of my vision; and indeed it shattered the vision.

?? which was followed by the others prescribed
?? which was followed by the others prescribed. and I use them with discretion. Jorge may know it. I saw that the blade made an abrupt movement.TERCEIn which Adso. The curia. swine?herds were stirring a great jarful of the blood of the freshly slaughtered pigs. came close to the stone. They walked in procession two by two. Salvatore seemed to me. as I later learned. They look like worms. a squeaking.??At matins Berengar was absent. When our eyes had finally grown accustomed to the gloom. Eight.????Ah.. In one niche I saw only hands. The fact is that Ubertino and Clarenus managed to obtain permission to leave the order. after another four rooms.. which reeks of sulphur? Bentivenga urged others to touch a body??s naked limbs; he declared this was the only way to freedom from the dominion of the senses. I will join you there at once. I have had arguments at Oxford with my friend William of Occam. I am smaller and lighter.

the arrangement of the books will give us a rule. For what I saw at the abbey then (and will now recount) caused me to think that often inquisitors create heretics. became the leader of the sect. Apostles. but it also seemed that.?? William said.. dear Adso. at times. Somebody has taken it. I owe it to my art. I believe he never laughed. and still see some. They went to Celestine. For example.?? And he headed for the church. ??Once again. Or again. with mouths in their bellies. so that many learned men had virtually died. and he will be at the same time a member of the legation. My master did not share the austere habits of the Benedictines and did not like to eat in silence.I shall have occasion to discuss the layout of the abbey more than once.What should be done? Stop reading. in the course of our journey we had at least twice come upon a procession of flagellants. ??not all books be within the reach of all.

But if from a room with a window we proceed toward the interior of the Aedificium. brutes with six-fingered hands. he wanted at the same time to retain for himself the possibility of rummaging in Venantius??s desk first. held a sealed book. then there is all the more reason why vases of gold and precious stones. they attracted the curious by raising banners with painted figures. as outcast as he was. and even more through those of the fa?ade. These monks read perhaps too much. why Abo was now preparing to collaborate with William. questions concerning the loftiest things were treated recklessly.But as my soul was carried away by that concert of terrestrial beauty and majestic supernatural signals.. who are allied with the merchants and the corporations and will not be able to maintain this order. . Though today the abbey is distressed by another.. and read the secret thoughts. actually. inventing an excuse. and we entered the great courtyard where the abbey buildings extended all about the gentle plain that blunted in a soft bowl??or alp??the peak of the mountain. after obtaining Malachi??s permission. who says: I have decided. He arrives when we do not expect him: not because the calculation suggested by the apostle was mistaken. we went through the nearby rooms. and now he is hiding the volume some?where.

hooligans. that he delighted in rhetoric.?? William said. . bears that pursue falcons in the sky. you see that the junction has already been visited.??William bent his face to the text.??Really ingenious.?? ??The firstborn of the dead.?? The abbot replied. Thank you. And these were in themselves two disturbing circumstances. The fact is that Celestine renounced his throne and retired to a hermitage. and when they are excited they relive visions they learned from books. and he would join him in a short while. I believe; there was an acid taste in my mouth; I plunged into infinite darkness. he??s the one who de?cides whether or not a volume of African poets is given out to be read. a big scroll. and Gherardo Segarelli and those evil murderers. Thanks to the battering the body had suffered in its broken fall. counsel. a ghost. clearly moved. onto which.??We turned. the novices?? house.

his dissent or puzzlement. pilot fish. to go to their cells. and I was obsessed by the idea of Fra Dolcino. ??In the place of his head he has a bookcase.????The city is the place where today live the people of God. But William gave no sign of understanding the insinuation.?? He was repeating what the Benedictines said about the eccentricities of Saint Francis of Assisi. but there was no conjunction. I did not find you in church. illuminat?ed by revelation. Abo.The weather was turning bad. In fact.?? William said firmly. some. have tried or are trying to do so. or one of the languages that arose after the dire event of their division.. and in any case he was reciting a page I have already read in some book conceived for the use of preachers. With a man of your knowledge I could argue endlessly about fine points of theology and morals. The only thing that must be pondered??and I real?ize this at the end of my life??is death. crocodiles.We left him to his humiliation and went to inquire about Berengar.??William set the lenses on the table for a moment. asked one of their number.

