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  "identity": "D76FDAB0F9D31B265EDDBE77B6B516C844E71E93A720BEF5D892E6039BE4E38D",
  "confirmation": "007F81C6F991EACBAC1754311C10D9E5A332E00200767721829870483C7ECBF8",
  "signing": "0FD6DB8BEA6901A6498D39723EE07661EC22C2A75A15138D5676888BC4ACC4DE",
  "encryption": "AAB9726E514D4788BF327E7E5D1E23DF19C00E8F2BAA537EA10EC1D524D84103",
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    "encrypted": "3C92720EE7B5EC90443B612F2E26B5F6E0132F014BF29A372C3E8332B6AF0896EE3FDD7922F80B6A59B7EDB2EC2B9223B2D6156BA1A94902E8A3898CA99CBC310928AE8205763E01",
    "zone": "merch",
    "info": "The Master and Margarita, BOOK 1, ch 16\nby Mikhail Bulgakov, 1891-1940\nTranslated by:\nRichard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky",
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        "domain": "maybe.merch",
        "data": "hapter 16\nThe Execution.\n The sun was already going down over Bald Mountain, and the mountain was\ncordoned off by a double cordon.\n The cavalry ala that had cut across the procurator\u2019s path around noon came\ntrotting up to the Hebron gate of the city. Its way had already been prepared. The\ninfantry of the Cappadocian cohort had pushed the conglomeration of people,\nmules and camels to the sides, and the ala, trotting and raising white columns of\ndust in the sky, came to an intersection where two roads met: the south road\nleading to Bethlehem, and the north-west road to Jaffa. The ala raced down the\nnorth-west road. The same Cappadocians were strung out along the sides of the\nroad, and in good time had driven to the sides of it all the caravans hastening to\nthe feast in Yershalaim. Crowds of pilgrims stood behind the Cappadocians,\nhaving abandoned their temporary striped tents, pitched right on the grass. Going\non for about a half-mile, the ala caught up with the second cohort of the Lightning\nlegion and, having covered another half-mile, was the first to reach the foot of Bald\nMountain. Here they dismounted. The commander broke the ala up into squads,\nand they cordoned off the whole foot of the small hill, leaving open only the way up\nfrom the Jaffa road.\n After some time, the ala was joined at the hill by the second cohort, which\nclimbed one level higher and also encircled the hill in a wreath.\n Finally the century under the command of Mark Ratslayer arrived. It went\nstretched out in files along the sides of the road, and between these files, convoyed\nby the secret guard, the three condemned men rode in a cart, white boards\nhanging around their necks with \u2018robber and rebel\u2019 written on each of them in two\nlanguages\u2014Aramaic and Greek.\n The cart with the condemned men was followed by others laden with freshly\nhewn posts with crosspieces, ropes, shovels, buckets and axes. Six executioners\nrode in these carts. They were followed on horseback by the centurion Mark, the\nchief of the temple guard of Yershalaim, and that same hooded man with whom\nPilate had had a momentary meeting in a darkened room of the palace.\n A file of soldiers brought up the rear of the procession, and behind it walked\nabout two thousand of the curious, undaunted by the infernal heat and wishing to\nbe present at the interesting spectacle. The curious from the city were now joined\nby the curious from among the pilgrims, who were admitted without hindrance to\nthe tail of the procession. Under the shrill cries of the heralds who accompanied\nthe column and cried aloud what Pilate had cried out at around noon, the\nprocession drew itself up Bald Mountain.\n The ala admitted everyone to the second level, but the second century let only\nthose connected with the execution go further up, and then, manoeuvring quickly,\nspread the crowd around the entire hill, so that people found themselves between\nthe cordons of infantry above and cavalry below. Now they could watch the\nexecution through the sparse line of the infantry.\n And so, more than three hours had gone by since the procession climbed the\nmountain, and the sun was already going down over Bald Mountain, but the heat\nwas still unbearable, and the soldiers in both cordons suffered from it, grew weary\nwith boredom, and cursed the three robbers in their hearts, sincerely wishing\nthem the speediest death.