"Moorcock, Michael - Behold The Man2" - читать интересную книгу автора (Moorcock Michael)

to explain his own unfamiliarity with the language. He
decided that it was best to stick to this story and hope for
the best.
"I am from the north," he said.
"Not from Egypt?" the big man asked. It -was as if he had
expected Glogauer to be from there. Glogauer decided that if
this was what the big man thought, he might just as well
agree to it.
"I came out of Egypt two years since," he said.
The big man nodded, apparently satisfied. "So you are
a magus from Egypt. That is what we thought. And your
name is Jesus, and you are the Nazarene."
"I seek Jesus, the Nazarene," Glogauer said.
"Then what is your name?" The man seemed disappointed.
Glogauer could not give his own name. It would sound
too strange to them. On impulse, he gave his father's first
name. "Emmanuel," he said.
The man nodded, again satisfied. "Emmanuel."
Glogauer realized belatedly that the choice of name had
been an unfortunate one in the circumstances, for Emmanuel
meant in Hebrew "God with us" and doubtless had a mystic
significance for his questioner.
"And what is your name?" he asked.
The man straightened up, looking broodingly down on
Glogauer. "You do not know me? You have not heard of
John, called the Baptist?"
Glogauer tried to hide his surprise, but evidently John the
Baptist .saw that his name was familiar. He nodded his shaggy
bead. "You do know of me, I see. Well, magus, now I must
decide, eh?"
"What must you decide?" Glogauer asked nervously.
"If you be the friend of the prophecies or the false one
. we have been warned against by Adonai. The Romans would
deliver me into the hands of mine enemies, the children of
Herod."
"Why is that?"
"You must know why, for I speak against the Romans who
enslave Judaea, and I speak against the unlawful things that
Herod does, and I prophesy the time when all those who
are not righteous shall be destroyed and Adonai's kingdom
will be restored on Earth as the old prophets said it would
be. I say to the people, 'Be ready for that day when ye shall
take up the sword to do Adonai's will.' The unrighteous
know that they will perish on this day, and they would
destroy me."
Despite the intensity of his words, John's tone was matter
of fact. There was no hint of insanity or fanaticism in his
face or bearing. He sounded most of all like an Anglican
vicar reading a sermon whose meaning for him had lost its
edge.