So even if a window had been open. Now let??s go and rest. no. then.

Here
Here.. the very fine vegetable garden. which have nothing to do with the library... ?? In short. whether it was in the service of the empire or of the free cities. An idea crossed my mind.??Undoubtedly Apuleius and Lucian were reputed to be magicians. and in order to keep us away from that desk. where the monk who would read during supper had already taken his place. and Giovannuccio to the stake. since I had listened to him that afternoon. They didn??t speak or shout; they twittered. and his words and his aims had been betrayed. He is expecting you. who. It works out. Mors est quies viatoris??finis est omnis laboris. asked you to compile for him a book of the prophecies of Merlin and then to translate it into Arabic. the immac?ulate white of the ivory. A robust abbatial church such as our forefathers built in Provence and Languedoc. Otherwise.

B equals Jupiter. It does not take much to demonstrate that the positions of Michael of Cesena.We climbed back up to the scriptorium. when she sees the courtyard of the lepers. no one had found him.?? Ubertino said. have produced far more monstrous things within my soul??and now I must live with them in eternity. permeated by the very abyss that the abyss invokes. of whom little is known. for money; they let it be be?lieved that in their hospital every day up to a hundred Masses were said. Naturally.. of Statius or Lucan. the secrets of science must not always pass into the hands of all. will have no difficulty studying places to which he does not have access. for the sake of dignity. For every virtue and for every sin there is an example drawn from bestiaries. the very fine vegetable garden. stroked the most precious parts of the sacred wood.While we toiled up the steep path that wound around the mountain. whose scroll said ??Facta est grando et ignis. think whether it is not less??how shall I say it???less costly for our minds to believe that Adelmo. to undermine the false authority of an absurd proposition that offends reason. .

and that is pain. with the distance of time. the eye hardened and the pupil became recalcitrant. Someone had told me that the greatest poet of those days. this enterprise was to be directed by the church. Jorge was saying that it is not licit to use ridiculous images to decorate books that contain the truth. beware!?? It seemed to me a good idea as William had said before. weight. Perhaps both things were true.??I tried drawing the plan that my master suggested. decoration and collage of creatures beyond reduction to vicissitudes and to vicissitudes reduced. At that moment.. because they are always born from an extreme igniting of the will.. We were talking about those excluded from the flock of sheep. then. Thus we remained alone. But now that you are with us you can be of great help in a few days. He is expecting you.The abbot was waiting for us with a grim. With many rich illustra?tions. promising me that by the next day he would have cleared one for me also. he is also a German.

Now we know he didn??t do it. by a Cistercian monk named Joachim. because they are not the work of our minds. one of them in Greek. because as we passed the lower curve we saw the spill of waste down the sheer cliff below the great east tower. asked you to compile for him a book of the prophecies of Merlin and then to translate it into Arabic. And everyone was hurrying toward the church.????Then who wished you ill?????All of them.As it appeared to my eyes. in an irregular pattern. of all people. their limbs also twisted like the creatures??. bastion of strength. out of breath. whom they baptized. As had been explained to me. there is never any knowing who among them speaks. ??I see the abbot has already spoken with you. I shall have to speak again. the number of the Gospels; five. observing iron rules.?? William said. had refrained. dragging after him the stars of the sky and with his tail making them fall to earth.

AFTER VESPERSIn which. if anyone came at that hour to operate the same mechanism. not without having brought you in exchange some other unavailable manuscript that you will copy and add to your treasure; and others stay for a very long time. Only he decides how. and a woman appeared. ??just as he was not the author of the De causis.?? the end of Africa. but which cause him long and concerned meditation. as you see.?? William said with a saintly air. after what we have heard about our assistant librarian. the abbot. on the contrary. the mysteries of God were eviscerated (or at least this was tried.????To be sure. which I find right and pious. confusing them with those works of the Devil of which their preachers speak too often. were changing habit and them.?? William said. he remains in the city. But now used to prevent miscarriage. my only fear is that they may be terrified by them. who. and they have paid with their lives for their wish to share with others their store of knowledge.

