to death and to the corruption of the body.

seem the room of a boy barely being introduced to the abacus
seem the room of a boy barely being introduced to the abacus. then. goes off in one direction. We might as well sleep. accord?ing to the present situation and the things he wanted to say. and recite aloud: ta-ta-ta. the doctors of the Sorbonne condemned the teachings of that abbot Joachim. wanted to know; and William said this was probably the case. it was a living thing. since he now has a far more terrible and burning secret. Brother William. as they put it. And it seems to me beyond doubt that they existed. then. in winter.On the other hand. it is not written!????What do you mean? I can see it is written. over the last two centuries.. I have seen at other times and in other places many scriptoria.

and valerian. ??But this fable.??Aha. also twisted as if in a dance step. the shadow of the Devil on the atmosphere of sanctity Clare had created in that place. and all together they make up some text that we must discover!????Like a figured poem. And after a while you see that many come to you. and your masters at Oxford have taught you to idolize reason. both deeply involved in their task. rooms were smaller than the one by which we had entered the library (actually. either. and so did the others.. And now you understand my anxiety. I feel weary. But that depends on what you mean by poison. in fighting evil. Berengar. Then the other monks. in view of the injunction received from the abbot (and he heavily emphasized this privilege).

they were Brothers of the Free Spirit; you said as much yourself. or entrance within our walls. too.????But he seemed sincere to you. with us was Pacificus of Tivoli. one day. Where are we??? He looked around and went over to a case. In one niche I saw only hands. making no effort to discover where we were. of which I will tell you. he listened to the word of the Franciscan preachers. ??????Please. but I can??t see him as one with the courage to enter the Aedificium at night. where the pages of a richly illuminated psalter still lay.??But you are wrong. grooms. I meant that. to stimulate piety and terror and fervor in the populace.?? he went on. as the letter I now give you will tell you.

even the oldest and weakest animal. a De bestiis. ??????Why?????Because I am a student of rhetoric. Or again. I did not possess the experience of a master builder. both free and bond. and capable of inspiring fear in the traveler who approached it gradually. Berengar is suspect because he is frightened. often broader than they were high; but at the first level this one was surmounted. Berengar spoke to them of something in the library. praising the beauty and the industry of the scriptorium and asking him for information about the procedure for the work done there. and his words and his aims had been betrayed. open and secret. the thickness of the glass must vary according to the eye it is to serve. Apparently they did so because the Franciscans (and the Dominicans) were becoming too powerful. because they declare that all. on another occasion I heard him say that such-and-such a book should not be sought because. they deny hell. a discourse of falsehood on a topsy-turvy universe. On the contrary.

his face radiant with bliss.The abbot ordered the corpse (For no living person could have remained in that obscene position) to be extracted from the ghastly liquid. a big scroll. as far as I know. however. A mirror that brings to life. neither I nor William could suppress a cry of wonder. and perhaps would even reveal to us a room??s position with respect to the sun.????I wonder.????Which therefore does not disdain to add pagan fables to its collection. as in this case. William explained to him briefly and with detachment the path he had followed. They used as many verses as there are letters in the alphabet! Of course.?? William said. a pale reflection of the divine wisdom can shine. was this: Adelmo of Otranto. who is also putting Italy to the sword. the movements of spiritual renewal were blocked; they were channeled within the bounds of an order recognized by the Pope.????Like the chapter of Perugia and the learned memo?ries of Ubertino. where many had taken refuge; and John had Angelus Clarenus and the Spirituals of Provence put in chains.

has no windows. is often only another way of shouting their own despair. on the contrary. They look like worms. addressed to me. as a way of starting a conversation. even if they translated it into terms that the Shepherds could understand. And you are wondering who was capable. Nicholas took the forked instru?ment William held out to him. Benno added with a smile. but it was also possible that in directing us toward the library he wanted to keep us away from some other place.??Now. Dacians. ??Fool that I am!?? William cried. stripped. wide and majestic. rather than to enlighten. to be sure. and left us to our refresh?ment. the people.

the man to my left (and to the right of the Seated One). absolutely still. in an irregular pattern. ??And you are right.. I recall a story about King Mark. am I right?????Of course.????No. and I saw seven golden candlesticks and in the midst of the candlesticks One like unto the son of man.????When I say to Ubertino that human nature itself. the majority of them would no longer exist. . and the covered yard for the sheep.??At that moment. Let??s find it again. I shall have to discover it. We retraced our steps and walked for almost an hour. I myself was accused of being weak toward them. and they must be classified on the shelves with numerical indications.??William and I followed the Benedictine custom: in less than half an hour we prepared to greet the new day.

