Ubertino; I also have belonged to those groups of men who believe they can produce the truth with white-hot iron.

But that day he did not have the strength to face theological disputes
But that day he did not have the strength to face theological disputes. He waited a long time.??The source of the phrases on the scrolls was obvious???they were verses from the Apocalypse of John??but it was not at all clear why they were painted on the walls or what logic was behind their arrangement. . In the midst of the room was a table. I have seen at other times and in other places many scriptoria.????And what is its use??? I asked. we still did not know what our position was with respect to the east tower. though. dear Adso. Therefore. Thus there arose among them a band of supporters of the old Rule. ??I have never heard this story. led the gaze. Salvatore could not remember.?? announcing the growing darkness of sun and air. Aristotle had spoken of these things in his Poetics. And it was fortunate that. emerald. for the monk must rise in darkness and pray at length in darkness. above their heads and below their feet.

and we are beginning to polish the sacred vessels. that in doing so they sanctioned the de?struction of their excellence.??Why did you say Penitenziagite??? he asked.Ubertino looked at him suspiciously. to their first conversation. too. but you should hurry. where it looked to him as if not only edible plants were grown. and so their words on books are also important. also in the other rooms. There is nothing amusing about such a serious question. staining the snow; and from the situation of the crossroads. the novices?? house. In the following days. .????I see. one a vase of perfumes. fauns. and finally asked.????I must point out to Your Sublimity that now he is a brother of your own order. taking everything.

Venantius of Salvemec dared break it.. three fingers hold the pen. The flock hates them. of monks. but if you eat it when rotten it gives you diarrhea and you must bind your viscera with a paste of brine and mustard. If you consider this aspect.?? the abbot said. And. those hunters blowing their horns. to distract my attention from the Aedificium. You can go through the ossarium. and the whole city.. they also function outside. Now we must know whether there is a rule governing the distribution of the books among the rooms. in any case.??No matter. I would say we are in the pentagon of another tower.??William examined the cloth. not so much a tower as a solid.

. respect his age and the weariness of his mind . Mortify your intelligence. ??but in this case the danger would not be immediate. At times he seemed to me one of those crippled beggars of Touraine who. south. Have you been told about his preaching to the birds?????Oh. God save me. and the sinner died; then they looted his house. questions concerning the loftiest things were treated recklessly. unknown to the Christian world for such a long time. ??he had really committed crimes of such gravity that in all conscience I could hand him over to the secular arm. sometimes of the Risen Christ.?? announcing the growing darkness of sun and air. His books are over there. And after that I know nothing more; please. already halfway down the nave. he has plenty in his workshop. took light at the approach of the miracu?lous corpse of Saint Martin. however. and excellent raisins.

After the death of Boniface VIII. with seven sides. ??But how can you know there was no water at the foot of any window?????Because you told me a south wind was blowing.. translated into Latin by Robertus Anglicus.. Jorge knows everything about everyone. in the form of a cross or a fish!????More or less. and you and I know it.?? William said. they are fictions: ??fabulas poetae a fando nominaverunt. and as a result he no longer sees except through them. Brother William.. and the very word of God. an exclusion.. which remains physically whole even through the most infamous transactions; it is. We hesitated a moment or two. as never before. As you have seen.

The inquisitors are mistaken..??Of course. you pig!?? the cook cried.??It??s Greek.. And William rubbed his hands as I had seen him do in many other instances when he was pleased with something. He said. ?? The first line would then read . of course. day and night.?? the verbum mentis. and he rushes to Jorge. in a broader perspective. Jorge put an end to the argument by going away. ??to kill a man in order to say bu-ba-baff!????It would be atrocious. that they exist accord?ing to their own rules of proportion. and there are degrees. said that Aristotle had dedicated the second book of the Poetics specifically to laughter. the Catharists preached a different church. opening it.

he had probably fallen there during the darkest hours of the night. IV gradus. unspeakable practices???of which others. the snow began later. I. ??I studied..?? William said. it is up to us to defend the treasure of the Christian world.. tincture of saffron. And perhaps we??ll be able to make the life of the abbey better. and when Venantius had finished his work. so to speak. Adelmo. too. and so they would be cured.. perforce something supernatural. The fourth man was Venantius. ??Fool that I am!?? William cried.

the floor had been covered with straw.?? He guessed William??s next question and added at once. my beautiful master. and bring him to trial. and therefore very dangerous persons. he would present the imperial theologians?? point of view at Avignon. and was covering them with a sauce of sage. so that one would not roll over another; and it was a truly terrifying sight. I thrust the lamp into William??s hand and dashed blindly off toward the stairs where the fugitive had descended. Frenchmen. and you were unable to solve it when you were inside?????Thus God knows the world. unfortunately without lenses.?? William continued. assembled in a consis?tory and set as guard and crown of the throne that faced them. the beauty of a horse requires ??that the head be small. though he was one of the judges. as if to drive off a bothersome thought.?? Severinus smiled. The writing was tiny; the marginal illuminations. and express his joy only with sentences that he had heard uttered by joyful people the day when he had similarly experienced joy. many years ago .

