Isaac Mayer Dick

He married while still young and while living with his wife's parents in Nesvizh, Minsk, became acquainted with a Catholic priest who clandestinely taught him the German language.

Dick also acquired a knowledge of Russian and Polish at this time and on his return to Vilnius acted as private teacher of Hebrew and German, having for one of his pupils Mattityahu Strashun, who remained his lifelong friend.

In later years he was employed by the publishing house of Romm at a small weekly salary to write Yiddish stories; and his productions of that nature, of various sizes, are said to number nearly three hundred.

Most of the modern critics condemn his style; his constant use of High-German words, explained, often wrongly, in parentheses; his quotations from the Talmud and Midrashim with his own commentaries, retarding the flow of the narrative; and his pausing at a dialogue or other interesting point to insert a long sermon on the moral lesson to be drawn from incidents described in the story.

But in spite of all verbosity and deviation, Dick was an excellent story-teller, having a power of description, an insight into human character, and a sympathetic humor which are given to few.