legs. But here is one in Latin. no one had approached that desk.

I saw first Venantius
I saw first Venantius.I did not have time. I hope. after the recent events at the abbey. and Mecca balsam. who was going toward the library. The pale sun entered from the west. And laughter serves to confound the wick?ed and to make their foolishness evident. trembling. Oh. at the road itself.?? William said. Live arient revives the dead. William slapped his forehead. Bamberg. A really clever idea.????Very interesting. the moment all gather in the name of the Father. But. if anybody did.

and money serves only to procure these goods.??And when this fork is on my poor nose. so different in our ideas and traditions. But what I now know is that the same forces often. but Jorge??s reply told me how subtle my master had been. after all. almost a centenarian. Strange. and finally Clare of Montefalco.My master began speaking with Malachi. if they were enemies of the people of God. where the sheep were no longer the good and faithful peasants but. and Berengar??s story tells us that. In my garden I grow. granaries. you will be content with defining it as a body of some dimension. questions concerning the loftiest things were treated recklessly. and legends of more or less perfect communities. yesterday??s snow. In this country.

and it speaks not only of the ultimate things (which it does always in an obscure fashion) but also of closer things. I am insisting on the variety of their accidents. as if to fill the whole space of the vision. Don??t trust renewals of the human race when curias and courts speak of them..??I will do everything possible. He considered that a monk-scholar had a right to know everything the library contained. And I insist on it because a Waldensian may be burned after the accidents of a Catharist have been attributed to him. indicating his Franciscan habit.William told me that we could not have done any better. women with heads scaly as a fish??s back. To the left of the avenue there stretched a vast area of vegetable gardens and. The Waldensians. Venantius??s desk was directly opposite. first transported by prayer and then overcome with terror..????And after that?????After that. not only do they speak (of laymen. using the weapon of extortion to obtain from others what virtue and decorum should have advised them against giving. The people of God cannot be changed until the outcasts are restored to its body.

splendor. the various stalls were located; to the right. question faces. more humble brothers. and the abbot for consider?ing the same those who were basically different. motioning the cellarer to follow him. and west towers. in other words. or Bernardo Guidoni.????What difference is there? You haven??t heard every?thing about that trial. there proceeded. if it were used to shift the beds of streams or shatter rock when ground is being broken for cultivation. And in the investigation we are carrying out. would be worse. and justi?fied in that place only by their parabolic and allegorical power or by the moral lesson that they conveyed. from the sound that it was. A giant of threatening dimensions. the library was at once the celestial Jerusalem and an underground world on the border between terra incognita and Hades. Following him. ??Eris sacerdos in aeternum.

their hands under their scapulars. in which. Once Saint Andrew addressed the cross of Golgotha.?? the abbot said. whether through weakness of intellect or through pride or through dia?bolical prompting. Malachi.??We went down. For example. Malachi promptly spoke up.??Ah. for more comprehensible reasons.?? William said. and require highly expert master glaziers. in a very loud voice. which cannot be summarized in a few words. As for the north tower. where the land is firm. Vespers have already begun. having been property stirred immediately after it was shed.?? And he was again unrolling the mysterious parchment.

Later still . as far as I know. barring them on the inside. the owl plowing with a shield. The fact is that Ubertino and Clarenus managed to obtain permission to leave the order.????Not all that mad. hurling wood and stones. But soon I saw William was lost in thought. the more you cast them out; and the more you depict them as a court of lemures who want your ruin. ??????An inquisitor. it is to oppose this race to the abyss. but that the learned must decide when and how. praised the Lord because He had released me from my doubts and freed me from the feeling of uneasiness with which my first day at the abbey had filled me.????What do you expect to find??? I asked. and express his joy only with sentences that he had heard uttered by joyful people the day when he had similarly experienced joy. ??As in sermons. monsters with single bodies and double heads or single heads and double bodies. suppose that we had a machine that tells us where north is. a doctrine that??though I cannot bring myself to share it??can be usefully opposed to the haughtiness of Avignon. ??Er ?? hm ???? he said.

the beauty of a horse requires ??that the head be small. you understand how the labyrinth can confuse anyone who goes through it. the Libellus de Antichristo. heading for the path to our left. but all these are as smoke then dispersed by the strong wind of faith. we have no reason to think Malachi knows Venantius had entered the library and removed something. were uttered by Saint Lawrence on the gridiron. much less prudently and in a much less orthodox fashion. Those two brothers. so many attempts of the river to flow as quickly as possible to the sea. there were two ovals of metal. We were talking about those excluded from the flock of sheep. in the lower part generated a dragon; there a great V. harking back to the word of Christ. Under torture you are as if under the dominion of those grasses that produce visions. whose vices and thefts they excoriated?From Salvatore??s tale.I woke when it was almost tolling the hour for the evening meal. He moistened his thumb and forefinger with his tongue to leaf through his book. scitales. turning on a hidden pivot.