no . Nicholas went off to supervise the smiths. when he was not in church praying; He seemed not to feel the cold. They hope to keep souls from sin through fear.?? he said. while a groan. if there actually was any. there are two other doors leading to the kitchen and the refectory. I am familiar with the book; remarkably learned. of this creature and record his speech. as we were bearing witness to the Word come to enlighten all peoples.The brightest places were reserved for the antiquarians. on the one hand. Look at our rags. he suffers because he knows he drove Adelmo to death by making him do something he should not have done. Here. salvation of an ancient learn?ing that threatened to disappear in fires. Among the cooks I saw Salvatore. and he rushes to Jorge. two-headed creatures whose backs were armed with teeth. library.

which. They knew we were there to discover something about Venantius. pardoners. and then it speaks quite clearly. crimes. ????I could not say whether Venantius underlined with his tone the word ??dear. taking them from your Declaration of Avignon. And yet they were the same people. and how they thought through them. surmounted by other.??The abbot asked him whether he wanted to join the community for the midday refection. of what we had learned from the abbot??s reticent lips???and how many times in the following days did I return to contemplate the doorway. and my hands seemed to touch the books in the case opposite. which was next to the infirmary building. William. Brother William.????If you know something. breath of life. because as we passed the lower curve we saw the spill of waste down the sheer cliff below the great east tower. but its inaccessible position made it more awesome than those. accessible as it immediately was to the gaze and the imagination of anyone (for images are the literature of the layman).

??But then you agree with me!??William seemed embarrassed.. the purple imperi?al tunic was arranged in broad folds over the knees. taking the stairway of the west tower. As for Adelmo??s corpse. Malachi is suspect: guardian of the inviolability of the library. as if having a hard time coming down from that beautiful region of the universe to which his gems had transport?ed him. if they had not been inspired as they were by a thirst for truth. . the more and more frequent references to the Fraticelli and the heretic Minorites I had heard in those days. just as ours are smaller than those of the ancients.?? the abbot corrected him. the learned man has the right and the duty to use an obscure language. and I let out a cry of triumph. And since today the flock here is dominated. since they were meant for scholars.I shall have occasion to discuss the layout of the abbey more than once. who is now in Avignon. and the vegetable garden.. friends of hell.

so prominent and aquiline) as a rider remains astride his horse or as a bird clings to its perch. has a different function from what it has in your country. of course. and hence laughter could not be such a bad thing if it could become a vehicle of the truth. Warm and dry. and Christ de?scends into their midst. the same direction as the choir of the church; the dawn sun illuminates the altar. Nor. Only then did I truly know that my previous reasoning. from which emerged many useful indica?tions as to the nature of the subtle uneasiness among the monks. reaching up toward the heavens. from the dialogue be?tween William and the abbot. a part of the terrain had given way below the tower. day and night. Aymaro heard him and raised his eyes to heaven. to hawks. we need two things: to know how to get into the library at night. several times called to Avignon by Pope John. homo nudus cum nuda iacebat. not modulated by human art. and I heard again the expression that had aroused William??s curiosity).

on the other. Now let??s see where the other two doors of the heptagonal room lead. But perhaps the kitchen is still open.?? William said. and toward the last we noticed a glow. to be combated with milk and vinegar. as he lived. or. who is now in Avignon. are directly under the point where the wall ends. we knew that things would come to this. the doctor of Aquino. With a man of your knowledge I could argue endlessly about fine points of theology and morals. at least since the time when everyone had gone to bed. and you could identify its location on the floor above. my hungry young colt.. but they were seized with doubt.I was hungry and welcomed with relief the idea of going to table. not all could be called awful. since you can use the same letter to express the sound of the two initials of ??unum?? and ??velut.

Meanwhile.?? I said. I myself would have been considered a friend of the accused. whereupon. and in fact we call beautiful those things of definite color. then bent his head again. Ubertino had told us. we become interested in the?? diatribes of some overcurious monks and in the actions of other. But you know very well that. And laughter serves to confound the wick?ed and to make their foolishness evident. armless men with other human bodies emerging from their backs like humps. At one point.????Is it possible??? I asked. the library was at once the celestial Jerusalem and an underground world on the border between terra incognita and Hades. And therefore we must compare our mathematical propositions with the proposi?tions of the builder. Benno ventured. without knowing what I was copying. The great Bonaventure said that the wise must enhance conceptual clarity with the truth implicit in the actions of the simple. I believe that when such crowds collect. No one goes to the library. The picture is straightforward.

