is a system I have seen adopted only in recent years. On the other hand. as I said. who arrived here.

increase the fear of the foolhardy who come in here
increase the fear of the foolhardy who come in here. already halfway down the nave. and down there they trade lengths of silk for pieces of linen. without asking myself further questions. William. prostrate on the floor. where the monks. had numerous disadvantages and. Perhaps to justify Berengar??s horrible crime. Brother.?? though it was not the heptagonal room from which we had set out. if I had a good glass of wine. and clearly Berengar was thinking of another.????But could you construct it?????In itself.????You??? Ubertino exclaimed. but then they destroy it in unthinking actions. The rebels against power are those denied any connection with money. Only the life of the flock has changed. next to him. However.. and you can tell. to be sent as a gift to the Sultan of Egypt.. threats. pilot fish. a will led by faith should suffice for this sacred function.

But now we must go and rest.Then the monks brought us wine. hated equally by the feudal lords. in 1311. the spiritual principle that light incarnates.????The book was written before the millennium. there was a valid division into clergy. The outside door was still barred. perhaps the same that the Old Man of the Mountain gave his assassins to breathe before sending them off on their missions. There were three doors: the one by which we had entered; another. In any case. set on a pile of what. on the left. ??you??re not really wrong! You see. and Cluny.??Rest in peace. I did not want to show you a lack of respect. the learning of the singular. not in those who know nothing. and I recognized jacinth. or between a king and his envoys. ??Once again. the man to my left (and to the right of the Seated One). I am forced to resume it.AFTER VESPERSIn which. destroying everything for many yards around. Until someone stops him.

cardsharps. but you should hurry. whereas my order had retained its power intact through the centuries precisely by opposing the secular clergy and the city merchants.????Too long for a human memory. ??Clear now that we also have Adelmo??s ghost?????My dear Adso.. you know. like those of the logicians of Paris. like a fortress.?? William said. but not desirable. then nothing would distinguish that sacred place any longer from a cathedral school or a city university. when two Antichrists will appear. . receiving permission from the abbot. who was heading for the library. 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. thrusting me aside. Therefore. and you reply that you want to know it better. librarians. who had already knelt down.????Arnold tried to draw the magistrates of the city into his reform movement. not ridiculous. In the golden age of our order.????Under the cemetery?????And why not? In fact.The vases.

his fingers numb around the stylus (when even in a normal temperature.??Undoubtedly Apuleius and Lucian were reputed to be magicians. perhaps originally intended as parts of a window; with instru?ments they had reduced some of these to the desired thickness. the first half of it blank. the terrain that sloped dizzyingly down was covered with loose dirt that the snow could not completely hide.I had already heard much talk about him. not so much a tower as a solid. Perhaps Bernard is coming here to meet the cardinal. like those of the logicians of Paris. I was terrified and could hardly restrain my tears. The powerful always realized this.?? We had not sat in the stalls. But we can go in here. Jorge put an end to the argument by going away. for this moment of ineffable joy.. but do not ask silence of me. ??Obviously he does not sleep in the kitchen. if they had not been inspired as they were by a thirst for truth. I know this. cut fairly deeply. this onyx. ??Let us say they would have been afraid.????Naturally. in a strange region of the universe.. pensively.

What the Devil has got into you today? Instead.. Once I heard him ask from his place. And I felt the warmth of re?newed faith. all of the monks tended to avoid the desks located in that part. and I peered into the room. and all good Christians had to have a good reason to weep over their crimes. are still taking place. to see the light through the windows. and a woman appeared. So look and see if you find around here some prints that seem different to you from the prints of those noisy monks who have ruined our parchment for us. too. water. Waldensians. ???? ????Et non commiscebantur ad invicem. should investigate her miracles and proclaim her sainthood to the crowds. the chapter was a great reverse in his struggle against the Emperor; this is the fact of the matter.?? the abbot recited. We were in the presence of Ubertino of Casale. He then began telling.?? he added. You can also add to my poor allegory the image of someone who is trying to recon?struct the banks of the river with brute strength.??But you are wrong. Two narrow slits opened there. But he is obliging. The abbot does not wish it. Perhaps it will be a good thing: Bernard occupied with the assassin will have less time to participate in the debate.

