Trafika Europe 6 - Arabesque

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

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