Through the first 15 chapters of Master and Margarita I hoped that it’d be Josefina’s turn once we get to «Казнь» [Execution]. But now that she’s «отошла от дел» [withdraw from business], it falls to me to write about Chapter 16 of the Bulgakov’s novel… Personally, I find it hard to write about the chapters that take place in the ancient Yershalaim so Josefina used to talk about those with her usual grace and skill. So what am I going to do now as we get to the exact mid-point of the novel (the entire novel is 32 chapters)?

As the name suggests, the entire chapter describes the scene and the proceedings of Yeshua’s execution. It also introduces a new character, Yeshua’s only disciple «Левий Матвей» [Levi Matvei]. So I thought it’d be interesting to figure out Levi Matvei’s «двойники» [doubles] in the novel.

If Master and Margarita had «волшебное число» [a magic number], it would definitely be the number «три» [three]. After all, the novel spans three worlds – «современный мир» [the modern world] (chapters that take place in Moscow), «библейский мир» [the biblical world] (chapters that take place in Yershalaim], and «потусторонний мир» [the “other” world of Woland and his retinue]. Each major character in these worlds has his or her «эквиваленты» [counterparts] or «двойники» [doubles] in the other two worlds. They form «триады» [triads] of the novel. For example, «Понтий Пилат» [Pontius Pilate] in the biblical world mirrors «Воланд» [Woland] in the “other” world and «профессор Стравинский» [Professor Stravinsky] in Moscow world.

Actually, the triads extend to more than just the characters. They also span the episodes and scene descriptions:

Biblical World: «Солнце уже снижалось над Лысой Горой…» [The sun was already sinking behind Bald Mountain…]

That’s Chapter 16 opening that brings to mind the opening words of the novel from Chapter 1 (set in the contemporary world): «В час жаркого весеннего заката…» [One hot spring evening, just as the sun was going down…]

And, «забегая вперёд» [jumping ahead] to Chapter 29, the “other” world: «На закате солнца…» [At sunset…]

There are several words in Chapter 16 that are not widely used in everyday Russian language, such as «кентурион» or «центурион» [commander of a century, a fighting unit in Roman army], «ала» [Roman cavalry unit], etc. But one word that is present and used is «прокуратор» [procurator]. Actually, it’s not so much this exact word as the related «прокурор» [counsel for the prosecution] and «прокуратура» [prosecutor’s office] as in such news headlines as

«Прокуратура г. Владимира запрещает говорить об истине» [The Prosecutor’s Office in Vladimir Prohibits to Speak the Truth]

«У стен прокуратуры Кировограда прогремели три взрыва» [Three Blasts Rocked the Walls of the Prosecutor’s Office in Kirovograd]

And my favorite one (linguistically) «Прокуратура попеняла приставам за волокиту» [The Prosecutor’s Office (Lightly) Reproached Bailiffs for Procrastination]

Ah, but back to Levi Matvei and his «двойники» [doubles]. His “contemporary world” counterpart is «поэт Рюхин» [the poet Ryukhin], the fellow writer who delivered hapless Ivan Bezdomny to the psychiatric clinic. Do you know the second counterpart? It’s a trick question, I admit, ’cause this second person has not yet, as of Chapter 16, entered the “other” world although he did have quite an encounter with it.