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Jospeh and John have come to see Pilate to beg for Jesus's life. Now read on!
Talibus orabat; largo simul imbre rigabant------------
ora senis lacrymae: placido quem Pontius ore
accipit, atque ambos verbis solatur amicis; [75]
depositumque senem molli locat ipse sedili.
Atque hœc deinde refert: “Ut vos hic tempore adestis
optati! nec enim forsan venisse pigebit.
Tu modô vera mihi scitanti edissere pauca
nunc, pater, haud veritus: fidei te credere fas est [80]
omne meae: cœlum et cœli vaga sidera testor,
sollicito mihi cura tui est nunc maxima nati;
quem tibi mente agito incolumem servare; furoremque
et rabiem, ut potui, compressi gentis iniquae.
Fare age, (namque mihi haud nunc primùm venit ad aures) [85]
quae fortuna viro, unde domo, quo sanguine cretus.
Ede tuum, matrisque genus: non ille creatus
stirpe humili, mihi si verum mens augurat. Ut se
incessu gerit! ut vultuque et corpore toto est
humanâ major species! ut lumina honorum [90]
plena! ut regifici motus! verba inde notavi;
nil mortale sonat: sensi illo in pectore numen:
aut certè Deus ille, aut non mortalibus ortus.
Dicite vos: nam me scitantem avertitur ipse,
et vix responso tacitus dignatur amicum; [95]
contemptorque illi est animus lucisque meique.”
His dictis, senior paulisper substitit anceps:
sene ultra tegeret quaerenti; an proderet illi
et Divi genus, et verum sine fraude parentem.
Cùm breviter comes admotus sic fatur ad aurem: [100]
“Regia progenies, nymphae dignate superbo
coniugio, quid adhuc haeres? absiste vereri.
Omnia sublatis aperi iam nubibus ultro:
Pone metus, et rumpe moras: video omnia tuta.”
So he prayed; and his broad cheeks were covered------------
with flowing tears. Calmly Pilate received him
and offered the two men consoling words [75]
leading the older to a comfortable chair;
Then he addressed them: “I’m very glad you’ve come
in time! I only hope that I can help.
Tell me everything, truthfully and be brief.
Now, father, the truth: you can trust my good faith [80]
in all this: I swear by the sky and stars that
your son is now my most pressing concern;
I mean to save him for you from the rage
and fury of those people—in check, for now.
Tell me (this is not the first I’ve heard of him) [85]
about his life, his place of origin and
bloodline—and yours, too: and his mother’s: for I
feel he is no common man. How fine his
bearing! There is something more than human
in his face and form. How full of nobility [90]
are his eyes! How royally he moves! And his
speech is more than mortal: I sense divinity:
if not god himself, his birth was not mortal.
You must tell me. When I asked him, as a friend,
he turned away from me in silence; as if [95]
his soul held me—and life—in contempt.”
He spoke. For a short time the old man pondered
holding back, whether he should conceal his son’s
divine birth, or reveal his parentage.
But John approached and whispered to him: [100]
“Son of kings, deemed worthy of marriage to
the maiden, why do you hold back? Don’t fear.
Dispel all the obscurity and reveal
the truth without delay: I’m sure it’s safe.”
Here Vida’s sympathy for Pilate ramps up more than a notch. The governor has seen Jesus with his own eyes, and can tell both that he's innocent and more than mortal. He's not only happy to give audience to Joseph, and to treat him with respect and courtesy, he directly promises that he will do everything to free his son. On the one hand this is a matter of dignifying the Roman connection with Christ's life (and death) and so shoring up the claim of modern-day Rome to be the centre of Christianity. But it runs a very obvious risk: the more hyperbolic the praise and promises Pilate makes, the bigger the let-down when he proves unable to deliver them. How Vida carries this through, without retrosepctively making his Pilate a despicably Trumpian promise-everything-deliver-nothing kind of guy will be interesting to observe.
The medieval illustrated manuscript at the head of this post, showing Christ before Pilate, is from here. That site doesn't give any more precise details about it, but I do like the Gandalf vibe of Pilate in that image.
[Next: lines 105-167]
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