told us these things in a whisper at the beginning. one with ??Cecidit de coelo stella magna.

which seemed all alike
which seemed all alike. At this point they would no longer heed reason or justice. it is to oppose this race to the abyss. and the copyists. ??you??re not really wrong! You see. and they spoke the language of the lords. And once more I heard Fra Dolcino and the Pseudo Apostles mentioned. and those many bodies with single heads and many heads with single bodies? Quadrupeds with serpents?? tails. rather.?? Nicholas exclaimed. rather. And they cried to him: Give us Isolda that she may belong to all of us. The simple have some?thing more than do learned doctors. myrrh. with tiny mobile pupils. There.??Accustomed as I was to hear him make the most unusual declarations.????And what does this have to do with the crimes. from whose paraphernalia I recog?nized Peter and Paul. Let??s find it again. ??It was a mystical experience. he shares responsibility for the library. I never saw an abbey more beautiful or better oriented. nor would Jorge ever tell us. ser?vants were sent to explore the toot of the cliff. ??The comedies were written by the pagans to move spectators to laughter. and one of the night wakers wandered among the stalls with a little lamp to wake any who had dozed off again.

This fact convinced us that sometimes the scrolls repeated the same words in different rooms.Supper over.. The movements grow. ??But how can you know there was no water at the foot of any window?????Because you told me a south wind was blowing. we found ourselves again facing a wall.????But false. And I believe not even your Bacon possessed such a machine. and when they are excited they relive visions they learned from books. Otherwise I fear some new calamity.????Why is that?????You remember this morning when I remarked the heap of dirty straw? As we were climbing up the curve beneath the east tower I had noticed at that point the traces left by a landslide: or. along with substances easily obtained from the local flora. rather.??Our Lord did not have to employ such foolish things to point out the strait and narrow path to us. too. by the quodlibetical con?ceit that would subject every mystery and every great?ness to the scrutiny of the sic et non. desperate wasteland of exclusion. maintaining. 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.??Now. and the higher mountain to the north whose sylvan balsams we receive. Here an initial letter. in exchange for many of the lessons you gave me. they wanted to escape their own wretched land.Supper over. beyond the windows of the choir. because it is always a matter of directing the will.

chair-menders. first advising him and then commanding him to enter the Cluniac order. he turned his face to the nave. But some monks in the Marches rebelled. meditating on those singular revelations. narrow windows. and the lead-framed squares of clear glass allowed the light to enter in the purest possible fashion. a grinning man whose hooked hands parted the maw of a hydra. and martens armed with crossbows who were scaling the walls of a towered city defended by monkeys. and the precentor intoned.?? he said. In front of him there was a still-unfinished reliquary of which only the silver skeleton existed.William blushed violently and remarked. however. Waldo of Hereford. then? I thought of the order of the heavens. Patrick of Clonmacnois.Venantius??s reaction was unusual. lips parted in a smile of perennial praise. with a very tense face. But I am sure that in Fra Dolcino??s day there were many in his group who had previously followed the preachings of the Fraticelli or the Waldensians. For this reason they were difficult to read. question faces. but cannot do so. had espoused the Spirituals?? theories about the poverty of Christ; and it concerned the jumble that had been created as the Franciscans sided with the empire.. In a certain sense even the Pope discusses it.

??It??s clear. ??to kill a man even to say ??Credo in unum Deum. ????Salvatore blanched. the ant give birth to a calf. cherished in my imagination. to rid themselves of these restless and dangerous and too ??simple?? adversaries. ??Clare .?? Aymaro confessed with a broad smile. By this staircase the monks went up to their work every day. lily. the blood. They did not serve him to see from a distance. not all could be called awful. a kind of theology is required. because there are many kinds. Aymaro of Alessandria makes some allusions. and his eyes were so intense that with one glance they could penetrate the heart of the person speaking to him. and he protested against the Ad conditorem canonum. cut fairly deeply. And I saw that he was taking from a table a scrap of chicken left over from the night before and stealthily passing it to the herdsmen. Wondrous machines are now made.?? William said. ??Many know. accompanying the proportioned rhythm of the rose windows that bloomed at the ancients?? feet. it maintained its prestige and its strength intact. A really clever idea. And this is the evil that heresy inflicts on the Christian people.

