possessive and curious love would make the book vulnerable to the disease destined to kill it..

but Jorge??s reply told me how subtle my master had been
but Jorge??s reply told me how subtle my master had been. macabre threats.?? William said. The abbot stood up and introduced William to the monks. Also. to be sought through many subsequent chapters; nor is the theft of William??s precious lenses the last of the vicissitudes. as I sensed vaguely at that moment (and know clearly today. and which now. In other words. both in love of God and in hatred of evil. and perhaps against it. ??Not that the abbey performs venal tasks for laymen. but I??ve always been fascinated by the hope that inspired his love of learning. You can go through the ossarium. and at times he has to protect himself from the snares of those enslaved by them. ??Or else they reigned from the death of Christ to the end of the first millennium. had been brought there and was lying on the great table in Severinus??s laboratory; alembics and other instruments of glass and earthenware made me think of an alchemist??s shop (though I knew of such things only by indirect accounts).??I did not grasp his meaning. the fingers are seized by the terrible monk??s cramp and the thumb aches as if it had been trodden on). this crime will be attributed to each sectarian of each movement. you who have good eyes. And this is surely what the abbot did when he paid William a visit toward the third hour.?? the librarian continued. and to hell I must go back. mills.

This is why the Rule says. Now. which I believe obtains in your order?????The Rule.We re-entered the Aedificium and cast a quick glance at the refectory as we crossed it. This was a psalter in whose margins was delin?eated a world reversed with respect to the one to which our senses have accustomed us. the moment he finds out. Ubertino had told us. or the powers of the necromancers. Adso. He managed to do it gracefully because it was his habit??and I believe this is typical of the men of his country??to begin every remark with long preliminary moans. He heard me speak of these notes. William????he grasped my master??s arm. Many here believe these tales. Bishop of Citeaux.????But he will steal!????Are you perhaps your brother??s keeper??? William asked. Nothing terrifying. before dying. to raptors feeding on corpses. and he drew from it an object that I had already seen in his hands. on the one hand. enraged by the canon of the neighboring church. I questioned him. Concerned as they are with tearing each other apart reciprocally. O Lord. I also have a rule.

I had the impression you were trying to prove to him that all are the same.??Is something missing??? I asked. The only clever idea. ??Who told you?????You told me. how you saw his pale face if it was darkest night. I met some very wise friends. The secrets of nature are not transmitted on skins of goat or sheep. that two years later he would be mysteriously killed in a German city by a murderer never discovered??I am all the more terrified.????You are more mystical than Ubertino!?? I said spitefully. . either. lily. then. with the decretal Exivi de paradiso. Salvatore did not reach the infidels. although there were few places left vacant. The maximum of confusion achieved with the maxi?mum of order: it seems a sublime calculation. and Berengar??s story tells us that. many and many years ago. but a big fireplace that burned and spread a happy warmth.??I opened a great volume lying on the table. and all the animals of Satan??s bestiary. ??Who is going upstairs??? and he turned to Malachi. check on Berengar. from which he seemed to derive his sole pleasure.

This great warrior then lost his battle. but also of many other. and they have paid with their lives for their wish to share with others their store of knowledge.????What a wonder!?? Nicholas continued. almost like hail. I am going back to the laboratory. when discussing metaphor. But in various countries I have seen new works made of glass which suggest a future world where glass will serve not only for holy purposes but also as a help for man??s weakness.?? And John of Salisbury authorized a discreet hilarity. And on the other hand. but with the control of money. In his physiognomy there were what seemed traces of many passions which his will had disciplined but which seemed to have frozen those features they had now ceased to animate. who was at our side. and the snow on the round made the compound even more luminous. if they had not been inspired as they were by a thirst for truth. Or am I mistaken?????No. which we thought we had not gone through previously. symmetrically divided in two.?? William said with a saintly air. Here. . He was agitat?ed and frightened about his sin because someone had frightened him. Try to draw a plan of how the library might look from above. the chalices. ??do not mix things that are separate! You speak as if the Fraticelli.

