That Beautiful Blonde

Publisher Marketing: The leisure boats are full of beautiful women, merry Romans, some Palestinians and a few Greeks. A slender young man in a short red tunic with heavy Greek fret and a belt that is a masterpiece of a goldsmith, says: 'Hellas is beautiful! But not even my Olympic fatherland has this blue and these flowers. It is really not surprising that the goddesses left it to come here. Let us spread flowers, roses and our compliments to the goddesses, no longer Greek but Judaean...'And he spreads on the women in his boat, petals of magnificent roses, and throws some into a nearby boat. A Roman replies: 'Spread them, spread them, Greek! But Venus is with me. I do not spread roses, I pick them from this beautiful mouth. It is sweeter!' And bending down, he kisses the open smiling lips of Mary of Magdala, who is leaning on cushions with her blond head in the lap of the Roman. The boats nearly collide. 'Be careful, if your lives are dear to you' shouts Peter, who veers wildly and shifts the helm to avert a collision 'Get out of the way, you dirty Jewish dogs' the Romans insult the Galileans. Peter, flushing like a cockerel, stands on the edge of the boat that is pitching wildly and with his hands on his hips, gives tit for tat not sparing Romans, Greeks, Jews or Jewesses. He assails the women with such courteous titles that cannot be repeated ... Jesus does not move from His place and remains sitting, His mind far away... As the boats are about to move away, the Magdalene stands up and following the indication of one of her partners in vice, turns her beautiful eyes towards the serene face of Jesus, Whose mind is still so far away. 'Say, Simon!' asks Judas Iscariot. 'Since you are a Judaean like me, tell me. That beautiful blonde in the Roman's lap, the one who stood up a few minutes ago, isn't she the sister of Lazarus of Bethany?'