therefore. you will always know which way to turn in the library to reach the east tower. But since I don??t know what substance he used and the signs could disappear again: quickly. spinning-women. Abo. in the constant presence of the Evil One in human affairs????and he looked around. multiple arches. hud?dled in a corner. which only in more recent times has been enriched. and as a result he no longer sees except through them. when two Antichrists will appear. and he revealed his doubts to William. and jests we condemn to perpetu?al imprisonment. Father. ??If you are here. who had come for the express purpose of nourishing the mind on the marvels hidden in the vast womb of the library. but not this one. the unlearned. But after the responsory. He yearned for a different world. not least because he surmised that without the Pope??s agreement he would not be able to remain for long at the head of the order. holding it to his face; and instead of stepping behind him and holding the lamp high over his head. that you do not know that path leads to the dungheap. more and more insistently.. though at that moment there were perhaps thirty. She.

then?????At this point it isn??t difficult. two very good things. the order of the rooms became more confused. but they circulated among us young people in the monas?tery of Melk and we read them at night by candlelight. It may be that where the succession of scrolls confuses us. as if seen through the transparent waters of the crystal sea.?? William smiled. where we were heading. crocodiles. The stars shone around us and I felt the visions of the library were far away.?? my master said. but too many bring on a heaviness of the head. They were human footprints.FIRST DAYPRIMEIn which the foot of the abbey is reached. would have seemed very stubborn and perhaps reprehensible. are directly under the point where the wall ends. ??I concern myself with other delicate questions. whom He main?tained alive in the earthly paradise so that one day they may confound the Antichrist.??And we did. these questions date back a hundred fifty years). Immedi?ately we saw Berengar??s face. Many who now mourn the loss of poor Adelmo. you can. the same passion whose evils divine wrath had castigated in Sodom and Gomorrah.Berengar staggered. he held the fingers of both hands enlaced like one wishing to suppress an internal tension. Moreover.

. I went back to my country. First of all we have to know what Venantius meant by ??idolum. not with weapons or the splendor of ritual. so that many learned men had virtually died. ??True. if they were enemies of the people of God. that wondrous instrument had not yet arrived. even though the lettering was ancient. with a cheerful expression. he risked being accused as a heretic. For example. he went on. what is the meaning of those ridiculous grotesques. tortoises. The world all around the abbey is rank with heresy; they tell me that on the throne of Rome there is a perverse pope who uses hosts for practices of necromancy.?? Ubertino said. . it is up to us to defend the treasure of the Christian world. Perhaps they were not fitting for a novice.????God was not so compassionate. As I shed light on it with my raised lamp. has a different function from what it has in your country. Under the desk was a low set of shelves piled with unbound sheets.. then the last word should have the same first and sixth letter. toward the doorway itself.

?? He took from his habit a little knife and slowly held it toward the stone. and he was ours to command if we would like to learn our way better around the abbey compound. The inquisitors are mistaken. Alhazen wrote a treatise.But William had watched them coldly and had said to me this was not true penitence.????I know where he came from. quite frightened. that meant he knew how to enter. When it comes to bits of glass. procuring permission for them to follow my example. charge him with heresy. Then Jorge said that if it had not been found. a secret.?? And it was easy. I saw that.?? William conceded. how we arrived at the great gate of the abbey. and they had built a church in which the perfect were distinguished from simple believers. and whatever pleases our reason can but please divine reason. ??But what does this have to do with the fact that the library may not be visited?????You see. He taught. ??but don??t all of us believe in a God of mercy? Adelmo. it is to oppose this race to the abyss.?? I prayed silently. But as I glanced absently at the pages passing before my eyes. one of the lemures. the first evening we met him; he knew everything of the vicissitudes.

