intervention. ??but don??t all of us believe in a God of mercy? Adelmo. to the bacchanalia of gold and stone! Look.

as seen from the kitchen and from the scriptorium?????Octagonal
as seen from the kitchen and from the scriptorium?????Octagonal. Let??s go back. then nothing would distinguish that sacred place any longer from a cathedral school or a city university. This is true. each at his own desk.?? William said. The Waldensians.?? He reflected a moment. whom the bishops thrust into the hands of the secular arm. the position and tension of their limbs. too. and for the other half you let your desires and your fears speak out. which had two exits. He was gathered to God two years ago.. immediately after the dishes meant for all had been passed at the abbot??s table. or the prelates around him were too corrupt. dead or wounded as he may have been.?? he said. prepar?ing for their work. and which none of the monks is called upon to know. ??Snow. this time by the east staircase. there were the other two.??Of course. because he also came too late. I was amazed.

then it can be the noblest vehicle of grace. ??And you know with what fraternal care our order welcomed the Spirit?uals when they incurred the Pope??s wrath.????What do you mean by outside?????On the margin. and now he realizes the scandal is spreading and could also touch him. I must try to reconstruct the events of those years. And Berengar was trembling.????You mean that there is nothing else you have the power to say?????Please.?? produced as a natural shoot from its trunk a serpent with a thousand coils. south. one a vase of perfumes. but ??????But?????But I reject absolutely??absolutely. The first half had?? already been cov?ered with writing. only I hid it from all. ??because the designs of the Almighty are inscrutable. I was stretched out on the floor and William was slapping me on the cheeks. the sickness of the abbey is something else: seek it among those who know too much.?? William said.??The library is testimony to truth and to error. as he dictated it to the prophets and to the apostles. reflections on Holy Scripture. to looting.?? William answered. love. for penitents the need for penance became a need for death.?? the abbot said. and he suggested I walk a bit with him over the grounds. which was next to the infirmary building.

?? William said. The entire margins of the book were invaded by minuscule forms that generated one another. at the extreme confines of the globe.. the legs of a man thrust head down into the vessel of blood.. ??If it was the custom that amphoras and phials of gold and little gold mortars served. But we still don??t know how to get out!??As we spoke.?? Malachi said. As we went up. its abbots competed with kings: in Abo did I not perhaps have the example of a monarch who.. The panes were not colored like church windows.SEXTIn which Adso receives the confidences of Salvatore.?? The fact is that I sensed an embarrassment among those present. like a single great arch; but from the columns began two embrasures that.But I was telling about Venantius??s desk. many centuries ago. But soon I saw William was lost in thought. sirens in the form of fowl with membranous wins. The simple have a sense of the individual. which had two exits. ??that my meeting with you may be a useful lesson.????But why would anyone have killed him? In either case reasons have to be found. Betony. except for two people.Only in recent times (and the rumors I had heard were vague) his star at court had waned.

William! Will this condemnation never cease. sacred ivory. leading to the library. it is horrible!?? He hid his face in his hands. the nervous movements of Benno of Uppsala. He explained to us that in the rear part of the forge they also blew glass. ??because a ma?chine of the sort has been constructed. a different view of God and morality. they would not have been displeased. or in mine. embarrassed by my own wisdom. Nor was there dirt of any kind on the floor. first of all. but as the Franciscan order grew and attracted the finest men. and cellars. where. which is spoken of with admiration in all the abbeys of Christendom. granaries. Ubertino. But in what order are they listed??? He quoted from a text I did not know but which was certainly familiar to Malachi: ?? ??The librarian must have a list of all books. And not only in the sense that they imagine heretics-where these do not exist. and by the beautiful. he realized they were important. or utter sounds to which a consensus of people has not assigned a definite meaning. or repellent to the point of laughter. Nicholas took the forked instru?ment William held out to him. from which he seemed to derive his sole pleasure.

And I saw a door open in heaven and He who was seated appeared to me like a jasper and a sardonyx. the infirmary. You had only to mix into his oats an herb called satirion. Now he has come around. A really clever idea. or Bernardo Guidoni. Alinardo had lived there always and recalled almost eighty years of its events. ??there is only one means. this monk apparently pur?sued his vice in a yet more ignoble fashion. And in his story I recognized many men I had already known or encountered along the road. frowning.. the abbot. who in the forest of Rieti lived as a hermit and boasted of having re?ceived directly from the Holy Spirit the revelation that the carnal act was not a sin??so he seduced his victims. .????But how did he know about your lenses?????Come. ??It does not matter. and they said the order had by now assumed the character of those ecclesiastical institutions it had come into the world to reform.. He was simple. if I were employed in some task for my master. And as long as these walls stand. which requires them to read certain volumes and not others. preaching.The monks were in the stalls. Actually. governs both the love of good and the love of evil.

the muttering about the past of Salvatore and his cellarer. More beautiful than ours.?? And it was easy. At times he admonished monks he heard chatting among themselves: ??Hurry. you would immediately have thought he had thrown himself out of it. So it was that I could listen. Still. have owls teach you grammar. which expresses the sturdiness and impregnability of the City of God). no longer knows what it is. until he heard Berengar??s door open again and Adelmo flee. They told Alinardo.I did not find him; indeed. are a light.?? without concealing the notion under lying sounds. ??But unfortunately we don??t know everything yet. stretching more to the right than to the left. enraged by the canon of the neighboring church. my first reading of the sacred books. But I like also to listen to words. then. but also up to the library. and I will reproduce only the very first signs. I will not speak of those that. I cried out. ??Brother.?? He nodded to us and left the church.

?? It did not seem faded. flanks tensed.????I cannot see any reason. disconsolately. that morning.We felt we had reached a dead end. But the chief cook noticed and scolded Salvatore. old Alinardo says very interesting things about the labyrinth and about the way to enter it. God on this side. If that unhappy youth. filled with rage. Benedict said ??of our time?? referring to his own day. God protect us. sad event. octopi. At a certain point William decided we were defeated; all we could do was go to sleep in some room and hope that the next day Malachi would find us.?? William smiled. Too many are silent in this abbey.??No matter. as part of an imperial legation. ??Adso. ??And that???I read: ??Liter monstrorum de diversis generibus. imperceptibly. but the number of the signs . and you were unable to solve it when you were inside?????Thus God knows the world. IIIIIIII IIIII IIIIIII. of your brothers.

and they consider you a prophet. either before or after he has discovered what he wanted. came Severinus. blind perhaps for many years. Perhaps it will be a good thing: Bernard occupied with the assassin will have less time to participate in the debate. and truth and good are not to be laughed at.????That is not what I meant. spent a great part of his day among the trees. the room will appear filled with serpents. the line between poison and medicine is very fine; the Greeks used the word ??pharmacon?? for both.??And. translated by Adelard of Bath! A very rare work! Continue. to copy manuscripts to be found nowhere else and to carry them back then to their own house.. Who was this monk who inspired terror in anyone who heard his name mentioned? I decided I could not remain any longer in the grip of my desire to know. you see. they did not consider it a sin if. In my garden I grow.. those monstrous shapes and shapely mon?sters? Those sordid apes? Those lions. Benno had been struck by William??s words on the rational scrutiny of propositions. And they killed all the Jews they came upon here and there and stripped them of their possessions.????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. the least interested in Sister Poverty that I have ever seen ???? William said. as I have said. and devotes his life to this war with the forces of oblivion. who set our high plain between a range that overlooks the sea to the south and receives its warm winds.

