Help on Tele2, tariffs, questions

Frame from the film "Judas" (2013)

Among the disciples of Christ, so open, understandable at first glance, Judas from Carioth stands out not only for his notoriety, but also for his dual appearance: his face seems to be sewn from two halves. One side of the face is constantly moving, dotted with wrinkles, with a black sharp eye, the other is deadly smooth and seems disproportionately large from a wide-open, blind, thorn-covered eye.

When he appeared, none of the apostles noticed. What made Jesus draw him closer to himself and what attracts this Judas to the Teacher are also unanswered questions. Peter, John, Thomas look - and are unable to comprehend this closeness of beauty and ugliness, meekness and vice - the closeness of Christ and Judas sitting next to the table.

Many times the apostles asked Judas about what compels him to do bad deeds, he answers with a grin: every person has sinned at least once. The words of Jude are almost similar to what Christ tells them: no one has the right to condemn anyone. And the apostles faithful to the Teacher humble their anger at Judas: “It's nothing that you are so ugly. Not so ugly come across in our fishing nets!

“Tell me, Judas, was your father a good man?” “And who was my father? The one who whipped me with a rod? Or the devil, goat, rooster? How can Judas know everyone with whom his mother shared a bed?

Jude's answer shakes the apostles: whoever glorifies his parents is doomed to perdition! "Tell me, we good people? - "Ah, they tempt poor Judas, offend Judas!" - the red-haired man from Karyota grimaces.

In one village they are accused of stealing a kid, knowing that Judas is walking with them. In another village, after the preaching of Christ, they wanted to stone Him and the disciples; Judas rushed to the crowd, shouting that the Teacher was not possessed by a demon at all, that He was just a deceiver who loves money, just like him, Judas, - and the crowd humbled himself: “These strangers are not worthy to die at the hands of an honest one!”

Jesus leaves the village in anger, moving away from it with long steps; the disciples follow him at a respectful distance, cursing Judas. “Now I believe that your father is the devil,” Foma throws in his face. Fools! He saved their lives, but once again they did not appreciate him ...

Somehow, at a halt, the apostles decided to have fun: measuring their strength, they pick up stones from the ground - who is bigger? - and thrown into the abyss. Judas lifts the heaviest piece of rock. His face shines with triumph: now it is clear to everyone that he, Judas, is the strongest, most beautiful, best of the twelve. “Lord,” Peter prays to Christ, “I do not want Judas to be the strongest. Help me defeat him!" - "And who will help Iscariot?" Jesus replies sadly.

Judas, appointed by Christ to keep all their savings, hides a few coins - this is revealed. The students are outraged. Judas is brought to Christ - and He again stands up for him: “No one should count how much money our brother embezzled. Such reproaches offend him." In the evening at dinner, Judas is cheerful, but he is pleased not so much with reconciliation with the apostles, but with the fact that the Teacher again singled him out from the general row: “How can a man who was kissed so much today for stealing not be cheerful? If I had not stolen, would John have known what love for one's neighbor is? Isn't it fun to be a hook, on which one hangs damp virtue to dry, and the other - the mind wasted by moths?

The mournful ones are coming last days Christ. Peter and John are arguing over which of them is more worthy to sit at the right hand of the Teacher in the Kingdom of Heaven - the cunning Judas points out to everyone his primacy. And then, when asked how he still thinks in good conscience, he proudly answers: “Of course I do!” The next morning, he goes to the high priest Anna, offering to bring the Nazarene to justice. Anna is well aware of the reputation of Judas and drives him away for several days in a row; but, fearing a rebellion and the intervention of the Roman authorities, with contempt offers Judas thirty pieces of silver for the life of the Teacher. Judas is indignant: “You don’t understand what they are selling you! He is kind, he heals the sick, he is loved by the poor! This price - it turns out that for a drop of blood you give only half an obol, for a drop of sweat - a quarter of an obol ... And His screams? And the moans? What about the heart, mouth, eyes? You want to rob me!" "Then you won't get anything." Hearing such an unexpected refusal, Judas is transformed: he must not cede the right to the life of Christ to anyone, and in fact there will surely be a villain who is ready to betray Him for an obol or two ...

Judas surrounds the One whom he betrayed with caress in the last hours. Affectionate and helpful he is with the apostles: nothing should interfere with the plan, thanks to which the name of Judas will forever be called in the memory of people along with the name of Jesus! In the Garden of Gethsemane, he kisses Christ with such painful tenderness and longing that if Jesus were a flower, not a drop of dew would fall from His petals, he would not sway on a thin stalk from the kiss of Judas. Step by step, Judas follows in the footsteps of Christ, not believing his eyes when He is beaten, condemned, led to Golgotha. The night is thickening... What is the night? The sun is rising... What is the sun? Nobody shouts "Hosanna!" No one defended Christ with weapons, although he, Judas, stole two swords from Roman soldiers and brought them to these "faithful disciples"! He is alone - to the end, to the last breath - with Jesus! His horror and dream come true. Iscariot rises from his knees at the foot of the Calvary cross. Who will wrest victory from his hands? Let all nations, all future generations flow here at this moment - they will find only a pillory and a dead body.

Judas looks at the ground. How small she suddenly became under his feet! Time no longer passes by itself, neither in front nor behind, but, obediently, it moves with all its immensity only together with Judas, with his steps on this small earth.

He goes to the Sanhedrin and throws them in the face like a sovereign: “I deceived you! He was innocent and pure! You killed the sinless! Judas did not betray him, but betrayed you to eternal disgrace!”

On this day, Judas speaks like a prophet, which the cowardly apostles do not dare: “I saw the sun today - it looked at the earth with horror, asking:“ Where are the people here? ”Scorpions, animals, stones - everyone echoed this question. If you tell the sea and the mountains how much people valued Jesus, they will come down from their seats and fall on your heads! ..”

