzvah ceremony, the thirteen-year-old Bontsha remains silent, failing to deliver the traditional speech expected of young Jews entering adulthood.
Bontsha also remains silent when, as a grown-up, he uncomplainingly suffers the miseries, pain, and poverty his fate bestows on him in a world too preoccupied with itself to notice the existence of those in need in life, illness, and death. All traces of Bontsha's shadowy existence are soon lost; the ephemeral quality of his earthly life is confirmed when the wooden marker falls off his grave, to be picked up and burned.
Surprisingly, however, Bontsha's death is known by everyone in Heaven, where his reception is excitedly anticipated. Although not noted for his holiness, fame, or righteousness, the silent Bontsha is accorded the highest honors (to the consternation of some saintly residents).
Bontsha remains, in death as in life, silent. Baffled and incredulous at the honors extended to him, he is certain that this is but a dream, soon to vanish as he again awakens to his hellish existence. Perhaps, he thinks, mistaken identity is the cause of this warm outpouring, soon to be reversed as in past experiences, when the error resulted in his becoming the brunt of embarrassed anger.
Bontsha's fear becomes magnified when, finding himself standing in the magnificently bejeweled court in Paradise, he is certain that he has been mistaken for someone else who would merit standing in so rich a palace.
Bontsha's trial begins; he, like all mortals, must pass before the heavenly tribunal to be rewarded or punished for his deeds on earth. His defending angel opens the testimony by presenting specific details to illustrate Bontsha's eternal, silent suffering at the hands of others. Beginning with Bontsha's birth, the defending angel details the sad life story of this humble man; the prosecuting angel mocks the defense's testimony, but Bontsha's advocate persists, recounting how this most silent, persevering sufferer lost his mother in his early years, only to be reared by a wicked stepmother whose stinginess with food was matched only by her generosity in meting out punishment. Bontsha was finally cast out of home (and on a cold wintry night) by his own father, a drunkard, to wander aimlessly and land in prison in the big city.
Silent even then, not questioning or protesting his imprisonment or the subsequent lowly jobs at which he works after being released, Bontsha continued to go through life. Finding a more decent job as a porter, Bontsha risked life and limb as he carried heavy loads on his back through crowded, traffic-laden streets. There too, however, he remained unchanged, often begging silently with his eyes only for the meager wages due him, accepting delays, and silently tolerating outright cheating. Bontsha never, says the defending angel, would compare his lot with that of others and would always accept his lot without a murmur against man or God.
A seemingly miraculous turn of events occurred in Bontsha's life when, having rescued a wealthy Jewish passenger from catastrophe in a runaway horse-drawn carriage, he was rewarded with a job as coachman, a marriage, and a child. Before he even had a chance to pay Bontsha, however, this philanthropist mysteriously went bankrupt. Bontsha's wife, meanwhile, ran off, leaving him with her son (who, when he grew up, threw Bontsha out of his house). Through all these troubled events, continues the defending angel, Bontsha continued to accept his fate silently and submissively, without a word of protest or complaint.
The defending angel, now speaking at length without the prosecutor's interruptions, reviews the circumstances of Bontsha's death, when he was run over by the very horse-drawn carriage of his former benefactor, who, as suddenly and mysteriously as before, recovered from bankruptcy, hired a new coachman, and continued living as before. Bontsha suffered his wounds from the accident in silence, in a hospital whose doctors and nurses ignored him and did nothing to ease his pain. Even while dying, Bontsha remained silent, never uttering a word against other human beings or God.
Concluding his defense, the angel leaves Bontsha trembling in fear of what the prosecution will present from his murky past. Surprisingly, the prosecuting angel proclaims that "he was always silent—and now I too will be silent."
The judge, praising Bontsha's perseverance and silence in life, offers him any reward he wishes to choose in Paradise. Incredulously, Bontsha, now lifting his eyes, still needs the judge's repeated confirmation that it is indeed he who merits this highest of rewards. Bontsha's surprising request—in the light of all that is before him—is to have a roll and butter for breakfast every day.
The request lands like thunder, silencing and shaming the heavens. Only the prosecuting angel's loud laughter shatters the silence.