Barabbas
Page 12
And so they were led out to be crucified. They were chained together in pairs, and, as they were not an even number, Barabbas came last in the procession, not chained to anyone. It just turned out like that. In this way, too, it happened that he hung furthest out in the rows of crosses.
A large crowd had collected, and it was a long time before it was all over. But the crucified spoke consolingly and hopefully to each other the whole time. To Barabbas nobody spoke.
When dusk fell the spectators had already gone home, tired of standing there any longer. And besides, by that time the crucified were all dead.
Only Barabbas was left hanging there alone, still alive. When he felt death approaching, that which he had always been so afraid of, he said out into the darkness, as though he were speaking to it:
—To thee I deliver up my soul.
And then he gave up the ghost.
About the Author
Pär Lagerkvist (1891–1974) is the author of more than thirty-five books and was renowned for his versatility as a poet, dramatist, essayist and novelist. In 1940 he was elected one of the eighteen “Immortals” of the Swedish Academy, and in 1951 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.
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