“Which of you,” Iscariot addresses the apostles, “will go with me to Jesus? You are scared! Are you saying it was His will? Do you explain your cowardice by the fact that He ordered you to carry His word on the earth? But who will believe His word in your cowardly and unfaithful lips?”

Judas “climbs the mountain and tightens the noose around his neck in front of the whole world, completing his plan. The news of Judas the traitor is spreading all over the world. Not faster and not quieter, but along with time this message continues to fly ... "

retold

This work was written by the author in 1907 in an interpretation unusual for believers. There were too many discrepancies with the gospel. The image and characterization of Judas Iscariot from Andreev's story "Judas Iscariot" with quotes will help the reader understand what moved the main character when he betrayed the one he loved more than life.

Image

Judas had no family. He left his wife a few years ago. Since then, her fate has not worried him. There were no children in the marriage. Apparently it pleases God, he did not want offspring from him.

The appearance of Judas made a repulsive impression. To perceive it normally, it was necessary to get used to its appearance. Tall, skinny. A little stooped. An incomprehensible skull adorned with red hair. One half of the face was alive, with a black eye and active facial expressions, and was dotted with wrinkles. The other half of the face is deadly smooth, without wrinkles. The blind eye was always open, day and night. The voice is disgusting, just like him. Iscariot knew how to change him from feminine shrill to courageous and strong.

Red-haired and ugly Jew ...

He came, bowing low, arching his back, cautiously and timidly stretching forward his ugly bumpy head ...

He was thin, of good height, almost the same as Jesus ...

... he was apparently strong enough in strength, but for some reason he pretended to be frail and sickly, and his voice was changeable: sometimes courageous and strong, sometimes loud, like an old woman scolding her husband, annoyingly thin and unpleasant to hear ...

Short red hair did not hide the strange and unusual shape of his skull: as if cut from the back of the head with a double blow of the sword and recomposed, it was clearly divided into four parts and inspired distrust, even anxiety ...

... the face of Judas also doubled: one side of it, with a black, sharply looking out eye, was lively, mobile, willingly gathering into numerous crooked wrinkles. On the other, there were no wrinkles, and it was deathly smooth, flat and frozen, and although it was equal in size to the first, it seemed huge from the wide-open blind eye. Covered with a whitish haze, not closing either at night or during the day, it met both light and darkness in the same way ...

Characteristic

Contradictory. Judas seems to be woven from contradictions. A strong, strong man for some reason constantly pretended to be frail and sickly. He took on household duties, and in between times he stole from the general treasury. He told the apostles colorful stories from his alleged life, and then admitted that he invented everything.

Corrupt. Mercantile. Sold the Teacher for 30 pieces of silver.

Smart. He was distinguished by quick wit and intelligence in comparison with the rest of the disciples of Christ. He, like no one else, deeply knew people and understood the motives of their actions.

False. Envious. The speech is replete with lies, from which it became either hilarious or unpleasant.

Purposeful. He sincerely believed in his rightness and chosenness, and most importantly, he strove for his goal by all means. Betrayal has become the only way to approach the spiritual leader.

Warlike. Fearless. Judas repeatedly showed fearlessness in defending his teacher. He took the hit himself, risking his life and making it clear that he was ready to go to the end if necessary.

Furiously and blindly rushed into the crowd, threatened, shouted, begged and lied

Experiencing real emotions: hatred, love, suffering, disappointment.

Thief. He earns his living by stealing. He constantly drags bread, and that is what he eats.

Cunning. While the other apostles are fighting in an attempt to take first place near Christ, Judas tries to be with him all the time, becoming indispensable and useful, if only they would pay attention to him and single out his efforts from the crowd.

Vulnerable. I was sincerely offended by the Teacher when he stopped paying attention to him.

Emotional. Until the last minute, Judas firmly believed that love and loyalty to Jesus would triumph. His people and disciples were supposed to save the Teacher, but this did not happen. Iscariot was sincerely worried and did not understand why the apostles fled in fear, leaving Christ in the hands of the Roman soldiers. He called them cowards and murderers incapable of action. At that moment, he was driven by sincere love for the Teacher.

Selfless. He sacrificed his life to prove the power of love, fulfilling the destiny assigned to him.

Jesus Christ was warned many times that Judas of Carioth was a very notorious man and should be guarded against. Some of the disciples who were in Judea knew him well themselves, others heard a lot about him from people, and there was no one who could say a good word about him. And if the good ones reproached him, saying that Judas was greedy, cunning, inclined towards pretense and lies, then the bad ones, who were asked about Judas, reviled him with the most cruel words. “He quarrels us constantly,” they said, spitting, “he thinks something of his own and climbs into the house quietly, like a scorpion, and leaves it with noise. And thieves have friends, and robbers have comrades, and liars have wives to whom they tell the truth, and Judas laughs at thieves, as well as at honest ones, although he steals skillfully, and his appearance is uglier than all the inhabitants of Judea. No, he is not ours, this red-haired Judas from Carioth,” the bad people said, surprising the good people, for whom there was not much difference between him and all the other vicious people of Judea.

It was further told that Judas had abandoned his wife long ago, and she lives unhappy and hungry, unsuccessfully trying from those three stones that make up Judas' estate to squeeze bread for herself. For many years he himself staggers senselessly among the people and even reaches one sea and another sea, which is even further away, and everywhere he lies, grimaces, vigilantly looks out for something with his thief's eye, and suddenly leaves suddenly, leaving trouble behind him and quarrel - curious, crafty and evil, like a one-eyed demon. He had no children, and this once again said that Judas is a bad person and God does not want offspring from Judas.

