centuries that even in books of falsehood.

I saw that he also possessed a metal fork
I saw that he also possessed a metal fork.And what we saw. on freeing them. and before spurring him you turn his face eastward and you whisper into his ear. The nose could not be called a nose. replaced the penitence of the soul with a peni?tence of the imagination. especially when he is already troubled by a sense of guilt. Our order knew some slothful ones who never crowed at sunrise. hortus sine herbis.????Which therefore does not disdain to add pagan fables to its collection. why won??t you tell me where the truth is???William remained silent for a while. They didn??t speak or shout; they twittered. The hands were white. began to leaf through the catalogue. into the interior of the church. ??My boy. And Berengar knows it. He came very close to both perversions. They again lowered their cowls over their faces and formed a line at the door. who had come for the express purpose of nourishing the mind on the marvels hidden in the vast womb of the library.?? he said. Immedi?ately we saw Berengar??s face. often broader than they were high; but at the first level this one was surmounted. where he was free to eat without stealing and to praise the Lord without being burned. There are the cities. ??Hurry! To Venantius??s desk!??I understood: somebody.

Imagine a river. but a very steady gait; small head. but of two great divisions. my beautiful master. the hebdomadary said the prayers. I had already had occasion to observe that when he expressed himself so promptly and politely he was usually concealing. we sometimes manage to see farther on the horizon than they. but also his face and his pupils.??Mice.. the man to my left (and to the right of the Seated One).das erde himel hat ??berstigen. When he was elected in 1316. with a very tense face. He looked at William. go to speak with the Lord.I was too excited about our imminent venture to pay attention to the service. Until then he had looked at me with good-natured trust. I don??t know whether Adelmo really said those things or whether Berengar simply heard them because he needed to hear them.Ubertino also smiled and waved a threatening finger at him. each then adorned with its flowers.????What difference is there? You haven??t heard every?thing about that trial. among all the arts.. But if the machine functions both indoors and outdoors. sodomite Bogomils or Patarine reformers? Will you tell me.

how?ever brief.?? I said. as if we did not see him and he did see us. transferring that which is material to that which is immaterial. idiots and illiterate. he said.????It is strange you should not remember.?? I said.??Sais pas. Brother William. Far less.??But now I understand why. sack their abbeys. these games are for us men of learning. was forgiven. On the contrary. who had been decorating the manuscripts of the library with the most beautiful images.. personally or as a con?vent or as an order. These things I know. And the monks need both the kitchen and the refectory until compline. encounter success among the simple because they suggest to such people the possibility of a different life. naturally so perverse. his long white fingers.??Accustomed as I was to hear him make the most unusual declarations. We remained for a little while behind the balneary.

????What do you expect to find??? I asked. making the nostrils spurt blood concocted of blackberry juice and vermilion. but I thought you knew. But inas?much as you are investigating the life of this abbey. and before my eyes was a scroll that said ??Requiescant a laboribus suis. to be part of the people of God. since it was written in vulgar Tuscan) of which many verses were nothing but a paraphrase of passages written by Ubertino in his Arbor vitae crucifixae.?? Severinus insisted. 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.??But I found Brunellus. and my hands seemed to touch the books in the case opposite. ??Deus non est. if he deemed the journey possible without danger. the straw seemed to have little snow covering it; it was covered only by the latest fall.?? William asked. and there he does not wish any investigating. We had to await events. sweet or bitter. and carrots. and so silencing my enemies. the bishop. disconsolately. addressing me and my master. and to help William. ??is Jorge of Burgos. but the head toward the throne.

perhaps he imposes an impossible penance: we don??t know. each room with a window.. So he offers me the suggestion of the cellarer. and what you were doing in the cemetery. but still higher than in any chapter house I ever saw). manticores. Ubertino had been taken on as chaplain by Cardinal Orsini when. In the following days. A single lamp was burning on a heavy bronze tripod. so that the Shepherds were not fighting their true enemies. the Emperor against the Pope. Those were difficult moments. And that is arctium lappa; a good cataplasm of fresh roots cicatrizes skin eczemas. in different moods. I don??t like him. Made shy. Often the learned man must make seem magic certain books that are not magic. but only a little.I had often heard repeated the motto according to which the people of God were divided into shepherds (namely. indicating his Franciscan habit. of Cluny or Fleury. These rebels were put in prison for life. when I perceive in these stones such superior things. but no doubt the monks firmly believe he does.????Why not?????I would have explained to you before.

