[MENDEL, spoken]
Rabbi, we've waited all our lives for the Messiah. Wouldn't now be a good time for him to come?
[RABBI, spoken]
We'll have to wait for him someplace else. Meanwhile, let's start packing.
[YENTE, spoken]
Well, Anatevka hasn't been exactly the Garden of Eden.
[AVRAM, spoken]
That's true.
[GOLDE, spoken]
After all, what have we got here?
(sung)
A little bit of this
A little bit of that
[AVRAM]
A pot
[LAZAR]
A pan
[MORDCHA]
A broom
[YENTE]
A hat
[TEVYE, spoken]
Someone should have set a match to this place years ago.
[LAZAR]
A bench
[MORDCHA]
A tree
[AVRAM]
What's a house?
[GOLDE]
Or a stove?
[MORDCHA, spoken]
People who pass through Anatevka don't even know they've been here.
[AVRAM]
A stick of wood
[LAZAR]
A piece of cloth
[ALL]
What do we leave?
Nothing much
Only Anatevka
Anatevka, Anatevka
Underfed, overworked Anatevka
Where else could Sabbath be so sweet?
Anatevka, Anatevka
Intimate, obstinate Anatevka
Where I know everyone I meet
Soon I'll be a stranger in a strange new place
Searching for an old familiar face
From Anatevka
I belong in Anatevka
Tumble-down, work-a-day Anatevka
Dear little village, little town of mine
[GOLDE, spoken]
It's just a place.
[MORDCHA, spoken]
Our forefathers have been forced out of many, many places at a moment's notice.
[TEVYE, spoken]
Maybe that's why we always wear our hats.