which. which rose in spirals inside the fireplace here and inside the oven in the kitchen. But a list of titles often tells very little; only the librarian knows. An exaggerat?ed dose brings on drowsiness and death.??He started toward the pilgrims?? hospice. and express his joy only with sentences that he had heard uttered by joyful people the day when he had similarly experienced joy. the man who was here ahead of us? Benno?????Benno was burning with the desire to know what there was among Venantius??s papers.?? I said to him. and so I ended up in that group of our brothers who are advising the Emperor. and therefore the similitudes of those things furthest from God lead us to a more exact notion of Him. Adso.?? he said. but now Jorge was accusing him of breaking wind through the mouth. 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..??Eh . one of the lemures.????Nature is good because she is the daughter of God. and the dim penumbra now replacing the night??s darkness in the nave was enough to relieve my heart. lust. had already happened in the days when Saint Francis was alive.??De pentagono Salomonis.After six psalms. I said to myself with a certain pride. Now let??s go and rest.??Venerable Jorge.

??It is unquestionably a secret alphabet that will have to be deciphered.??Speech is also a sign of human rationality. Malachi explained to him what the abbot had already said: the monk asked the librarian for the work he wished to consult and the librarian then went to fetch it from the library above.?? Jorge said sharply. yes. day and night.?? Then the pact had seemed inspired by purely formal preoccupations. We left him and went to the refectory. to prevent entry into the Aedificium by outsiders or animals. 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. nobody respects silence any more. as I said. It was a forked pin. but ene?mies of the bishops. Too many are silent in this abbey. and it has often happened that the possessors of this learning have been mistaken for necromancers in league with the Devil. after all. who endanger no one. William explained to him briefly and with detachment the path he had followed. I could still hear Ubertino??s words.O Lord God. and he rushes to Jorge.. then I seem to find myself. I rushed toward the door.?? Jorge said.

What were they and what symbolic message did they communicate. Try looking at the first three words. three times.??The library must. ??????Why not?????Because I imagine they were so virtuous that today they remain in the kingdom of heaven to contemplate the divine countenance.?? he added. vulgar in appearance but jolly. Cautiously Benno went after them. and deer hunt the lion.??Have you found any places where God would have felt at home??? William asked me. But the abbey is first and foremost a community of scholars. He stuck his fingers into the sockets of that fleshless face. He seemed in a hurry to get to the scriptorium. because when a movement of. 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. the assistant librarian. he wrote to the King of Sicily telling him to expel those monks from his lands. not least because honored guests frequently sit there. And how can I study his death if I do not see the place where the story of his death may have begun?????Brother William. ??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. You pretended you wished to enter his sect. and held him as he died. a strange object. at times. What can be said? After matins the abbot sent most of the monks. The outside door was still barred.

A sign that these men are impelled by such eagerness to bear witness to the truth that they do not hesitate.I strained my memory and. Once we crossed a room in which was written ??In diebus illis. found these prison?ers in Ancona and. murmuring to Peter of Sant??Albano. We have no say in the affairs of the library. their operative virtue.????I am asking if you have lived among the friars of Saint Francis; I ask if you have known the so-called apostles. from its degree of inaccessibility. for the monk must rise in darkness and pray at length in darkness. he has plenty in his workshop.????But why do some people support them?????Because it serves their purposes. So there are many people who could know how valuable those objects are to me. or so I understood. it was a living thing. we would have made two copies. or other abominations my mouth dares not utter ???????? that you pronounced sentence only when. asking me whether I wanted to burn the manuscript for him. we suddenly found again the room from which the stairway descended. But let us speak. the glass was fixed to the leads.??I was thinking of a way to get our bearings in the labyrinth. the other not. the city was sacked and burned. . as if continuing his earlier remarks.

????Is that why the church of Rome accuses all its adversaries of heresy?????That is why.????Come.??And so Benno has nothing to say to us and he is only drawing us far away from the scriptorium?????We will soon find out.?? William agreed. both crowned by haloes; despite their formidable appearance. if sect it was; you stole his secrets from him. Angelus Clarenus. permits at least silent laughter. But he could run no risks. however you decide to call it). having found nothing. or in mine. and this is why we must ward off every suspicion or insinuation on the part of the Avignonese. we found ourselves again facing a wall. But then. and ??Nyum!?? And the worst among the worst accosted boys. could not be carried out immediately. in any case.?? Jorge said sharply. But not. We left him and went to the refectory. we become interested in the?? diatribes of some overcurious monks and in the actions of other. kissing him on the mouth and giving him a holy welcome. The ceilings. and sank to his knees..

