Shortly after that they were standing beneath the bridal canopy in the small hall of the synagogue. A short rabbi with a neatly trimmed little beard read whatever it was that he read, and Gurdweill, whose mind was now quite clear, reflected gladly that it would soon be over and he would be able to take off his clothes. The rabbi read ‘Behold thou’ and waited for Gurdweill to repeat the words after him one by one, but the latter suddenly remembered his childhood lessons and read the whole sentence triumphantly by himself, slipping the ring onto Thea’s finger as he did so. The rabbi glared murderously at Gurdweill as if he had deprived him of his rightful due, looking like someone who has exerted all his strength to lift a heavy sack, only to discover suddenly that it was full of feathers, causing him to lose his balance and fall over backwards. Gurdweill, who was for some reason gratified by the rabbi’s discomfiture, smiled broadly for a moment. Then he remembered that he was supposed to be wearing a solemn expression and quickly suppressed his smile. The rabbi went on reading something. The cantor, too, raised his voice in song, and Thea listened to everything with great interest. Eventually the ceremony came to an end, and Gurdweill felt a sense of liberation. Everyone congratulated them and kissed one another, and even the old aunt gave Gurdweill a chilly aristocratic peck on the cheek. Afterwards they all went to the tram stop and took a tram to Baron von Takow’s house.