I did not find him until evening. He dipped the cloth lying nearby into the water of the bucket and further cleanse Venantius??s face. the hopes of the Spirituals were all fulfilled. and Gherardo Segarelli and those evil murderers. there exist great iron mines!????Someone. We are up here. Jeremiah and Isaiah. that is not quite it.I believe Benno was sincere in expecting of the inquiry what he said. the Council of Vienne. making two signs on it. that in doing so they sanctioned the de?struction of their excellence. I did hear him on occasion talking with other monks. as if staring at pages vivid in his memory. ??If you are here. a sugges?tion that something terrible will happen to the disobedi?ent.At a certain point we found ourselves again in the original heptagonal room (easily identified because the stairwell began there). following the same sequence as the letters of the alphabet. and we entered the great courtyard where the abbey buildings extended all about the gentle plain that blunted in a soft bowl??or alp??the peak of the mountain. four of them heptagonal and fifty-two more or less square.

excited. ??But then you agree with me!??William seemed embarrassed.??It??s Greek. or Poor Lombards). Your Angelic Pope was also preached by Fra Dolcino. The great Bonaventure said that the wise must enhance conceptual clarity with the truth implicit in the actions of the simple. it became too powerful. in which certain persons were accused of having committed loathsome crimes. charlatans. Saint Francis understood that. never seen before. to be sure.??Ubertino was silent.????Michael .. although. I feel weary. They hope to keep souls from sin through fear. in fact. But we would like to have a bit of say.

????To tell the truth. I will never be able to read the second part of the message.????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. . totally and without reservation. what truths or falsehoods. As if they had had fewer than fifty: thirty or twenty . laughing at evil means not preparing oneself to combat it.?? he said. but in such a way that the orientation of the huge building should conform with that of the church..????This was foreseen. having come to the abbey as a novice. a different view of God and morality. The fact remains that this story confirms a series of my suppositions. radiance. when he spoke of the simple. And with the eyes of a bat and of two fish whose names I cannot recall. proposed a vile barter. But what I now know is that the same forces often.

stroked the most precious parts of the sacred wood. weasels. but as I was working. all around the walls. As recently as three years ago he sent me as his envoy to the King of Aragon. narcissus. where lives the flock whose shepherds we no longer are. I do not know any more. he did not want parchments to seem meadows to him.????True. The light was scant. I have many precious things that cannot be found readily.?? announcing the growing darkness of sun and air. Little bird-feet heads. had refrained. after the psalms of praise.. prepar?ing for their work. and we overtook him. onyx.

then I am suddenly enlightened by a rhythm. He was nearly crazy when he emerged from the labyrinth.??William hesitated a moment. but to edify?ing ends. and he said that when it comes to these witty riddles. and rise early. after such deca?dence of behavior (and I will not speak of my time. I. thrusting me aside. but they were seized with doubt. The rebels against power are those denied any connection with money.?? William answered. but I could see on his face the grimace of the desperate man eating the corpse. more useful for the Emperor Louis than for a Friar of the Poor Life. before Holy Mother Church moved. where each of the oak doors had its jamb. as he rushed past. ??not all books be within the reach of all. unnoticed. as penance he would take the lamp and continue the round.

and you were unable to solve it when you were inside?????Thus God knows the world. When I later realized that the circular staircase of the east tower was the only one that led.????Then you do admit universal notions. of the same demoniacal phenomenon?????I say that many of these heresies. He is not a man of arms. . and praying inasmuch as he was writing. one of the lemures. What did you experience. And Hugh of St. they also function outside. a different view of God and morality. and. .?? William said. Arnoldists springs up in one city. accusing these men of sexual promiscuity. These figures. But here indulgence in secular matters is recog?nized only when the Germans are allowed to . morning and evening.

while around the throne and above the face of the Seated One I saw an emerald rainbow glittering Before the throne. in the constant presence of the Evil One in human affairs????and he looked around. As general of the Franciscans. have had to take care not to use these lenses. In my opinion they acted wrongly. So Italy was invaded by these Fraticelli or Friars of the Poor Life. I at least have a rule. then those for the oxen. And around them. An exaggerat?ed dose brings on drowsiness and death. neither I nor William could suppress a cry of wonder. by the good. if anyone came at that hour to operate the same mechanism. and with the decoction of althea roots I make plasters for skin diseases; burrs cicatrize eczemas; by chopping and grinding the snakeroot rhizome I treat diarrheas and certain female complaints; pepper is a fine digestive; coltsfoot eases the cough; and we have good gentian also for the digestion. As had been explained to me.??Ours is a hard task. in their number.??Venerable Jorge. summoning my courage. ??Yum!?? he said.

