Title: The Chava Chronicles
Author: Little Bird (Crowbo13@aol.com)
Summary: The story of "Fiddler on the Roof" and then some as told by Tevye's third daughter,
Chava to her diary.
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. Sholem Aleichem was the original creator in his
short stories TEVYE THE DAIRYMAN. Rights, I believe, belong to MTI.
Feedback: Welcomed and encouraged...please no flaming.
Archive: Ask first (will probably answer "yes", but just to be on the safe side)
Author's Notes: Hey, this is my first attempt at a Fiddler-Fic...please be kind. Normally I write
fantasy and science fiction, so this is a total leap for me. The reason I decided to write this is
because I played Chava recently, and wondered what she would be thinking about all this...The
play is presented in first person by Tevye, so I decided to give his Chavaleh a turn. Hope you
enjoy.
Thank you to: My Fiddler family, my SAPs and SAPlings, all my friends at the Musical.net
Fiddler Forum, and to my friends at MusicalRPG.
**********
Sholem Aleichem to you, Reb Journal. I am Chava, the third daughter of Tevye
the dairyman of our little village, Anatevka. You will have to pardon me, Reb Journal, but I do
not know how to address a book. You see, you are my first journal. There has always been a
shortage of money in my family, mainly because of how big it is; Papa and Mama, plus myself
and four sisters. Yes, Reb Journal, you heard correctly. There are five daughters in my family.
Tzeitel is the oldest, and then comes Hodel. Tzeitel is nineteen and Hodel is only older then me
by a year. I am fifteen. Then, I have two younger sisters, Shprintze, twelve, and Beilke, nine.
Papa doesn't get much for his work, and with seven mouths to feed, there is never any extra
money left to waste on things like journals.
That is why I have been saving every kopeck I could for the past year. Anytime I
received any, such as pay for an errand for Motel or Avrahm, or as a gift, I would put it away,
under my dresser. Nobody knew about the money, except for Tzeitel. I tell her everything and
vise versa. That's why she doesn't know about you . . . I told her the money was for a book of
poems. She would be very upset if she knew I was now relying on a book to keep my secrets,
rather then her. However, she is busy now, especially because Yente, the village matchmaker, is
starting to look for a husband for Tzeitel. But, Tzeitel is in love with Motel, the poor tailor. I'm
glad neither she nor Papa can read Russian, because if they found this, there would be Hell to
pay.
Let's see. . .there is always gossip here in Anatevka, mainly because of Yente and
Shaindel, Motel's mother. The two of them squawk more then Lazar Wolf's chickens. Lazar is
the richest man in town, and he is close to the oldest. Avrahm is the bookseller, and one of the
only few Jews who can read Russian. Since most of the books in the village are written in
Russian, Papa had him teach me, so I could continue to expand my passion for literature.
Anatevka is small, and I know many of the people here as well as I know my own
sisters. However, there are those I am not allowed to speak to; the Gentiles, or goys as my Papa
calls them. To speak the truth though, they frighten me. The ones I am most familiar with are the
soldiers and I only see them when I am in town. That's enough. I would prefer not to see them at
all. They are usually standing around Lazar's shop, but when I walk by, they snicker and smile
evilly. Once, a group of them started to follow me home after I left Avrahm's, but the Constable
appeared with some orders, so I managed to slip away quickly. There hasn't been another
incident, but I am still frightened.
What else can I talk about, Reb Journal? Nothing important has happened recently,
just Yente making new matches. She is trying to set up Avrahm's son Jacob, with Rochel, the
shoemaker's daughter. Tzeitel and I try to avoid Yente when we see her in town, but Hodel is
very interested in a match, only because she has her eye on Mendel, the Rabbi's son. She can
dream. She and I must wait until Tzeitel is matched and even then she has little chance. When a
girl has no dowry, a match with the Rabbi's son is almost impossible. It would be the greatest
miracle since the parting of the Red Sea!
I must go now, Reb Journal. Mama is calling for me to help clean for supper. I will write
again soon, when I have more time and privacy. Maybe something interesting will have happened by then.