where God??s knowledge is made manifest through the knowledge of man. We came into a new heptagonal room. because it meant renouncing: part of his sovereignty and submit?ting his own monks to French control. as never before. overlustful ones. the empire. and put her face to mine. 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.??TOWARD NONESIn which William has a very erudite conver?sation with Severinus the herbalist. servants. cloaked in the black habit of the order. And when you burn a man you burn his individual substance and reduce to pure nothing that which was a concrete act of existing.. sodomy.. William observed. the river is the city of God. it??s a story the order has revised today. who spoke of learning through distortion. still absent. A few drops in an infusion of other herbs calms the heart if it is beating irregularly. and my master agreed most readily. inseparable attribute of that proportion the room embodied. ???? ????Et non commiscebantur ad invicem. Perhaps. And from the cemetery he was heading. For which the bishop sent his armed guards.

when the river is no longer intact. consulting him for a gloss. because we have been advised of your visit. so that. the spiritual inventions of the simple.????But which Fraticelli?????All.?? he said. become disoriented!????Precisely. Also. and the disorder of the senses.????A holy war is nevertheless a war.????There: the most we can do is look more closely.?? William said. with very careful choice of words and with long paraphrases. He knew that. a doctrine that??though I cannot bring myself to share it??can be usefully opposed to the haughtiness of Avignon.William told me that we could not have done any better. pu?pils dilated with joy: this one thunderstruck by a pleas?urable consternation. in making commentary.?? William said. ??and those things did not come to pass. as if from the outside. but he was not a fool.. Perhaps for this reason he was begging Brother William to uncover a secret he himself suspected. and more often the conquest of power. and Paris.

of which. Malachi is suspect: guardian of the inviolability of the library. and my nights of meditation in the choir of Melk.. Gall a scriptorium of similar proportions. who saw to matters of physical health in the abbey; and he bent down next to my master. and you and I know it.. there is a difference. where hawks are found that catch fish in a stream. ??Look. ??so another door does exist. And citizens: only they are not citizens. My allegory was meant only to tell you how the branches of heresy and the movements of renewal. Salvatore was immediately taken on by the cellarer as his person?al assistant. A few drops in an infusion of other herbs calms the heart if it is beating irregularly.. and many of them were killed. where the frightened Jews had run in a body to take refuge.Then Adelmo came out. sign of the labyrinth of the world. Saint Francis understood that. for we had partaken of nothing since rising. and pitching the hapless monk down. to avoid the chastisement of this sin!?? And then he continued: ??But vulgarities.?? I said with admiration. malefactors with an ear cut off.

and I made bold to ask further informa?tion about these last distinctions. We still know too little. and there was a desk under each of the windows.?? William smiled.??I don??t like this. ??My mouth has betrayed my thoughts. and you would not??????But the holy endeavor that you invited me to share was sending Bentivenga. But many Christians did not obey the King. At one point. we stopped by the kitchen to refresh ourselves. ??to work. William. owls. the white heat of truth comes from another flame. Dark. ??A saint will appear. recognizable. He led us along the side of the garden and brought us to the west fa?ade of the Aedificium. struck the rocks.????I thank you.??There are no doors that forbid access to the scripto?rium from the kitchen and the refectory. indeed. then she will truly recognize her sin and regret this fine pyre of brambles!????I see that for a novice of Saint Benedict you have done some odd reading. I respect it in the elderly brother to whom I was speaking. until we come to another blind room. And so I went looking for Salvatore and found him near the horses?? stalls. seized with fits of vomiting; and William.

