‘None,’ replied the guest.
‘Very good. Did you personally establish that death took place?’
‘The procurator may be certain of it.’
‘And tell me ... were they given the drink before being hung on the posts?’[146]
‘Yes. But he,’ here the guest closed his eyes, ‘refused to drink it.’
‘Who, precisely?’ asked Pilate.
‘Forgive me, Hegemon!’ the guest exclaimed. ‘Did I not name him? Ha-Nozri!’
‘Madman!’ said Pilate, grimacing for some reason. A little nerve began to twitch under his left eye. ‘To die of sunburn! Why refuse what is offered by law! In what terms did he refuse it?’
‘He said,’ the guest answered, again closing his eyes, ‘that he was grateful and laid no blame for the taking of his life.’
‘On whom?’ Pilate asked in a hollow voice.
‘That he did not say, Hegemon ...’
‘Did he try to preach anything in the soldiers’ presence?’
‘No, Hegemon, he was not loquacious this time. The only thing he said was that among human vices he considered cowardice one of the first.’[147]
‘This was said with regard to what?’ the guest heard a suddenly cracked voice.
‘That was impossible to understand. He generally behaved himself strangely — as always, however.’
‘What was this strangeness?’
‘He kept trying to peer into the eyes of one or another of those around him, and kept smiling some sort of lost smile.’
‘Nothing else?’ asked the hoarse voice.
‘Nothing else.’
The procurator knocked against the cup as he poured himself some wine. After draining it to the very bottom, he spoke:
‘The matter consists in the following: though we have been unable — so far at least - to discover any admirers or followers of his, it is none the less impossible to guarantee that there are none.’
The guest listened attentively, inclining his head.
‘And so, to avoid surprises of any sort,’ the procurator continued, ‘I ask you to remove the bodies of all three executed men from the face of the earth, immediately and without any noise, and to bury them in secrecy and silence, so that not another word or whisper is heard of them.’
‘Understood, Hegemon,’ replied the guest, and he got up, saying: ‘In view of the complexity and responsibility of the matter, allow me to go immediately.’
‘No, sit down again,’ said Pilate, stopping his guest with a gesture, ‘there are two more questions. First, your enormous merits in this most difficult job at the post of head of the secret service for the procurator of Judea give me the pleasant opportunity of reporting them to Rome.’
Here the guest’s face turned pink, he rose and bowed to the procurator, saying:
‘I merely fulfil my duty in the imperial service.’
‘But I wanted to ask you,’ the hegemon continued, ‘in case you’re offered a transfer elsewhere with a raise — to decline it and remain here. I wouldn’t want to part with you for anything. Let them reward you in some other way.’
‘I am happy to serve under your command, Hegemon.’
‘That pleases me very much. And so, the second question. It concerns this ... what’s his name ... Judas of Kiriath.’
Here the guest sent the procurator his glance, and at once, as was his custom, extinguished it.
‘They say,’ the procurator continued, lowering his voice, ‘that he supposedly got some money for receiving this madman so cordially?’
‘Will get,’ the head of the secret service quietly corrected Pilate.
‘And is it a large sum?’
‘That no one can say, Hegemon.’
‘Not even you?’ said the hegemon, expressing praise by his amazement.
‘Alas, not even I,’ the guest calmly replied. ‘But he will get the money this evening, that I do know. He is to be summoned tonight to the palace of Kaifa.’
‘Ah, that greedy old man of Kiriath!’ the procurator observed, smiling. ‘He is an old man, isn’t he?’
‘The procurator is never mistaken, but he is mistaken this time,’ the guest replied courteously, ‘the man from Kiriath is a young man.’
‘You don’t say! Can you describe his character for me? A fanatic?’
‘Oh, no, Procurator.’
‘So. And anything else?’
‘Very handsome.’
‘What else? He has some passion, perhaps?’
‘It is difficult to have such precise knowledge about everyone in this huge city, Procurator ...’
‘Ah, no, no, Aphranius! Don’t play down your merits.’
‘He has one passion, Procurator.’ The guest made a tiny pause. ‘A passion for money.’
‘And what is his occupation?’
Aphranius raised his eyes, thought, and replied:
‘He works in the money-changing shop of one of his relatives.’
‘Ah, so, so, so, so.’ Here the procurator fell silent, looked around to be sure there was no one on the balcony, and then said quietly: ‘The thing is this — I have just received information that he is going to be killed tonight.’
This time the guest not only cast his glance at the procurator, but even held it briefly, and after that replied:
‘You spoke too flatteringly of me, Procurator. In my opinion, I do not deserve your report. This information I do not have.’
‘You deserve the highest reward,’ the procurator replied. ‘But there is such information.’
‘May I be so bold as to ask who supplied it?’
‘Permit me not to say for the time being, the more so as it is accidental, obscure and uncertain. But it is my duty to foresee everything. That is my job, and most of all I must trust my presentiment, for it has never yet deceived me. The information is that one of Ha-Nozri’s secret friends, indignant at this money-changer’s monstrous betrayal, is plotting with his accomplices to kill him tonight, and to foist the money paid for the betrayal on the high priest, with a note: “I return the cursed money.”’ The head of the secret service cast no more of his unexpected glances at the hegemon, but went on listening to him, narrowing his eyes, as Pilate went on:
‘Imagine, is it going to be pleasant for the high priest to receive such a gift on the night of the feast?’
‘Not only not pleasant,’ the guest replied, smiling, ‘but I believe, Procurator, that it will cause a very great scandal.’
‘I am of the same opinion myself. And therefore I ask you to occupy yourself with this matter - that is, to take all measures to protect Judas of Kiriath.’
‘The hegemon’s order will be carried out,‘ said Aphranius, ‘but I must reassure the hegemon: the evil-doers’ plot is very hard to bring off. Only think,’ the guest looked over his shoulder as he spoke and went on, ‘to track the man down, to kill him, and besides that to find out how much he got, and manage to return the money to Kaifa, and all that in one night? Tonight?’
‘And none the less he will be killed tonight,’ Pilate stubbornly repeated. ‘I have a presentiment, I tell you! Never once has it deceived me.’ Here a spasm passed over the procurator’s face, and he rubbed his hands briskly.
‘Understood,’ the guest obediently replied, stood up, straightened out, and suddenly asked sternly: ‘So they will kill him, Hegemon?’
‘Yes,’ answered Pilate, ‘and all hope lies in your efficiency alone, which amazes everyone.’
The guest adjusted the heavy belt under his cloak and said:
‘I salute you and wish you health and joy!’
‘Ah, yes,’ Pilate exclaimed softly, ‘I completely forgot! I owe you something! ...’
The guest was amazed.
‘Really, Procurator, you owe me nothing.’
‘But of course! As I was riding into Yershalaim, remember, the crowd of beggars ... I wanted to throw them some money, but I didn’t have any, and so I took it from you.’
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