'Yes,' said Pilate.
There was silence. Then Pilate put a question in Greek :
'So you are a physician? '
'No, no,' was the prisoner's eager reply. ' Believe me I am not.'
'Very well, if you wish to keep it a secret, do so. It has no direct
bearing on the case. So you maintain that you never incited people to tear
down ... or burn, or by any means destroy the temple?'
'I repeat, hegemon, that I have never tried to persuade anyone to
attempt any such thing. Do I look weak in the head? '
'Oh no, you do not,' replied the Procurator quietly, and smiled an
ominous smile. ' Very well, swear that it is not so.'
'What would you have me swear by? ' enquired the unbound prisoner with
great urgency.
'Well, by your life,' replied the Procurator. ' It is high time to
swear by it because you should know that it is hanging by a thread.'
'You do not believe, do you, hegemon, that it is you who have strung
it up?' asked the prisoner. ' If you do you are mistaken.'
Pilate shuddered and answered through clenched teeth :
'I can cut that thread.'
'You are mistaken there too,' objected the prisoner, beaming and
shading himself from the sun with his hand. ' You must agree, I think, that
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