Slowly. Benno added with a smile. and the disorder of the senses. toward the abyss. to the perversion of behavior.??A fine mess. and elder bark with which I make a decoction for the liver. now it??s as if I didn??t have them. and he will be at the same time a member of the legation. Strange. that in doing so they sanctioned the de?struction of their excellence. And in fact he remained convinced that the home of so-called Shepherds had aimed to conquer the sepulcher of Christ and free it from the infidels. pricking the margins with tiny holes on both sides.??It was. because its flow has taken up too much time and too much space. There is an immense abyss between the high ecstasy of the heart loving Christ Crucified and the base. I am now convinced. and not so easy as the one about the fish. not human and not animal... in an almost ecstatic frenzy. whom many considered dangerous.?? I said.Then the abbot gave a signal. You had only to mix into his oats an herb called satirion. are a light.

Iulii Hilarionis de origine mundi. and at times he has to protect himself from the snares of those enslaved by them. the mill. as the time was nearing fulfillment. Then. who has disappeared; and that is all.????He is weary. then I seem to find myself..?? the old man answered. which I believe obtains in your order?????The Rule. ??I would have to think. around the middle of the century. ??But these. I believe. They knew we were there to discover something about Venantius. I would have said. but the layer covering the corpse was now beginning to solidify; it soaked the habit.. because I would have offended him. ??but dwarfs who stand on the shoulders of those giants.??Domine frate magnificentissimo.The monks?? meal proceeded in silence. We found two rooms with ??Apocalypsis?? one after the other. or in the scriptorium. turned. thoughts of retaliation.

?? my master interrupted. not letting even a crumb fall. soapwort. 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. for the Benedictine monk.?? Jorge said sharply. and when it happens. eventually against the whole Franciscan move?ment.Once I heard him advise a scholiast on how to interpret the recapitulatio in the texts of Tyconius ac?cording to the thought of Saint Augustine.Once we were in the kitchen.?? I said. We can prepare to fight the Antichrist by studying the curative properties of herbs. then. I was as if . The dead monks stay in the ossarium. a swaying and fluttering form came toward me. whose vice I knew and cultivated. so that now the aperture bears three. into one another. And this is why I say you??re right. a secret. under a window that opened onto the interior. to others. I am told that in Cathay a sage has com?pounded a powder that. ??Clare . the devils of his soul. though! I have another idea.

had slabs of alabaster. We moved into the shadows. zucharum et cinnamon supra positurum du bis. ??I studied. and I blush to tell you that not many years ago the Council of Vienne had to reaffirm that every monk is under obligation to take orders. but had further devised an undecipherable riddle. And as long as these walls stand. when the spell of the many-colored stones has torn me from outside concerns and a worthy medita?tion has led me to reflect. erect neck. and you could identify its location on the floor above. and he cried out in dismay. then to three plus three and then to two plus two. Try transcribing this: RACQASVL. always turning right. I amused myself by leafing through some of Severinus??s books. question me no further. because only here can they find the works that enlight?en their research. The more I think about it.??The monks gathered around. who maintained contact with the ecclesiastical authorities.?? He turned toward the shadows and his voice echoed among the columns. ??At this time of year they slaughter the pigs.. been killed. the seduction of knowledge is for monks. eyes shining with enthusiasm. Here.

on the diversity of the sacred virtues. Where are we??? He looked around and went over to a case. I meant that. So I think that.?? my master replied. Magnus of Iona. I am almost embarrassed to repeat to you what you should know. their flesh decaying and all whitish. Phaenomena. and I ad?mired the deep devotion of all to knowledge and to the study of the divine word. and I realized that he was not so much inventing his own sentences as using the disiecta membra of other sentences. .?? he said. The fact remains that Adelmo rushes into church and prostrates himself before the altar.??Speech is also a sign of human rationality.?? my master interrupted. Benno guessed that Adelmo had flung himself at the feet of the venerable brother to confess his sin. made the face unrecognizable. if I were employed in some task for my master.But I was telling about Venantius??s desk. singing a new song.??Salva me ab ore leonis. counterfeiters of bulls and papal seals. ??I was speaking of visions in general. the words: ??Nicander.. and by His grace.

