Inside Saint-Sulpice, Silas carried the heavy iron votive candle holder1 from the altar back towardthe obelisk2. The shaft3 would do nicely as a battering4 ram5. Eyeing the gray marble panel thatcovered the apparent hollow in the floor, he realized he could not possibly shatter the coveringwithout making considerable noise.
Iron on marble. It would echo off the vaulted6 ceilings.
Would the nun7 hear him? She should be asleep by now. Even so, it was a chance Silas preferrednot to take. Looking around for a cloth to wrap around the tip of the iron pole, he saw nothingexcept the altar's linen8 mantle9, which he refused to defile10. My cloak, he thought. Knowing he wasalone in the great church, Silas untied11 his cloak and slipped it off his body. As he removed it, hefelt a sting as the wool fibers12 stuck to the fresh wounds on his back.
Naked now, except for his loin swaddle, Silas wrapped his cloak over the end of the iron rod. Then,aiming at the center of the floor tile, he drove the tip into it. A muffled13 thud. The stone did notbreak. He drove the pole into it again. Again a dull thud, but this time accompanied by a crack. Onthe third swing, the covering finally shattered, and stone shards14 fell into a hollow area beneath thefloor.
Quickly pulling the remaining pieces from the opening, Silas gazed into the void. His bloodpounded as he knelt down before it. Raising his pale bare arm, he reached inside.
At first he felt nothing. The floor of the compartment was bare, smooth stone. Then, feeling deeper,reaching his arm in under the Rose Line, he touched something! A thick stone tablet. Getting hisfingers around the edge, he gripped it and gently lifted the tablet out. As he stood and examined hisfind, he realized he was holding a rough-hewn stone slab16 with engraved17 words. He felt for aninstant like a modern-day Moses.
As Silas read the words on the tablet, he felt surprise. He had expected the keystone to be a map, ora complex series of directions, perhaps even encoded. The keystone, however, bore the simplest ofinscriptions.
Job 38:11A Bible verse? Silas was stunned18 with the devilish simplicity19. The secret location of that whichthey sought was revealed in a Bible verse? The brotherhood20 stopped at nothing to mock therighteous!
Job. Chapter thirty-eight. Verse eleven.
Although Silas did not recall the exact contents of verse eleven by heart, he knew the Book of Jobtold the story of a man whose faith in God survived repeated tests. Appropriate, he thought, barelyable to contain his excitement.
Looking over his shoulder, he gazed down the shimmering21 Rose Line and couldn't help but smile.
There atop the main altar, propped22 open on a gilded23 book stand, sat an enormous leather-boundBible.
Up in the balcony, Sister Sandrine was shaking. Moments ago, she had been about to flee and carryout her orders, when the man below suddenly removed his cloak. When she saw his alabaster-whiteflesh, she was overcome with a horrified24 bewilderment. His broad, pale back was soaked withblood-red slashes25. Even from here she could see the wounds were fresh.
This man has been mercilessly whipped!
She also saw the bloody26 cilice around his thigh27, the wound beneath it dripping. What kind of Godwould want a body punished this way? The rituals of Opus Dei, Sister Sandrine knew, were notsomething she would ever understand. But that was hardly her concern at this instant. Opus Dei issearching for the keystone. How they knew of it, Sister Sandrine could not imagine, although sheknew she did not have time to think.
The bloody monk28 was now quietly donning his cloak again, clutching his prize as he moved towardthe altar, toward the Bible.
In breathless silence, Sister Sandrine left the balcony and raced down the hall to her quarters.
Getting on her hands and knees, she reached beneath her wooden bed frame and retrieved29 thesealed envelope she had hidden there years ago.
Tearing it open, she found four Paris phone numbers.
Trembling, she began to dial.
Downstairs, Silas laid the stone tablet on the altar and turned his eager hands to the leather Bible.
His long white fingers were sweating now as he turned the pages. Flipping30 through the OldTestament, he found the Book of Job. He located chapter thirty-eight. As he ran his finger down thecolumn of text, he anticipated the words he was about to read.
They will lead the way!
Finding verse number eleven, Silas read the text. It was only seven words. Confused, he read itagain, sensing something had gone terribly wrong. The verse simply read:
HITHERTO SHALT THOU COME, BUT NO FURTHER.
