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györgy spiró
Gaudentius, the son, was
so dumb that he stood no
chance of getting the job as
grammateus.
Joseph smiled happily, taking
Uri ’s silence as a sign of
agreement. He left no stone
unturned; yet it was still
the idiot who was named
grammateus, with the favor
of Annianus.
Uri relaxed. Being a notary for
a hysterical archisynagogos
was not such a great deal;
marriage could also wait.
Then two months later,
Gaudentius, Honoratus’s
idiot son, died unexpectedly,
having lived just sixteen years,
two months, and three days,
as was nicely engraved on his
sepulchral plaque. Uri, in his
cubbyhole, said prayers for
him; he genuinely felt sorry
for the blockhead and could
not help it if, by the grace of
the Lord, he had been seen as
good-for-nothing in life.
Joseph took a new lease on life
and once again started to pay
visits to influential members
of the assembly.
Then the influential members
of the assembly, on Annianus’s
advice, decided that the next
son born to Honoratus should
be the grammateus, and
until that son was conceived
and born, let the post be
discharged by others, who
would relieve each other
every three months. Joseph
was assured that Uri was
highly placed on the list of
substitutes, even if he was
blind as a bat. Joseph had a
few salty words of his own,
as a result of which Gaius
Theodorus, son of Lucius
Ioses, was removed from the
list. From that point on, Uri
was left in peace and out of
harm’s way, and when he was
not reading in his alcove, he