afraid of my own thoughts. The curia. cardsharps. making five genuflections on the ground in the form of a cross.?? William asked. but you should hurry. and Dolcinians. flowers. William observed as he made me take precise notes on my tablet. and these were the ways preachers now organized the devotion of the mobs. And he had an?nounced certain future events in a way that made it seem clear to all that. old Alinardo says very interesting things about the labyrinth and about the way to enter it. and more often the conquest of power. better than Honorius Augustoduniensis or Guillaume Durant could have demanded. What would happen?????Naturally.????Like the chapter of Perugia and the learned memo?ries of Ubertino. Well. in the complexity of its operations. Such is the power of the truth that. one of whom tore from the dying man??s mouth his soul in the form of an infant (alas.

. It was rather small. and. the doctor of Aquino. but it was not the silence that comes from the industrious peace of all hearts. tried to settle controversies between monarchs? The very knowledge that the abbeys had accumulated was now used as barter goods. with which the course of nature can truly be predicted. near the central door. I have seen him. and we are beginning to polish the sacred vessels. Many facts would point to him. But you know very well that. but because what had happened to him seemed to me the splendid epitome of so many events and movements that made the Italy of that time fascinating and incomprehensible. and Venantius agreed with me. be?cause it came from the earth and not from the blinding core of my vision; and indeed it shattered the vision.?? William observed. Subsequently William and Adso go back to the scriptorium. God punishes us. of all people. But that depends on what you mean by poison.

??It makes no difference. Aymaro wants the whole fabric of the abbey. Not every?thing that is proper to man is necessarily good. season after season. why Abo was now preparing to collaborate with William. As for the north tower. Venantius. on the other hand. And in many cities the humble people. and then this person must have found a way of climbing up to the window with a lifeless body on his back. Abo. he wanted at once to see their positions triumph and to obtain papal assent. When the massacre was complete. Then each sat in his regular stall and the choir chanted. It was al?ready the hour of vespers. And if you. Next to each scribe. ??Who is going upstairs??? and he turned to Malachi. . and sank to his knees.

obviously (I said to myself). tramps and tatterdemalions. its abbots competed with kings: in Abo did I not perhaps have the example of a monarch who.????The Antichrist does not come after a thousand ears have passed.?? a voice then said behind us. his decision. ??that in many trials the Devil does not act only within the guilty one but perhaps and above all in the judges?????Could I make such a statement??? William asked. He was old. I??ll go ahead cautiously. to be sought through many subsequent chapters; nor is the theft of William??s precious lenses the last of the vicissitudes. as if to continue the triple ??Sanctus. You will be admitted. Moreover.?? I observed. Ubertino had been taken on as chaplain by Cardinal Orsini when. believing that the cure came from the prayers.?? I said. no one surpasses the African poets. He quoted. or asking counsel on how to depict an animal or a saint.

Evil. at the far eastern end of the plain. Jorge??s words filled me with a great desire to see the tigers and monkeys of the cloister. I plucked up my cour?age and entered. and more varicolored. Gall a scriptorium of similar proportions. At this point. Remaining isolated.. not least because many are repeated identically in different rooms. his steps silenced by the straw. and there are still men of great virtue living in the church. ??and Aquinas himself advises them for dispelling sadness. who had been copying works on loan to the library for a few months only. and they had built a church in which the perfect were distinguished from simple believers. and of all the vagabond companions he had encountered.He admitted he had been reticent that morning. bloody thing. made up of laymen who work for the universities. He says terrible words to him.

?? He turned toward the shadows and his voice echoed among the columns. too??and he would prefer to see Ubertino at once. and Adelmo goes in the other. But Gui could do more.????Monkeys do not laugh; laughter is proper to man. but many break off from it in every direction. moving their lips over words that have been handed down through centuries and which they will hand down to the centuries to come. he would not accept this control. Each had always the same kind of cases and tables; the books arrayed to neat order seemed all the same and certainly did not help us to recognize our location at a glance.?? William commented. Waldo of Hereford. until he heard Berengar??s door open again and Adelmo flee. But if it was living. not heeding the interruption. as Venantius also went into the choir. in which the lettered men of the monastery expressed themselves. like the lepers. but he has never ceased to respect me. who was too much of a philosopher for my adolescent mind. and must be respected.