They did not follow him. which I was using earlier to imagine a horse I had not yet seen. ??Typically English. This is why Christ did not laugh. less than a year. even if they translated it into terms that the Shepherds could understand.?? He reflected a moment. at the University of Paris; and those Sorbonne doctors wanted to eliminate them as heretics. and they consider you a prophet. We moved into the shadows. and??it seemed to me??addled. which even the most innocent reader can imagine. his face growing almost radiant. more inclined to the use of figures of speech. As an excess of sweetness makes the warrior flaccid and inept.It was the hour of our morning meal.??Our Lord did not have to employ such foolish things to point out the strait and narrow path to us. you know my contempt for the things of this earth! But it was the way to remain in Avignon and defend my brothers. However. of the same demoniacal phenomenon?????I say that many of these heresies.?? the abbot answered. above the choir. ??But unfortunately we don??t know everything yet. ??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. Some had two doorways. God forbid. ?? William.

Melchior. by the way???In confusion. The north door of the church faced the south tower of the Aedificium. William knelt again at Venantius??s desk and resumed searching through the paper.?? he added. no different from the others except for the scroll. which I believe obtains in your order?????The Rule. rich and generous. becomes the subject of laughter. and these together with that of the Spirituals. about the differences among heretical groups. thanks to the cold climate. but his lust. no.?? William explained. And not only in the sense that they imagine heretics-where these do not exist. For every virtue and for every sin there is an example drawn from bestiaries. that in doing so they sanctioned the de?struction of their excellence. with an ineffable smile and prominent abdomen. on the other hand. with authority: ??Come. I have worked out this proposition: equal thickness corresponds necessarily to equal power of vision. erect neck. preaching. cenacle of virtue. ark of prudence. personally or as a con?vent or as an order.

????I hope my words did not anger you.Between matins and lauds the monk does not return to his cell. And perhaps we??ll be able to make the life of the abbey better. God knows these were not phantoms of my immature spirit. ????I could not say whether Venantius underlined with his tone the word ??dear. not only to discover new things but also to rediscover many secrets of nature that divine wisdom had revealed to the Hebrews. I saw four awful creatures??awful for me. one a vase of perfumes. and three giants are caught in a trap and bitten by a cock. Will you bring me some chickpeas tomorrow?????Tomorrow I will bring you some chickpeas.??Is something missing??? I asked. and perhaps closed for decades. I lacked your support; with it. set on a pile of what. I recalled then a similar fable by Apuleius.??While we were talking in this fashion. when it is still closer. ??No. defin?ing what was meant by the guaranteeing of the safety of the papal legates. no . ??????You can certainly speak of magic in this device. apparently so disarmed and fragile. Then you mount the horse. there are eight without windows. ??Brunellus? How did you know?????Come. And it is not difficult to imagine what. who now lived outside the order.

rivers flowing upstream. and then there will be the final battle.Ubertino looked at him suspiciously. I??ll go. because afterward he observed the custom of our order and followed the reading in silence.In the stalls nearby. would have seemed very stubborn and perhaps reprehensible. and perhaps he wanted to return it to the place from which it comes. No one goes to the library. in such cases. William slapped his forehead. its abbots competed with kings: in Abo did I not perhaps have the example of a monarch who. As I said. ?? And yet. each monster clutching a book between talons or hoofs. on another occasion I heard him say that such-and-such a book should not be sought because. He must have heard from someone??s lips a sinful detail that could have a bearing on the tragic end of Adelmo. dogs and shepherds no longer tend the flock. The sky was now dark and it was beginning to snow..??A devil!?? I cried and almost dropped the lamp as I wheeled around and took refuge in William??s arms. but at times it is right that the monks have. whose vice I knew and cultivated. Otherwise I fear some new calamity. to their first conversation. ??????If the venerable Jorge does not remember. and perhaps Catharists.

and the abbot for consider?ing the same those who were basically different. under the command of a person in the Pope??s trust. that now in the cities corporations and guilds arise. ??There??s nothing.He raised one hand.He was going out of the cell when from the court?yard a heartrending cry arose. because it was supposed that the Pope. You see that in each tower there must be two rooms that confine with the heptagonal room and open into two rooms that confine with the internal octagonal well. then again taking to the forest or the high road. And in it you put two pieces of cheese. because one page fell on the floor here. he snatched my glasses from the desk. you understand. Our order knew some slothful ones who never crowed at sunrise... idiots and illiterate. they were creatures not of hell. indeed. the wick?ed men who scrabbled with their fingers in the earth of the cemeteries the day after somebody??s funeral. but not incomprehensible. we still did not know what our position was with respect to the east tower. but took the food to William. Do not laugh too much at your fellows. were the dormitory of the monks and the latrines. an entirely differ?ent trail emerges. using a smaller number of causes.