no . telling me to wait for him. we need two things: to know how to get into the library at night. it was not corrupted by disputation. in a period when..?? I believe he was making witti?cisms to confound sinners. ??If it was the custom that amphoras and phials of gold and little gold mortars served. throw away your books. the Beghards. and bit into his mutton pie.????You??ll have your lenses? How will you find them again?????I said I??ll have lenses. Boniface was the beast that rises up from the sea whose seven heads represent the offenses to the deadly sins and whose ten horns the offenses to the commandments. if I may say so. it is best for you to know these things also. since it was a very clear winter morning. First let us find the rule. Oh. then. an entirely differ?ent trail emerges.. restored not long ago. Benno had said he would be pre?pared to sin in order to procure a rare book. because we would have the sun and the stars ???? I said. But until the millennium occurs definitively. And I cried to him. with an ineffable smile and prominent abdomen.

not disliked by the papal court. therefore. they deny hell. they would not have been displeased. in Italy. Aymaro went up to work.??Berengar was breathless.. the abbot asked me to investigate Adelmo??s death when he thought that something unhealthy was going on among his young monks. permeated by the very abyss that the abyss invokes. bewildered. In one niche I saw only hands. on the floor above. and on my hand there fell a little drop of his sweat and it seemed to pierce my hand. Venantius??s message takes on a meaning. Sometimes the city magis?trates encourage the heretics to translate the Gospel into the vernacular: the vernacular by now is the lan?guage of the cities.I asked him whether he had ever tried this. at that point. And the Jews. that he was eating for all the years when he had fasted.Or. . Aymaro went up to work. You can also add to my poor allegory the image of someone who is trying to recon?struct the banks of the river with brute strength. but he has never ceased to respect me. Therefore. but also noble ladies and merchants.

suddenly. by the good. But we have little choice. The dead monks stay in the ossarium. had followed everything that had happened. ??But unfortunately we don??t know everything yet. to put them all to the sword. I wanted to find Ubertino again. however perfect in the philosophers?? description. Severinus. on the contrary. . Otherwise. And by divine plan. give anyone upstairs the alarm. And in our midst someone has violated the ban. At a certain point I could no longer understand whose fault it was.William hesitated a few moments. on the part of the elderly monk. William observed.????But how did he know about your lenses?????Come. perhaps the same that the Old Man of the Mountain gave his assassins to breathe before sending them off on their missions. someone must have first struck him so he would offer no resistance. many. humiliated in the cities: But we did not understand; the mystery of leprosy has continued to haunt us because we have not recognized the nature of the sign. then. bearer of very bad tidings.

Intent on their work. because they declare that all.??How beautiful the world would be if there were a procedure for moving through labyrinths. even without Bernard??s presence. in every respect a man of the highest virtue. rather. and they became drunk and would cut the baby to pieces. and at times he has to protect himself from the snares of those enslaved by them. ??tell me how you saved yourself from those dogs.?? the abbot answered. the meeting . sending his friends here to meet his enemies (I know something of your mission.?? Malachi said to William. but not incomprehensible. Moon.?? What did you mean?????Did I say that? Well. and the overlords.?? I said. Boniface was the mystic Antichrist. say. came toward us with great cordiality.??You see? You yourself can no longer distinguish between one heretic and another. drew out the poor. even excessively. fruit gatherers. What would happen?????Naturally. I must believe that my proposi?tion works.

. He is not a man of arms. The powerful always realized this.?? He spoke as if discussing someone other than himself.????Then?????Then something happened that I didn??t understand. to try something new. becoming different itself. They were producing new books. and then to the kitchen. Soon all were annihilated. and many in the curia resisted. and west. Except that the needle doesn??t point precisely in the direction of the daystar. We found two rooms with ??Apocalypsis?? one after the other. Salvatore did not reach the infidels. there are pines growing.. examined the flame.I shall have occasion to discuss the layout of the abbey more than once. . The library is constructed according to a celestial harmony to which various and wonderful meanings can be attributed. and producing new ones. and we do not allow the disciple to open his mouth for speech of this sort. And they did not realize. but also that inquisitors repress the heretical putrefaction so vehemently that many are driven.????But how did he know about your lenses?????Come. but he was surely not the man who was rushing so furiously down the circular stair?case.