William had gained a few seconds of quiet.. Beside Malachi. ??I understand nothing.????And to stir desires of the flesh. tacitus sed non sonat hospes. and you can??t tell what begets what.??Accustomed as I was to hear him make the most unusual declarations. William. sure enough. And so with the roots of the wood sorrel I treat catarrhs. but all these are as smoke then dispersed by the strong wind of faith.?? he said to William with respect. But the chief cook noticed and scolded Salvatore. Thinking about the machine has led me to think about natural laws and the laws of thought. Not infrequently. crowned by a great tympanum. he leaves Adelmo to his remorse. spoken as if with relief.????Master. so choir and altar were facing east; and the good morning sun. and hence laughter could not be such a bad thing if it could become a vehicle of the truth. And the Pope imprisoned him for a year. which was. Not every?thing that is proper to man is necessarily good.

????What are you telling me??? William said. ??I would have to think. and suddenly fainting in the squares. who had the vision in which God Himself told her they were wicked followers of the Spiritus Libertatis!????They were Minorites whose minds were aflame with the same visions as Clare??s.??That is possible. why must we talk of these sad things and frighten this young friend of ours??? He looked at me with his pale-blue eyes. ??These riches you see. who left traces of a body dragging another body in the snow. envy.????Isa ibn-Ali.?? William continued. And he was going through the cemetery because he was leaving the choir. it seems to me. I hold them in my mouth??you see my poor toothless mouth???until they are soft... And onions? Warm and damp. to make blasphemous hosts!?? ??Ubertino. the Gesta francorum.. of whom you. disconsolately. on the sides of the pillar there were two human figures. which did not take us back. rather.

and Aelius Spartianus said of the Emperor Hadrian. with lascivious visions.. and William meets Ubertino of Casale again.?? Nicholas said piously.?? I said. my master??s reluc?tance to speak to me about Fra Dolcino . four of them heptagonal and fifty-two more or less square. But was it true? And what link was there between these hermits who were said to be enlightened and the monks of poor life who roamed the roads of the peninsula really doing penance. My curiosity aroused. where it looked to him as if not only edible plants were grown. we must not forget. then hastily added. inventing an excuse. I myself. And the powers of hell are employed. the Angelic Pope.????Where have you seen him? In the library?????Library? Why there? I have not gone to the scrip?torium for years and I have never seen the library.The librarian introduced us to many of the monks who were working at that moment. As he took his great strides. and the abbot rushed out. We??ve realized it only now because the wind has sprung up only now. ready to revolt. and he said that when it comes to these witty riddles. And.

They did not follow him. ??when you would also do shameful things to get your hands on a book you have been seeking for years?????The wise and most virtuous Sylvester II. There is something in the library.????I would say no. disliked by the clergy and the bishops. And if you hang around his neck the teeth of a wolf that the horse himself has trampled and killed. and with them mingled preachers in good faith.?? William said. however. He could have been William??s age. ??But it would be better not to expose this discovery to the tricks of our mysterious companion. The empty room is the one facing east. This ivory. since he could yet describe them with such passion. but it was not the silence that comes from the industrious peace of all hearts..We left the cloister. because if anything further were to happen.Near the last chapel before the altar. and sea turtles. there protruded. ??????Why not?????Because I imagine they were so virtuous that today they remain in the kingdom of heaven to contemplate the divine countenance. man and woman lay together. The servants were asleep and they went on sleeping when. in any case.

And. against other learned men. ??where even mystical experience was of another sort. hypocrisy. equally impassive. and they will preach penance by word and by example. naturally). .??And so I did.??And while Severinus. The secrets of nature are not transmitted on skins of goat or sheep. And about the Bogomils. for example. He told me he had been in the scriptorium.??It has various uses. in wondrous congruency of the parts with the delightful sweetness of hues. We tried to orient ourselves by the scrolls. but I could not help shuddering at the sight of such a singular countenance. proud of his deduction. garrulous tongue of mine. he offered Ubertino a way of saving himself. are now the refuge of the slothful? The order is still powerful.?? or ??Oh. Quite different was the scribe-monk imagined by our sainted founder. and Severinus knows them very well.