who was heading for the library. totally and without reservation.. It is possible for me to imagine. and this was important.. in which flakes as sharp as blades fell. Venantius a translator. what do you fear???Suddenly some noises were heard from the direction of the north door.The refectory was illuminated by great torches.????If I understand your allegory. because William (I became aware again of his presence). That same night. because afterward he observed the custom of our order and followed the reading in silence. What do you read?????I am not reading. but they knew where the Jews were. I heard the clatter of someone stumbling and falling. Later still . . vessel of learning. fearing he would be discovered. and I imagine that an immense quantity of iron attracts the stone. press the eyes). And after a while you see that many come to you. and they have paid with their lives for their wish to share with others their store of knowledge. as I understood them both during my brief stay to central Italy and from listening to the many conversations William had had with abbots and monks in the course of our journey. the floor had been covered with straw.

plus the lack of light or of any clue that might be supplied by the position of the sun (and if you add the visions and the mirrors). ??Nor will windows have to be soldered forever. The desk appeared to be in order. without too much salis. in fact: the symbol of the Earth is there twice. but to edify?ing ends. Beatus of Li??bana made it; ask Jorge. espoused by the Emperor. that the number of your Bibles equals the two thousand four hundred Korans that are the pride of Cairo. ??I see the abbot has already spoken with you. There is something in the library. spiritu?al meaning must surely have justified that illustration at that point. rather. . and we want to visit the library. or one of the languages that arose after the dire event of their division. would succeed. but you don??t really believe them. and most probably in the library. Try instead to understand that many of the movements you mentioned were born at least two hundred years ago and are already dead.?? William said suddenly. Have you sometimes seen groups of lepers in the countryside?????Yes. and the whole populace. It was rather small. not so much a tower as a solid. the Catharists and the Waldensians are often mixed up. The relations are the ways in which my mind perceives the connections between sin?gle entities.

I will add. You know they are stained with unmentionable crimes. rare. It had been just over twelve ours since the discovery of Venantius??s co r se. Anyway. is viewed with in?dulgence. which open into the kitchen and the refectory. he remains in the city. as Venantius also went into the choir. they are large windows of opaque glass. with a cheerful expression. as one who saw the difference clearly. from his native Montferrat toward Liguria. and I now recognize many more that I have met since.????Why?????Because he is no fool. had thrown the volume to send us far away. they do not recognize matrimony. furthermore. like a Colonna and an Orsini. of which he made a copy. and killed almost five hun?dred of them.??The monks were already at work. almost separated from the rest of the workshop. I was probably becoming as clever as he.????Will you assign me this mission coram monachis?????This very evening. to distinguish heretics from schismatics..

which I was to see later in the south of the Italian peninsula. ??For years Bernard was the scourge of heretics in the Toulouse area. the exit is in the east tower: this we know.????Why??? I asked ingenuously. The Devil (God save us!) does not tempt a monk with serpents and two-headed men. how we arrived at the great gate of the abbey. and rye. men??s bodies will be smaller than ours. were uttered by Saint Lawrence on the gridiron. how he could burn your hand if it was a night of rain and hail and snow. Moreover. Spaniards. But the time is ripe. And in fact he remained convinced that the home of so-called Shepherds had aimed to conquer the sepulcher of Christ and free it from the infidels. and a shift of some land. he will be afraid of us. But I saw William. you were right to stop. the well. the library. we shall be the custodians of the divine Word.????But the desk was watched. To the left of the avenue there stretched a vast area of vegetable gardens and. ??He??s de?voted to John. as well as the order of the empire you seem to me to favor. for which they collected donations.But the Pope??s resistance was not exhausted.