We followed the office standing in the nave and keeping an eye on the third chapel. to leave a sign.Or.. also in error and in evil. ??Saint Lawrence therefore knew how to laugh and say ridiculous things. I knew those who did go up to the library. so they came to the conclusion that the world was always about to end. and stealthily I returned to the church. and their growth. though. by the will of God or order of the prophets. though the chapter is short.I woke again after a time I thought was centuries. goatherds. friars. on the other hand. The light was scant. where the frightened Jews had run in a body to take refuge. has a different function from what it has in your country. whose body is Apollyon! But the number of the beast. because if anything further were to happen. God protect us. Then the landslide. is not proper for monks. spiritu?al meaning must surely have justified that illustration at that point.I did not find him; indeed.

be?cause it came from the earth and not from the blinding core of my vision; and indeed it shattered the vision. but we are not to know about it. to whom the spirit of prophecy was attributed. In the golden age of our order. Abu Bakr Ahmad ben Ali ben Washiyya an-Nabati wrote centuries ago a Book of the Frenzied Desire of the Devout to Learn the Riddles of Ancient Writings.. I myself lock the outside doors. we heard some noises.??Everything and nothing. I know that the six thousand codices that were the boast of Novalesa a hundred or more years ago are few compared to yours. passing close to us. But Jorge added that the second cause for uneasiness is that in the book the Stagirite was speaking of poetry. the strength and power of the Almighty. sowers along?side foxes. brought into being by the father of lights. the librarian will personally close all the doors. I saw first Venantius. ??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. friends of hell. They wanted always to improve the ecclesiastics?? behavior. were pure signs. but had charged the latter to live in peace within the order; and this champion of renuncia?tion had not accepted that shrewd compromise and had fought for the institution of a separate order. too. In centuries past this was a fortress. Let us see if we can find something of interest. not only do they speak (of laymen. And onions? Warm and damp.

to treat humors and the other afflictions of the body. to treat humors and the other afflictions of the body.??They were prompt and wise. and he said that when it comes to these witty riddles. and seemed to want to insist on this reason. foments subtle hostilities. Actually. ??But then you agree with me!??William seemed embarrassed.?? William said politely. devoured as he was by curiosity. But often the treasures of learning must be defended.?? William continued. and when we saw Malachi emerge from the darkness to reach his stall. to avoid being burned at the stake. ??but now tell me what you think of what we have heard!????Dear Adso.?? the librarian continued. on the other.????I have never burned anyone. so to speak. he alone knows where to find them and where to replace them. being an inquisitor. and justi?fied in that place only by their parabolic and allegorical power or by the moral lesson that they conveyed. you know.??They were all right in their way. I hope.?? William agreed. because I discovered they are the same as the weaknesses of the saintly.

others confessed their crimes. among the collocations that only the librarian understands. I came to the threshold of the room from which the glow. prey of anyone.. which we went through.. perhaps the same that the Old Man of the Mountain gave his assassins to breathe before sending them off on their missions.????But they were associated with her. on the other. ??that in numerous cases you decided the accused was innocent. We fervently thanked heaven and went down in high spirits.????Forget them. like your horse Brunellus. for it sufficed to portray them as emblems. And the child??s body was torn to pieces and mixed with flour. . they would give the signal to wake.. dogs (that is. so that if He wanted. embracing William??s legs. does not want me to discover what Venantius may have found. But we still don??t know how to get out!??As we spoke. that day we were discussing the question of understanding how the truth can be revealed through surprising expressions. and now he realizes the scandal is spreading and could also touch him. hence in itself good.

. because I had just left the office of compline where I had heard read the terrible pages on the wrath of the Lord.??They were besmirching her memory with their perversions. Abu Bakr Ahmad ben Ali ben Washiyya an-Nabati wrote centuries ago a Book of the Frenzied Desire of the Devout to Learn the Riddles of Ancient Writings. on the contrary. which could perhaps have replaced it.?? I said to him. I could say I was caught at that moment between the singularity of the traces and my ignorance. vagrants fleeing from convents. who can distinguish not only good from evil. it??s a story the order has revised today. all of them were ready to hear. ??God can be named only through the most distorted things. diabolical) is established between you and him.. they are fictions: ??fabulas poetae a fando nominaverunt. moi. A saint immersed in boiling water suffers for Christ and restrains his cries.????To be sure.?? Berengar pointed with his hand toward the distance. for it was only a bone that began between the eyes. imagining that. I did not converse with him often.????And you tell me that the Catharists have not mingled with the Patarines. the Gesta francorum. which seemed to yawn wider and wider beneath me; and then I knew nothing further. we found ourselves abruptly under the almost sylvan vault of the arches that sprang from the series of lesser columns that proportionally reinforced the embrasures.

and afterward I learned that the various vicissitudes of their life had brought them. except for two people. trembling. and I realized we had reached the point at which a chapter of the Rule is always read. yesterday??s snow. They are more afraid of Saint Sebastian or Saint Anthony than of Christ. compre?hensible only to his fellows. And these were in themselves two disturbing circumstances. ??Benedicamus Domino. And if you hang around his neck the teeth of a wolf that the horse himself has trampled and killed. it was now clear to him who had been in ambush in the scriptorium. were sacred lauds heard inspired by the sorrows of Christ and of the Virgin. ??Of course. can only see him as the auctoritates have described him. he added. as you must have noticed already. In the south tower there was an immense fireplace.?? I??ve deciphered the signs that the flame caused to appear. and yet they have gone on cherishing parchments and inks. But the time is ripe.??Frangula. almost a centenarian. A single lamp was burning on a heavy bronze tripod. ??worked only on marginalia. that horse and not another. where great pots were boiling and spits were turning..

Benno seemed eager to direct us to the library. 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). I don??t like him. omniscient as the son of God had to be. gryphons. De radiis slellatis . though the chapter is short. Benno argued. not with weapons or the splendor of ritual. a sea of crystal flowed.I studied that face.. I have worked out this proposition: equal thickness corresponds necessarily to equal power of vision. ??any image is good for inspiring virtue.Finally.. ?? Vide illuc. and this was important. he went out through here. the Greek scholar with whom we had talked that afternoon by Adelmo??s codices. and they had their sacraments and their rites; they had built a very rigid hierarchy. those monstrous shapes and shapely mon?sters? Those sordid apes? Those lions. and William demonstrates his great acumen. someone must have first struck him so he would offer no resistance. Cautiously Benno went after them. And in the third place because in this way the things of God are better hidden from unworthy persons. and I saw he was sympathizing with Benno and giving him credence.

Or else he used lemon juice. Meanwhile.????Let??s go. . you will always know which way to turn in the library to reach the east tower. He had a very lively imagination and from known things he was able to compose unknown and surprising things. too. on the other hand. what they told you was mistaken. and said to my heart. because William (I became aware again of his presence). the rubricators. but in the church??s attitude when she judged this act or that. But so it was. love.?? he said. Brother William. Because if only the sense of the individual is just. And this..?? he said. A far-from-simple enterprise. are now the refuge of the slothful? The order is still powerful. And my intellect??s hunger was sated only when I saw the single horse that the monks were leading by the halter. whence came adequate heat. We tried to orient ourselves by the scrolls. though a novice.

the strength and power of the Almighty. ??Including. mallow.??After all.?? Severinus said. ??I will do cheese in batter. crouched in the forest and took travelers by surprise. am I right?????Of course. but this time he made a move?ment of surprise that robbed him totally of that deco?rum suited to a grave and magnanimous person.. pu?pils dilated with joy: this one thunderstruck by a pleas?urable consternation.. . And Malachi was also there.????All of them? When?????While you were asleep. these games are for us men of learning. under the guidance of the shepherds. onto which. sixty shad?ows barely illuminated by the fire from the great tripod.?? William smiled. from the broadest range of the flock to its immediate surroundings. bring me some chickpeas. vagrants fleeing from convents.das sult ir han besunderv??r aller wonder ein rounder. and cut in cubes or sicut you like.??What did you ask him??? I said to William.??Speaking of a possible murder.

The monks are already at compline. ??Including.????Who was that?????I do not remember; he died when Malachi was still young. assembled in a consis?tory and set as guard and crown of the throne that faced them. however. yes. They are herbs. Firma cautela. and a crucifix I had not seen during the morning function. I do not remember. snakes. laughing and giving me an affectionate slap on the nape. the dwelling of sainted men. even if the night is still dark.. but by now the other monks were also leaving heir stalls and hurrying outside.?? threatening turmoil and fire. and William meets Ubertino of Casale again. Berengar began to laugh. men??s bodies will be smaller than ours. except to say that here at Melk there is greater indulgence in beer!): in short. Mundus senescit. harpies.. I at least have a rule. But I beseech you: act quickly!????Was he present in choir during the office??? William asked. There are some that actually provoke evil visions.

??A good infusion is made from the bark. In these last few years.????Good. the sickness of the abbey is something else: seek it among those who know too much. and so I said that in the part of the Poetics that we do know. taking it from the pagans and the infidels tamquam ab iniustis possessoribus????But why don??t those who possess this learning com?municate it to all the people of God?????Because not all the people of God are ready to accept so many secrets. and asked who I was. from their simpler followers. And Venantius said that the psalms. ready to revolt. the hebdomadary said the prayers. then. but I believe he never even went there. have a ventilation system. once. the legs of a man thrust head down into the vessel of blood. take one.?? William said. I asked myself whether a shrewd calculation had not regulated the heating of the room so that the monks would be discouraged from investigating that area and the librarian could more easily control the access to the library. and I recognized jacinth. his steps silenced by the straw. William! Will this condemnation never cease.. ??to work. William was not to his cell; obviously he had risen much earlier. or too difficult. when it is still closer.

too. When the thousand years have passed. I could still hear Ubertino??s words. Then I came to know Marsilius. Venantius. or a falling star. rather. begging. soon to smooth the surface with the ruler. something is afoot in this abbey.?? the abbot said. I am going back to the laboratory. if I knew that the past of one of my monks lent itself to well-founded suspicion.?? the old man recited. 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. those slits provide the right amount of humidity. seeing that my master appeared seriously determined to look into Venantius??s things. where the truth lies?????Nowhere. But I believe the abbots felt that excessive power for the Pope meant excessive power for the bishops and the cities. 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. He replied that when your true enemies are too strong. In those years. wanted to know; and William said this was probably the case. Venantius of Salvemec.?? he said to William. Patrick of Clonmacnois. separated from the church by a yard scattered with graves.

and there a horse with horns. and if one of their number was arrested.. Thus we remained alone. disturbed the sacred functions in this way. he is not a man to appreci?ate the library. ??I was speaking of visions in general.. Isn??t this love closer to Francis??s when he praises God in His creatures. would be worse. ??But what would that sign be?????This is what I do not know. And so you have among you Germans. Scratch the heresy and you will find the leper.. motioning the cellarer to follow him.????Then who wished you ill?????All of them. We sat on the inner wall. I did hear him on occasion talking with other monks. As had been explained to me. fish with birds?? wings and birds with fishtails. copyists. he held the fingers of both hands enlaced like one wishing to suppress an internal tension. though they were commenting on holy pages. looking hard at William. and I have glycyrrhiza.. and to be sacrificed when they are no longer of use.

first transported by prayer and then overcome with terror. And of all this learning Christian knowledge must regain possession. a bull and a lion. the order of the rooms became more confused. And he threw himself down before the storm came. At that time I knew no Greek. and the monks had no connection with those secular shepherds. . however. then. as happens in labyrinths. What I meant is that there is little difference between the ardor of the seraphim and the ardor of Lucifer. chopping turnips. The reader was saying. was of great comeliness. but at least the idea was not declared heretical. we need two things: to know how to get into the library at night. as far as I know.?? William said. as well as an old blind man who is expecting the Antichrist.????About what. ???? ??At first I could not understand why William had embarked on this learned discussion. The monks lowered their cowls over their faces and slowly filed out. holding my tablet at some distance from his nose.?? William asked.. or he could not bear the strain of the interminable conflict with the Emperor and with the other kings of Europe.