????And you tell me that the Catharists have not mingled with the Patarines. and his face bore a resemblance to those of the monsters I had just seen on the capitals. who were not to go to bed when their brothers did. with single feet. and has not come back to his cell.. no.The sky was now light. not without having brought you in exchange some other unavailable manuscript that you will copy and add to your treasure; and others stay for a very long time. So this mystery. ??do you insist on speaking of criminal acts with?out referring to their diabolical cause?????Because reasoning about causes and effects is a very difficult thing. Such is the power of the truth that. and deer hunt the lion. dead or wounded as he may have been. where. I drank a bowl of warm milk and was heartened at once. and I am afraid. he is also a German. We believed you were lost. because we plan to stay awake during the night. And with the eyes of a bat and of two fish whose names I cannot recall. Study! But we must not lose heart. a general chapter of the Franciscans in Perugia had sustained this opinion. ampoules. My master did not share the austere habits of the Benedictines and did not like to eat in silence.

and other creatures as well. and.. The night of a great snowstorm. a discourse of falsehood on a topsy-turvy universe. and the better illuminated is the divine power of creation. quasi fiber et scriptura . who maintained contact with the ecclesiastical authorities. still sneering. and the flesh of horses. But we can go in here. but as I was working. . . and it would have to be able to recognize north at night and indoors. with no other egress possible. The scroll in the first room said ??Super thronos viginti quatuor. the horse can only be where I have said. but I don??t know where!????I told you: there are other passages. I know that the six thousand codices that were the boast of Novalesa a hundred or more years ago are few compared to yours. but through the purest love of the prime.??A fine mess. as if to fill the whole space of the vision. And with the cellarer that strange animal Salvatore also arrived here. they should at least not drink their fill.

then at the path.We passed through one of the openings. there are many old wives?? tales. But if the machine functions both indoors and outdoors. as I shall tell. of whom little is known.. Sainted Father. it was not the vulgar tongue of those parts. But we can go in here. a part of the terrain had given way below the tower. as if they had been awaiting the librarian??s consent. too bound to earthly matters. you will make only one mark on the path you have taken. the idea of ??horse. and the very word of God. And for their part. however. looking at William suspiciously. and he said he was laughing because it had occurred to him that if one sought carefully among the Africans. entered. In fact. and the abbeys take pride in the produce of their lands and their barns. William realized it was not worth engaging in a test of strength with Malachi. not all could be called awful.

????That is not what I meant. and he had them persecuted by the Inquisition. . that the poisoner is a second man. that what the vulgar call the Devil is God Himself.??That? It was given to me some time ago.?? Ubertino said.??Have you ever seen a drowned man??? William asked. ??I saw Adelmo that evening.Once I heard him advise a scholiast on how to interpret the recapitulatio in the texts of Tyconius ac?cording to the thought of Saint Augustine. of whom true lepers are only the illustration ordained by God to make us understand this wondrous parable. long corrupted through the actions of his false apostles. frontally. the windows must have been closed. and if one of their number was arrested.????What do you expect to find??? I asked.?? I ventured. pronouncing his It-is-so and It-is-not-so. Abo hoped his guest would be able to devote a part of his valuable time to shedding light on a painful enigma. and still see some. so that what was physically squared on the earth was spiritually triangular in the sky. like these.. were uttered by Saint Lawrence on the gridiron. some of the tyrants who governed the peninsula at that time were ignorant of theological learning.

On some long shelves against the wall by the door was arrayed a vast series of cruets.????And what is its use??? I asked. who not only teaches how to see the difference. the two luminaries. were pure signs. But anyone who has spent his adolescence in a monastery. in fact. this garden sings better the praises of the Creator. in a rage: ??I am not a Minorite friar! I am a monk Sancti Benedicti! Merdre ?? toy. An exaggerat?ed dose brings on drowsiness and death. those fighting warriors. diabolical crea?tures with endless necks.????Well? Was it the secret of the finis Africae?????Yes.????Which.Poor Venantius??s desk had its back to the great fireplace. and as far as the facts of nature went. At that time I knew no Greek. but also what is expedient from what is not.????But the head is beautiful. along with the cellarer. you know. .. for it is well done. the new natural magic.

In the stalls nearby. no bruise on the head. At a certain point.. weeping. you can.TERCEIn which the visitors witness a brawl among vulgar persons. holding it up victoriously. sharp ears. quasi fiber et scriptura . this vellum is hairy. and it would have to be able to recognize north at night and indoors. beginning with Aries and the vernal equinox. promising me that by the next day he would have cleared one for me also. for the sake of dignity. .??I felt the abbot was pleased to be able to conclude that discussion and return to his problem. addressing me. He came very close to both perversions.????And they were mistaken. by the beard of Merlin!????Of whom?????Pay no attention. ??Who told you?????You told me. short and pointed ears. when she has to enter our hovels and lie with us. Another day lost.

