s of silver for Jesus!" he cried in a voice of wild
madness, most pleasing to Annas. "For Jesus of Nazareth! You wish to
buy Jesus for thirty pieces of silver? And you think that Jesus can be
betrayed to you for thirty pieces of silver?" Judas turned quickly to
the wall, and laughed in its smooth, white fence, lifting up his long
hands. "Do you hear? Thirty pieces of silver! For Jesus!"

With the same quiet pleasure, Annas remarked indifferently:

"If you will not deal, go away. We shall find some one whose work is
cheaper."

And like old-clothes men who throw useless rags from hand to hand in the
dirty market-place, and shout, and swear and abuse each other, so they
embarked on a rabid and fiery bargaining. Intoxicated with a strange
rapture, running and turning about, and shouting, Judas ticked off on
his fingers the merits of Him whom he was selling.

"And the fact that He is kind and heals the sick, is that worth nothing
at all in your opinion? Ah, yes! Tell me, like an honest man!"

"If you--" began Annas, who was turning red, as he tried to get in a
word, his cold malice quickly warming up under the burning words of
Judas, who, however, interrupted him shamelessly:

"That He is young and handsome--like the Narcissus of Sharon, and the
Lily of the Valley? What? Is that worth nothing? Perhaps you will say
that He is old and useless, and that Judas is trying to dispose of an
old bird? Eh?"

"If you--" Annas tried to exclaim; but Judas' stormy speech bore away
his senile croak, like down upon the wind.

"Thirty pieces of silver! That will hardly work out to one obolus for
each drop of blood! Half an obolus will not go to a tear! A quarter to
a groan. And cries, and convulsions! And for the ceasing of His
heartbeats? And the closing of His eyes? Is all this to be thrown
in gratis?" sobbed Iscariot, advancing toward the high priest and
enveloping him with an insane movement of his hands and fingers, and
with intervolved words.

"Includes everything," said Annas in a choking voice.

"And how much will you make out of it yourself? Eh? You wish to rob
Judas, to snatch the bit of bread from his children. No, I can't do it.
I will go on to the market-place, and shout out: 'Annas has robbed poor
Judas. Help!'"

Wearied, and grown quite dizzy, Annas wildly stamped about the floor in
his soft slippers, gesticulating: "Be off, be off!"

But Judas on a sudden bowed down, stretching forth his hands
submissively: