"Where," said one of the hangmen, "shall we put them?"
The centurion replied, "As ordered, into the grave of the malefactor."
Then said Mary, with a terrible sob: "What a word; it pierces my heart anew."
"Ladders here," said the hangmen, "we shall soon have them down." Then the hangmen unfastened the cords which bound the thieves to their crosses, and mounting the ladder received their bodies in their arms and bore them away.
While they were busy Mary Magdalene went out to the centurion and said to him: "May we not even pay the last honors to our friend?"
"Alas," said the centurion, "it is not within my power to permit this."
Then came back Caiaphas and Annas and all the rulers of the Sanhedrin from the temple to Golgotha. Caiaphas, speaking as they approached, said, "It will be all the more delightful to see the body of this evil-doer cast into the pit of shame, because we have witnessed the destruction he has brought to pass within the temple."
Annas answered, "What joy it would be if my eyes could see him torn limb from limb by wild beasts."
"Ha," said Caiaphas, as they saw the hangman bearing off the bodies of the thieves, "they are already being taken down. Now we shall soon see our ardent desires fulfilled."
Hardly had Caiaphas and the priests approached the cross when from the other side there came Joseph of Arimathea and with him a servant of Pilate. The servant said to the centurion, "The governor has sent me to inquire of thee whether it can really be true that Jesus of Nazareth is already dead as this man has informed me."