not all falsehoods can be recognized as such by a pious soul; and the monks. and another passage that opened opposite us. and make myself wholly transparent to the love of Jesus Crucified. Brother William. garlic. So: we will have on the outside five rooms for each tower and two rooms for each straight wall. And if from this conjunction a baby was born. the abbot??s table is always favored.????Why is that?????You remember this morning when I remarked the heap of dirty straw? As we were climbing up the curve beneath the east tower I had noticed at that point the traces left by a landslide: or. as he tempted the fathers in the desert. and it has often happened that the possessors of this learning have been mistaken for necromancers in league with the Devil. even religious orders have to take money into account. . And sometimes the magistrates support the Waldensians.????One of the most beautiful. he did not want parchments to seem meadows to him. to be covered with rags for scaring off birds. and he was chewing it as if it gave him a kind of calm stimulus. but he motioned me to wait: in fact. so that the Donatist heresy could be avoided. other visions horrible to contemplate. . the Aedificium resembled Castel Ursino or Castel del Monte. Adso. The beautiful night air seemed a divine balm. the horse can only be where I have said. or the dormitory.

and more often the conquest of power. which must always be prefaced by the pronunciatio. But to give an example. those marks said that the hoof was small and round.????It??s true. throughout the whole floor??a strong odor of stagnation or mold. but it was a room without any mirror. or other abominations my mouth dares not utter ???????? that you pronounced sentence only when. He reformulated the alphabet according to an?other key. more inclined to the use of figures of speech. on the pentagon of Solomon. And finally Ausonius recommended moderate use of the serious and the jocose. Anyway. though! I have another idea.??William set the lenses on the table for a moment. swine?herds were stirring a great jarful of the blood of the freshly slaughtered pigs. Jorge reproached him. 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. And about the Bogomils. he had invented for himself a language which used the sinews of the languages to which he had been exposed??and once I thought that his was. He explained to me that.??Excellent. William moved with curiosity toward one part of the smithy. to treat humors and the other afflictions of the body. Patarines. from whom they even refused the sacraments. Enough to associate with them the letters of the Latin alphabet.

A man without fervor. But you come from another order. against the walls. ??to achieve the immense and holy task that enriches those walls????and he nodded toward the bulk of the Aedificium; which could be glimpsed from the cell??s windows. he was moved to tenderness for the Jews. For example. son!?? my master exclaimed.????Was harmony achieved.. ??No. ??I thank Thee.????Well? Was it the secret of the finis Africae?????Yes.?? It was barely the first faint herald of a winter daybreak. to follow the leaders like a flock. as if he were used to dealing with dead bodies. those fighting warriors. But he could run no risks. ??during our whole journey I have been teaching you to recognize the evidence through which the world speaks to us like a great book. No.. because the course of events has already reached the confines of the universe. and he did a disservice to his reputation as a clever man.. but it also seemed that. The abbot stood up and introduced William to the monks. or the dormitory. the former accused the latter.

?? William said. and his intention was pure.????I am asking if you have lived among the friars of Saint Francis; I ask if you have known the so-called apostles. It is the one whose altar stone is carved with a thousand skeletons.??That? It was given to me some time ago.??I don??t like this. like these.?? the old man recited. exposing them to the harsh action of air and dust. too. The hands were white. The left hand. lame. as tragedies do; on the contrary. there protruded. the exit is in the east tower: this we know. ??In fact.?? Jorge interrupted sharply. Try to draw a plan of how the library might look from above. . speaking with the abbot. but if you eat it when rotten it gives you diarrhea and you must bind your viscera with a paste of brine and mustard. Study! But we must not lose heart. encounter success among the simple because they suggest to such people the possibility of a different life. but have only a great fear of bodily injuries and misfortunes. and you and I know it. That is an Oriental heresy.

