Chapter
16
This
is the second chapter of novel about Pontius Pilate and Yeshua-Ha-Nostri.
It
mainly describes the arrival of the condemned to death prisoners to the bald
mountain and then the condition of every one present on the bald mountain is
depicted; we return to the crucified prisoners only towards the end. A new
character, Levyi Mathew too is introduced.
The
key words are Sun, devilish heat, and scorching sun and how does it affect the
soldiers and their commanders.
While
the ordinary soldiers were allowed to go and have water from time to time, the
commanders were setting an example of endurance before the soldiers. Most remarkable
was the behavior of Mark Krysoboi.
“The sun beat straight down on the
centurion without doing him any harm, and the lions' muzzles
were impossible to look at - the eyes were devoured by the dazzling gleam of
the silver which was as if boiling in the sun.
“His
mutilated face expressed neither weariness nor displeasure, and it seemed that
the giant
centurion was capable of pacing like that all day, all night and the next day -
in short, for as long as necessary. Of pacing in the same way, holding his
hands to the heavy belt with its bronze plaques, glancing in the same stern way
now at the posts with the executed men, now at the file of soldiers, kicking
aside with the toe of a shaggy boot in the same indifferent way human bones whitened
by time or small flints that happened under his feet.”
Let
us think why Bulgakov is dealing in such detail the behavior of Mark Krysoboi:
We
have noted in chapter 2 that Mark Krysoboi was the chief of security forces in
Yerushalem. He was taller than the tallest soldier of his battalion. Krysoboi
was so huge; his shoulders were so wide that they had covered the Sun which had
just risen in the sky.
Here,
the time is that of afternoon. The Sun is burning everyone, everything; but Krysoboi
is just indifferent to it. He is doing his job, as if the devilish Sun is not
at all affecting him, he is pacing holding his hands to the melting bronze
plaques, kicking the human bones that had become white with time….he is used to
deaths, bones, devilish Sun, he has no heart, he is just a machine used for
execution!
Bulgakov
says that it was the fourth hour after execution…three hours had passed…if you
want to correlate the ancient with the contemporary, you can think that Sun is
what figured in the popular slogan of those days – Stalin – Our Sun…and
if you consider one hour as equivalent to one decade, we can guess that it was
the fourth decade of the century, the thirties, when the Sun had really started
burning everything, but it had no effect on Krysoboi, he was an instrument in
the hands of powers.
Come
to Levyi Mathew. I am not using the exact name as given in the Holy Bible. What
do we know about him?
That
he was a tax collector;
He
says that he was the only disciple of Yeshua-Ha-Nostri;
He
wanted to kill Yeshua before he is crucified, so that he could be saved from
the torture on the cross.
Please
compare this information with that given in the holy Bible.
One
more thing:
Those crucified were offered water on the cross before
a spear pricks them on the navel and they are killed:
'Drink!' said
the executioner to Yeshua, and a water-soaked sponge on the tip of a spear rose
to Yeshua's lips. Joy flashed in his eyes; he clung to the sponge and began
greedily imbibing the moisture.
From the
neighbouring post came the voice of Dysmas:
'Injustice!
I'm a robber just like him!'
……..
Dysmas fell
silent. Yeshua tore himself away from the sponge, and trying to make his voice sound
gentle and persuasive, but not succeeding, he begged the executioner hoarsely:
'Give
him a drink.'
WE shall
return to this reference in the next chapter about Yeshua– Ha-Nostri, and
hence, please let it be there in a corner of your mind.
There
are certain sentences which I would like to draw your attention to:
When
Levyi could not reach Yeshua, he went to the back side of the mountain…he is
cursing God and asking him why He is causing so much suffering to Yeshua. And
then he closed his eyes and cursed the Almighty…after a while when he opened
his eyes he saw that the Sun had disappeared before reaching the sea, where it
sank every evening. Having swallowed it, a storm cloud was rising menacingly
and inexorably against the sky in the west. Its edges were already seething
with white foam; its black smoky belly was tinged with yellow. The storm cloud
was growling, threads of fire fell from it now and again.
Is
Bulgakov hinting at the intervention that took place from the West?
And
while everyone had left the bald mountain unable to face the lashes of rain
from the sky, there was only Levyi Mathew left on the mountain along with the
bodies of prisoners on the cross. Levyi reaches the cross on which Yeshua’s
body was hanged. He cut the ropes on his shins, stepped up on the lower
crossbar, embraced Yeshua and freed his arms from the upper bonds. The naked,
wet body of Yeshua collapsed on Levi and brought him to the ground.
Levi wanted to
heave it on to his shoulders straight away, but some thought stopped him. He left
the body with its thrown-back head and outspread arms on the ground in the
water, and ran, his feet slithering apart in the clayey mire, to the other
posts. He cut the ropes on them as well, and the two bodies collapsed on the
ground.
Several
minutes passed, and all that remained on the top of the hill was these two
bodies and the three empty posts. Water beat on the bodies and rolled them
over.
By
that time both Levi and the body of Yeshua were gone from the hilltop.
Did
all this really happen?
We
shall get back to this again in chapter 25 and 26.
कोई टिप्पणी नहीं:
एक टिप्पणी भेजें
टिप्पणी: केवल इस ब्लॉग का सदस्य टिप्पणी भेज सकता है.