None of the disciples noticed when this red-haired and ugly Jew first appeared near Christ, but for a long time he relentlessly followed their path, intervened in conversations, rendered small services, bowed, smiled and fawned. And then it became completely habitual, deceiving tired eyesight, then it suddenly caught my eye and ears, irritating them, like something unprecedented, ugly, deceitful and disgusting. Then they drove him away with stern words, and for a short time he disappeared somewhere by the road - and then again imperceptibly appeared, helpful, flattering and cunning, like a one-eyed demon. And there was no doubt for some of the disciples that some secret intention was hidden in his desire to get closer to Jesus, there was an evil and insidious calculation.

But Jesus did not listen to their advice, their prophetic voice did not touch his ears. With that spirit of bright contradiction, which irresistibly attracted him to the outcast and unloved, he resolutely accepted Judas and included him in the circle of the elect. The disciples were agitated and murmured with restraint, while he sat quietly, facing the setting sun, and listened thoughtfully, perhaps to them, and perhaps to something else. For ten days there had been no wind, and still the same remained, without moving and without changing, the transparent air, attentive and sensitive. And it seemed as if he preserved in his transparent depth all that was shouted and sung these days by people, animals and birds - tears, weeping and a cheerful song, prayer and curses, and from these glassy, ​​frozen voices he was so heavy. , disturbing, densely saturated with invisible life. And the sun went down again. It rolled down in a heavily flaming ball, igniting the sky, and everything on earth that was turned towards it: the swarthy face of Jesus, the walls of houses and the leaves of trees - everything dutifully reflected that distant and terribly thoughtful light. The white wall was no longer white now, and the red city on the red mountain did not remain white.

And then came Judas.

He came, bowing low, arching his back, cautiously and timidly stretching forward his ugly bumpy head - just the way those who knew him imagined. He was thin, of good height, almost the same as Jesus, who stooped slightly from the habit of thinking while walking and seemed shorter because of this, and he was apparently strong enough in strength, but for some reason he pretended to be frail and sickly and had a voice changeable: sometimes courageous and strong, sometimes loud, like an old woman scolding her husband, annoyingly thin and unpleasant to hear, and often one wanted to pull the words of Judas out of one's ears like rotten, rough splinters. Short red hair did not hide the strange and unusual shape of his skull: as if cut from the back of the head with a double blow of the sword and recomposed, it was clearly divided into four parts and inspired distrust, even anxiety: behind such a skull there can be no silence and harmony, behind such a skull there is always the noise of bloody and merciless battles is heard. The face of Judas also doubled: one side of it, with a black, keenly looking out eye, was lively, mobile, willingly gathering into numerous crooked wrinkles. On the other, there were no wrinkles, and it was deathly smooth, flat and frozen, and although it was equal in size to the first, it seemed huge from the wide-open blind eye. Covered with a whitish haze, not closing either at night or during the day, he met both light and darkness in the same way, but whether it was because there was a living and cunning comrade next to him, he could not believe in his complete blindness. When, in a fit of timidity or excitement, Judas closed his living eye and shook his head, this one shook along with the movements of his head and silently watched. Even people who were completely devoid of insight, clearly understood, looking at Iscariot, that such a person could not bring good, and Jesus brought him closer and even next to him - next to him planted Judas.

John, the beloved disciple, moved away in disgust, and all the rest, loving their teacher, looked down in disapproval. And Judas sat down - and, moving his head to the right and left, in a thin voice began to complain about illnesses, that his chest ached at night, that, ascending the mountains, he was suffocating, and standing at the edge of the abyss, he felt dizzy and could hardly resist from a foolish desire to throw himself down. And many other things he thought up godlessly, as if he did not understand that illnesses do not come to a person by chance, but are born from a discrepancy between his actions and the covenants of the eternal. Rubbing his chest with a broad hand and even coughing feignedly, this Judas from Kariot, in the general silence and downcast eyes.

John, without looking at the teacher, quietly asked Peter Simonov, his friend:

Are you tired of this lie? I can't take it any longer and I'm out of here.

Peter looked at Jesus, met his gaze, and quickly stood up.

- Wait! he said to a friend. Once again he looked at Jesus, quickly, like a stone torn from a mountain, moved towards Judas Iscariot and loudly said to him with wide and clear friendliness: - Here you are with us, Judas.

He affectionately patted his hand on his bent back and, not looking at the teacher, but feeling his gaze on himself, added resolutely in his loud voice, which displaced all objections, as water displaces air:

- It's okay that you have such a nasty face: our nets also come across not so ugly, but when eating, they are the most delicious. And it is not for us, the fishermen of our Lord, to throw away the catch just because the fish is prickly and one-eyed. I once saw an octopus in Tyre, caught by the fishermen there, and I was so frightened that I wanted to run. And they laughed at me, a fisherman from Tiberias, and gave it to me to eat, and I asked for more, because it was very tasty. Remember, teacher, I told you about it, and you laughed too. And you, Judas, look like an octopus - only one half.

And he laughed out loud, pleased with his joke. When Peter spoke, his words sounded so firm, as if he were nailing them. When Peter moved or did something, he made a far audible noise and evoked a response from the most deaf things: the stone floor hummed under his feet, the doors trembled and slammed, and the very air trembled and rustled fearfully. In the gorges of the mountains, his voice woke up an angry echo, and in the mornings on the lake, when they were fishing, he rolled round in a sleepy and shiny water and made the first timid ones smile. Sun rays. And, probably, they loved Peter for this: the night shadow still lay on all the other faces, and his large head, and wide bare chest, and freely thrown arms were already burning in the glow of sunrise.