\n The little commander of the ala, his brow moist and the back of his white shirt\ndark with sweat, having placed himself at the foot of the hill by the open passage,\nwent over to the leather bucket of the first squad every now and then, scooped\nhandfuls of water from it, drank and wetted his turban. Somewhat relieved by\nthat, he would step away and again begin pacing back and forth on the dusty road\nleading to the top. His long sword slapped against his laced leather boot. The\ncommander wished to give his cavalrymen an example of endurance, but, pitying\nhis soldiers, he allowed them to stick their spears pyramid-like in the ground and\nthrow their white cloaks over them. Under these tents, the Syrians hid from the\nmerciless sun. The buckets were quickly emptied, and cavalrymen from different\nsquads took turns going to fetch water in the gully below the hill, where in the thin\nshade of spindly mulberries a muddy brook was living out its last days in the\ndevilish heat. There, too, catching the unsteady shade, stood the bored horsehandlers, holding the quieted horses.\n The weariness of the soldiers and the abuse they aimed at the robbers were\nunderstandable. The procurator\u2019s apprehensions concerning the disorders that\nmight occur at the time of the execution in the city of Yershalaim, so hated by\nhim, fortunately were not borne out. And when the fourth hour of the execution\ncame, there was, contrary to all expectations, not a single person left between the\ntwo files, the infantry above and the cavalry below. The sun had scorched the\ncrowd and driven it back to Yershalaim. Beyond the file of two Roman centuries\nthere were only two dogs that belonged to no one knew whom and had for some\nreason ended up on the hill. But the heat got to them, too, and they lay down with\ntheir tongues hanging out, panting and paying no attention to the green-backed\nlizards, the only beings not afraid of the sun, darting among the scorching stones\nand some sort of big-thorned plants that crept on the ground.\n No one attempted to rescue the condemned men either in Yershalaim itself,\nflooded with troops, or here on the cordoned-off hill, and the crowd went back to\nthe city, for indeed there was absolutely nothing interesting in this execution,\nwhile there in the city preparations were under way for the great feast of Passover,\nwhich was to begin that evening.\n The Roman infantry on the second level suffered still more than the cavalry. The\nonly thing the centurion Ratslayer allowed his soldiers was to take off their\nhelmets and cover their heads with white headbands dipped in water, but he kept\nthem standing, and with their spears in their hands. He himself, in the same kind\nof headband, but dry, not wet, walked about not far from the group of\nexecutioners, without even taking the silver plaques with lions\u2019 muzzles off his\nshirt, or removing his greaves, sword and knife. The sun beat straight down on the\ncenturion without doing him any harm, and the lions\u2019 muzzles were impossible to\nlook at\u2014the eyes were devoured by the dazzling gleam of the silver which was as if\nboiling in the sun.\n Ratslayer\u2019s mutilated face expressed neither weariness nor displeasure, and it\nseemed that the giant centurion was capable of pacing like that all day, all night\nand the next day - in short, for as long as necessary. Of pacing in the same way,\nholding his hands to the heavy belt with its bronze plaques, glancing in the same\nstem way now at the posts with the executed men, now at the file of soldiers,\nkicking aside with the toe of a shaggy boot in the same indifferent way human\nbones whitened by time or small flints that happened under his feet.\n That man in the hood placed himself not far from the posts on a three-legged\nstool and sat there in complacent motionlessness, though poking the sand with a\ntwig from time to time out of boredom.\n What has been said about there not being a single person beyond the file of\nlegionaries is not quite true. There was one person, but he simply could not be\nseen by everyone. He had placed himself, not on the side where the way up the\nmountain was open and from where it would have been most convenient to watch\nthe execution, but on the north side, where the slope was not gentle and\naccessible, but uneven, with gaps and clefts, where in a crevice, clutching at the\nheaven-cursed waterless soil, a sickly fig tree was trying to live.\n Precisely under it, though it gave no shade, this sole spectator who was not a\nparticipant in the execution had established himself, and had sat on a stone from\nthe very beginning, that is, for over three hours now. Yes, he had chosen not the\nbest but the worst position for watching the execution. But still, even from there\nthe posts could be seen, and there could also be seen, beyond the file of soldiers,\nthe two dazzling spots on the centurion\u2019s chest, and that was apparently quite\nenough for a man who obviously wished to remain little noticed and not be\nbothered by anyone.\n But some four hours ago, at the start of the execution, this man had behaved\nquite differently, and might have been noticed very well, which was probably why\nhe had now changed his behaviour and secluded himself.