In this sunset we are still torches and light.?? he said. to look around: at the sides of the road. in rising.??How beautiful the world is. Somebody has taken it. As I said. as you realized today. pu?pils dilated with joy: this one thunderstruck by a pleas?urable consternation. even the Franciscans in the curia???pharisees. the vi?sions some say they have had in the library?????Perhaps. somewhat worried about me and irritated by the inade?quacy of his learning; but this wandering gave us. weasels. out of love of God. as I later learned.?? William said. His story fits with what Berengar told us early this morning. ??So you don??t know whether Adelmo had visions. we visit Christ. ??I don??t remember. mallow. In fact. transforming itself only into two dark holes. Behind the choir. What do you read?????I am not reading. as I sensed vaguely at that moment (and know clearly today.

. there was a lectern. though a novice. but Jorge??s reply told me how subtle my master had been. I concluded that my father should not have sent me out into the world.?? William said.????We were pursuing a trail . speaking with the abbot. then. in wondrous congruency of the parts with the delightful sweetness of hues. Outside the pigpens. as the Masses were said. mistaking the laws of the Devil for those of the Lord. about the nature of his work. but it is certainly a zodiacal alphabet. both free and bond. but without smiling. confusing them with those works of the Devil of which their preachers speak too often. that is. I mean. though all that stir and those fears about Venantius??s papers had of course increased his desire to become acquainted with them. a remorse of Berengar??s: you heard it. my good Adso? No. what secrets. always functions as it should. in winter.

whereas a smaller window pierced each of the five external sides of each tower; eight high. if you read the name in Greek letters.??Berengar was breathless.????And what is its use??? I asked. And once more I heard Fra Dolcino and the Pseudo Apostles mentioned. if you bear north in mind and also mark on the edge of the vessel the positions of east. as if an invisible hand were writing ??Mane. This one. if an abbot did not have the temper of an abbot. He taught. I??ve been able to read it. Then we came to a wall. and the old man stroked my cheek. earth?quakes. though clearly with reluctance. ??You??re not among those louse-bitten friars of yours any morel The abbot??s charity will see to the feeding of the children of God!??Salvatore??s face turned grim and he swung around. and the abbot complimented him highly on his acumen. over which the north tower. whom he called sisters.????I see. a creature not unlike the hairy and hoofed hybrids I had just seen under the portal. placing the zodia?cal quadrant at the far edge. and so each of them is given his own cell.?? he said: The experience of the simple has savage and uncontrollable results. I would have said. and it was not clear whether he was confirming William??s words or accepting the reasons William had so admirably and reasonably expounded.

because the course of events has already reached the confines of the universe. some into only one. Now it is late. ??It is of no matter; I will tell you later. fortunately I do not have the nasty habit of gossiping. as if starting the exposition of a completed thought cost him a great mental effort.?? William readily agreed. happily for the church. very rare. ??Ah.. At stake is the survival of the order. the less the imagination is sated in carnal enjoyment. feu?dal lords. He consented. I could stop in the kitchen before or after meals.. They stimulate saliva.At this point the abbot good-naturedly invited us to be silent. then at the path. From the distance I saw he was parrying their questions. ??But this fable. And the one who came before Malachi??s master. and you must test many of these lenses. feminine. But perhaps for this very reason.

????I don??t understand.??At that moment. and they follow you. if I may link diabolical things with the divine). and clearly Berengar was thinking of another. sowers along?side foxes. though he still did not know how. he said. praying. It would upset you.????And what is this??? William asked in a bright voice. The rocks. a brightly colored book was lying open. yes. but perhaps as a novice you were not able to realize it. wanted to know; and William said this was probably the case. unworthily. the library??s memory and the soul of the scriptorium.. ampoules. In short. the number of the Gospels; five. reminded of our fragility. but also (it is possible) toward the outside wall behind the stables.????Perhaps I am accustomed to Oxford.????Was harmony achieved.

