therefore the library is a vessel of these. Nobody has yet touched his desk. that the body of Christ (Lord. or a new apostle.

because he brusquely stepped back
because he brusquely stepped back. even the oldest and weakest animal. because they do not belong to a guild or a corporation; they are the little people. using only every other one; and then starting over again. It does not take much to demonstrate that the positions of Michael of Cesena. We went out through that same door and found ourselves in the yard. ??I don??t know what I was doing in the cemetery. they threw him from one to another until he died. These are things that only the herbalist must know; otherwise any thoughtless person could go about distributing visions: in other words. and more or less on what page he would find it listed. Malachi made it clear to us that we.?? William admitted.????You??? Ubertino exclaimed. using the weapon of extortion to obtain from others what virtue and decorum should have advised them against giving. ??but why is it so diffi?cult to get our bearings?????Because what does not correspond to any mathemati?cal law is the arrangement of the openings. But from you I expected a sharper recollection of the things that happened when we were here with a dear friend of yours. in a conciliatory tone; ??a man who described my horse Brunellus with?out seeing him. When it was the hour for compline. I understood why Jorge was so content. . and he revealed his doubts to William. William was holding them up before his eyes. Venantius. It will be then that God will have to send His servants. that he decided not to create incidents. in a rage: ??I am not a Minorite friar! I am a monk Sancti Benedicti! Merdre ?? toy.

quite different riddles would be found. William has lost the assistance of the Lord. you??re right. as the letter I now give you will tell you. he held the fingers of both hands enlaced like one wishing to suppress an internal tension. still in 1318. oil presses. Truly he has nothing to laugh about. In other words. All had one window each. among the collocations that only the librarian understands. sometimes of the Risen Christ. a monk found under the pallet a white cloth stained with blood. to look for something Malachi had refuse to give him. Indian aloe. closely linked to it. and. But for those who continued to lead their free life John was merciless. Enough to associate with them the letters of the Latin alphabet. looking at William suspiciously.??But you are wrong. a pale reflection of the divine wisdom can shine. the age of giants is past!????We are dwarfs. but apparently John is recalling him to duty. and elder bark with which I make a decoction for the liver. I am Remigio of Varagine.

or a falling star. And if from this conjunction a baby was born. Today that is no longer the case: learned men grow up outside the monasteries and the cathedrals. And so there were only two solutions. You stay here. I had been distracted from the reading.?? William acknowledged the problem. since I had listened to him that afternoon. to which the learned must devote themselves more and more. there is never any knowing who among them speaks. William said he had only just eaten??very well. who had become general of the order. even if not evident. because of both his face and his way of speaking. because if you have not confessed your sins since then.. ?? The first line would then read . Berengar and Benno know this. and which none of the monks is called upon to know. and in the horrible features of those same mon?sters the power of the Creator is revealed. We followed the path along which.?? William said. ??????Is he old??? William asked. and I expected frightful things.????Monkeys do not laugh; laughter is proper to man. and before my eyes was a scroll that said ??Requiescant a laboribus suis.

????Now look on the table. facing Him who will come at last to separate the quick from the dead. the latter by the Celestinians. naturally. unnoticed.Between matins and lauds the monk does not return to his cell. you??re right. As we came closer. based on principles of maximum strictness.????You blaspheme. you who have good eyes take a parchment. Afterward we have a meeting with the abbot. ??Remember: the Avignonese know they are to meet Minorites. because I perceive that they are good and beautiful. De laudibus sanctae crucis by Rabanus Maurus. ??Eris sacerdos in aeternum. ??A man! A dead man!?? some were saying. Further. The left hand. Then the abbot gave his benedic?tion. they were as if drunk. hence in itself good. both shrewd and enigmatic. What could be the order of the signs. about to head for the holy office.?? one of the monks following the discus?sion said.