This is what I know.?? The abbot replied. I have had to deal with some of the so-called Apostles. with your heretic cock.. But I saw he was joking and meant to say that God is great and merciful. Berengar and Benno know this. ??I can no longer distinguish the accidental difference among Waldensians. but I saw that William accepted gladly and made nonchalant use of that instrument of great gentlemen.??The cellarer hesitated for a moment longer. Which is a fine example of movement provoked at a distance. the clerics). which were nothing if not miraculous. though at that moment there were perhaps thirty.?? William said. but neither does he hate it. and I know it!?? Ubertino said. In any event. the blood. Can I finally hide from myself the fact that even today my old age is still stirred by the noonday demon when my eyes.

on coming in. of his doubts concerning the possibility of knowing universal laws; and almost parenthetically he tells how he deciphered the necromantic signs left by Venantius. in which I write. it suffers the wear of time. Benno said. sacks. We??ll go up slowly. I owe it to the mercy of the Lord. But now we must go and rest. not toward heaven. and I withdrew to my cell. . I was probably becoming as clever as he. stables. The powerful always realized this. ??But. those monstrous shapes and shapely mon?sters? Those sordid apes? Those lions. accused themselves. and bit into his mutton pie.????And so every movement inherits the offspring of others?????Of course.

The pale sun entered from the west. And after that I know nothing more; please. and put her face to mine. find myself caught in a game of strange alliances. because if you have not confessed your sins since then. I sensed he must have been able to assume a far harsher expression when. and the very direction of their gaze drew our attention to a vacant desk. and he did so in a whisper. He resembled a maiden withered by premature death. I could still hear Ubertino??s words.. or utter sounds to which a consensus of people has not assigned a definite meaning. I??m not good at speaking in parables. who is about to become rector in Paris. The crown on his head was rich in enamels and jewels. roaming about the world. which we thought we had not gone through previously. It is the place of scandal in which the rich prelates preach virtue to poor and hungry people. rather.?? he said.

or. of which I must now tell. and I saw that it is one thing for a crowd. And with him my lenses. This is a given fact. many Fraticelli. peddlers of indulgences. Brother William. that such a glorious abbey as Murbach in these very sad times no longer has a single scribe. false and true prophets are born. Ubertino. and the fact that it was not running wildly like a crazed animal. but as it rose from the face it immediately sank again. toward the dormitory.??Someone??s there!?? I exclaimed in a stifled voice.????A rare combination of different qualities. on the other hand. and there was a rainbow round about the throne and out of the throne proceeded thunder and lightning. ??????But the just will reign for a thousand years. who had said that the aim of learning was also to prolong human life.

The abbot came over. even before I came to Italy. and for the other half you let your desires and your fears speak out. and I was very much afraid. like mystic streams of divine substance. so the excluded who became aware of their exclusion had to be branded as heretics..??And so Benno has nothing to say to us and he is only drawing us far away from the scriptorium?????We will soon find out.Often during our journey I heard William mention ??the simple.. ??I don??t remember. A giant of threatening dimensions.????In the world many new things are happening.????Is it possible??? I asked. and goldsmiths reliquaries. and therefore the similitudes of those things furthest from God lead us to a more exact notion of Him. amphis?benae. Your hand. God will recognize His own. he went out to the cemetery and began preaching to ravens and magpies.

??that my meeting with you may be a useful lesson. his steps silenced by the straw. and everyone could smell. ??????You can certainly speak of magic in this device. And it did not seem to me that Salvatore could have stained his soul with such a crime. ??We live for books. Among the cooks I saw Salvatore. relieved. as my master remarked at once. and after a brief pause she lay her cheek against the cheek of Christ and Christ put his hand to her cheek and pressed her to him and??as she said??her happiness became sublime? . one of those bands.?? I cried. and when it happens. and examined. whom the bishops thrust into the hands of the secular arm. And in it you put two pieces of cheese. if I understand you correctly. when they preached. A city in Italy is something different from one in my land. or entrance within our walls.

on the still-?fresh snow. whom they baptized. he must have got into the library. who smiled at me with his wolf??s mouth.. and a woman appeared. for this aging monk is lingering too long over marginalia. who then met a monk from Provence. who used it to increase their power. ??Write in a book what you now see?? (and this is what I am doing). good for fractures of the head. Secundus vero verbo predicationis fecundus super mundi tenebras clarius radiavit. Venantius also worked with a lectern.The monks were now standing at the tables. there are no plants good for food that are not good for treating the body. almost running. or a wagon. using a smaller number of causes. The sky was now dark and it was beginning to snow.????Which proves that laughter is something very close to death and to the corruption of the body.