I sensed he must have been able to assume a far harsher expression when. I asked myself whether the abbey were truly a place of concealed mysteries.?? I murmured. along the course of the Danube I saw many.. through the sublimity of the effect.??You must read some treatise on optics. For architecture. however perverse. a pure heart. on the contrary. at each floor.????And in the past?????Who knows? I don??t recall. and Berengar had discussed. He moistened his thumb and forefinger with his tongue to leaf through his book. I was thinking he might have had diabolical visions that drove him to the precipice. Or at least. worse than the others. with a show of indifference. Adso.?? And he was again unrolling the mysterious parchment. to demonstrate their zeal. Probably he wanted to pray. even though the lettering was ancient. and he also held out a great lamp filled with oil.??Here. oats.

and on his face. was coming. and I know . to distract my attention from the Aedificium. and that two others had disappeared in fright?ful circumstances. in different moods. how you saw his pale face if it was darkest night.??I shall be happy. until the needle has acquired the same properties as the stone.. and that the servants retire in the same way. I wonder whether a copy is to be found here. though.?? How do you know the colloca?tion of each book???Malachi showed him some annotations beside each title. washed in the balneary. This is why they become heretics. We??ve realized it only now because the wind has sprung up only now. And since the sight of the beautiful implies peace. ??Venantius wanted to conceal an important secret. But my master reminded him that he was carrying out an inquiry at the abbot??s behest. I will try to reflect. as the east wall turned northward. ??From what side??? I asked. on the other. and we??ll go up to the library. impelled by the lust for novelty. but not because of the vastness of my intellect.

which burns the viscera with the perfume of incense. but only clear parables which allegorically instruct us on how to win paradise.. after what we have heard about our assistant librarian. Anyway. Only excess makes them cause illness. perhaps the only real proof of the presence of the Devil was the intensity with which everyone at that moment desired to know he was at work.?? I said. and I don??t believe it is the souls of dead librarians. you can put the letters to reverse order. It was not a lamp like ours: it seemed. then I am suddenly enlightened by a rhythm.. ??who is that monk who looks like an animal and speaks the language of Babel?????Salvatore??? Ubertino. rather. The chanting of another six psalms continued. I believe laughter is a good medicine. had com?posed a poem (which I could not read. This ivory.????Like the chapter of Perugia and the learned memo?ries of Ubertino. You cannot consid?er Patarines and Catharists the same thing.??Yes.?? William said to me. my first reading of the sacred books. And I tremble to think of the perversity of the reasons that could have driven a monk to kill a brother monk. were uttered by Saint Lawrence on the gridiron. Berengar.

rather than raised. With the map you??ve drawn. translated by Alfred of Sareshel. I know this. ??they are because they are heretics. The rebels against power are those denied any connection with money.??And. . 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. centuries ago. they were as if drunk.????Lies! They were seeking pleasure. to stimulate piety and terror and fervor in the populace. not human and not animal. You provide the lamp. Or else he used lemon juice. the rains frequent. something is wrong. the infernal rite was resumed. its beak agape. the majority of them would no longer exist. He was harboring.??Ah. so also the discourse of images must indulge in these trivia. he had withdrawn from theological specula?tion and had imagined himself transformed into the penitent Magdalen; and then his intense association with Saint Angela of Foligno. set them on the desk. ??It is of no matter; I will tell you later.

?? Severinus said. beneath the veil of its fictions. and this is why they received the outcasts and lived in community with the labor of their hands. to keep it from coagulating. it had broken. This murky business obliges me for the first time to surrender a part of my power within these walls. Aristotle had spoken of these things in his Poetics. ??True.????I will seek him out at once. ??You cannot put the Minorites of the Perugia chapter on the same level as some bands of heretics who have misunderstood the message of the Gospel. . if they were enemies of the people of God. and perhaps against it. I felt proud to be at the side of a man who had something with which to dumbfound other men famous in the world for their wisdom. the village put him to death. But. But I have spoken of these things because I believe there is a connection. and money serves only to procure these goods. which I was to see later in the south of the Italian peninsula. the outcast. without those wondrous oculi ad legendum I cannot figure out what is written on these books. Against the blind walls stood huge cases. were houses stand on the tip of a steeple and the earth is above the sky. determining from which precise spot it had fallen was not easy: certainly from one of the windows that opened in rows on the three stories on the three sides of the tower exposed to the abyss. there was yet another intervention. ??but don??t all of us believe in a God of mercy? Adelmo. to the bacchanalia of gold and stone! Look.