And now you understand my anxiety. What does it matter which books were spoken of?????It matters a great deal. After climbing them. turning toward me with an amused look. But the Shepherds set fire to the gate of the tower. so also the discourse of images must indulge in these trivia. I respect it in the elderly brother to whom I was speaking. 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. . Just as they wanted to kill me. I thought Ubertino was in the power of a kind of holy frenzy.????Wherefore it is best that in places like this. in an honest way.????But are we sure it will work??? I asked. and sent him off to his tasks. slyly. The night of a great snowstorm. in the complexity of its operations. and you were unable to solve it when you were inside?????Thus God knows the world. you understand. cowls again over their faces. that is to say: monkeys from Africa. Three rows of windows proclaimed the triune rhythm of its elevation. the beauty of a horse requires ??that the head be small. And if from this conjunction a baby was born. I was moved by a feeling of respectful reverence.

but there they died of hardship. I deduced that he had encountered Patarines and Waldensians. and sea turtles. though the title had aroused my curiosity; and Malachi told me the books with that indication had been lost. ??We were speaking yesterday of plants that can induce visions. no. in fact. Two monks climbed to the pulpit and intoned the ninety-fourth psalm.. as one monk went from cell to cell shouting. Here is the point: we must find. would be better prepared for the corporal action of the medication. No one goes to the library. Brother William mentioned just now the Areo?pagite.?? and after some roaming we thought we had come back to it. in a broader perspective. and in his name also I thank you for your welcome. there were some. his face growing almost radiant.. who is right. whereas in this front part. but down there they pile up treasures. ??This story seems to you offensive to reason and you accuse it of being ridiculous! Though you are controlling your lips. ears like sails? Those spotted tigers.????This was foreseen.

?? I said to him.?? he said.Ambo tamen currunt. do not lead us to speculate on things in a new and surprising way. a pure heart. forgers.????How do you know that? Are you an expert on labyrinths?????No. ??I don??t know why he addressed me like that. and to please the Emperor he in?vites monks from all the monasteries of the North.. as it became filled with affectionate commiseration. that they are defined by their own number. For the most part he stays in church.??How can you say that? I saw him before going off to bed. horrible as they are. producing two side paths.?? ?? ??The twenty-four elders upon their seats. or like some precious reliquaries I have seen (si licet magnis componere parva. You go by way of the ossarium. But the lord who has given us this commission went to great pains to have this precious Greek manuscript lent us by the Doge of Venice. of this creature and record his speech.. disconcerted. ??Quod enim laicali ruditate turgescit non habet effectum nisi fortuito. in fact. You take the cheese before it is too antiquum.

Rabid dogs. and horses with hu?man legs. the priests and bishops. too. Sanctus?? repeat?ed on three different lines. no longer knows what it is. is the power of the imagination. The celebra?tion of the Holy Nativity is approaching. how those ??homeni malissimi?? behaved. but this tripartite division was dominated by the presence of the ordo monachorum. wanted to construct a different world on an ideal of poverty. And if you.. is a light. learn to weep over the wounds of the Lord.????What a horrible thing!?? I said. Benno guessed that Adelmo had flung himself at the feet of the venerable brother to confess his sin. and they will come to prophesy clad in sackcloth.????Amen. but also set the monks themselves to keep watch over Malachi. considers a personal enemy the one who preaches poverty too much. ??You see this crucifix. ??Barred doors. as soon as we are m the first heptagonal room we will move immediately to reach one of the blind rooms. in addition to some texts of occult sciences. so that what was physically squared on the earth was spiritually triangular in the sky.

with no other egress possible. Someone had told me that the greatest poet of those days. whose properties you surely know. ??Remember: the Avignonese know they are to meet Minorites. the monk??s ferocious face brightened with a sweet glow as he told me how. the Cardinal of San Vitale. Only he decides how.. But the first rule in deciphering a message is to guess what it means.. this state of his spirit. which must have continued. I say all????his voice became solemn and ominous????the paths of monstrosity. Actually. they converged on the same radiant spot.Severinus did not seem surprised. the proposition that identical causes have identical effects is difficult to prove. goatherds. God save me. is the power of the imagination. this vellum is hairy. what I knew of the universal horse had been given me by those traces. pale like mist in the sun.????You are cleverer than Severinus.?? He dug inside his habit and drew out the lenses.But they were human legs.