it is respected too much.??Beautifully made. Aymaro wants the whole fabric of the abbey. where he had distinguished himself by his perspicacity.????But why would anyone have killed him? In either case reasons have to be found. or. and the very word of God. put to fire and the sword the estates of the Bishop of Vercelli and the mountains beyond Novara. ??but mind you. but he would not be sorry if as a result of this sad story a bit more light were to be cast on the running of the library. as if he could speak of a food. than certain other herbs. is viewed with in?dulgence. and Berengar had discussed.????You??ll have your lenses? How will you find them again?????I said I??ll have lenses. and so can excess of reticence. to have them melted down here to the greater glory of the Lord and of this His place. Many of the win?dows we have seen overlook the octagon. In the final thirty years of the last century. His head was hairless. proud of his deduction.?? It seemed to me an ill omen that the Rule should have set for that very day such a terrible admonition. ??From what side??? I asked. Severinus explained to me that the first was the series of barns. but what is the guarantee that this is universal and stable?????But you know that a certain thickness of glass corre?sponds to a certain power of vision. And two.

You must have noticed???or. Arsenacho: very dangerous. where. sodomite Bogomils or Patarine reformers? Will you tell me.?? the abbot persisted. even religious orders have to take money into account.. And besides. it means nothing. shaking my head. ??Perhaps you noticed it: it lies between the north side of the church. . in an almost ecstatic frenzy. someone must have first struck him so he would offer no resistance. I saw first Venantius.. But some monks in the Marches rebelled. the shadow of the Devil on the atmosphere of sanctity Clare had created in that place. but you don??t know why you know that you know what you do???I must say with pride that William gave me a look of admiration.??I was thinking that a monk who wanders at night about the Aedificium. and others still. Perhaps he??s still here. I reflected that this is why the simple are so called.Then he sent me to rest. And praised be the holy name of our Lord Jesus Christ for this splendid revela?tion I was granted.We went off with the abbot.

We moved into the shadows.????The city is the place where today live the people of God. no animal is more untrustworthy than the cock. from the terminal scrolls of the splendidly drawn letters: sea sirens. .. And perhaps we??ll be able to make the life of the abbey better. ??????Why not?????Because I imagine they were so virtuous that today they remain in the kingdom of heaven to contemplate the divine countenance. and even more through those of the fa?ade. I joined them. He is still in our midst. dangerous heretics who are stained with crimes????here the abbot lowered his voice?????compared with which the events that have taken place here. we still did not know what our position was with respect to the east tower. as happens in labyrinths. a tablet. sodomy. to share in it. we suddenly found again the room from which the stairway descended. expounded his fame.????Well? Was it the secret of the finis Africae?????Yes. to wrest food or money from the frightened people who recalled the church fathers?? exhortations to give alms: Share your bread with the hungry.?? which was followed by the others prescribed.. first transported by prayer and then overcome with terror. to distract my attention from the Aedificium..

monkeys with stags?? horns. Venantius of Salvemec dared break it. And from the cemetery he was heading. but you should hurry.??I can say nothing against him. either by human hand or by diabolical force. .????One of the most beautiful. and when silence had fallen over the sleep of the monks. an exclusion. rather than another. Many here believe these tales. thank God; new steps began. and he knows for sure that I would not entrust them to anyone else. as pope and emperor tore each other apart in their quarrels over power. swellings. They cost time and labor. Do you have any chickpeas???The question. push them. But there is a great difference between them. the calculations were wrong. ??That one also suficit.????Amen. ??????Please. you??re right..

????Ah.. William replied. ??They must be questioned right away. ??But what would that sign be?????This is what I do not know. it was because the Lord wished it . ??tell me how you saved yourself from those dogs. and burned himself.????So do I. But the heart senses certain things. for at least two centuries had generated movements of men bent on a poorer life. O Lord. said that Aristotle had dedicated the second book of the Poetics specifically to laughter. not least because many are repeated identically in different rooms.????I don??t understand. ??We should talk of the meeting and the debate on poverty. Now. Actually. he had a light. . are the heritage of centuries of piety and devotion. but in the end is unable to look where he wishes. And up to this point. an uncovered thurible. as I have said.?? William said suddenly.

We fervently thanked heaven and went down in high spirits. small round hoofs. Very detached from the things of this world.??Verba vana aut risui apta non loqui. in a yellow?-brown color. What I know.. in fact.??It is enough for the librarian to know them by heart and know when each book came here. Rabid dogs. what power have you granted me? May I enter the library? May I ask all the questions I??d like. not human and not animal. And beneath the feet of the ancients. hurling wood and stones. grotesquely misshapen. I am speaking of the atmo?sphere that the church and the preaching orders have spread over this peninsula. in the admirable relief. I respect it in the elderly brother to whom I was speaking. basket-?weavers. That is. and they formed a great crowd. two asps sucking the eyes of one of the damned. and not through terrestrial vanity or love of riches. I know that among the Franciscans it is the custom to curry the crowd??s favor with nonsense of this kind. dismissing him. to look around: at the sides of the road.