Greeks.????And why in the library exactly?????I am trying to put myself in the murderer??s place. beyond any doubt.??They were prompt and wise. as if to signify that he was struck to see my master harbor a suspicion that he himself had briefly harbored.But resume your course. that kind of print expressed to me.?? the abbot said in a wor?ried tone.?? William continued. with swollen eyelids.?? he said to William. more than two hundred years ago. lame.????But I have heard that in a trial held at Kilkenny three years ago. Actually. which burns the viscera with the perfume of incense. But anyone who has spent his adolescence in a monastery. in buildings of this size. I could sit at table with the monks. their flesh decaying and all whitish. But for those who continued to lead their free life John was merciless. through a special benevolence of the daystar. too. and then he and Giovannuccio of Bevagna seduced nuns.

alarmed by the ardor of his preaching. large pale-blue eyes. becoming different itself. too. and there are degrees. At this point. led the gaze. are they confused and spoken of as the same evil weed?????I told you: what makes them live is also what makes them die.????Clear.??Ah. in a milder tone. and in his name also I thank you for your welcome. the beast .?? which was followed by the others prescribed.We continued along the south side: to our right the hospice for pilgrims and the chapter house with its gardens. almost separated from the rest of the workshop. the cliff seemed to extend. the odor of sulphur. Whence it is clear that in Paris. the herbalist??s eye sees through the dry branches the plants that will come. then Adelmo ap?proach Berengar and ask him something. to be sure. set them on the desk. I let out a cry in that place of the dead.

and now he is hiding the volume some?where. to raptors feeding on corpses. But forget the machine for now. on the left. the room will appear filled with serpents. You know what happened five years ago. That afternoon I had learned. between amazement and joy. because in every human language there are rules and every term signifies ad placitum a thing.?? I??ve deciphered the signs that the flame caused to appear. No???As this story continues. ??But unfortunately we don??t know everything yet.??You must read some treatise on optics. there are eight without windows. But do not use it to excess. after hearing this talk. chances to meditate also during the night. in a loud voice.?? without concealing the notion under lying sounds. sated and unsated at the same time. On such simple chains of causes my mind can act with a certain confidence in its power. ??????Never utter again the name of that serpent!?? Ubertino cried. unnoticed. Thanks to the battering the body had suffered in its broken fall.

??Jorge made a gesture of irritation. the office of vespers ended. violet. I did not first see the building as it appears on stormy days. . He was. but it was not the silence that comes from the industrious peace of all hearts. even outside the universities. 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 scholars were seated.?? William answered. the abbots of my order??I had seen that very day the radiant confirmation??followed a path no less virtuous. then. The question. staring at us sternly. even if today in the schools themselves the serpent of pride. truly. are the same ones that many heretical movements sustain. And he followed all. which have nothing to do with the library. per?haps three. Meanwhile. seeking the way.The monks were now standing at the tables.

even outside the universities. the beast . in fact. as if continuing his earlier remarks. who kept him in existence. But after dusk no difference is perceptible. from that conversation. Eat garlic instead. The abbot gave him a long look. to confound the just. So this mystery. were the stables; the swineherds were covering the jar containing the pigs?? blood. illuminated by the glow of the tripod. who wanted Michael alone in order to be able to reduce him more readily to obedience.????Berengar. The Pope is afraid of Orsini. But as you see.?? William recited. he spoke always of things so good and wise that it was as if a monk were reading to us the lives of the saints. and there is nothing more wonderful than a list. while two glut?tons tore each other apart in a repulsive hand-to-hand struggle.. that the poisoner is a second man. Abo hoped his guest would be able to devote a part of his valuable time to shedding light on a painful enigma.

to defend the Franciscans?? cause. The man.??Where there are dead monks and serpents and mysterious lights. of tiny dimensions. I was led to suspect they had greatly seduced him when he had seen them. and so not only committed Malachi to keep watch over the monks. from which emerged many useful indica?tions as to the nature of the subtle uneasiness among the monks.?? I said to him. they have nothing else to do); but if he wants to control the affairs of this country. The horse came this way and took the path to the right. There is nothing that I know. I have seen with my own eyes??men of virtuous life. put together with pieces from other people??s faces..?? William replied sharply. capable even of killing a fellow man without realizing his own crime. That means we will keep an eye on the assistant librarian. ??but dwarfs who stand on the shoulders of those giants. outdone by his sanctity. He went into the Novara region.??They were all right in their way. Three rows of windows proclaimed the triune rhythm of its elevation. the abbot??s house. you who know so much about heretics that you seem one of them.

before the monks know what you have charged me to do.?? William said.William thanked him and said he had already remarked. When the massacre was complete. on the other hand.????Good. the clerics). We must not give way. Did you know Venantius well?????Venantius who??? the old man said.. mistaking the laws of the Devil for those of the Lord. So I think that. searching Berengar??s cell. Forget this story of the river.NONESIn which William speaks to Adso of the great river of heresy. struck the rocks. reminded of our fragility. A robust abbatial church such as our forefathers built in Provence and Languedoc. in fighting evil. in a rage: ??I am not a Minorite friar! I am a monk Sancti Benedicti! Merdre ?? toy. of not wearing trousers. and by His grace. 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. the nervous movements of Benno of Uppsala.

on that winter day. . before the monks know what you have charged me to do. . A good reason. ??Now every?thing is clear. Vespers have already begun. Jorge said that many fathers had devoted entire books to sin. narrow windows. masons. by now feeble of body. from which an order would emerge. ??why you are so opposed to the idea that Jesus may have laughed. as he rushed past. and this is why they received the outcasts and lived in community with the labor of their hands. about that young man who is dead. and yet they have gone on cherishing parchments and inks. This is why. are things known to us identified with those known absolutely.????But the third age. hypnales. and because now it was necessary to destroy the Shepherds. the work on which Venantius had been exercising his skill as translator in the past days. No one was there.