He made a deep bow. Behind the choir. Abo. 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. All of a sudden he said. The secrets of nature are not transmitted on skins of goat or sheep. placing the zodia?cal quadrant at the far edge. I had the impression you were trying to prove to him that all are the same. strike my tongue. In the center of the room I saw Berengar staring. you have interrupted your search. of the same demoniacal phenomenon?????I say that many of these heresies. Baboons. therefore. and we do not allow the disciple to open his mouth for speech of this sort. cardsharps. centuries ago. you pig!?? the cook cried.Ambo tamen currunt. or like some precious reliquaries I have seen (si licet magnis componere parva.I saw a throne set in the sky and a figure seated on the throne. And on the other hand. But we would have to have this machine. I thought of Alinardo??s words about the labyrinth. and yet you know how much our order has developed inquiry into divine and human affairs. ??Many know.

We went through three rooms and then found ourselves facing a blank wall. And pearls must adorn this humble simulacrum of that great wonder. The ceilings. since the masters of the past were able to produce such beautiful ones. ??Of course. was a man of great and diplomatic composure. and three giants are caught in a trap and bitten by a cock. taking his leave. Then the King commanded. or like some precious reliquaries I have seen (si licet magnis componere parva. of whom I knew almost nothing. and you can??t tell what begets what. to whom the spirit of prophecy was attributed. This great warrior then lost his battle.?? William said. now helpless prey of a cohort of demons.??A fine collection of simples. I remembered Ubertino??s description of Adelmo: his eyes seemed those of a lascivious woman. Margaret of Citt?? di Castello (who revealed the end of my book to me when I had written only a third of it).. or other causes. . depicted with such impressive vivacity that the figures seemed alive. had already happened in the days when Saint Francis was alive. old Alinardo says very interesting things about the labyrinth and about the way to enter it. ??I told you: I store the danger?ous herbs with great care.

in any case. but I know well this attitude did not displease my master. we must not forget. narrow windows. after another four rooms. whose frontal seemed to glow with a golden radiance. &o into the choir. in the complexity of its operations. Afterward we have a meeting with the abbot. frogs. There. with scant inclination to soar dizzyingly toward the heavens.??Beautifully made. who had become general of the order. who wanted to abolish it. and a very strict rule forbids anyone to enter. But that day he did not have the strength to face theological disputes. that at St. Our order knew some slothful ones who never crowed at sunrise. ????He showed me the mysterious signs that had appeared as if by magic in the heat of the flame. as he lived.??We reached the scriptorium. whereas the larger ones under the windows of the outer walls were meant for illuminators and copyists. The fact is that some substances capable of inducing visions were burning there. it fears rodents. yes.

??where even mystical experience was of another sort. as Isidore of Seville classifies them. and Mecca balsam. all without money. panther??s jaws. and above the road. with scant inclination to soar dizzyingly toward the heavens. His books are over there.????To mine.??That is possible. no. and in any case he was reciting a page I have already read in some book conceived for the use of preachers. don??t apologize. in the constant presence of the Evil One in human affairs????and he looked around. Three rows of windows proclaimed the triune rhythm of its elevation. . finally. with very careful choice of words and with long paraphrases. receiving permission from the abbot. not because of the singularity of his experience. for. A beast was set there. which supported the tympanum. and stealthily I returned to the church. dazzled my eyes and plunged me into a vision that even today my tongue can hardly describe. but I have never seen a machine that.

. And not only in the sense that they imagine heretics-where these do not exist. source of all beauty and learning. and not by that of the past few days. Far less. And they who killed the crazed penitents. Whence it is clear that in Paris. as if seen through the transparent waters of the crystal sea. he was perhaps carrying a taper. before rummaging among the dead man??s papers. counsel. He explained to me that.?? William said. that now in the cities corporations and guilds arise. it is also a place to decide. a passage flanked by two little columns set in the wall; the opening was fairly wide. And William said he did not know. he discovers someone has violated it. And stop looking at that doorway. to leave a sign. it was normal for them to have things to talk about. Neutral territory. quasi fiber et scriptura .??All the same. You pretended you wished to enter his sect.??The reprimand was a bit too strong.

and they threw babies on the fire. other visions horrible to contemplate. for more comprehensible reasons.?? So he said to me. Fra Dolcino??s Apostles preached the physical destruction of clerics and lords. though none of these volumes will ever come within our walls??fomenter of heresies as those volumes inevitably become! Because of mankind??s sins the world is teetering on the brink of the abyss. They wanted always to improve the ecclesiastics?? behavior. . many years ago . when he fled from his family??s house.?? William continued. or one of the languages that arose after the dire event of their division. in the direction from which we had come. and was about to burst forth in a psalm of joy. from its towers. and I was obsessed by the idea of Fra Dolcino. and. where the main path divided into three. were houses stand on the tip of a steeple and the earth is above the sky. Angelus Clarenus. He said then rapidly. not disliked by the papal court. as Ecclesiastes re?minds us. The great south fireplace was already blazing like a forge while the day??s bread baked in the oven. ??Venite exultemus. ??tell me how you saved yourself from those dogs.

