Easter Candles by Edna Worthley Underwood

Name: Easter Candles
Author: Edna Worthley Underwood

Leiba Zibal, proprietor of a lonely rest-house near Podeni, sits waiting for the overdue stage, weakened by marsh fever that has stricken him, his wife Sura, and their child. As he waits, his mind drifts back through his hard life: his time as a waiter who lost his post after a porters' brawl left him traumatized, his years as a huckster and rag-dealer in Jassy, his marriage to Sura, and his eventual inheritance of the Podeni rest-house from Sura's brother, which finally brought him modest prosperity. His fevered thoughts fix on a hired servant named George, a coarse, violent Christian who threatened Sura during her pregnancy and set dogs on the baby, prompting Leiba to dismiss him. George resisted leaving, grabbed at something hidden in his clothing, and swore vengeance, telling Leiba to wait until Easter night to "pick red eggs together" and settle accounts. Leiba sought protection from the sub-prefect, who mocked his fear instead of helping. Soon after, mounted police sought George in connection with a crime, and he vanished. Now it is the eve of Easter, and church bells from a distant village torment Leiba's feverish brain. He tries to reassure himself that George must be in prison, and daydreams of eventually moving the family to a thriving rest-house in Jassy near police headquarters, where he imagines safety and prosperity. Sura calls that the stage is coming, but Leiba, exhausted, falls asleep at the table and dreams: in Jassy, a madman escaped from the Golia asylum smashes the heads of Sura and the baby together before his eyes. He wakes to find it was Sura teasingly rousing him for the stage's real arrival. Two student travelers on the stage discuss a murder committed the night before at another rest-house run by a Jew, and debate theories of heredity, atavism, and "reversion to type." Leiba applies this idea to George, convinced it describes him exactly. After the stage departs, Leiba grows increasingly paranoid through the evening. He refuses to let Sura open the door to arriving guests, whispers that no Christian will enter that night, and sharpens an ax in the passageway. He sends Sura to bed and extinguishes the lamp. Alone in the dark, Leiba hears horsemen approaching and fragments of ominous conversation. Convinced it is George returning, he grows increasingly deranged, silencing the loud ticking clock and moving in stockinged feet. He hears men outside boring holes in the door with an auger to reach the bolt, and overhears George directing accomplices to break in and rob the sleeping household. In his fevered state, Leiba's terror suddenly transforms into eerie calm and something like joy; he creeps to a drawer, retrieves something, and hides it, then watches the boring work with anticipation, urging the intruders silently to hurry. When a hand is finally thrust through the completed opening to reach the bolt, Leiba loops a rope noose around the wrist and cinches it fast to a block of wood, trapping the intruder. The accomplices flee. Leiba brings the lamp close to examine the swollen, trapped hand, deliberately burning it and laughing wildly at the victim's cries as day breaks. Sura wakes to find Leiba's bed unslept in and, following sounds of groaning, discovers him seated calmly on a stool, transfixed in silence as he watches the trapped hand — belonging to George — blacken and die, feeling nothing for the sufferer's howls. Villagers returning from the Easter resurrection service with lit candles find the door blocked by George's body, hanging by the one snared arm. Leiba rises, declares before the gathered villagers that he is no longer a Jew but has become a Christian because, in Christ's honor, he burned candles at Easter, and walks off deliberately toward the east and the hills.

By Edna Worthley Underwood · First published 1919 · Genre: Psychological Thriller, Horror, Psychological Realism · 6,059 words

First lines

L. G. CARAGIALE

Leiba Zibal, proprietor of the little rest-house by Podeni, is sitting / thoughtfully under the projecting roof in front of the wine shop waiting / for the stage which is already overdue an hour.

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Easter Candles is listed on Textopian as a short story by Edna Worthley Underwood, dated 1919 CE.

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Work type: Short story
Author: Edna Worthley Underwood
Date: 1919 CE
Language: English
Genres: Psychological Thriller, Horror, Psychological Realism, Literary Fiction, Social Commentary Fiction
Length: 6,059 words
Structure: 1 section, 137 paragraphs
Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)

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Work identity for Easter Candles by Edna Worthley Underwood
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Genres

Psychological Thriller — The narrative centers on Leiba's escalating paranoia and mental breakdown as he awaits George's promised violent return on Easter night, creating sustained tension between perceived and actual threats.
Horror — Contains graphic depictions of violence, disturbing imagery of brutality, and a climactic scene of prolonged suffering that emphasizes human cruelty and the grotesque.
Psychological Realism — Provides deep introspective portrayal of Leiba's consciousness, his fever-induced hallucinations, fragmented thoughts, and the psychological mechanisms through which trauma manifests in his perception of reality.
Literary Fiction — Employs sophisticated narrative technique, philosophical complexity, stream-of-consciousness passages, and symbolic language that elevates it beyond plot-driven storytelling.