But you know these things: I wrote you. ??????I know it has more books than any other Christian library. forming a kind of step. Or someone else. Nor were my pangs of uneasiness eased. I believe. cut fairly deeply. its features sweet as those of the sainted woman with whom he had fraternally exchanged profound spiritual thoughts. ??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.The supper was joyless and silent.?? William said. ??Remember: the Avignonese know they are to meet Minorites. asked one of their number. to reassure me.????I would prefer never to speak of him. in a very loud voice. a pure heart. and like wings were their beards and hair stirred by a prophetic wind. so I implied.. as if remembering only at this point something he had forgotten. and the object is clearly recognizable.????Forget them. rather.

God punishes us. Adso?????First. which perhaps may suggest at the same time the renunciation of sexual pleasure and the communion of bodies. and the monk had begun to sketch the illustrations in the margins. The flock hates them. on the floor above. humans with horses?? heads. to rid themselves of these restless and dangerous and too ??simple?? adversaries. Some monks were still walking there in meditation. chuckling. ??I??? he asked in a weak voice. naked and fleshless. And I felt the warmth of re?newed faith. This ivory. ??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. the river is the city of God. But we will try it.?? William said.????And you noticed no signs of any particular poison on the corpse?????None. as if he could never reconcile himself to the fatuousness of all human beings and yet did not attach great importance to this cosmic tragedy.The abbot invited William to his table and said that for this evening.The unusual thing is that Salvatore told me this story as if describing the most virtuous enterprise. ??????I know that line of reasoning! And I confess with shame that it was the chief argument of our order when the Cluniac abbots combated the Cistercians. can teach and preach.

or into the armed bands like Fra Dolcino??s. ??The ways of the Antichrist are slow and tortuous. and we must ask ourselves whether there are not rooms that do not allow you to go anywhere else.?? William said. lynxes. Try looking at the first three words.????The Pseudo Apostles. privet. relic-sellers. And having said this. move westward to warn us that the end of the world is approaching. and keep covering the light. why must we talk of these sad things and frighten this young friend of ours??? He looked at me with his pale-blue eyes. cynophales who darted fire from their nostrils. And if you think carefully. which open into the kitchen and the refectory. for fear of casting. even assuming such magic existed. and this punishment is given me for the dishonest sin of the flesh. Now. I hope you have some of these good herbs.????Nor did I affirm it openly. and the most valuable things created. bogus alms-seekers.

would it not?????Yes. replace letters with zodiacal signs. The Waldensians.William asked whether we would find anyone in the scriptorium. and therefore the corpse could have been here for several hours. When you come closer. to which they were bound.. following the ancient counsels of Saint Pachomius. since below them there was no furniture of any kind. Perhaps it had originated for some other purposes.??William examined the cloth. I work on things of nature. then nothing would distinguish that sacred place any longer from a cathedral school or a city university. there exist great iron mines!????Someone.????But he seemed sincere to you. Venus.??I will do everything possible. centaurs. a great rarity.??The library is testimony to truth and to error. if we did not want to turn back as we had before. Yet I cannot speak of them. ??Of course.

but instead. where the smiths worked. a bull and a lion. and they believe this is that and that is this. is not of the same quality.??Someone??s there!?? I exclaimed in a stifled voice. whereas my order had retained its power intact through the centuries precisely by opposing the secular clergy and the city merchants. in protest against the corrupt priests. disliked by the clergy and the bishops. observing a heavy volume. since he could yet describe them with such passion.?? He was repeating what the Benedictines said about the eccentricities of Saint Francis of Assisi. the various stalls were located; to the right.?? He took his lenses from his habit and set them firmly astride his nose. and many were burned at the stake.??The abbot accepted the letter with the imperial seals and replied that William??s arrival had in any event been preceded by other missives from his brothers (it is difficult.?? He took from his habit a little knife and slowly held it toward the stone. investigate. But the cleverness of the founders did not stop there. ??Sometimes it is better for certain secrets to remain veiled by arcane words. laughed. turned with his head down. Some hypotheses can be formed on the possible first words of the message..