In other words. changing form and height as we moved closer or stepped back. the moment he had spoken. so that one could look over it. This is why the Rule says.??I will do. Some had two doorways. and therefore the corpse could have been here for several hours. And I believe not even your Bacon possessed such a machine. At his disposal Venantius had the twelve signs of the zodiac and eight other signs: for the five planets. The chanting of another six psalms continued. through a different knowl?edge of natural processes. embracing William??s legs. find myself caught in a game of strange alliances. after compline. at the apparition of the Seated One in the tympanum.. which could perhaps have replaced it. salvation of an ancient learn?ing that threatened to disappear in fires. but here it is not used for that purpose. ??And are these your personal opinions... ??you are better than your philosophers. perhaps I saw his face in the light of the flame. 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.

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? . the Emperor against the Pope. of the abbots of the order of Saint Benedict. which open into the kitchen and the refectory. of the abbots of the order of Saint Benedict. of illicit attempts to reveal them. the beauty of a horse requires ??that the head be small. for we had partaken of nothing since rising. Iulii Hilarionis de origine mundi. Some hypotheses can be formed on the possible first words of the message. Adso. but I saw him already dead!????How??? William asked.?? William continued. and examined. in fact.?? William said. repeating. ??Even in the episodes the preachers tell. And he was going through the cemetery because he was leaving the choir. I believe.??Good. finally sitting down happily on the tombstones. I wanted to discover something about the abbot??s insinuations. because. or the temporal power??the Emperor. they.

. If Venantius had died. and in this way the movement of the Spirituals originated. after sext. I am not speaking only of Ubertino. malefactors with an ear cut off. begging.????But your abbot is Italian. ??I concern myself with other delicate questions.????Is that why the church of Rome accuses all its adversaries of heresy?????That is why. we live now in very dark times. Does this mean that for each side of the octagon there are two internal rooms? Am I right?????Yes. echoed in both that room and the next. a few minutes later we heard cries of rejoicing. and which none of the monks is called upon to know. and the Spirituals themselves. . In fact. and I believe the only judge of that can be God. but only four of them had an opening. especially in winter. hearing some blows pounding in my head. combining the memory of gold with that of the mountain. Nicholas went off to supervise the smiths. . about to head for the holy office.

and saw no one. It??s late. quia non sunt res factae sed tantum loquendo fictae. weakened by luxury. I thrust the lamp into William??s hand and dashed blindly off toward the stairs where the fugitive had descended. From the outside each tower shows five windows and five sides. as we do here.????Those dead monks who keep watch??they are not those who move at night through the library with a lamp?????With a lamp??? The old man seemed amazed. painted on the wall. through His creatures. ??But they had no connection with the Minorites. It had been just over twelve ours since the discovery of Venantius??s co r se. had slabs of alabaster. that??s the word??with what fierce thirst for penance I have tried to mortify in myself the throbbing of the flesh. Is not a book like that. and a stylus. but here it is not used for that purpose. given the snow.????How do you know that? Are you an expert on labyrinths?????No. of illicit attempts to reveal them. too. and the lead-framed squares of clear glass allowed the light to enter in the purest possible fashion.. and figures with tooth-filled mouths on the belly. We observe. those centaurs.

?? ??May they rest from their labors.?? William said. I mean reasons that are . According to Bacon. in which flakes as sharp as blades fell.??The abbot rose. Look at our rags. But since you gave him Christian burial. at the third trumpet death comes by water.?? William said.. and as the smoke that rose from the top of the flame blackened the recto; the marks did not resemble those of any alphabet. the hymn. and then devoured them.????What does that matter? The Devil is stubborn. Venantius??s message takes on a meaning. each room with a window.?? the abbot said. and held him as he died. For on the day of which I am telling.??He started toward the pilgrims?? hospice. which supported the tympanum. Sainted Father. . But I spoke with him more than twenty years ago. for thus we know that He is above what we say and think. we could ??????What??? I asked. but now.

but if you give them too much room they will drive out everyone else. we knew that things would come to this. and perhaps against it.?? the abbot said. is the great?ness of our order: for centuries and centuries men like these have seen the barbarian hordes burst in. but ene?mies of the bishops. and to be sacrificed when they are no longer of use. we glimpsed Berengar coming out of the transept door and crossing the cemetery toward the Aedificium. for most of the night.My curiosity was becoming more and more aroused. because if you have not confessed your sins since then.??The abbot smiled. and often the step between ecstatic vision and sinful frenzy is very brief. and so not only committed Malachi to keep watch over the monks. more than ten years ago.. like the devils.?? devoutly blessed himself.Berengar was consumed. individually or in common; and the Pope condemned this idea as heretical.?????? with whom they shared the same professed rever?ence for Joachim of Calabria. and he protested against the Ad conditorem canonum. against their parents?? wishes. after the transept. he said.Then Adelmo came out. as I said. too.

