Chapter 30

Time to go! Time to go!

[Pora! pora!]

Time to go! Time to go! [Pora! Pora!]: The title of this chapter alludes to a poem by Alexander Pushkin, "Pora moi drug, pora" (1834).

ache in the left temple

no one to overhear them

the devil knows

Aloisy, are you home?

"Peace be unto you."

Falernum the color of blood

Poisoner

you are thinking how can you be dead?

"You won't forget a word of it, not a single word?"

The Horsemen of the Apocalypse

write the sequel /"Farewell, disciple."

ache in the left temple: perhaps a milder echo of the earlier headaches of Pilate and Stepa Likhodeev. Later the Master will hit his temple on the desk.

no one to overhear them: again the theme of witnesses / spies

the devil knows: Here Bulgakov finally bares the device he has been using all along. Previously only the reader was aware of the realization of these metaphors, now the Master and Margarita are as well.

Aloisy, are you home? Aloisy's friend vanishes like the tenants of the evil apartment, but from completely mundane causes. Obviously he doesn't want to be associated with someone who has been arrested. Significantly, Margarita asks his name, which, like the Master's and that of one of the vanished tenants, remains a mystery.

"Peace be unto you.": This is another of Bulgakov's twisted biblical references. These words are a quote from Jesus who visits his disciples after his resurrection. (Luke 24:36) In the context of the novel, this phrase is uttered by Azazello, who has come to visit the Master and Margarita. There is a resurrection that takes place, but it is Azazello who poisons the Master and Margarita.

Falernum the color of blood: In this chapter, Bulgakov has Azazello serve the Master and Margarita Falernum wine. He describes the wine as having "stained [everything] the color of blood." However, Falernum is an amber colored wine. Bulgakov corrected this mistake in Chapter 25, where the Pilate drinks Cecubum, a red wine. Unfortunately, Bulgakov died before he finished correcting his manuscript and did not correct all of the discrepancies in the text. The color is important for the liturgical and ritual connection: wine/blood : death/life.

Poisoner Death by poisoning is mentioned by Pilate in Chapter 2, by the narrator in Chapter 5, and of course by many of the guests at Satan's Grand Ball.

you are thinking how can you be dead? Azazello puns on Descartes' Cogito, ergo sum. [I think, therefore I am.]

"You won't forget a word of it, not a single word?": This statement of Margarita's serves two functions. The first is the same as mentioned in the notes to Chapter 24. Many authors were never able to write down their works and were forced to preserve their stories by memorizing them. In many cases, authors gave their trusted friends pieces of their stories to memorize for safekeeping. This method saved many great literary works from destruction by the Soviet authorities.

This statement also implies that the information in the novel about Pilate depends upon the memory of the Master. He has no copy of his manuscript and is relying only on his memory to recall the actions in it. However, it has already been stated that Woland knows all that happened. Margarita has read and memorized the Master's novel, so she too knows the story, as does Bezdomny, who learned it from the Master. It is Bezdomny who is called the Master's "disciple" in this chapter and is entrusted with writing the sequel to the Pilate story. Nonetheless, the Master is the source of information of everyone except Woland's information about Pilate. Woland claims to have personally witnessed the events of the day Yeshua died. Did the Master make up the Pilate story or did it really happen? How will Bezdomny continue the novel? Are the Yershalaim chapters in this novel told from the point of view of Woland, the Master, or Bezdomny?

write the sequel /"Farewell, disciple." Here the connection between Ivan and Levi Matvei is made clear. The master departs and his disciple remains behind to write. But what is the sequel to the Master's novel? Master and Margarita?