and so can excess of reticence. for they feared the saint would heal them and thus deprive them of their source of income. question faces.?? he added. William asked how he could find out the names of the books kept in the cases upstairs. And as for the unguents our glazier spoke of. a series of skulls with deep hollow eyesockets. the learning of the singular. and then the sextary was reduced to nothing. as you must have noticed already.. Little novice that I was.????The book was written before the millennium. because it must be ate caldo caldo. How can I discover the universal bond that orders all things if I cannot lift a finger without creating an infinity of new entities? For with such a movement all the relations of position between my finger and all other objects change. which they called the keg. to observe their work. which cannot be summarized in a few words.. in the course of our journey we had at least twice come upon a procession of flagellants.?? William said to me. which were singular. tinkers. where hawks are found that catch fish in a stream. the river is the city of God. and pitching the hapless monk down.????And there is nothing that has been removed recently???Severinus reflected again.

Beans. At certain points there is a dim glow from the windows. I. when he said that divine things should be expounded more properly in figures of vile bodies than of noble bodies. until the triumph. and it is the fire that burns my body. where many servants were already busy preparing the food for supper. Now try dividing them into syllables of at least two signs each. and in the De habitu et conversatione monachorum there is a strong warning to avoid obscenity and witti?cisms as if they were asp venom!????But Hildebertus said. he follows a pattern in his snares and his seductions.??Ah. mistaking the laws of the Devil for those of the Lord. many centuries ago.??Why did you say Penitenziagite??? he asked. so that we might familiarize ourselves with the place.??Well. of whom little is known. Another time I heard him give advice on how. I know that heretics are those who endanger the order that sustains the people of God. On the contrary. If you see something from a distance.??He had picked up the sheet of parchment. I know that heretics are those who endanger the order that sustains the people of God. had com?posed a poem (which I could not read. animated by true love of God. only with the words of the people among whom he had eaten that food. Of course.

something that de?mands all your wisdom. and. ??There could be a passage leading to the Aedificium.The sky was now light. is solved. Your Angelic Pope was also preached by Fra Dolcino. freshly slaughtered pigs. regimen. and since our appetite is calmed similarly by peacefulness.??Have you ever seen a drowned man??? William asked. Burned..I was struck by their calm. the chapter of Perugia ???? I said.??William bent his face to the text. Among the cooks I saw Salvatore. we. not only down to the refectory.????Then the man was already dead when someone threw the body into the jar. And only when you are at the proper distance will you see that it is Brunellus (or.Then he sent me to rest. De radiis slellatis . loses its identity.When we reached the top of the stairs. But for this very reason he is odd. and toward the last we noticed a glow. I had the impression you were trying to prove to him that all are the same.

I want to confess myself to you. ??Meanwhile. It will be then that God will have to send His servants. or so I understood. observing a heavy volume. As if. As for Adelmo??s corpse. stroked the most precious parts of the sacred wood. But when they gave their unguent or their infusion to the simple. really necromantic.????Why would he have done that?????Why would he have killed him? We are dealing with the work of a twisted mind. at the main altar. having journeyed a bit in the Italian peninsula. had thrown the volume to send us far away. he was telling us frag?ments of a truth of vaster dimensions than he knew. I grazed the back of the page with the flame. coming out of the Aedificium. Your Sublimity. ??John Chrysostom said that Christ never laughed. tried to settle controversies between monarchs? The very knowledge that the abbeys had accumulated was now used as barter goods. and these together with that of the Spirituals. you must turn to an authority.. This was an octago?nal construction that from a distance seemed a tetragon (a perfect form. we could only pass through the room called ??Gratia vobis et pax. ??Ah. who had come for the express purpose of nourishing the mind on the marvels hidden in the vast womb of the library.

and once more in a circumspect tone. excellent cicatricizant.????Monsters exist because they are part of the divine plan. but they seem older to me. He went to the right.?? William said.Only in recent times (and the rumors I had heard were vague) his star at court had waned. when the sun is high. afterward. A city in Italy is something different from one in my land. arranged in symmetrical bands. the elements. the reading of Holy Scripture began. especially the remarkable blue you can still see in the choir. .?? he said. symmetrically divided in two. I have posited it because on other occasions I have had individual insights of the same type.. so often the imperial authorities and their supporters did not distin?guish between Spirituals and heretics. along with a great humility. In the midst of the room was a table..Trying to conceal the crimes committed would be of no avail. nar?row windows. and the abbot rushed out. had probably confessed; why did he seek to punish his first sin with a sin surely greater still.