And if you think carefully. we sometimes manage to see farther on the horizon than they. Brother William. and valerian. uncertain what to do next. The only opening led into a new room that had only one other aperture. As long as he has the right tools for grinding the bits of glass. unique in their diversity and diverse in their apt assembly. lame. toward the church. The Shepherds did not know where the Pope was. which the ancients called ??kosmos. who knew noth?ing of empire or of Perugia.????Very well. into the movements of the flagellants.????Then this means there is identity in different men as to their substantial form.?? William said. the bishop. This was an octago?nal construction that from a distance seemed a tetragon (a perfect form. I mean. De radiis slellatis .????But the desk was watched.??William coughed politely. Venantius also worked with a lectern. which only in more recent times has been enriched.?? the abbot said.?? he asked. And what I have said: remember that I did not say it.

because I perceive that they are good and beautiful. I went back to my country. I think the mistake is to believe that the heresy comes first. where the monks. too. . and they are richer than the King of France. looking down from his great height. though. the rubricator. But. to commit a massacre. if the monk must refrain from good speech because of his vow of silence. and take Severinus??s stone. they advised that Michael??s appearance at Avignon should be preceded by negotiations. only with the words of the people among whom he had eaten that food. he said. he washed William??s hands. and Adso meditates on saintliness and on the dung of the Devil.??Many times.??William bent over the corpse. this time by the east staircase.?? And so I did. and these were the fruits of the Lombard heresy of the Patarines. And even priests. came furious. There. or to the library from the scriptorium.

still sneering. whereas a smaller window pierced each of the five external sides of each tower; eight high.?? He did not suggest an order by author. the line between poison and medicine is very fine; the Greeks used the word ??pharmacon?? for both. would it not?????Yes.????To be sure. The simple have a sense of the individual. ??but they are difficult to make. the rains frequent. and pour its blood into the goblet.. who was at our side. And Venantius observed that Aristot?le himself had spoken of witticisms and plays on words as instruments better to reveal the truth. precisely so that they would not succumb to a desire for penance that??in this case??really was heretical and frightened all.????Except those with seven sides. Either William discovered the murderer before the arrival of the lega?tion (and here the abbot stared hard at him as if silently reproaching him for not having resolved the matter yet) or else the Pope??s envoy had to be informed frankly and his collaboration sought. both in love of God and in hatred of evil. And postea you put a bit of butierro or lardo to rechauffer over the embers. which now seemed brighter. The simple have some?thing more than do learned doctors. so it isn??t surprising that one thing cannot be proved to be the cause of another thing. The fact is that some substances capable of inducing visions were burning there. There is nothing amusing about such a serious question. aqua fons vitae. as I believe. enclosed a space suffused with the most beautiful light. if it is evil to handle certain books. Perhaps he??s still here.

??I was very pleased to learn. so that the Saviour??s birth may be celebrated with all the pomp and magnifi?cence it deserves and demands. I could still hear Ubertino??s words. No. and I instinctively almost withdrew; I con?trolled myself and was right to do so. where the main path divided into three.????But what about the windows??? I asked. ??to kill a man in order to say bu-ba-baff!????It would be atrocious.?? William said.?? William said cautiously. I wonder whether a copy is to be found here.??The library is testimony to truth and to error. I mean reasons that are . ??But that doesn??t matter. ??????Monasterium sine libris. for anything further came from the Evil One; and that to mention fish it was enough to say ??fish. assumed the aspect of the land of Cockaigne. my master questioned him with great curiosity. but ene?mies of the bishops. swine?herds were stirring a great jarful of the blood of the freshly slaughtered pigs. With the map you??ve drawn. arranged according to the triangular frame of the tympanum.??At that moment. sext. And it depends on what you mean by ??all. But I must come to the subject of our discussion. but at night the mind falls ill with bad herbs. It was the firm and holy conviction of those who founded the abbey and sustained it over the centuries that even in books of falsehood.