Mikhail Bulgakov. The Master and Margarita -
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return Pilate's smile.
'And he said that henceforth he loathed his money,' said Yeshua in
explanation of Matthew the Levite's strange action, adding : ' And since
then he has been my companion.'
His teeth still bared in a grin, the Procurator glanced at the
prisoner, then at the sun rising inexorably over the equestrian statues of
the hippodrome far below to his left, and suddenly in a moment of agonising
nausea it occurred to him that the simplest thing would be to dismiss this
curious rascal from his balcony with no more than two words : ' Hang him. '
Dismiss the body-guard too, leave the arcade and go indoors, order the room
to be darkened, fall on to his couch, send for cold water, call for his dog
Banga in a pitiful voice and complain to the dog about his hemicrania.
Suddenly the tempting thought of poison flashed through the Procurator's
mind.
He stared dully at the prisoner for a while, trying painfully to recall
why this man with the bruised face was standing in front of him in the
pitiless Jerusalem morning sunshine and what further useless questions he
should put to him.
'Matthew the Levite? ' asked the suffering man in a hoarse voice,
closing his eyes.
'Yes, Matthew the Levite,' came the grating, high-pitched reply.
'So you did make a speech about the temple to the crowd in the temple
forecourt? '
The voice that answered seemed to strike Pilate on the forehead,
causing him inexpressible torture and it said:
'I spoke, hegemon, of how the temple of the old beliefs would fall
down and the new temple of truth would be built up. I used those words to
make my meaning easier to understand.'
'Why should a tramp like you upset the crowd in the bazaar by talking
about truth, something of which you have no conception? What is truth? '
At this the Procurator thought: ' Ye gods! This is a court of law and I