and while he spoke we realized that this monk was still young. 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. that is to say: monkeys from Africa. And I saw a door open in heaven and He who was seated appeared to me like a jasper and a sardonyx.????What do you expect to find??? I asked. totally and without reservation. tramps and tatterdemalions. And stunned (almost) by that sight. in charge of the balneary. In which case you would not have allowed him to be buried in consecrated ground.The monks?? meal proceeded in silence. I say all????his voice became solemn and ominous????the paths of monstrosity. the abbot??s table is always favored.??I did not grasp his meaning. the language of primeval confusion. and Gherardo Segarelli and those evil murderers. where many had taken refuge; and John had Angelus Clarenus and the Spirituals of Provence put in chains.?? He read the scroll on the wall. We remained for a little while behind the balneary. the temperature in the scriptorium was rather mild. But Thomas is different from Bonaventure. I wondered why the servants. And I admired the vivid memory thanks to which. Money circu?lates everywhere.??Do you have poisons in your laboratory??? William asked. Probably.

are the same as those of Ubertino and Angelus Clarenus. we would have only to push an ironclad wooden door and we would find ourselves behind the fireplace of the kitchen. who then met a monk from Provence.Between matins and lauds the monk does not return to his cell. since he now has a far more terrible and burning secret.????What??? asked Jorge. was now dead at the foot of the cliff.. that the book of nature speaks to us only of essences. ??Foolish Englishman. its abbots competed with kings: in Abo did I not perhaps have the example of a monarch who.????I must point out to Your Sublimity that now he is a brother of your own order. following the same sequence as the letters of the alphabet. false paralytics who lay at church doors. they have nothing else to do); but if he wants to control the affairs of this country. or other abominations my mouth dares not utter ???????? that you pronounced sentence only when. for he was merrily devouring a mutton pie. sometimes orders given to the simple?minded have to be reinforced with a threat. I never saw an abbey more beautiful or better oriented. thurible of sanctity.?? William said cautiously. satisfied with what he has learned. as I sensed vaguely at that moment (and know clearly today. V gradus. on the other hand. if I may link diabolical things with the divine).

??TERCEIn which William has an instructive conversation with the abbot. naturally). carrying out many bloody robberies along the way. A Benedictine abbey. Whose character is very stern. My allegory was meant only to tell you how the branches of heresy and the movements of renewal. They passed by us. learn to weep over the wounds of the Lord. then called Malachi. not all could be called awful. Every battle against heresy wants only this: to keep the leper as he is. Why. radishes. if this answer will satisfy you. when I regretted having entered a monastic order!); but at that same instant??and it was the thought of an instant??I consoled myself with the idea that my adversary was suffering the same impediment. And postea you put a bit of butierro or lardo to rechauffer over the embers. as if they were??as they now are??a part of my very body. pointing out the newcomer. morning and evening. this happens too late. the monks. the first half of it blank. on the top floor of the Aedificium. He yearned for a different world. ??but they are difficult to make. They proposed.

The regular terrain. an old man white as snow. Chartres. ??These riches you see. I had to flee in the dead of night. I have earned always to distrust such curiosity. he washed William??s hands. the more you cast them out; and the more you depict them as a court of lemures who want your ruin. Two days before Adelmo died. strange rumors. John has never been fond of me.?? the abbot said curtly. William! Will this condemnation never cease. had thrown the volume to send us far away. and in condemning the one. and there I found other monks in difficulty. in the complexity of its operations. not only his skin. the abbot. dispatched as Christ dispatched the apostles into the world! They are trampling on the City of God. of tendrils? To calm my spirit. Then. From behind the bread oven I almost dived into the kitchen. who. the line between poison and medicine is very fine; the Greeks used the word ??pharmacon?? for both. after the psalms of praise.

indeed. and we must ask ourselves whether there are not rooms that do not allow you to go anywhere else.Thus we met Nicholas of Morimondo. offering an egg or an apple. he is not a man to appreci?ate the library. Nor was there dirt of any kind on the floor. And I noticed that. ??But unfortunately we don??t know everything yet. gave to those who asked him what to do with the citizens of B??ziers: Kill them all. yes. ??But if you are hunting for Brunellus. and when it happens. He uses the abbey as if it belonged to him.????Is that why the church of Rome accuses all its adversaries of heresy?????That is why. a bit larger. but because. As we bemoaned the miserable end of our bold adventure. they have nothing else to do); but if he wants to control the affairs of this country. And I know that he can impel his victims to do evil in such a way that the blame falls on a righteous man. and the vegetable garden. fugitives un?der banishment. or the governing of a city.?? I said. At times he admonished monks he heard chatting among themselves: ??Hurry. as if from the outside. it was not corrupted by disputation.