\n It was only when the procession came to the very top, beyond the file, that he\nhad first appeared, and as an obvious latecomer at that. He was breathing hard,\nand did not walk but ran up the hill, pushing his way, and, seeing the file close\ntogether before him as before everyone else, made a naive attempt, pretending he\ndid not understand the angry shouts, to break through the soldiers to the very\nplace of execution, where the condemned men were already being taken from the\ncart. For that he received a heavy blow in the chest with the butt end of a spear,\nand he leaped back from the soldiers, crying out not in pain but in despair. At the\nlegionary who had dealt the blow he cast a dull glance, utterly indifferent to\neverything, like a man insensible to physical pain.\n Coughing and breathless, clutching his chest, he ran around the hill, trying to\nfind some gap in the file on the north side where he could slip through. But it was\ntoo late, the ring was closed. And the man, his face distorted with grief, was forced\nto renounce his attempts to break through to the carts, from which the posts had\nalready been unloaded. These attempts would have led nowhere, except that he\nwould have been seized, and to be arrested on that day by no means entered his\nplans.\n And so he went to the side, towards the crevice, where it was quieter and\nnobody bothered him.\n Now, sitting on the stone, this black-bearded man, his eyes festering from the\nsun and lack of sleep, was in anguish. First he sighed, opening his tallith, worn\nout in his wanderings, gone from light-blue to dirty grey, and bared his chest,\nwhich had been hurt by the spear and down which ran dirty sweat; then, in\nunendurable pain, he raised his eyes to the sky, following the three vultures that\nhad long been floating in great circles on high, anticipating an imminent feast;\nthen he peered with hopeless eyes into the yellow earth, and saw on it the halfdestroyed skull of a dog and lizards scurrying around it.\n The man\u2019s sufferings were so great that at times he began talking to himself.\n \u2018Oh, fool that I am\u2026\u2019 he muttered, swaying on the stone in the pain of his heart\nand clawing his swarthy chest with his nails. \u2018Fool, senseless woman, coward! I\u2019m\nnot a man, I\u2019m carrion!\u2019\n He would fall silent, hang his head, then, after drinking some warm water from\na wooden flask, he would revive again and clutch now at the knife hidden on his\nchest under the tallith, now at the piece of parchment lying before him on the\nstone next to a stylus and a pot of ink.\n On this parchment some notes had already been scribbled:\n \u2018The minutes run on, and I, Matthew Levi, am here on Bald Mountain, and still\nno death!\u2019\n Further:\n \u2018The sun is sinking, but no death.\u2019\n Now Matthew Levi wrote hopelessly with the sharp stylus:\n \u2018God! Why are you angry with him? Send him death.\u2019\n Having written this, he sobbed tearlessly and again wounded his chest with his\nnails.\n The reason for Levi\u2019s despair lay in the terrible misfortune that had befallen\nYeshua and him and, besides that, in the grave error that he, Levi, in his own\nopinion, had committed. Two days earlier, Yeshua and Levi had been in Bethphage\nnear Yershalaim, where they had visited a certain gardener who liked Yeshua\u2019s\npreaching very much. The two visitors had spent the whole morning working in\nthe garden, helping their host, and planned to go to Yershalaim towards evening\nwhen it cooled off. But Yeshua began to hurry for some reason, said he had urgent\nbusiness in the city, and left alone around noontime. Here lay Matthew Levi\u2019s first\nerror. Why, why had he let him go alone!\n Nor was Matthew Levi to go to Yershalaim that evening. He was struck by some\nunexpected and terrible ailment. He began to shake, his whole body was filled with\nfire, his teeth chattered, and he kept asking to drink all the time.\n He could not go anywhere. He collapsed on a horse blanket in the gardener\u2019s\nshed and lay there till dawn on Friday, when the illness released Levi as\nunexpectedly as it had fallen upon him. Though he was still weak and his legs\ntrembled, he took leave of his host and, oppressed by some foreboding of disaster,\nwent to Yershalaim. There he learned that his foreboding had not deceived him\u2014\nthe disaster occurred. Levi was in the crowd and heard the procurator announce\nthe sentence.\n When the condemned men were led off to the mountain, Matthew Levi ran\nalongside the file in the crowd of the curious, trying to let Yeshua know in some\ninconspicuous way that at least he, Levi, was there with him, that he had not\nabandoned him on his last journey, and that he was praying that death would\novertake Yeshua as soon as possible. But Yeshua, who was looking into the\ndistance towards where he was being taken, of course did not see Levi.