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Tevye: And until your golden day comes, Rev. Perchik, How will you live?
Perchik: By giving lessons to children, Do you have any children?
Tevye: I have five daughters.
Perchik: [Looking to Tevye in disbelief] Five?
Tevye: Daughters...
Perchik: Girls can learn too, girls are .
Mendel: A radical!
Tevye: Oh, go away!
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Tevye: [after seeing Chava and Fyedka talking] What were you and he talking about?
Chava: Nothing. We were just talking.
Tevye: Good.
[walks away]
Chava: [chasing after Teyve] Papa! Fyedka and I... We've known each other for a long time...
Tevye: Chaveleh, I would be much happier if you remained friends from a distance. You must not forget who you are and who that man is.
Chava: He has a name, Papa.
Tevye: Of course. All creatures on Earth have a name.
Chava: Fyedka is not a creature, Papa. Fyedka is a man!
Tevye: Who says he isn't? It's just that he's a different kind of man. As the Good Book says, "Each shall seek his own kind." In other words, a bird may love a fish, but where would they build a home together?
Chava: The world is changing, Papa!
Tevye: [rounding on her] No!
[calmly]
Tevye: No. Some things do not change for us. Some things will never change.
Chava: We don't feel that way.
Tevye: We?
Chava: Fyedka and I... We want to be married.
Tevye: What? Are you out of your mind? Don't you understand what that means, marrying outside of the faith?
Chava: But, Papa...
Tevye: I said no! Never talk about it again. Never mention his name again. Never see him again. Do you understand me?
Chava: [quietly] Yes, Papa. I understand you.
Rosalind Harris
Extended Reading