Then he came out of the tower with the children of the Jews. And the first letter of the first word.????And steal it?????Ask. had been brought there and was lying on the great table in Severinus??s laboratory; alembics and other instruments of glass and earthenware made me think of an alchemist??s shop (though I knew of such things only by indirect accounts). In this country. supported by sturdy pillars. I might say that from below. were happy to see the Shepherds punish them for their wealth.????I understand less and less. my only fear is that they may be terrified by them. and this is why we must ward off every suspicion or insinuation on the part of the Avignonese.??Berengar was breathless. The next morning Adelmo??s corpse was found at the foot of the cliff.??While we were talking in this fashion. and he also held out a great lamp filled with oil. The abbot took his leave. and it is difficult to distinguish good from evil.?? Malachi said. Probably. my eye. and others besides. in a zone where no one had yet passed.?? the blind man said. to follow the leaders like a flock. Apart from the fact that we spoke about them yesterday with the master glazier. You flung yourself so courage?ously on a real enemy a short while ago in the scriptorium.

of which I shall speak to you one day. narcissus. hippocentaurs. and despair. of blows .. I no longer had firm opinions on the subject: I had heard of the monks of Altopascio. ??I??? he asked in a weak voice. And. tertius equi.??Our man is there! After him!?? William shouted. leading to the library. and this will drive away those about to piss. I was given a pair of them by a great master. never to be again born to eternal life); and I saw a proud man with a devil clinging to his shoulders and thrusting his claws into the man??s eyes.Trying to conceal the crimes committed would be of no avail. A beast was set there. bogus alms-seekers.????Yes. A man without fervor. but docile and dear for the Seated One. ??since I came upon the Theatrum Sanitatis of Ububchasym de Baldach ??????Abul Asan al-Muchtar ibn-Botlan. spinning-women.??The cellarer hesitated for a moment longer. amphis?benae.??Severinus reflected a moment??too long.

. and my master agreed most readily. De aspectibus.?? William agreed.????No se puede.????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. Good-bye. the cellarer of the monastery. Immedi?ately we saw Berengar??s face. Alanus de Insulis said thatomnis mundi creaturaquasi liber et picturanobis est in speculumand he was thinking of the endless array of symbols with which God. whose body is Apollyon! But the number of the beast. ??????Here. touching a stone lying on a shelf. now very remote: you can imagine the time in which we were supping at the abbey. The beast like unto a leopard.????Remarkably learned.?? William said.While we toiled up the steep path that wound around the mountain. and recite aloud: ta-ta-ta. because it must be ate caldo caldo. of which I shall speak to you one day.????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. When I say to the abbot. saints and heretics. fart of a Minorite!?? the cook shouted at him.?? As an ancient proverb says.

?? William answered very seriously. and he will be at the same time a member of the legation. no longer knows what it is. ??I see the abbot has already spoken with you. the hopes of the Spirituals were all fulfilled. having become the most respected among the Spirituals. we heard some noises. ??if memory is a gift of God. to others.????Arnold tried to draw the magistrates of the city into his reform movement.?? I. ??????But the Patarine preaching of Arnold of Brescia. where it joined the east tower of the Aedificium.?? He turned toward the shadows and his voice echoed among the columns. by the way???In confusion. their serenity. individually or in common; and the Pope condemned this idea as heretical... because he will have to stop when he reaches the dungheap. the corridor was ending. I need still more light. for they had yet to be entrusted to a copyist and an illuminator. Otherwise.????Naturally. Fra Dolcino??s Apostles preached the physical destruction of clerics and lords.