Peter's words, apparently approved by the teacher, dispelled the painful state of the audience. But some, who were also by the sea and saw the octopus, were confused by its monstrous image, timed by Peter so frivolously for the new disciple. They remembered: huge eyes, dozens of greedy tentacles, feigned calmness - and once! - hugged, doused, crushed and sucked, never blinking his huge eyes. What's this? But Jesus is silent, Jesus smiles and looks with a friendly mockery at Peter, who continues to talk passionately about the octopus, and one by one the embarrassed disciples approached Judas, spoke affectionately, but moved away quickly and awkwardly.

And only John Zebedee was stubbornly silent, and Thomas, apparently, did not dare to say anything, considering what had happened. He carefully looked at Christ and Judas, who were sitting side by side, and this strange closeness of divine beauty and monstrous ugliness, a man with a meek look and an octopus with huge, motionless, dull-greedy eyes oppressed his mind, like an insoluble riddle. He tensely wrinkled his straight, smooth forehead, screwed up his eyes, thinking that he would see better that way, but he only succeeded in making Judas really appear to have eight restlessly moving legs. But this was wrong. Foma understood this and again looked stubbornly.

And Judas, little by little, dared: he straightened his arms, bent at the elbows, loosened the muscles that held his jaw in tension, and carefully began to expose his lumpy head to the light. She had been in full view of everyone before, but it seemed to Judas that she was deeply and impenetrably hidden from the eyes of some kind of invisible, but thick and cunning veil. And now, as if climbing out of a hole, he felt his strange skull in the light, then his eyes - he stopped - resolutely opened his whole face. Nothing happened. Peter went somewhere, Jesus sat thoughtfully, leaning his head on his hand, and quietly shook his tanned leg, the disciples talked among themselves, and only Thomas carefully and seriously examined him like a conscientious tailor taking measurements. Judas smiled - Thomas did not return the smile, but apparently took it into account, like everything else, and continued to look at it. But something unpleasant troubled the left side of Judas’ face, and he looked back: John was looking at him from a dark corner with cold and beautiful eyes, handsome, clean, not having a single spot on his snow-white conscience. And, walking, as everyone else walks, but feeling as if he were dragging along the ground, like a punished dog, Judas approached him and said:

Why are you silent, John? Your words are like golden apples in transparent silver vessels, give one of them to Judas, who is so poor.

John looked intently into the motionless, wide-open eye and was silent. And I saw how Judas crawled away, hesitated hesitantly and disappeared into the dark depths of the open door.

Since I got up full moon, then many went for a walk. Jesus also went for a walk, and from the low roof, where Judas made his bed, he saw the departing. In the moonlight, each white figure seemed light and unhurried and did not walk, but seemed to be gliding in front of its black shadow, and suddenly a man disappeared in something black, and then his voice was heard. When people reappeared under the moon, they seemed silent - like white walls, like black shadows, like the whole transparent hazy night. Almost everyone was asleep when Judas heard the quiet voice of the returned Christ. And everything was quiet in the house and around it. A rooster crowed, resentfully and loudly, as during the day, a donkey woke up somewhere, and reluctantly, with interruptions, fell silent. But Judas did not sleep and listened, hiding. The moon illuminated half of his face and, as in a frozen lake, reflected strangely in his huge open eye.

Suddenly he remembered something and hurriedly coughed, rubbing his hairy, healthy chest with his palm: perhaps someone else was awake and listening to what Judas was thinking.

II

Gradually people got used to Judas and stopped noticing his ugliness. Jesus entrusted him with a cash box, and at the same time all household chores fell on him: he bought the necessary food and clothes, distributed alms, and during his wanderings he looked for a place to stop and spend the night. All this he did very skillfully, so that he soon earned the favor of some of the students who saw his efforts. Judas lied all the time, but they got used to it, because they didn’t see bad deeds behind a lie, and she gave Judas’ conversation and his stories a special interest and made life look like a funny, and sometimes terrible fairy tale.

According to Judas' stories, it seemed as if he knew all people, and every person he knew had committed some bad deed or even a crime in his life. Good people, in his opinion, are those who know how to hide their deeds and thoughts, but if such a person is hugged, caressed and questioned well, then all untruth, abomination and lies will flow from him like pus from a punctured wound. He readily admitted that sometimes he himself lied, but assured with an oath that others lied even more, and if there was anyone in the world who was deceived, it was he, Judas. It happened that some people deceived him many times this way and that. So, a certain keeper of treasures from a rich nobleman once confessed to him that for ten years he had been constantly wanting to steal the property entrusted to him, but he could not, because he was afraid of the nobleman and his own conscience. And Judas believed him, and he suddenly stole and deceived Judas. But even here Judas believed him, and he suddenly returned the stolen nobleman and again deceived Judas. And everyone deceives him, even animals: when he caresses the dog, she bites his fingers, and when he beats her with a stick, she licks his legs and looks into his eyes like a daughter. He killed this dog, buried it deep and even laid it with a big stone, but who knows? Perhaps because he killed her, she became even more alive and now does not lie in the pit, but runs merrily with other dogs.

Everyone laughed merrily at Judas' story, and he himself smiled pleasantly, screwing up his lively and mocking eye, and immediately, with the same smile, confessed that he had lied a little: he did not kill this dog. But he will certainly find her and will certainly kill her, because he does not want to be deceived. And from these words Judas laughed even more.

But sometimes in his stories he crossed the boundaries of the probable and the plausible and attributed to people such inclinations that even an animal does not have, accused of such crimes that never happened and never happens. And since at the same time he named the names of the most respected people, some were indignant at the slander, while others jokingly asked:

- Well, and your father and mother, Judas, weren't they good people?

Judas screwed up his eyes, smiled and spread his arms. And along with the shaking of his head, his frozen, wide-open eye swayed and looked silently.

- And who was my father? Maybe the person who beat me with a rod, or maybe the devil, and the goat, and the rooster. How can Judas know everyone with whom his mother shared a bed? Judas has many fathers; which are you talking about?

