"How much longer will you suffer yourselves to be insulted by a single man, you cowardly dogs?" exclaimed the officer to his men.
"Oh! if I had not orders not to quit the Nazarene more than his shadow, I would set you an example, and my long sword should already have cut the throat of this brigand!"
"By Abraham"s nose! "tis I who will rip open your belly, you who talk so big, and release my friend!" exclaimed Banaias. "I am only one; but a falcon is worth much more than a hundred blackbirds."
And Banaias fell on the soldiers of the militia, swaying about his redoubtable stick, despite the prayers of Jesus.
At first, surprised and shaken by so much audacity, some soldiers of the front rank of the escort gave way; but presently, ashamed at not resisting one man, they rallied, attacked Banaias in their turn, who, overcome by numbers, despite his heroic courage, fell dead, covered with wounds. Genevieve then saw the soldiers, in their rage, throw to the bottom of a well, near the arcade, the bleeding body of the only defender of Jesus. After this exploit, the officer, brandishing his long sword, placed himself at the head of his troop, and they arrived at the house of Pontius Pilate, where Genevieve had accompanied her mistress, Aurelia, a few days previous.
The sun was already high. Attracted by the noise of the struggle of Banaias with the soldiers, several inhabitants of Jerusalem, issuing from their houses, had followed the militia. The house of the Roman governor was in the richest quarters of the town. The persons who, from curiosity, accompanied Jesus, far from pitying him, loaded him with insults and hootings.
"At last, then," cried some, "the Nazarene, who brought so much trouble and confusion on our town, is taken!"
"The demagogue who set the beggars against princes! The impious! who blasphemed our holy religion! The audacious! who brought trouble into our families, praising the prodigal and debauched sons," said one of the emissaries, who had followed the troop.
"The infamous! who would pervert our wives," said the other emissary, "by encouraging adultery, since he s.n.a.t.c.hed one of these sinners from the punishment she deserved!"
"Thanks be to G.o.d!" added a money-changer, "if this Nazarene is put to death, which will only be justice, we can then re-open our counters under the colonnade of the temple, whence this profaner and his band had driven us, and where we dared not return."
"What fools we were to fear his a.s.semblage of beggars!" added a dealer in merchandise.
"See if one of them has simply dared rebel to defend this Nazarene, by whose name they were always swearing, he whom they called their friend!"
"Let them finish with the brawler! Let him be crucified, and we shall hear no more of him!"
"Yes, yes, death to the Nazarene!" cried the people, amongst whom was Genevieve. And this a.s.semblage still increasing, repeated, with greater fury, those fatal cries:
"Death to the Nazarene!"
"Alas!" said the slave to herself, "is there a more horrible fate than that of this young man; abandoned by the poor, whom he befriended; hated by the rich, to whom he preached humility and charity! How deep must be the bitterness of his heart!"
The soldiers, followed by the crowd, had arrived opposite the house of Pilate.
Several high priests, doctors of law, senators, and other pharisees, among whom were Caiphus, Doctor Baruch, and the banker Jonas, had joined the troop and walked at its head. One of these pharisees having cried:
"Seigneurs, let us enter Pontius Pilate"s that he may instantly condemn the cursed Nazarene to death!"
Caiphus replied with a pious air:
"My seigneurs, we cannot enter the house of a heathen: this stain would prevent our eating the pa.s.sover to-day."
"No!" added Doctor Baruch, "we cannot commit this abominable impiety."
"Only hear them!" said to the crowd one of the emissaries, with an accent of admiration.
"Do you hear the holy men? What respect they profess for the commandment of our holy religion! Ah! these are not like that impious Nazarene, who rails and blasphemes at the most sacred things, when he dares to declare that we need not observe the Sabbath!"
"Oh! the infamous hypocrites!" said Genevieve to herself: "how well Jesus knew them; how much reason he had to unmask them. They now hesitate to enter the house of a heathen, for fear of soiling their sandals; but they do not fear to soil their soul by demanding from this heathen to shed the blood of the righteous, one of their compatriots.
Ah! poor youth of Nazareth! they will make you pay with your life for the courage you have shown in attacking these rich swindlers."
The officer of the militia having entered the palace of Pontius Pilate, whilst the escort remained outside guarding the prisoner, Genevieve mounted behind a cart stopped by the crowd, and endeavored to keep in sight the young man of Nazareth. She saw him standing in the midst of the soldiers, his long chestnut hair falling over his shoulders, his looks still calm and gentle, and a smile of resignation on his lips. He contemplated the tumultuous and threatening crowd with a sort of painful commiseration, as if he had pitied these men for their blindness and iniquity.
Insults were offered him on all sides. The soldiers themselves treated him with so much brutality that the blue mantle he wore over his white tunic was already almost torn from his back. Jesus, to so many outrages and ill treatment, opposed an unalterable placidity, and on his pale and handsome features Genevieve did not see the least impatience or the least anger betray itself. Suddenly these words were heard circulating through the crowd:
"Ah! here he comes, the Seigneur Pontius Pilate!"
"He will at length p.r.o.nounce sentence of death against this cursed Nazarene."
"Luckily "tis not far from hence to Golgotha, where they execute criminals; we can go and see him crucified!"
In fact, Genevieve soon saw the Governor, Pontius Pilate, appear at the door of his house; no doubt he had been just aroused from sleep, for he was enveloped in a long morning robe; his hair and beard were in disorder; his eyes, red and swollen, appeared dazzled at the rays of the rising sun; he could scarcely conceal several yawns, and seemed greatly annoyed at having been awakened so early, having, perhaps, as usual prolonged his supper until daybreak. So, addressing Doctor Baruch in a tone of harshness and ill-humor, like a person anxious to abridge an interview that was unpleasant, said to him:
"What is the crime of which you accuse this young man?"
"If he were not a malefactor, we should not have brought him to you."
Pontius Pilate, annoyed at the short reply of Doctor Baruch, continued impatiently, and stifling another yawn:
"Well, since you say he has sinned against the law, take him; judge him according to your law."
And the governor turned his back upon the Doctor, shrugging his shoulders, and re-entered his house.
For a moment Genevieve thought the young man saved, but the reply of Pontius Pilate produced much indignation amongst the crowd.
"Such are the Romans, then," said some; "they only seek to keep up agitation in our poor country, that they might rule it more easily."
"This Pontius Pilate evidently appears to protect this cursed Nazarene!"
"As for me, I am certain the Nazarene is a secret agent of the Romans,"
added one of the emissaries: "they make use of this seditious vagabond for their dark projects."
"There is no doubt of it," added the other emissary; "the Nazarene has sold himself to the Romans."
At this last outrage, which seemed painful to Jesus, Genevieve saw him again lift up his eyes to heaven in a heart-rending manner, whilst the crowd repeated:
"Yes, yes, he is a traitor."
"He is an agent of the Romans!"
"To death with the traitor! to death!"
Doctor Baruch was unwilling to lose his prey; he and several of the high priests, seeing Pontius Pilate entering his house, ran after him, and having supplicated him to return, they brought him outside, to the great applause of the crowd. Pontius Pilate appeared to continue, almost in spite of himself, the interrogatory; he said with impatience to Doctor Baruch, pointing to Jesus:
"Of what do you accuse this man?"
The doctor of law replied, in a loud voice:
"This man excites the people to revolt by the doctrines he teaches throughout Judea, from Galilee, where he commenced, unto here."