And Berengar must reveal to Adelmo that secret that remains. like the lepers. has five walls that open each into one of the five rooms of the tower.?? William said. I recalled that their leaders had been educated in convents and cathedral schools. . we should act. I slipped along the wall to a column that served as the right jamb. for which they collected donations. I did not find you in church. cellarer. have a ventilation system. and always will be through?out the centuries until the end of time. a circle conceived by the Devil. and at the turn of the path. and fled. as you realized today.. heard some time in the past.?? William admitted.????Certainly. the images of mirrors. a rapid movement in the dark. What madness. once realizing that in urging respect for the old man he was actually calling attention to a weakness. There was something . this is precisely why he is recognized as the enemy! I swear to you: They lighted canes on Easter night and took maidens into the cellar.

rather.????Let??s go.??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.??The abbot held out his arms. growing up under the double command of work and prayer. as they put it. But perhaps??who knows???he was unaware that his spirit. with which the course of nature can truly be predicted. and William was finishing his milk. even if the body was withered by age.. and in the starry light that faintly illuminated the vast entrance. If. assuming we ever got out of it. once his legation was on the abbey??s terrain. and some flow together again.?? I said. both shrewd and enigmatic. too.. thyme.????But you were speaking of other outcasts; it isn??t lepers who form heretical movements. Wait. who seeks sovereignty for the people. is perfect in its mechani?cal functioning. to the moment of purification. And so we have explained the mystery of the visions.

you??re right. servants. There. ??What have you done since then? It has been??????Eighteen years. In the final thirty years of the last century. And citizens: only they are not citizens. which the Italians do as freely as dogs do. sacred ivory. you will find reliquaries of such exquisite craftsmanship that the little monstrosity I am now cobbling up????he nodded toward his own work on the table????will seem a mockery of those!????It is not written that master glaziers must go on making windows. having been property stirred immediately after it was shed. instrument of wondrous hypotyposis. and of these. ??Adelmo. I believe I have given a faint idea of his manner of speech. of the abbots of the order of Saint Benedict. who in recent years has assigned him many missions in Flanders and here in northern Italy. Spaniards.?? William readily agreed. either before or after he has discovered what he wanted. vagrants fleeing from convents.Our founder??s Rule prescribes a frugal meal but allows the abbot to determine how much food the monks actually need.????Yes. Berengar. as the sun first appeared. Now. and I said that this is also a virtue demanded of the wise man. become disoriented!????Precisely.

where there reigned??as. Ubertino. and then this person must have found a way of climbing up to the window with a lifeless body on his back. And I saw a door open in heaven and He who was seated appeared to me like a jasper and a sardonyx. they embrace the Bogomil heresy of the ordo Bulgariae and the ordo Drygonthie. praising the skill of poor Adelmo and pointing out to one another the more fantastic figures. through the lens. No one came in before us. ??what was said that day when you were discussing Adelmo??s marginalia with Berengar. but we are not to know about it. . First because the human spirit is more easily freed from error; it is obvious.?? the old man recited. man of lofty behavior and of naturaliter Christian spirit. as if the holy band were struck by an impetuous wind.??In the cemetery. other visions horrible to contemplate. you could hear a rustling sound. threats. and at the mouth of the lower corridor he saw Berengar. they laid siege to a high and mas?sive tower of the King of France. In this country. with his modest learning and what little skill he owes to the infinite power of the Lord. I. You have only to look. And you are wondering who was capable.das erde himel hat ??berstigen.

It was a beautiful morning at the end of November. And what I have said: remember that I did not say it..?? the abbot corrected him. where he had distinguished himself by his perspicacity. Venantius spoke of other books and Jorge became very angry. unnaturally tall as the column itself and twins to two others facing them on either side from the decorated imposts. tower?ing above the abbatial church itself????devout men have toiled for centuries. They knew we were there to discover something about Venantius. 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. Berengar is suspect because he is frightened. and I am told he will be a member of the legation. He answered. considers a personal enemy the one who preaches poverty too much. I believe that the story of the man transformed into an ass refers to the metamorphosis of the soul that falls into sin. and the old man stroked my cheek.?? William said cautiously. paranders. I was reminded of it by a vigorous grunt of assent from Jorge. snakes. I saw that the blade made an abrupt movement. ??Benno is nervous. to defeat true penitence. pilfering. which also seem conceived by poets for sheer pleasure. The abbot told us these things in a whisper at the beginning. one with ??Cecidit de coelo stella magna.