But here everyone was indignant, since they greatly revered their parents, and Matthew, who was very well-read in Scripture, strictly spoke in the words of Solomon:

Whoever speaks evil of his father and his mother, the lamp will go out in the midst of deep darkness.

John Zebedee arrogantly threw:

- Well, what about us? What ill will you say about us, Judas of Carioth?

But the latter waved his arms with feigned fear, hunched over and whimpered like a beggar vainly begging for alms from a passerby:

“Ah, they are tempting poor Judas!” They laugh at Judas, they want to deceive poor, gullible Judas!

And while one side of his face writhed in buffoonish grimaces, the other swayed seriously and sternly, and his never closing eye stared wide. Pyotr Simonov laughed the loudest and most at Iscariot's jokes. But one day it happened that he suddenly frowned, became silent and sad, and hurriedly took Judas aside, pulling him by the sleeve.

– And Jesus? What do you think about Jesus? Leaning down, he asked in a loud whisper. “Don’t joke, please.

Judas looked at him angrily.

- And what do you think?

Peter whispered in fear and joy:

“I think he is the son of the living God.”

– Why do you ask? What can Judas tell you, whose father is a goat!

But do you love him? It's like you don't love anyone, Judas.

With the same strange malice, Iscariot said curtly and abruptly:

After this conversation, Peter for two days loudly called Judas his friend the octopus, and he clumsily and just as viciously tried to slip away from him somewhere in a dark corner and there he sat sullenly, brightening up with his white unblinking eye.

Only Thomas listened to Judas quite seriously: he did not understand jokes, pretense and lies, games with words and thoughts, and in everything he sought out the solid and positive. And all the stories of Iscariot about bad people and deeds, he often interrupted with short businesslike remarks:

- It needs to be proven. Did you hear it yourself? And who else was there besides you? What's his name?

Judas was irritated and shrillly shouted that he himself had seen and heard all this, but the stubborn Thomas continued to interrogate him persistently and calmly, until Judas confessed that he had lied, or composed a new plausible lie, over which he pondered for a long time. And, having found a mistake, he immediately came and indifferently convicted the liar. In general, Judas aroused in him a strong curiosity, and this created between them something like a friendship, full of shouting, laughter and curses on the one hand, and calm, persistent questions on the other. At times Judas felt an unbearable disgust for his strange friend and, piercing him with a sharp look, said irritably, almost with a plea:

"But what do you want?" I told you everything, everything.

“I want you to prove how a goat can be your father?” Foma interrogated with indifferent insistence and waited for an answer.

It happened that after one of these questions, Judas suddenly fell silent and, in surprise, from head to foot, probed him with his eye: he saw a long, straight waist, a gray face, straight, transparent-light eyes, two thick folds running from the nose and disappearing into a stiff, evenly cut hair. beard, and convincingly said:

- What a fool you are, Thomas! What do you see in a dream: a tree, a wall, a donkey?

And Foma was somehow strangely embarrassed and made no objection. And at night, when Judas was already clouding his lively and restless eye for sleep, he suddenly said loudly from his bed - they were both now sleeping together on the roof:

“You are wrong, Judas. I see very bad dreams. What do you think: a person should also be responsible for his dreams?

“Is it possible that someone else sees dreams, and not he himself?”

Thomas sighed softly and thought. And Judas smiled contemptuously, tightly closed his thief's eye and calmly surrendered to his rebellious dreams, monstrous dreams, insane visions that tore apart his bumpy skull.

When, during the wanderings of Jesus in Judea, travelers approached some village, Iscariot told bad things about its inhabitants and foreshadowed trouble. But it almost always happened that the people about whom he spoke badly met Christ and his friends with joy, surrounded them with attention and love, and became believers, and Judas' money box became so full that it was difficult to carry it. And then they laughed at his mistake, and he meekly shrugged his hands and said:

- So! So! Judas thought they were bad, but they were good: they believed quickly and gave money. Again, that means they have deceived Judas, poor, gullible Judas from Carioth!

But once, already far away from the village, which greeted them cordially, Thomas and Judas argued passionately and, in order to resolve the dispute, returned back. Only the next day did they catch up with Jesus and his disciples, and Thomas looked embarrassed and sad, and Judas looked so proudly, as if he expected that right now everyone would begin to congratulate him and thank him. Approaching the teacher, Foma declared decisively:

“Judas is right, Lord. They were evil and stupid people, and the seed of your words fell on the stone.

And he told what happened in the village. Already after the departure of Jesus and his disciples, one old woman began to scream that a young white kid had been stolen from her, and accused the departed of stealing. At first they argued with her, and when she stubbornly argued that there was no one else to steal like Jesus, many believed and even wanted to set off in pursuit. And although they soon found the kid entangled in the bushes, they nevertheless decided that Jesus was a deceiver and, perhaps, even a thief.

- So that's how! cried Peter, flaring his nostrils. “God, if you want me to go back to these fools, and…

But Jesus, who was silent all the time, looked sternly at him, and Peter fell silent and disappeared behind, behind the backs of others. And no one was talking about what had happened anymore, as if nothing had happened at all, and as if Judas had been wrong. In vain did he show himself from all sides, trying to make modest his forked, predatory, hook-nosed face - no one looked at him, and if anyone did, it was very unfriendly, even with contempt.

And from that day on, the attitude of Jesus towards him changed in a strange way. And before, for some reason, it happened that Judas never spoke directly to Jesus, and he never directly addressed him, but on the other hand he often looked at him with kind eyes, smiled at some of his jokes, and if he had not seen him for a long time, he would ask: where is Judas? And now he looked at him, as if not seeing him, although as before, and even more stubbornly than before, he looked for him with his eyes every time he began to speak to his students or to the people, but either sat with his back to him and threw words over his head. his own against Judas, or pretended not to notice him at all. And no matter what he said, even if today it’s one thing, and tomorrow it’s completely different, even if it’s the same thing that Judas thinks, it seemed, however, that he always speaks against Judas. And for everyone he was gentle and beautiful flower, a fragrant Lebanese rose, and for Judas he left only sharp thorns - as if Judas had no heart, as if he had no eyes and nose and no better than everyone else, he understands the beauty of delicate and blameless petals.