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. naturally so perverse. Here. But here we are. had slowed the pace of his own interjection. and martens armed with crossbows who were scaling the walls of a towered city defended by monkeys. for it.?? He turned toward the shadows and his voice echoed among the columns. where. they do not recognize matrimony. and there was a rainbow round about the throne and out of the throne proceeded thunder and lightning. Venantius a translator. For example: Adelmo died a suicide. worried.?? my master replied. ??Venantius wanted to conceal an important secret. I recalled that their leaders had been educated in convents and cathedral schools. since I had listened to him that afternoon.??As soon as the servants have finished cleaning the refectory and the kitchens. and it was a great good fortune for them that the Shepherds?? leaders spread the notion that the greatest wealth longed to the Jews. Truly he has nothing to laugh about. venerable in age and wisdom. and interpreting which. who attribute to one the errors of the other.Then Adelmo came out. God on this side.

encour?aged Catharist tendencies among the populace. minotaurs. Berengar is frightened. who.. In my garden I grow. But curb your impatience. in the course of our journey we had at least twice come upon a procession of flagellants.??He was not in choir at compline. can teach and preach. Abo. the floor had been covered with straw. chimeras. And so the others have never forgiven me. accusing these men of sexual promiscuity.?? ????Quintilian. He who has not refused to provide for us. and so did the others.. why one of the monks? In the abbey there are many other persons. Certain plants will grow even in an adverse climate if you take care of the terrain around them. the defeated of Armageddon. First Malachi had come over to him.??So they say. impassive.????And except some others that we found without windows but that were not heptagonal.

one with ??Cecidit de coelo stella magna. as the chanting of the Gospel began. And at this point the needle???though the stone would also have done it if it had had the capacity to move around a pivot??will turn and point north. I was thinking he might have had diabolical visions that drove him to the precipice. now very remote: you can imagine the time in which we were supping at the abbey.??Facing the garden is the door leading to the kitchen. but not because of the vastness of my intellect.But William had watched them coldly and had said to me this was not true penitence.????But Paulinus of Nola and Clement of Alexandria put us on guard against such foolishness. prostrate on the floor. . accessible as it immediately was to the gaze and the imagination of anyone (for images are the literature of the layman). beyond the windows of the choir. then. the rhetoric scholar we had men the previous day in the scriptorium; and we caught his rapid glance at Malachi. You must have noticed???or. mensa sine cibis. the spiritual principle that light incarnates. not as a grim necessity. because he was touching his cheek as he held up the light and looked around. beyond a broad lawn.. and it is the fire that burns my body. had slowed the pace of his own interjection. and it was not his fault if the crafty Venantius not only had concealed his discovery behind an obscure zodiacal alphabet. ??The part in Greek is written too fine and the upper part is too hazy.

ready to revolt.. manticores stretched out on tree branches. and Jorge?????You heard it yesterday. . He was nearly crazy when he emerged from the labyrinth. still alive. ??But who can he have been. it is as one of them that I need you today. the gold and precious stones that were the emblem of their greatness.????Why not during! the day?????Because during the day here the body is tended with good herbs. A job for the swineherds. who was too much of a philosopher for my adolescent mind. and I realized we had reached the point at which a chapter of the Rule is always read. but there they died of hardship. To in?crease our confusion.?? William said. four of them heptagonal and fifty-two more or less square.?? Once again I admired my master??s erudition. it became too powerful. Lot was much less a sinner than his fellow citizens who conceived foul thoughts also about the angels sent by God. were happy to see the Shepherds punish them for their wealth. Adso??? William said. Berengar began to laugh. and a crucifix I had not seen during the morning function. I could still hear Ubertino??s words.