**********
Author: Little Bird (Crowbo13@aol.com)
Summary: The story of "Fiddler on the Roof" and then some as told by Tevye's third daughter,
Chava to her diary.
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. Sholem Aleichem was the original creator in his
short stories TEVYE THE DAIRYMAN. Rights, I believe, belong to MTI.
Feedback: Welcomed and encouraged...please no flaming.
Archive: Ask first (will probably answer "yes", but just to be on the safe side)
Author's Notes: Hey, this is my first attempt at a Fiddler-Fic...please be kind. Normally I write
fantasy and science fiction, so this is a total leap for me. The reason I decided to write this is
because I played Chava recently, and wondered what she would be thinking about all this...The
play is presented in first person by Tevye, so I decided to give his Chavaleh a turn. Hope you
enjoy.
Thank you to: My Fiddler family, my SAPs and SAPlings, all my friends at the Musical.net
Fiddler Forum, and to my friends at MusicalRPG.
**********
Sholem Aleichem to you, Reb Journal. I am Chava, the third daughter of Tevye
the dairyman of our little village, Anatevka. You will have to pardon me, Reb Journal, but I do
not know how to address a book. You see, you are my first journal. There has always been a
shortage of money in my family, mainly because of how big it is; Papa and Mama, plus myself
and four sisters. Yes, Reb Journal, you heard correctly. There are five daughters in my family.
Tzeitel is the oldest, and then comes Hodel. Tzeitel is nineteen and Hodel is only older then me
by a year. I am fifteen. Then, I have two younger sisters, Shprintze, twelve, and Beilke, nine.
Papa doesn't get much for his work, and with seven mouths to feed, there is never any extra
money left to waste on things like journals.
That is why I have been saving every kopeck I could for the past year. Anytime I
received any, such as pay for an errand for Motel or Avrahm, or as a gift, I would put it away,
under my dresser. Nobody knew about the money, except for Tzeitel. I tell her everything and
vise versa. That's why she doesn't know about you . . . I told her the money was for a book of
poems. She would be very upset if she knew I was now relying on a book to keep my secrets,
rather then her. However, she is busy now, especially because Yente, the village matchmaker, is
starting to look for a husband for Tzeitel. But, Tzeitel is in love with Motel, the poor tailor. I'm
glad neither she nor Papa can read Russian, because if they found this, there would be Hell to
pay.
Let's see. . .there is always gossip here in Anatevka, mainly because of Yente and
Shaindel, Motel's mother. The two of them squawk more then Lazar Wolf's chickens. Lazar is
the richest man in town, and he is close to the oldest. Avrahm is the bookseller, and one of the
only few Jews who can read Russian. Since most of the books in the village are written in
Russian, Papa had him teach me, so I could continue to expand my passion for literature.
Anatevka is small, and I know many of the people here as well as I know my own
sisters. However, there are those I am not allowed to speak to; the Gentiles, or goys as my Papa
calls them. To speak the truth though, they frighten me. The ones I am most familiar with are the
soldiers and I only see them when I am in town. That's enough. I would prefer not to see them at
all. They are usually standing around Lazar's shop, but when I walk by, they snicker and smile
evilly. Once, a group of them started to follow me home after I left Avrahm's, but the Constable
appeared with some orders, so I managed to slip away quickly. There hasn't been another
incident, but I am still frightened.
What else can I talk about, Reb Journal? Nothing important has happened recently,
just Yente making new matches. She is trying to set up Avrahm's son Jacob, with Rochel, the
shoemaker's daughter. Tzeitel and I try to avoid Yente when we see her in town, but Hodel is
very interested in a match, only because she has her eye on Mendel, the Rabbi's son. She can
dream. She and I must wait until Tzeitel is matched and even then she has little chance. When a
girl has no dowry, a match with the Rabbi's son is almost impossible. It would be the greatest
miracle since the parting of the Red Sea!
I must go now, Reb Journal. Mama is calling for me to help clean for supper. I will write
again soon, when I have more time and privacy. Maybe something interesting will have happened by then.
**********