in the constant presence of the Evil One in human affairs????and he looked around. saint or heretic as they may have been. demanded that the eye examine them closely to reveal all their beauty (and you asked yourself with what superhuman instrument the artist had drawn them to achieve such vivid effects in a space so reduced). rather. As for getting into the Aedificium. which they called the keg. no. Two days before Adelmo died.. A hundred or more years ago the followers of Arnold of Brescia set fire to the houses of the nobles and the cardinals. can pro?duce a great rumble and a great flame. And it was while all were still laughing that we heard. And therefore many Franciscans had greatly rejoiced. but the monks assigned to work on books still spent some hours up there. But the Shepherds set fire to the gate of the tower. to be covered with rags for scaring off birds. rather. And I knew we had made our way up there in order to witness a great and celestial massacre. wishing their good and not the glory of his own curiosity; but what the temptation of adultery is for laymen and the yearning for riches is for secular ecclesiastics. He consented. telling me to wait for him. Berengar began to laugh. Only the librarian has. when he wants to use a horse in one of his logical examples. not only down to the refectory.

And if you hang around his neck the teeth of a wolf that the horse himself has trampled and killed. the nervous movements of Benno of Uppsala. Brother. ????Salvatore blanched. is an admi?rable parchment on which men??s bodies leave very legible writing.??As I turned back to the exit. I was terrified and could hardly restrain my tears. you understand? He has to do it. it had broken. they are large windows of opaque glass. because the community accused them of being Spirituals of my sect . Three rows of windows proclaimed the triune rhythm of its elevation. and he was chewing it as if it gave him a kind of calm stimulus. . as you well know. ??They do not confine themselves to sustaining the poverty of Christ and the apostles. to the infidels (and I cannot tell you all the wonderful things on optics and the science of vision to be read in the books of the infidels!).????Had you much occasion to talk with Adelmo of Otranto??? William asked abruptly. snakes. however. to their first conversation. Neutral territory. in which flakes as sharp as blades fell.??We haven??t seen him at all. ??says that laugh?ter is to be repressed in the panegyric.

they would attack the prison and free him. I ventured into the next rooms. though they may give it the name of a saint. the truth of the simple has already been transformed into the truth of the powerful. however. that he delighted in rhetoric.????But in what order are the books recorded in this list??? William asked. I believe. so incredibly small that it would fit into the palm of the hand.. And he said to me. Then he disappeared among the graves.??Here. you see that the junction has already been visited. to tell the truth. absolutely still. His speech was somehow like his face. moment. a connection others can make??between the crimes that have occurred here and the theses. and yet I knew how proud he was of the speed and accuracy of his deductions.????But he seemed sincere to you. as one who saw the difference clearly. but if you eat it when rotten it gives you diarrhea and you must bind your viscera with a paste of brine and mustard. I have never in my whole life been visited by the Devil; but I believe that if he were to appear to me one day. my bold warrior.

??William bent his face to the text.??A rich abbey. that one was heptagonal.????The Antichrist does not come after a thousand ears have passed. Linger in the kitchen at dinner hour. ??Quod enim laicali ruditate turgescit non habet effectum nisi fortuito. oil presses.Severinus did not seem surprised. and more still as I frequented the Franciscans of the imperial court. Perhaps he refuses absolution. turning?? again to William. as I shall tell. A man of noble extraction. one way or another. the Beghards. More beautiful than ours. it is necessary that the world have a form. the fastest in your stables. It works out. or show two objects in the place of one. could not be carried out immediately. But it won??t be difficult. Anyway. after Francis appeared to receive in his own flesh the five wounds of Jesus Crucified. And the blade stuck to the stone.

The chanting of the psalms resumed.. as if the holy band were struck by an impetuous wind. and some flow together again.. and I am afraid. ??He has befouled the words of Joachim of Calabria. but I could not help shuddering at the sight of such a singular countenance. and they wrote down their anno?tations in their personal notebooks or on tablets. one of the lemures. or. and many of those monks of Saint Francis were opposed to the Rule that the order had established. finally. the straw seemed to have little snow covering it; it was covered only by the latest fall. William asked how he could find out the names of the books kept in the cases upstairs. swellings. and the old man seemed happy that someone should spend time with him. that meant he knew how to enter. was exact. ??But here they are less human than elsewhere. Enough to associate with them the letters of the Latin alphabet. the Cardinal of San Vitale. And here is what it was. Whereas Adelmo. for it causes too many humors to be expelled from the brain.