\n And then, when the procession had gone about a half-mile along the road, a\nsimple and ingenious thought dawned on Matthew, who was being jostled by the\ncrowd just next to the file, and in his excitement he at once showered himself with\ncurses for not having thought of it earlier. The file of soldiers was not solid, there\nwere spaces between them. Given great dexterity and a precise calculation, one\ncould bend down, slip between two legionaries, make it to the cart and jump into\nit. Then Yeshua would be saved from suffering.\n One instant would be enough to stab Yeshua in the back with a knife, crying to\nhim: \u2018Yeshua! I save you and go with you! I, Matthew, your faithful and only\ndisciple!\u2019\n And if God granted him one more free instant, he would also have time to stab\nhimself and avoid death on a post. This last, however, was of little interest to Levi,\nthe former tax collector. He was indifferent to how he died. He wanted one thing,\nthat Yeshua, who had never in his life done the least evil to anyone, should escape\ntorture.\n The plan was a very good one, but the fact of the matter was that Levi had no\nknife with him. Nor did he have a single piece of money.\n Furious with himself, Levi got out of the crowd and ran back to the city. A single\nfeverish thought was leaping in his burning head: how to procure a knife there in\nthe city, in any way possible, and have time to overtake the procession.\n He ran up to the city gate, manoeuvring amid the throng of caravans being\nsucked into the city, and saw to his left the open door of a little shop where bread\nwas sold. Breathing hard after running down the scorched road, Levi got control of\nhimself, entered the shop very sedately, greeted the woman behind the counter,\nasked her to take the top loaf from the shelf, which for some reason he liked better\nthan the others, and when she turned around, silently and quickly took from the\ncounter that than which there could be nothing better\u2014a long, razor-sharp bread\nknife\u2014and at once dashed out of the shop.\n A few moments later he was again on the Jaffa road. But the procession was no\nlonger in sight. He ran. At times he had to drop down right in the dust and lie\nmotionless to recover his breath. And so he would lie there, to the astonishment of\npeople riding on mules or walking on foot to Yershalaim. He would lie listening to\nhis heart pounding not only in his chest but in his head and ears. Having\nrecovered his breath a little, he would jump up and continue running, but ever\nslower and slower. When he finally caught sight of the long procession raising dust\nin the distance, it was already at the foot of the hill.\n \u2018Oh, God !\u2026\u2019 Levi moaned, realizing that he was going to be too late. And he was\ntoo late.\n When the fourth hour of the execution had gone by, Levi\u2019s torments reached\ntheir highest degree and he fell into a rage. Getting up from the stone, he flung to\nthe ground the stolen knife\u2014stolen in vain, as he now thought\u2014crushed the flask\nwith his foot, depriving himself of water, threw off his kefia, seized his thin hair,\nand began cursing himself.\n He cursed himself, calling out meaningless words, growled and spat, abused his\nfather and mother for bringing a fool into the world.\n Seeing that curses and abuse had no effect and nothing in the sun-scorched\nplace was changed by them, he clenched his dry fists, raised them, squinting, to\nthe sky, to the sun that was sliding ever lower, lengthening the shadows and going\nto fall into the Mediterranean, and demanded an immediate miracle from God. He\ndemanded that God at once send Yeshua death.\n Opening his eyes, he became convinced that everything on the hill was\nunchanged, except that the blazing spots on the centurion\u2019s chest had gone out.\nThe sun was sending its rays into the backs of the executed men, who were facing\nYershalaim. Then Levi shouted:\n \u2018I curse you, God!\u2019\n In a rasping voice he shouted that he was convinced of God\u2019s injustice and did\nnot intend to believe in him any longer.\n \u2018You are deaf!\u2019 growled Levi. \u2018If you were not deaf, you would have heard me and\nkilled him straight away!\u2019\n Shutting his eyes, Levi waited for the fire that would fall from the sky and strike\nhim instead. This did not happen, and Levi, without opening his eyes, went on\nshouting offensive and sarcastic things at the sky. He shouted about his total\ndisappointment, about the existence of other gods and religions. Yes, another god\nwould not have allowed it, he would never have allowed a man like Yeshua to be\nburnt by the sun on a post.\n \u2018I was mistaken!\u2019 Levi cried in a completely hoarse voice. \u2018You are a god of evil!