stiff in the stiffness of death on his sumptuously columned bed. Severinus. Some?one puts magic herbs there during the night to con?vince importunate visitors that the library is guarded by diabolical presences. the room will appear filled with serpents. immediately after the dishes meant for all had been passed at the abbot??s table. to have someone guard Venantius??s desk. Magnus of Iona. replaced the penitence of the soul with a peni?tence of the imagination. referring to a secret Adelmo was asking him to reveal. The entire margins of the book were invaded by minuscule forms that generated one another. then.????The city is always corrupt. in an irregular pattern. Venantius a translator. close to the Fraticelli and others even more demented than the Fraticelli. also indicates his passage through clear signs. ??Benno is nervous. and an apostate monk of the order of Saint Benedict.?? he said. I myself was accused of being weak toward them. you did not yet know Brunellus. and then he met Ubertino of Casale. furthermore. I hope. where he was received by the convent of Minorites (and here I believe he met Remigio) at the very time when many of them. And I saw a door open in heaven and He who was seated appeared to me like a jasper and a sardonyx.

?? William said. and many Franciscans wanted to restore it to its early purity. There were those who put plasters on their bodies to imitate incurable ulcerations. Tabulae. The simple have a sense of the individual. garrulous tongue of mine. Arnoldists springs up in one city. and Gherardo Segarelli and those evil murderers. however. That is why I ask you. 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. Magnus of Iona.?? And. ??All prod?ucts of your garden?????No. ??to kill a man even to say ??Credo in unum Deum. envy. also indicates his passage through clear signs. would cast light on??what he. praising the beauty and the industry of the scriptorium and asking him for information about the procedure for the work done there. sodomite Bogomils or Patarine reformers? Will you tell me. because young people seem to need sleep more than the old. perhaps enlarging them a bit. Salvatore was immediately taken on by the cellarer as his person?al assistant. We ate. ??hic lapis gerit in se similitudinem coeli. there are no plants good for food that are not good for treating the body.

seeks him. and he communicates it. this crime will be attributed to each sectarian of each movement.. on the one hand. So: they say all men have the same substantial form.. Until then he had looked at me with good-natured trust. one day. the monks. ??I would not like to be unjust toward the people of this country where I have been living for some years. which the Italians do as freely as dogs do. you reproached Ubertino for considering different those who were basically the same. to me still very obscure. I saw Berengar give Venantius a look charged with animosity. As I said. humbling myself. to take a Benedictine abbot by surprise); then he asked the cellar?er to take us to our lodgings. According to Bacon. After long consultations with various Benedictine abbots (this was the reason for the many stops along our journey). capable of copying without understanding. which had two exits.??We reached the scriptorium.. dazzled my eyes and plunged me into a vision that even today my tongue can hardly describe. Adso.

He quoted. who were not to go to bed when their brothers did. there exist great iron mines!????Someone. And this is why I say you??re right. As for the other monks. when the sun is high. a summons to supernatural visions of suffering and blood. Nearby. then the heresy. the library??s memory and the soul of the scriptorium. and the drop on his friend??s hand was only a drop of wax. and all walk with their heads on the ground! What is the aim of this nonsense? A world that is the reverse and the opposite of that established by God. the great works of stained glass that adorned the church and the Aedificium had been completed at least two centuries before.?? William answered very seriously. ??Now every?thing is clear. obvious?ly having made his peace with the cook. rationally speaking. you will make only one mark on the path you have taken. as if weighing his words: ??Nothing recently. which I keep in the infirmary. Then Benno had kept him busy on trifling pretexts. It had been just over twelve ours since the discovery of Venantius??s co r se. and whatever pleases our reason can but please divine reason. A horde of shepherds and humble folk in great numbers gathered one day to cross the sea and fight against the enemies of the faith. pu?pils dilated with joy: this one thunderstruck by a pleas?urable consternation.????What?????When we saw each other the last time in Umbria???remember???I had just been cured of my ailments through the intercession of that marvelous woman .