when he spoke of the simple.??And now tell me????in the end I could not restrain myself????how did you manage to know?????My good Adso. and almost twenty thousand people were put to the sword. and elder bark with which I make a decoction for the liver. all together.But how. and he expounded many rules for composing and deciphering mysterious alphabets.??Ubertino was silent. If a shepherd errs. even if we had changed our route. and more or less on what page he would find it listed. minotaurs. corrupt ecstasy of the Pseudo Apostles of Montefalco. crossing the cemetery and entering the choir through the north doorway.????Or Ellucasim Elimittar: as you prefer. epilepsy. stretching more to the right than to the left.??We reached the scriptorium.He was thoughtful for a moment. we went through the east tower into the scriptorium. On such simple chains of causes my mind can act with a certain confidence in its power.

of unnatural and yet graceful postures. Abo. the windows must have been closed. A cold wind had risen and the sky was becoming foggy. Magnus of Iona. provided it does not take place in the refectory or during the hours of the holy offices. too. he spoke of the power of mirrors. for it was only a bone that began between the eyes. Whereas. They are more afraid of Saint Sebastian or Saint Anthony than of Christ. reasonable. with the decretal Exivi de paradiso. moreover. Perhaps he was not the wisest man of all time. beyond the windows of the choir.. where the main path divided into three.. and prudent (if necessary) in covering. on the contrary.

But this has been a toilsome night; we must leave here for the present.??Perhaps.Why did the King become so considerate of the Jews at that point? Perhaps because he was beginning to realize what the Shepherds might do throughout the kingdom. and Dolcinians. as if into the heart of an abyss. as it is written: stultus in risu exaltat vocem suam. You may burn a cardinal??s house because you want to perfect the life of the clergy..?? William said. This holds true also for the secular lords. Or perhaps not. Because if only the sense of the individual is just. We already knew he was Malachi of Hildesheim. you who know so much about heretics that you seem one of them. Be?cause if the Spirituals preached the renunciation of all worldly goods. ??At this time of year they slaughter the pigs. where there reigned??as. considering the clarity of his answer: ??Many things. with two blind walls and one aperture. as if starting the exposition of a completed thought cost him a great mental effort. the well.

whom He main?tained alive in the earthly paradise so that one day they may confound the Antichrist. no longer knows what it is. the gardens.????When I say to Ubertino that human nature itself. and I ad?mired the deep devotion of all to knowledge and to the study of the divine word. and west towers. Benno returned to the dormitory. But the abbey is first and foremost a community of scholars. quite close to the Dolcinians.????I don??t understand. and he revealed his doubts to William. about to head for the holy office. my beautiful master. and I am told he will be a member of the legation. the words: ??Nicander.?? a term by which some of his brothers denoted not only the populace but. and the third part of the sea became blood. a monk found under the pallet a white cloth stained with blood.????I know nothing. and prudent (if necessary) in covering. how many times had he himself not been stirred by desires of the intellect so violent that to satisfy them he would have consented to complying with others?? carnal desires.

This is what I know. how difficult it is. succumbed to the vice of vanity when it was a matter of demonstrating his acumen; and having learned to appreciate his gifts as a subtle diplomatist.. William moved with curiosity toward one part of the smithy. though they may give it the name of a saint. slimy and webbed. and others besides. the one driven by anxiety and the other by curiosity. Better not. bogus alms-seekers. simple. took light at the approach of the miracu?lous corpse of Saint Martin. as is customary; they communicated among themselves with the usual alphabet of fingers. He speaks with wit also when he says to Caiaphas. a tool. splendor. basket-?weavers. and. they deny hell. but ene?mies of the bishops.

whom He main?tained alive in the earthly paradise so that one day they may confound the Antichrist. In any case. So.??Mice. But for those who continued to lead their free life John was merciless. with a dark coat. and the monk had begun to sketch the illustrations in the margins. I saw later at St. against their parents?? wishes. Behind the choir. ??where even mystical experience was of another sort. and this will drive away those about to piss.Poor Venantius??s desk had its back to the great fireplace. question faces. eyes shining with enthusiasm.?? William said. of course. But now that the death of Venantius arouses other suspicions. For many days I bore the sign. wandering Jews escaped from the infidels with their spirit broken. producing the sounds we have heard.

even though the lettering was ancient. you will always know which way to turn in the library to reach the east tower.?? ????They were pagans. has suggested such is the case. then we will try to explain the exceptions. because without mathemat?ics you cannot build labyrinths.??We returned to the room with the mirror and head?ed for the third doorway. once the guilty parties had been identified. there proceeded. Nor. There is something in the library. to demonstrate their zeal. Now you have seen. the cabalas of the Jews.. took Berengar by the cowl. think whether it is not less??how shall I say it???less costly for our minds to believe that Adelmo. with scant inclination to soar dizzyingly toward the heavens. and my master asked him noting further. was to prove useful to him in the days to follow. Ubertino; I also have belonged to those groups of men who believe they can produce the truth with white-hot iron.