\nOr are your eyes completely clouded by smoke from the temple censers, and have\nyour ears ceased to hear anything but the trumpeting noises of the priests? You\nare not an almighty god! You are a black god! I curse you, god of robbers, their\nsoul and their protector!\u2019\n Here something blew into the face of the former tax collector, and something\nrustled under his feet. It blew once more, and then, opening his eyes, Levi saw\nthat, either under the influence of his curses, or owing to other reasons,\neverything in the world was changed. The sun had disappeared before reaching\nthe sea, where it sank every evening. Having swallowed it, a storm cloud was\nrising menacingly and inexorably against the sky in the west. Its edges were\nalready seething with white foam, its black smoky belly was tinged with yellow.\nThe storm cloud was growling, threads of fire fell from it now and again. Down the\nJaffa road, down the meagre Hinnom valley, over the tents of the pilgrims, driven\nby the suddenly risen wind, pillars of dust went flying.\n Levi fell silent, trying to grasp whether the storm that was about to cover\nYershalaim would bring any change in the fate of the unfortunate Yeshua. And\nstraight away, looking at the threads of fire cutting up the cloud, he began to ask\nthat lightning strike Yeshua\u2019s post. Repentantly looking into the clear sky that had\nnot yet been devoured by the cloud, and where the vultures were veering on one\nwing to escape the storm, Levi thought he had been insanely hasty with his\ncurses: now God was not going to listen to him.\n Turning his gaze to the foot of the hill, Levi fixed on the place where the strungout cavalry regiment stood, and saw that considerable changes had taken place\nthere. From above, Levi was able to distinguish very well the soldiers bustling\nabout, pulling spears out of the ground, throwing cloaks on, the horse-handlers\ntrotting towards the road leading black horses by their bridles. The regiment was\nmoving off, that was clear. Spitting and shielding himself with his hand from the\ndust blowing in his face, Levi tried to grasp what it might mean if the cavalry was\nabout to leave. He shifted his gaze further up and made out a little figure in a\ncrimson military chlamys climbing towards the place of execution. And here a chill\ncame over the heart of the former tax collector in anticipation of the joyful end.\n The man climbing the mountain in the fifth hour of the robbers\u2019 sufferings was\nthe commander of the cohort, who had come galloping from Yershalaim\naccompanied by an aide. At a gesture from Ratslayer, the file of soldiers parted,\nand the centurion saluted the tribune. The latter, taking Ratslayer aside,\nwhispered something to him. The centurion saluted him a second time and moved\ntowards the group of executioners, who were sitting on stones at the foot of the\nposts. The tribune meanwhile directed his steps towards the one sitting on the\nthree-legged stool, and the seated man politely rose to meet the tribune. And the\ntribune said something to him in a low voice, and the two went over to the posts.\nThey were joined by the head of the temple guard.\n Ratslayer, casting a squeamish sidelong glance at the dirty rags lying on the\nground near the posts, rags that had recently been the criminals\u2019 clothing, and\nwhich the executioners had rejected, called two of them and ordered:\n \u2018Follow me!\u2019\n From the nearest post came a hoarse, senseless song. Gestas, hanging on it,\nhad lost his mind from the flies and sun towards the end of the third hour, and\nwas now quietly singing something about grapes, but his head, covered with a\nturban, occasionally swayed all the same, and then the flies rose sluggishly from\nhis face and settled on it again.\n Dysmas, on the second post, suffered more than the other two because he did\nnot lose consciousness, and he swung his head constantly and rhythmically, right\nand left, so that his ears struck his shoulders.\n Yeshua was more fortunate than the other two. In the very first hour, he began\nto have blackouts, and then he fell into oblivion, hanging his head in its unwound\nturban. The flies and horseflies therefore covered him completely, so that his face\ndisappeared under the black swarming mass. In his groin, and on his belly, and in\nhis armpits, fat horseflies sat sucking at his yellow naked body.\n Obeying the gestures of the man in the hood, one of the executioners took a\nspear and another brought a bucket and a sponge to the post. The first\nexecutioner raised the spear and with it tapped first one, then the other of\nYeshua\u2019s arms, stretched out and bound with ropes to the crossbar of the post.\nThe body, with its protruding ribs, gave a start. The executioner passed the tip of\nthe spear over the belly. Then Yeshua raised his head, and the flies moved off with\na buzz, revealing the face of the hanged man, swollen with bites, the eyes puffy, an\nunrecognizable face.