Jesus Christ was warned many times that Judas of Carioth was a very notorious man and should be guarded against. Some of the disciples who were in Judea knew him well themselves, others heard a lot about him from people, and there was no one who could say a good word about him. And if the good ones reproached him, saying that Judas was greedy, cunning, inclined towards pretense and lies, then the bad ones, who were asked about Judas, reviled him with the most cruel words. “He quarrels us constantly,” they said, spitting, “he thinks something of his own and climbs into the house quietly, like a scorpion, and leaves it with noise. And thieves have friends, and robbers have comrades, and liars have wives to whom they tell the truth, and Judas laughs at thieves, as well as at honest ones, although he steals skillfully, and his appearance is uglier than all the inhabitants of Judea. No, he is not ours, this red-haired Judas from Carioth,” the bad people said, surprising the good people, for whom there was not much difference between him and all the other vicious people of Judea.

It was further told that Judas had abandoned his wife long ago, and she lives unhappy and hungry, unsuccessfully trying from those three stones that make up Judas' estate to squeeze bread for herself. For many years he himself staggers senselessly among the people and even reached one sea and another sea, which is even further; and everywhere he lies, grimaces, vigilantly looks out for something with his thief's eye; and suddenly leaves suddenly, leaving behind troubles and quarrels - curious, crafty and evil, like a one-eyed demon. He had no children, and this once again said that Judas is a bad person and God does not want offspring from Judas.

None of the disciples noticed when this red-haired and ugly Jew first appeared near Christ; but for a long time he had relentlessly followed their path, intervening in conversations, rendering small services, bowing, smiling and fawning. And then it became completely habitual, deceiving tired eyesight, then it suddenly caught my eye and ears, irritating them, like something unprecedented, ugly, deceitful and disgusting. Then they drove him away with stern words, and for a short time he disappeared somewhere by the road - and then again imperceptibly appeared, helpful, flattering and cunning, like a one-eyed demon. And there was no doubt for some of the disciples that some secret intention was hidden in his desire to get closer to Jesus, there was an evil and insidious calculation.

But Jesus did not listen to their advice; their prophetic voice did not touch his ears. With that spirit of bright contradiction, which irresistibly attracted him to the outcast and unloved, he resolutely accepted Judas and included him in the circle of the elect. The disciples were agitated and murmured with restraint, while he sat quietly, facing the setting sun, and listened thoughtfully, perhaps to them, and perhaps to something else. For ten days there had been no wind, and still the same remained, without moving and without changing, the transparent air, attentive and sensitive. And it seemed as if he preserved in his transparent depth all that was shouted and sung these days by people, animals and birds - tears, weeping and a cheerful song, prayer and curses; and these glassy, ​​frozen voices made him so heavy, anxious, densely saturated with invisible life. And the sun went down again. It rolled down like a heavily flaming ball, igniting the sky; and everything on earth that was turned towards him: the swarthy face of Jesus, the walls of the houses and the leaves of the trees - everything obediently reflected that distant and terribly thoughtful light. The white wall was no longer white now, and the red city on the red mountain did not remain white.

And then came Judas.

He came, bowing low, arching his back, cautiously and timidly stretching forward his ugly bumpy head - just the way those who knew him imagined. He was thin, of good height, almost the same as Jesus, who stooped slightly from the habit of thinking while walking, and therefore seemed shorter; and he was apparently strong enough in strength, but for some reason he pretended to be frail and sickly, and his voice was changeable: now courageous and strong, now loud, like that of an old woman scolding her husband, annoyingly thin and unpleasant to hear; and often I wanted to pull the words of Judas out of my ears like rotten, rough splinters. Short red hair did not hide the strange and unusual shape of his skull: as if cut from the back of the head with a double blow of the sword and recomposed, it was clearly divided into four parts and inspired distrust, even anxiety: behind such a skull there can be no silence and harmony, behind such a skull there is always the noise of bloody and merciless battles is heard. The face of Judas also doubled: one side of it, with a black, keenly looking out eye, was lively, mobile, willingly gathering into numerous crooked wrinkles. The other had no wrinkles, and it was deathly smooth, flat and frozen; and although it was equal in size to the first, it seemed huge from the wide-open blind eye. Covered with a whitish haze, not closing either at night or during the day, he equally met both light and darkness; but whether because next to him was a lively and cunning comrade, he could not believe in his complete blindness. When, in a fit of timidity or excitement, Judas closed his living eye and shook his head, this one shook along with the movements of his head and silently watched. Even people who were completely devoid of insight, clearly understood, looking at Iscariot, that such a person could not bring good, and Jesus brought him closer and even next to him - next to him planted Judas.

John, the beloved disciple, moved away in disgust, and all the rest, loving their teacher, looked down in disapproval. And Judas sat down - and, moving his head to the right and left, in a thin voice began to complain about illnesses, that his chest ached at night, that, ascending the mountains, he was suffocating, and standing at the edge of the abyss, he felt dizzy and could hardly resist from a foolish desire to throw himself down. And many other things he godlessly invented, as if he did not understand that illnesses do not come to a person by chance, but are born from a discrepancy between his actions and the precepts of the Eternal. Rubbing his chest with a broad hand and even coughing feignedly, this Judas from Kariot, in the general silence and downcast eyes.

John, without looking at the teacher, quietly asked Peter Simonov, his friend:

Are you tired of this lie? I can't take it any longer and I'm out of here.