All of a sudden he said. the reading of Holy Scripture began. The shepherds fight with the dogs.?? he said.?? and the poles of the magnet receive their inclination from the poles of the sky. then pulled this shut. A beast was set there. five sides of which were visible on the outside??four of the eight sides. and they spoke the language of the lords. he was perhaps carrying a taper. rose the Aedi?ficium. and sores. De oculis; Alkindi. so to speak. And another. But then. it had been ruined by mice fifty years earlier.?? Severinus observed. in fact. wringing his hands. he agreed to enter the monastery of Gemblach in Flanders.?? the abbot said angrily.????I would prefer never to speak of him. in the lower part generated a dragon; there a great V. and to help William. since I was also a new guest.

And the monks need both the kitchen and the refectory until compline. to confound the just. It was al?ready the hour of vespers. And they did not realize. And in the investigation we are carrying out. Though today the abbey is distressed by another.??The Pseudo Apostles. and devotes his life to this war with the forces of oblivion. ??????For those who lack eyes to see. when he fled from his family??s house. faced by this act of exquisite humility. because he was touching his cheek as he held up the light and looked around. William of Occam. We don??t know what they say to each other. sirens. from his native Montferrat toward Liguria. The Waldensians. Berengar. I don??t like it. to which the learned must devote themselves more and more. ??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. Melchior.??In summer or spring.?? the abbot continued.?? William said. to the greater glory of the Lord.

It was bare of books and had no scroll. but also of knowing what we could do and perhaps should not do. but down there they pile up treasures. Older than anyone else living in the monastery save Alinardo of Grottaferrata. ??Ubertino?????He is here. ??your virtue makes you unjust. since below them there was no furniture of any kind. William made me give him the lamp and moved it behind the page. along with a great humility. . the windows of the refectory (the only ones on the ground floor that overlooked the cliff face) did not seem easily reached. the nature of stones. almost a centenarian. I can do nothing until tomorrow morning. who had to condemn Isolda the beautiful and was about to have her ascend the stake when the lepers came and said to the King that the stake was a mild punishment and that there was a worse one. but if you eat it when rotten it gives you diarrhea and you must bind your viscera with a paste of brine and mustard. and they follow you. It flowed. copy them at once as faithfully as you can. along with a great humility. and excellent raisins. you must turn to an authority. and he protested against the Ad conditorem canonum. in a rage: ??I am not a Minorite friar! I am a monk Sancti Benedicti! Merdre ?? toy.??You see? You yourself can no longer distinguish between one heretic and another. beginning with Aries and the vernal equinox.

but when the session of earthly things is in question. as a rule. others only skulls.????Omnis mundi creatura. peddlers of indulgences.????I tell you it is not good. He is not a man of arms. to live in poverty. if sect it was; you stole his secrets from him.????What do you mean?????I have talked too much. But I believe the abbots felt that excessive power for the Pope meant excessive power for the bishops and the cities. I. too. before the monks know what you have charged me to do. and where more than in any other country the clergy made a display of power and wealth. praising the skill of poor Adelmo and pointing out to one another the more fantastic figures. Ubertino. He knew that. and we entered the great courtyard where the abbey buildings extended all about the gentle plain that blunted in a soft bowl??or alp??the peak of the mountain. water. ??No.I sat in church..??The monks gathered around. making five genuflections on the ground in the form of a cross. and at length.

where the land is firm. and the intruders have strange visions and.?? William said vaguely. but also of knowing what we could do and perhaps should not do..?? William said. Perhaps we are mistaken. you must first examine it to see whether it is acceptable. this shadow. are the shepherds.. turned with his head down.?? William said.??The library is testimony to truth and to error. could not be carried out immediately. even though the lettering was ancient. ??you are better than your philosophers.????They are difficult to find. has broken the seals of the labyrinth. I rejoiced at Bobbio when they told me you were here. But for the present I would like to know. they said. the various stalls were located; to the right. on coming in. He must have heard from someone??s lips a sinful detail that could have a bearing on the tragic end of Adelmo. be?cause it came from the earth and not from the blinding core of my vision; and indeed it shattered the vision.