\n Ungluing his eyelids, Ha-Nozri looked down. His eyes, usually clear, were\nslightly clouded.\n \u2018Ha-Nozri!\u2019 said the executioner.\n Ha-Nozri moved his swollen lips and answered in a hoarse robber\u2019s voice:\n \u2018What do you want? Why have you come to me?\u2019\n \u2018Drink!\u2019 said the executioner, and a water-soaked sponge on the tip of a spear\nrose to Yeshua\u2019s lips. Joy flashed in his eyes, he clung to the sponge and began\ngreedily imbibing the moisture. From the neighbouring post came the voice of\nDysmas:\n \u2018Injustice! I\u2019m a robber just like him!\u2019\n Dysmas strained but was unable to move, his arms being bound to the crossbar\nin three places with loops of rope. He drew in his belly, clawed the ends of the\ncrossbar with his nails, kept his head turned towards Yeshua\u2019s post, malice blazed\nin the eyes of Dysmas.\n A dusty cloud covered the place, it became much darker. When the dust blew\naway, the centurion shouted:\n \u2018Silence on the second post!\u2019\n Dysmas fell silent. Yeshua tore himself away from the sponge, and trying to\nmake his voice sound gentle and persuasive, bu not succeeding, he begged the\nexecutioner hoarsely:\n \u2018Give him a drink.\u2019\n It was growing ever darker. The storm cloud had already poured across half the\nsky, aiming towards Yershalaim, boiling white clouds raced ahead of the storm\ncloud suffused with black moisture and fire. There was a flash and a thunderclap\nright over the hill. The executioner removed the sponge from the spear.\n \u2018Praise the magnanimous hegemon!\u2019 he whispered solemnly, and gently pricked\nYeshua in the heart. He twitched and whispered:\n \u2018Hegemon\u2026\u2019\n Blood ran down his belly, his lower jaw twitched convulsively and his head\ndropped.\n At the second thunderclap, the executioner was already giving Dysmas a drink,\nand with the same words:\n \u2018Praise the hegemon!\u2019\u2014killed him as well.\n Gestas, deprived of reason, cried out fearfully as soon as the executioner came\nnear him, but when the sponge touched his lips, he growled something and seized\nit with his teeth. A few seconds later his body, too, slumped as much as the ropes\nwould allow.\n The man in the hood followed the executioner and the centurion, and after him\ncame the head of the temple guard. Stopping at the first post, the man in the hood\nexamined the blood-covered Yeshua attentively, touched his foot with his white\nhand, and said to his companions:\n \u2018Dead.\u2019\n The same was repeated at the other two posts.\n After that the tribune motioned to the centurion and, turning, started off the\nhilltop together with the head of the temple guard and the man in the hood. Semidarkness set in, and lightning furrowed the black sky. Fire suddenly sprayed out\nof it, and the centurion\u2019s shout: \u2018Raise the cordon!\u2019, was drowned in rumbling. The\nhappy soldiers rushed headlong down the hill, putting on their helmets.\n Darkness covered Yershalaim.\n Torrents of rain poured down suddenly and caught the centuries halfway down\nthe hill. The deluge fell so terribly that the soldiers were already pursued by raging\nstreams as they ran downhill. Soldiers slipped and fell in the sodden clay,\nhurrying to get to the level road, along which\u2014now barely visible through the\nsheet of water\u2014the thoroughly drenched cavalry was heading for Yershalaim. A\nfew minutes later only one man remained in the smoky brew of storm, water and\nfire on the hill.\n Shaking the not uselessly stolen knife, falling from slippery ledges, clutching at\nwhatever was there, sometimes crawling on his knees, he strained towards the\nposts. He now vanished in total darkness, now was suddenly illumined by a\ntremulous light.\n Having made his way to the posts, already up to his ankles in water, he tore off\nhis heavy water-soaked tallith, remaining just in his shirt, and clung to Yeshua\u2019s\nfeet. He cut the ropes on his shins, stepped up on the lower crossbar, embraced\nYeshua and freed his arms from the upper bonds. The naked, wet body of Yeshua\ncollapsed on Levi and brought him to the ground. Levi wanted to heave it on to his\nshoulders straight away, but some thought stopped him. He left the body with its\nthrown-back head and outspread arms on the ground in the water, and ran, his\nfeet slithering apart in the clayey mire, to the other posts. He cut the ropes on\nthem as well, and the two bodies collapsed on the ground.\n Several minutes passed, and all that remained on the top of the hill was these\ntwo bodies and the three empty posts. Water beat on the bodies and rolled them\nover.\n By that time both Levi and the body of Yeshua were gone from the hilltop. \n",
        "ttl": 3600
      }
    ]
  }
}