Peter looked at Jesus, met his gaze, and quickly stood up.

- Wait! he said to a friend.

Once again he looked at Jesus, quickly, like a stone torn from a mountain, moved towards Judas Iscariot and loudly said to him with wide and clear affability:

“Here you are with us, Judas.

He affectionately patted his hand on his bent back and, not looking at the teacher, but feeling his gaze on himself, added resolutely in his loud voice, which displaced all objections, as water displaces air:

- It's okay that you have such a nasty face: our nets also come across not so ugly, but when eating, they are the most delicious. And it is not for us, the fishermen of our Lord, to throw away the catch just because the fish is prickly and one-eyed. I once saw an octopus in Tyre, caught by the fishermen there, and I was so frightened that I wanted to run. And they laughed at me, a fisherman from Tiberias, and gave it to me to eat, and I asked for more, because it was very tasty. Remember, teacher, I told you about it, and you laughed too. And you, Judas, look like an octopus - only one half.

And he laughed out loud, pleased with his joke. When Peter spoke, his words sounded so firm, as if he were nailing them. When Peter moved or did something, he made a far audible noise and evoked a response from the most deaf things: the stone floor hummed under his feet, the doors trembled and slammed, and the very air trembled and rustled fearfully. In the gorges of the mountains, his voice woke up an angry echo, and in the mornings on the lake, when they were fishing, he rolled round in a sleepy and shiny water and made the first timid sunbeams smile. And, probably, they loved Peter for this: the night shadow still lay on all the other faces, and his large head, and wide bare chest, and freely thrown arms were already burning in the glow of sunrise.

“Jesus Christ was warned many times that Judas of Carioth is a very notorious person and should be guarded against.” no one about him good word won't say. He is “selfish, cunning, prone to pretense and lies”, endlessly quarreling people among themselves, crawling into houses like a scorpion. He left his wife a long time ago, and she is in poverty. He himself “staggers senselessly among the people”, grimaces, lies, vigilantly looking out for something with his “thieves' eye”. “He did not have children, and this once again said that Judas is a bad person and God does not want offspring from Judas.” None of the disciples noticed when the “red-haired and ugly Jew” first appeared near Christ, but now he was constantly nearby, hiding “some secret intention ... an evil and insidious calculation” - there was no doubt about it. But Jesus did not heed the warnings; he was drawn to the outcasts. "...He resolutely accepted Judas and included him in the circle of the elect." There had been no wind for ten days, the students were murmuring, and the teacher was quiet and concentrated. At sunset, Judas approached him. “He was lean, of good height, almost the same as Jesus ...” “Short red hair did not hide the strange and unusual shape of his skull: as if cut from the back of the head with a double blow of the sword and recomposed, it was clearly divided into four parts and inspired distrust, even anxiety: behind such a skull there can be no silence and harmony, behind such a skull one can always hear the noise of bloody and merciless battles. The face of Judas also doubled: one side of it, with a black, keenly looking out eye, was lively, mobile, willingly gathering into numerous crooked wrinkles. On the other, there were no wrinkles, and it was deadly smooth, flat and frozen, and although it was equal in size to the first, it seemed huge from the wide-open blind eye. Covered with a whitish haze, not closing either at night or during the day, he met both light and darkness in the same way ... ”Even impenetrable people clearly understood that Judas could not bring good. Jesus brought him closer by sitting next to him. Judas complained about illnesses, as if he did not understand that they were not born by chance, but corresponded to the deeds of the sick person and the covenants of the eternal. The beloved disciple of Jesus Christ, John, squeamishly moved away from Judas. Peter wanted to leave, but, obeying the look of Jesus, he greeted Judas, comparing Iscariot with an octopus: “And you, Judas, look like an octopus - only one half.” Peter always speaks firmly and loudly. His words dispelled the oppressive state of the audience. Only John and Thomas are silent. Thomas is oppressed by the sight of an open and bright Jesus sitting next to him and “an octopus with huge, motionless, dull-greedy eyes.” Judas asked John, who was looking at him, why he was silent, for his words are “like golden apples in transparent silver vessels, give one of them to Judas, who is so poor.” But John continues to silently consider Iscariot. Later, everyone fell asleep, only Judas listened to the silence, then he coughed so that they would not think that he was pretending to be sick.

“Gradually people got used to Judas and stopped noticing his ugliness.” Jesus entrusted him with the money box and all household chores: he bought food and clothes, distributed alms, and during his wanderings looked for places to sleep. Judas lied constantly, and they got used to it, not seeing bad deeds behind the lie. From the stories of Judas, it turned out that he knew all people, and each of them commits some bad deed or even a crime in life. Good people, according to Judas, are those who know how to hide their deeds and thoughts, “but if such a person is hugged, caressed and questioned well, then all kinds of untruth, abomination and lies will flow from him, like pus from a punctured wound.” He is a liar himself, but not like others. They laughed at the stories of Judas, and he, satisfied, squinted. Iscariot said about his father that he did not know him: his mother shared a bed with many. Matthew reproached Judas for speaking foul language about his parents. Iscariot said nothing about the disciples of Jesus and about himself, making hilarious grimaces. Only Thomas listened attentively to Judas, accusing him of a lie. Once, while traveling through Judea, Jesus and his disciples approached a village, about the inhabitants of which Judas spoke only bad things, predicting disaster. When the inhabitants cordially greeted the wanderers, the disciples reproached Iscariot with slander. Thomas alone returned to the village after they left. The next day, he told his comrades that after they left, panic broke out in the village: the old woman lost her goat and accused Jesus of stealing. Soon the kid was found in the bushes, but the inhabitants still decided that Jesus was a deceiver or even a thief. Peter wanted to return, but Jesus subdued his ardor. Since that day Christ's attitude towards Iscariot has changed. Now, speaking with the disciples, Jesus looked at Judas, as if not seeing him, and no matter what he said, "it seemed, however, that he always speaks against Judas." For all, Christ was "the fragrant rose of Lebanon, but for Judas he left only sharp thorns." Soon there was another case in which, again, Iscariot turned out to be right. In one village, which Judas scolded and advised to go around, Jesus was received with extreme hostility, they wanted to stone him to death. With a cry and abuse, Judas rushed to the inhabitants, lied to them and gave time for Christ and his disciples to leave. Iscariot made such faces that in the end he caused the laughter of the crowd. But Judas did not wait for gratitude from the teacher. Iscariot complained to Thomas that no one needed the truth and he, Judas. Jesus was probably saved by Satan, who taught Iscariot to grimace and dodge in front of an angry crowd. Later, Judas lagged behind Thomas, rolled into a ravine, where he sat motionless for several hours on the stones, pondering something heavily. “That night, Judas did not return for the night, and the disciples, torn from their thoughts by the worries about food and drink, grumbled at his negligence.”