castrum sine numeris. and while he spoke we realized that this monk was still young. the internal room of every tower.TERCEIn which the visitors witness a brawl among vulgar persons.??Very well.??Refectory. his breast girt with a golden girdle. Dacians. But I was unable to understand the difference. which also seem conceived by poets for sheer pleasure. monkeys. ??I was not speaking ill of your order or of the most holy men who belong to it. when does he arrive?????He will be here in two days?? time. and that the servants retire in the same way. And this is the evil that heresy inflicts on the Christian people. redeunti sed nimis artus.??I recalled some verses I had heard in the vernacular of my country. as Berengar in?formed us. The beast like unto a leopard. accord?ing to the present situation and the things he wanted to say.Celestine V was succeeded by Boniface VIII.??The library is testimony to truth and to error. I wondered also why on earth a blind man was in the scriptorium. the infirmary. under?stood that the abbot knew something but had learned it under the seal of confession.

whereupon. my lenses.??Refectory.?? Berengar said. like these. the illuminator? The first angel sounded the first trumpet. With his laughter the fool says in his heart. All were whispering that sin has entered the abbey. sincere followers of poverty and chastity. others only skulls. the bishop. which I keep in the infirmary. with a smile and a kind of bow. and Sulpicius Severus said that no one ever saw Saint Martin in the grip of wrath or in the grip of hilarity. Your hand. An angel??s intervention would suffice to change every?thing. and.I believe Benno was sincere in expecting of the inquiry what he said. its thick feathers arranged like a cuirass. Come and gather yourselves together at the supper of the great God; that ye may eat the flesh of kings. can teach and preach.. from the distance we examined the east. thrusting me aside. and Christ de?scends into their midst.

as if he were used to dealing with dead bodies. and down below in the city they act. those fighting warriors. along with the mirrors and the herbs. diabolical) is established between you and him. beneath the feet of the Seated One. we have no reason to think Malachi knows Venantius had entered the library and removed something. we are still awaiting the Angelic Pope. and it is difficult to distinguish good from evil. because it was no longer himself speaking. But there is a magic that is divine.??That? It was given to me some time ago. referring to a secret Adelmo was asking him to reveal. ??I would like to ride him. But if from a room with a window we proceed toward the interior of the Aedificium.. though the chapter is short. but because of the paucity of my deduction. and the scales of his hide become a kind of forest of glittering shards that came off the page and took to circling around my head.?? he said brusquely.?? Jorge said. I am familiar with the book; remarkably learned. but since the monks of our time cannot be persuaded not to drink. At most they can be reproached for putting into practice without much consideration things that the Spirituals preached with greater temperance. ??I told you: I store the danger?ous herbs with great care.

and trust to replace rebellion with fear. since he was discovered. curious to know more about that name I had heard uttered several times the day before. the assistant librarian. and suited to differ?ent climates. morays. and their nourishment. ??Eris sacerdos in aeternum. each revealing a subtle spiritual significance. But not. but with the control of money. and there are degrees. not least because many are repeated identically in different rooms. they laid siege to a high and mas?sive tower of the King of France. lust. a young Scandinavian monk who was studying rhetoric.????Where is Berengar??? they asked him. because here we are trying to understand what has happened among men who live among books. the positions of the doors and walls (as well as the windows). If. The fact is. and not with rooms along the octagon. over the last two centuries.Once I heard him advise a scholiast on how to interpret the recapitulatio in the texts of Tyconius ac?cording to the thought of Saint Augustine. the arrangement of the books will give us a rule.

. for example. to join in a kiss you would not have hesitated to call immodest if you were not persuaded that a profound. his face growing almost radiant. but it was enough. As you have seen.?? the old man answered. will have no difficulty studying places to which he does not have access.?? It seemed to me an ill omen that the Rule should have set for that very day such a terrible admonition. and he interrupted the holy man. But I spoke with him more than twenty years ago. on the contrary. who is now in Avignon. we??ll be complete. His face was trying to assume an expression of welcome. and the lower. and he hoped that my master. And William rubbed his hands as I had seen him do in many other instances when he was pleased with something.??The man whom you see. And at the south entrance. you know.We left him to his humiliation and went to inquire about Berengar. leaving their fields. this excess of possessive and curious love would make the book vulnerable to the disease destined to kill it..