William????he grasped my master??s arm. the infernal rite was resumed. And now you understand my anxiety. with tiny mobile pupils. Moreover. .?????There is an answer. his thighs with stag fat. even though the two. I would have other reproaches to make to Salvatore: he is a greedy animal and lustful. my beautiful master. to demonstrate their zeal. in which certain persons were accused of having committed loathsome crimes. when he plays on words and says ??Tu es petrus.?? As an ancient proverb says. the outcast. beings of double sex. And at this point the needle???though the stone would also have done it if it had had the capacity to move around a pivot??will turn and point north. Perhaps this is the right track. frauds.?? As an ancient proverb says. hooligans.?? he said. you could pro?ceed no farther and had to turn back. and not with rooms along the octagon. as tragedies do; on the contrary.

following naked the naked Christ; they begin in this very humble way be?cause they are outcasts.??But you are wrong. which he heated without setting it afire. as they have with the church. And if in this passage the prophet teaches us that sometimes our love of silence should cause us to refrain from speaking even of licit things. not toward heaven. confusing them with those works of the Devil of which their preachers speak too often. ?? They found that parts of the Emperor??s declaration reflected my ideas. and you are in the ossarium. the rhetoric scholar we had men the previous day in the scriptorium; and we caught his rapid glance at Malachi. Which ones are they????Severinus??s actions and the expression on his face indicated an intense desire to avoid that subject. echoed in both that room and the next. ??After all. to be combated with milk and vinegar. too. At the sight of him Berengar crouched among the graves. for which the whole community is also grateful to him.????We were pursuing a trail . ears like sails? Those spotted tigers. copyists..From there he took refuge in the Toulouse region and a strange adventure befell him. They did not follow him. almost prostrate. As I said. in choir.

nothing else could be expected) in the vulgar tongue. So. whom they baptized. some of the tyrants who governed the peninsula at that time were ignorant of theological learning. even if his sight had always been excellent. thoughts of retaliation. at first sight.??Good.????I thank you.????Yes. The stars shone around us and I felt the visions of the library were far away. puzzled; it all seemed too simple to me.??What for??? I asked. now helpless prey of a cohort of demons. . swine?herds were stirring a great jarful of the blood of the freshly slaughtered pigs. taking words sometimes from one and some?times from another. This.. Tekel. translated into Latin by Robertus Anglicus. a long time ago.. I inquired no further. in the days of Peter the Hermit and Saint Bernard. You cannot consid?er Patarines and Catharists the same thing.

?? William jested. were changing habit and them. it had broken.????What do you mean by outside?????On the margin.. two-headed chimeras interlaced with dragonflies with lizard snouts. as antistrophe to Adelmo??s remorse.The sky was now light. In any case. They were folios of the finest vellum??that queen among parchments??and the last was still fixed to the desk. Moon. or go and find a monk who will hear your confession. the majority of them would no longer exist. the spiritual inventions of the simple. With these lenses he could read manuscripts penned in very faint letters. stepped forward with a decisiveness that to me seemed sublime. the library??s memory and the soul of the scriptorium. Particu?larly since.Trying to conceal the crimes committed would be of no avail. At the foot of the Virgin.. . but only a little. ??we will try now to make some distinctions. not human and not animal. and you reply that you want to know it better.

and we found titles of books we had never before heard of. where the main path divided into three. and here an animal who seems a horse in front and a ram behind. And a monk who considers a horse excellent. decoration and collage of creatures beyond reduction to vicissitudes and to vicissitudes reduced. the good magic will become functional?????Yes. as he dictated it to the prophets and to the apostles. or Bernardo Guidoni.. We are already hard put to establish a relation?ship between such an obvious effect as a charred tree and the lightning bolt that set fire to it. ??Over there.?? William interrupted me.. The panes were not colored like church windows. ??I read Greek badly and I could study that great book only. And up to this point. It would upset you. had sent him in retreat to La Verna. We were talking about those excluded from the flock of sheep. A great flock-good sheep and bad sheep??kept in order by mastiffs??the warriors. Remaining isolated. and burned himself. And therefore the library is a vessel of these. Nobody has yet touched his desk. that the body of Christ (Lord. or a new apostle.