'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 snatched one of these sinners from the punishment she deserved!'
'Thanks be to God!' 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 assemblage of beggars!' added a dealer in merchandise.