All this, in phrases half Yiddish, half German, and altogether foreign to the ears of Polotzk.

At least, I never heard such talk in the market, when I went to buy a kopeck's worth of sunflower seeds.
This was all the schooling I had in Russia.

My father's plans fell to the ground, on account of the protracted illness of both my parents.
All his hopes of leading his children beyond the intellectual limits of Polotzk were trampled down by the monster poverty who showed his evil visage just as my sister and I were fairly started on a broader path.
One chance we had, and that was quickly snatched away, of continuing our education in spite of family difficulties.

Lozhe the Rav, hearing from various sources that Pinchus, son-in-law of Raphael the Russian, had two bright little girls, whose talents were going to waste for want of training, became much interested, and sent for the children, to see for himself what the gossip was worth.

By a strange trick of memory I recall nothing of this important interview, nor indeed of the whole matter, although a thousand trifles of that period recur to me on the instant; so I report this anecdote on the authority of my parents.
They tell me how the rav lifted me up on a table in front of him, and asked me many questions, and encouraged me to ask questions in my turn.