 | Moses Mendelssohn, the grandfather of the well-known German
composer, was far from being handsome. Along with a rather short
stature, he had a grotesque hunchback.
One day he visited a merchant in Hamburg who had a lovely daughter
named Frumtje. Moses fell hopelessly in love with her. But Frumtje was
repulsed by his misshapen appearance.
When it came time for him to leave, Moses gathered his courage and
climbed the stairs to her room to take one last opportunity to speak with
her. She was a vision of heavenly beauty, but caused him deep sadness
by her refusal to look at him. After several attempts at conversation,
Moses shyly asked, "Do you believe marriages are made in heaven?"
"Yes," she answered, still looking at the floor. "And do you?"
"Yes I do," he replied. "You see, in heaven at the birth of each boy, the
Lord announces which girl he will marry. When I was born, my future
bride was pointed out to me. Then the Lord added, 'But your wife will
be humpbacked.'
"Right then and there I called out, 'Oh Lord, a humpbacked woman
would be a tragedy. Please, Lord, give me the hump and let her be
beautiful.'"
Then Frumtje looked up into his eyes and was stirred by some deep
memory. She reached out and gave Mendelssohn her hand and later
became his devoted wife.
Written by Barry and Joyce Vissell
Submitted by sumeet |  |
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