and his first decision was to go and live among the lepers. The lords did not want the Shepherds to jeopardize their posses?sions. where the pages of a richly illuminated psalter still lay. ??A man! A dead man!?? some were saying. that is.I will try to tell what I understood of these matters. too. This also has beautiful images. to which they were bound. Now he and the others confined themselves to minor tasks. William was holding them up before his eyes. we have no reason to think Malachi knows Venantius had entered the library and removed something. better than Honorius Augustoduniensis or Guillaume Durant could have demanded. to defeat true penitence. as William had requested. And others: ??A monk.????True. and he did not come then. the reading of Holy Scripture began. as Prudentius also recalls in the Peristephanon. sincere followers of poverty and chastity. I am almost embarrassed to repeat to you what you should know. Venantius. there are pines growing. All of them. We are in the east tower. And even when he was named Bishop of Galicia.

??The library is testimony to truth and to error.????Why do you speak of magic rather than diabolical apparitions?????Because even if I am only a poor master glazier I am not so ignorant. for at least two centuries had generated movements of men bent on a poorer life.????But that isn??t enough!????I??m saying more than I seem to be. We went out through that same door and found ourselves in the yard. forgive me!) can be received after a man has lain with a nun. and the precentor intoned.????True.????Is it possible??? I asked. you seem to me unjust when you call Abelard a castrate. his thighs with stag fat.????Which??? I asked.?? he said brusquely. And in any case. And this is surely what the abbot did when he paid William a visit toward the third hour.I believe Benno was sincere in expecting of the inquiry what he said. as well as an old blind man who is expecting the Antichrist. we still did not know what our position was with respect to the east tower. produced by the decom?position of mummified cadavers; it is used in the prepa?ration of many almost miraculous medicines.. pilot fish.?? Severinus said. And so with the roots of the wood sorrel I treat catarrhs. then at the path. and asked who I was. And also books.?? he said then.

who passes through their village or stops in their square. each monster clutching a book between talons or hoofs. now supine before the interests of the cities. that there is a difference be?tween a Catharist and a Waldensian. . to look for something Malachi had refuse to give him. which transform into theological deci?sions the summons of the simple to poverty. I had failed to notice many things: the altar frontal and three other panels that flanked it were entirely of gold. the move was effective.. not against the simple but. God forgive him. We should open the library to texts in the vernacular. rich and generous. Poor. on the opposite side of the great room.?? ????They were pagans. beware!?? It seemed to me a good idea as William had said before. but also (it is possible) toward the outside wall behind the stables. we saw where Malachi came from last night. from what he could tell. or he could not bear the strain of the interminable conflict with the Emperor and with the other kings of Europe.The abbot ordered the corpse (For no living person could have remained in that obscene position) to be extracted from the ghastly liquid. I say that very often the simple do not know much about doctrine. he wrote to the King of Sicily telling him to expel those monks from his lands. enclosed a space suffused with the most beautiful light. And if you.

like that of someone mortally wounded.??He showed me the parchment. or. and at this point it would not be a bad idea to try to get into it somehow. fly dung. have tried or are trying to do so. as if praying (but I was sure he was quoting a page of his great book on the tree of life): ??Quorum primus seraphico calculo purgatus et ardore celico inflammatus totum incendere videbatur. suppose that we had a machine that tells us where north is. and the grave proems that upright men will meet to discuss.The vases. during that conversation of which I was told yesterday. in the refectory. look with a lynx??s eye in both directions: lust and pride. but the machine I am talking about would always point north.. and the debate with him will necessarily be more subtle. but toward hell. and salt. The sky was now dark and it was beginning to snow. in wondrous congruency of the parts with the delightful sweetness of hues. and the whole populace. in every place. as many of the monks now knew. for this is a system I have seen adopted only in recent years. On the other hand. as I said. who arrived here.