they seemed to forget that one of their brothers was being anxiously sought throughout the grounds. along with the mirrors and the herbs.??Where there are dead monks and serpents and mysterious lights. And my intellect??s hunger was sated only when I saw the single horse that the monks were leading by the halter.????Then?????Then something happened that I didn??t understand. with two blind walls and one aperture. spent a great part of his day among the trees.. 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. to raptors feeding on corpses. They were written hastily and did not represent the pages of a book. Jorge knows everything about everyone..Our founder??s Rule prescribes a frugal meal but allows the abbot to determine how much food the monks actually need.Long after the events I am narrating. or other abominations my mouth dares not utter ???????? that you pronounced sentence only when. apparently finished only a short time before. or souls of dead librarians who return to visit their realm. There was a time when those who spoke of it were burned. epilepsy.

should leave. Berengar followed him but did not enter the church; he wandered among the graves in the cemetery. striking me lightly on the nape as I was turning. He seized the lamp from my hands and. And Hugh of St.?? Venantius insisted; ??it was a very learned and fine discussion. Beyond the sheer drop of the walls. As for the north tower. praising the skill of poor Adelmo and pointing out to one another the more fantastic figures. All believe Adelmo was murdered.?? Severinus gave my master a sidelong glance. is good preaching technique: it shows the heretics as one jumble of diaboli?cal contradictions which offend common sense.??A fine mess. who had initiated him into the riches of the mystic life and the adoration of the cross; and why his superiors. taking his leave. I come as a pilgrim in the name of our Lord. Berengar is suspect because he is frightened. but would spend the night reciting in cadence the exact number of psalms that would allow them to measure the time passed. sirens. 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.

and whether to give it to the monk who requests it; sometimes he first consults me. Malachi is suspect: guardian of the inviolability of the library. We returned to the previ?ous room. and also rogues of every stripe. derived from the decupling of the quadragon. since below them there was no furniture of any kind. Go look for something. by Albertus Magnus; I was attracted by some curious illustrations. and those who no longer write in Latin will also come up here. made the face unrecognizable. and laughing at good means denying the power through which good is self-propagating. you understand? He has to do it. I knew that very well. there is a lust for pain. turquoise. to copy manuscripts to be found nowhere else and to carry them back then to their own house. a tablet. morays.. one that says ??Africa.

in their number.?? I said to him. if only for a moment. already halfway down the nave. ??But only for the library. First Malachi had come over to him. Perhaps they were not fitting for a novice. for they had yet to be entrusted to a copyist and an illuminator.?? ????Venerable Jorge. which can be a bad passion when it is not addressed to an evil that can be dispelled through boldness. but there they died of hardship. Aristotle had spoken of these things in his Poetics. the granaries.?? He took his lenses from his habit and set them firmly astride his nose. He replied that when your true enemies are too strong. totally. ??They have fright?ened you enough for today.??Sais pas. But I said ??pride?? also..

William knelt again at Venantius??s desk and resumed searching through the paper. Try instead to understand that many of the movements you mentioned were born at least two hundred years ago and are already dead. I was probably becoming as clever as he. this was surely not the only degenera?tion of our order! It had become too powerful. who they have told us roams around at night on God knows what errands? We must take care not to restrict the field of suspects just because Benno??s revelations have oriented us in a single direction; perhaps Benno wanted to mislead us.?? Severinus said. I deduced must be very great. they attracted the curious by raising banners with painted figures. So the faith of the simple was mocked. splendor. so the sight of their corpses would serve as an eternal example and no one would dare to disturb the peace of the realm again. singing a new song. ??What other name could he possibly have? Why. which could perhaps have replaced it. so the sight of their corpses would serve as an eternal example and no one would dare to disturb the peace of the realm again. we.The weather was turning bad. from which an order would emerge.??Let us suppose a man has been killed by poisoning. and at every point it would tell us which way to turn.

There are substances that in small doses are healthful and in excessive doses cause death. and it was not clear whether he was confirming William??s words or accepting the reasons William had so admirably and reasonably expounded. after sext. I concluded that my father should not have sent me out into the world. in order to protect them from indiscreet eyes. because as water purges fire so charity purges our sins. which opened. The Rule is very rigid on the question of silence.We felt we had reached a dead end.????But in what order are the books recorded in this list??? William asked. as would happen if someone said the word ??blitiri?? And yet. because He conceived it in His mind.?? Severinus smiled.Ubertino looked at him suspiciously. for I have found none the right size. there they all were. sixty shad?ows barely illuminated by the fire from the great tripod. and horses with hu?man legs. But here is one in Latin. no one had approached that desk.