“One day, around noon, Jesus and his disciples were walking along a rocky and mountainous road...” The teacher was tired, he walked for more than five hours. The disciples built a tent for Jesus out of their cloaks, while they themselves took up various tasks. Peter and Philip threw heavy stones from the mountain, competing in strength and dexterity. Soon the rest came up, at first just watching the game, and later - taking part. Only Judas and Jesus stood aside. Thomas called out to Judas why he did not go to measure his strength. “My chest hurts, and they didn’t call me,” Judas answered. Thomas was surprised that Iscariot was waiting for an invitation. “Well, so I call you, go,” he replied. Judas grabbed a huge stone and easily threw it down. Peter said offendedly: “No, you still quit!” They competed for a long time in strength and dexterity, until Peter pleaded: “Lord! .. Help me defeat Judas!” Jesus answered: “...and who will help Iscariot?” Then Peter laughed at how “sick” Judas easily turns stones. Convicted of lying, Judas also laughed out loud, followed by the others. Everyone recognized Iscariot as the winner. Only Jesus remained silent, having gone far ahead. Gradually, the disciples gathered around Christ, leaving the "victor" lagging behind alone. Stopping for the night in the house of Lazarus, no one remembered the recent triumph of Iscariot. Judas stood at the door, surrendering to his thoughts. He seemed to fall asleep, not seeing that he was blocking the entrance to Jesus. The disciples made Judas step aside.

At night, Thomas was awakened by the crying of Judas. "Why doesn't he love me?" asked Iscariot bitterly. Thomas explained that Judas is unpleasant in appearance, and besides, he lies and slanders, how can a teacher like this? Judas replied passionately: “I would give him Judas, brave, beautiful Judas! And now he will perish, and Judas will perish with him.” Iscariot told Thomas that Jesus did not need strong and courageous disciples. "He loves fools, traitors, liars."

Iscariot hid a few denarii, this was discovered by Thomas. It can be assumed that this is not the first time Judas commits a theft. Peter dragged the trembling Iscariot to Jesus, but he remained silent. Peter left, outraged by the teacher's reaction. Later, John transmitted the words of Christ: "...Judas can take money as much as he wants." As a sign of submission, John kissed Judas, and everyone followed his example. Iscariot confessed to Thomas that he had given three denarii to a harlot who had not eaten for several days. From that time on, Judas was reborn: he did not grimace, did not slander, did not joke, and did not offend anyone. Matthew found it possible to praise him. Even John began to treat Iscariot more condescendingly. One day he asked Judas: “Which of us, Peter or I, will be the first near Christ in his heavenly kingdom?” Judas replied, "I believe you are." To the same question of Peter, Judas replied that he would be the first

Peter. He praised Iscariot for his mind. Judas now tried to please everyone, constantly thinking about something. When asked by Peter what he was thinking about, Judas answered: “About many things.” Only once did Judas remind himself of his former self. Arguing about closeness to Christ, John and Peter asked “clever Judas” to judge, “who will be the first near Jesus”? Judas answered: "Me!" Everyone understood what recent times thought Iscariot.

At this time, Judas took the first step towards betrayal: he visited the high priest Anna, and was received very severely. Iscariot admitted that he wanted to expose the deception of Christ. The high priest, knowing that Jesus has many disciples, is afraid that they will intercede for the teacher. Iscariot laughed, calling them “cowardly dogs” and assuring Anna that everyone would scatter at the first danger and come only to put the teacher in the coffin, because they love him “more dead than alive”: then they themselves will be able to become teachers. The priest realized that Judas was offended. Iscariot confirmed the guess: “Can anything be hidden from your insight, wise Anna?” Iscariot appeared to Anna many more times, until he agreed to pay thirty pieces of silver for the betrayal. At first, the insignificance of the amount offended Iscariot, but Anna threatened that there would be people who would agree to a lower payment. Judas was indignant, and then meekly agreed to the proposed amount. He hid the money he received under a rock. Returning home, Judas gently stroked the hair of the sleeping Christ and wept, writhing in convulsions. And then "he stood for a long time, heavy, resolute and alien to everything, like fate itself."

In the last days of Jesus' short life, Judas surrounded him with quiet love, tender attention and caress. He foresaw any desire of the teacher, did him only pleasant. “Before, Judas did not like Marina Magdalene and other women who were near Christ ... - now he has become their friend ... ally.” He bought incense and expensive wines for Jesus and got angry if Peter drank what was meant for the teacher, because he didn't care what he drank, as long as he had more. In "rocky Jerusalem", almost devoid of greenery, Iscariot somewhere got flowers, grass and passed it on to Jesus through women. He brought babies to him so that "they would rejoice at each other." In the evenings, Judas “incited a conversation” with Galilee, dear to Jesus.