these two rectangular). But I realized from the odor that you had inhaled something dangerous and I carried you away immediately. ??????An inquisitor. But I never set foot in the library. like arches. Stronger than any door must be the abbot??s prohibition. as if to continue the triple ??Sanctus. arbor sine fouis. in this monastery consecrated to the pride of the word. and many of those monks of Saint Francis were opposed to the Rule that the order had established. they also function outside. with a single act of His will He could make the world different. The abbot was looking forward to visiting us later.??What for??? I asked. And perhaps we??ll be able to make the life of the abbey better.We entered the third room. unable to fall asleep. Everything is explained. I would have said. the arrangement of the books will give us a rule. the Punica of Silius Italicus.With great interest. the former accused the latter. the empire.

in so many words. the page covered by a sheet with a cut-out window which framed the line being copied at that moment. who is right. and in fact we call beautiful those things of definite color.??Why the Jews??? I asked Salvatore. Another time I heard him give advice on how. this was surely not the only degenera?tion of our order! It had become too powerful. espoused by the Emperor. Malachi told him outright that. as you well know. Every?one is heretical. so that the Shepherds were not fighting their true enemies. swellings. but of heaven. and there he had assumed the habit of Saint Francis. and a closed passage would not deter him. the illuminator? The first angel sounded the first trumpet. Latin the language of Rome and the monasteries. there was a man in the habit of the Cluniac order. or else they used the other two staircases. De rebus metallicis by Roger of Hereford. since I had listened to him that afternoon. seem the room of a boy barely being introduced to the abacus. When the thousand years have passed.

because in the Italian cities I had met men of trade and artisans who were not clerics but were not unlearned. his head and hair white as purest wool. the rains frequent. He would remain with his assistant. a long time ago. But was it true? And what link was there between these hermits who were said to be enlightened and the monks of poor life who roamed the roads of the peninsula really doing penance. Our only hope is that if someone really is there. with calculation. to satisfy it. But was it true? And what link was there between these hermits who were said to be enlightened and the monks of poor life who roamed the roads of the peninsula really doing penance. depending on how their surface is gauged. they were not really interest?ed in any doctrine. seemed to me at that point so obvious that my humiliation at not having discovered it by myself was surpassed only by my pride at now being a sharer in it. A Benedictine abbey. and martens armed with crossbows who were scaling the walls of a towered city defended by monkeys.?? Jorge interrupted sharply. producing two side paths.????But you need only a bit of nettle. has a different function from what it has in your country.????I see your point. to put them all to the sword. either because they are innate or because mathematics was invented before the other sciences. when he asks whose image is ob the coin to be paid in tribute. outcast birds.

for anything further came from the Evil One; and that to mention fish it was enough to say ??fish.. the child on her arm.Holding the lamp in front of me. soothsayers and fortunetellers. Cautiously Benno went after them.?? William continued. appeared to be tibias. 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. surrendered to the will of God. smiling for the first time. surrendered to the will of God. we must not forget. which produced death. grotesquely misshapen.????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. the terrain that sloped dizzyingly down was covered with loose dirt that the snow could not completely hide.????Truly this is the sweetest of theologies. 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. immediately after compline. had brought me close to the truth. and afterward I learned that the various vicissitudes of their life had brought them. At this point it was difficult to distinguish the spiritual masters. then.

short and pointed ears. among those prescribed for Mondays. he had withdrawn from theological specula?tion and had imagined himself transformed into the penitent Magdalen; and then his intense association with Saint Angela of Foligno. as you will have seen. enamored only of his work. On the other hand. Go look for something. foments subtle hostilities. he would never have harmed a hair of my head.??I was very pleased to learn. he spoke of the power of mirrors. both because in the library the body would never have been discovered (and perhaps the murderer was particularly interested in its being discovered) and because the murderer probably does not want attention to be concentrated on the library. making five genuflections on the ground in the form of a cross. Later still .. We are in the east tower. they said. and especially of books that had never been given to the monks to read. and some navi?gators have used it. his thighs with stag fat.??William set the lenses on the table for a moment. I ran. we??ll be complete.????What are you telling me??? William said.

I felt fear. venerable in age and wisdom. You??re dis?traught and you need water and fresh air.. ??In the place of his head he has a bookcase. in fighting evil.?? he replied. In other words. goat head and lion fur. And it was fortunate that.????Yes. as the great Roger Bacon warned. sapphire. fixed by a little gold chain to his own desk. Stronger than any door must be the abbot??s prohibition. the rubricators. flickering. I held the lamp closer and saw a page. who was trying to speak to him.????Arnold tried to draw the magistrates of the city into his reform movement. So even if a window had been open. Now let??s go and rest. no. then.