圣叙尔皮斯教堂中，塞拉斯从圣坛上取下烛台，走回方尖碑前。烛台架正好可以用来敲碎地砖。塞拉斯瞅了瞅那块下面有空洞的大理石地砖，意识到要想敲碎它而不发出声音是不可能的。
用铁家伙敲大理石，一定会在这圆拱屋顶下产生很大的回响。
会不会让修女听见？她现在一定睡着了。即使这样，塞拉斯也不想冒险。他环顾四周，想找块布把铁棒头包起来。他所能发现的，只有圣坛上的那块亚麻遮布，但那是他不愿玷污的。我的披风，他想道。塞拉斯知道这里没有旁人，于是解下了披风。当他脱下披风时，羊毛纤维刺痛了他背部的新伤口。
此时，塞拉斯赤裸着身体，只系着一根腰带。他将披风包在铁棒头上，然后瞄准那块地砖的中心，将铁棒砸了下去。一声闷响。地砖并没有破。他又砸了一下。这次的闷响伴随着石块开裂的声音。当他砸到第三下时，地砖终于碎了，碎石片纷纷落入下面的空洞中。
一个隔层！
塞拉斯迅速地拨开残留在洞口的碎石，向空洞里张望。他跪在那里，热血沸腾，将赤裸的白手臂伸进了洞里。
起先，他什么也没有摸到。隔层是空的，只有光溜溜的石头。他又向深处摸去，在玫瑰线的下方，他摸到了些什么！一块厚厚的石板。他抓住石板边缘，轻轻地把石板抬了出来。他站起身来，仔细地打量自己的发现，只见这是一块边缘粗糙、刻着文字的石板。好一阵子，他觉得自己成了当代的摩西。
塞拉斯定睛看那文字，颇感惊奇。他本以为这上面会刻着一幅地图，或一系列复杂的指令或是一串密码，但实际上石板上所刻的文字再简单不过了。
Job38：11《圣经》中的一节？这也太简略了，塞拉斯惊讶不已。他们所追寻的那个秘密地点竟由《圣经》的一节来揭示。隐修会的教友们不顾一切地掩饰真相！
《约伯记》第三十八章，十一节。
虽然塞拉斯背诵不出第十一节的内容，但他知道《约伯记》讲述的是一个上帝的信徒经历了种种考验，生存下来的故事。很符合实际情况，塞拉斯想着，抑制不住兴奋之情。
他低头看着闪光的玫瑰线，忍不住笑了起来。圣坛上支着一个金光闪闪的书架，书架上放着一本巨大的皮革封面的《圣经》。
桑德琳嬷嬷在唱诗班站台上不住地颤抖。几分钟前，当那个男人脱掉披风时，她正想逃走，去执行她的任务。当她看见他那雪白的肌肉时，感到无比震惊。他那宽厚而又苍白的后背上布满血红的伤痕。即使相距甚远，她也可以看出那都是新伤。
那个人被无情地鞭打过！
她还看见他的大腿上缠着印着血迹的纱布，纱布下的伤口还在流血。什么样的神灵想让人的肉体受到这样的惩罚？桑德琳嬷嬷知道，她永远也无法理解天主事工会的宗教礼仪。但那不是她现在要考虑的事。天主事工会在寻找拱顶石。他们是怎么知道的，桑德琳嬷嬷想不到答案，也没有时间去想。
那个浑身血淋淋的僧侣又穿上披风，拿着他的战利品向着圣坛，向着《圣经》走去。
在一片死寂中，桑德琳嬷嬷离开了唱诗班站台，快速返回她的房间。她趴在地上，从木板床下摸出一个信封，拆开了封口。那个信封是她三年前就藏到那里的。
打开信封后，她发现了四个巴黎市内的电话号码。
她用颤抖的手开始拨打电话。
楼下，塞拉斯将石板放到圣坛上，迫不及待地伸手去取《圣经》。当他翻阅书页时，那细长而苍白的手指渗出汗来。他从"旧约"部分翻出了《约伯记》，又找到了第三十八章。他一边用手指顺行向下指，一边猜想着他将会看到的文字。
那将为我们指路！
找到了第十一节，可那里面只有七个词。他不解地重读了一遍，感到大事不妙。这一节中只写着：你将到此，但切莫前行。（HITHERTOSHALTTHOUCOME，BUTNOFURTHER.）
收听单词发音 |
1
holder
|
|
| n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
obelisk
|
|
| n.方尖塔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
shaft
|
|
| n.(工具的)柄，杆状物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
battering
|
|
| n.用坏，损坏v.连续猛击( batter的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
ram
|
|
| (random access memory)随机存取存储器 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
vaulted
|
|
| adj.拱状的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
nun
|
|
| n.修女，尼姑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
linen
|
|
| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
mantle
|
|
| n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
defile
|
|
| v.弄污，弄脏；n.(山间)小道 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
untied
|
|
| 松开，解开( untie的过去式和过去分词 )； 解除，使自由； 解决 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
fibers
|
|
| 光纤( fiber的名词复数 )； （织物的）质地； 纤维，纤维物质 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
muffled
|
|
| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
shards
|
|
| n.（玻璃、金属或其他硬物的）尖利的碎片( shard的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
compartment
|
|
| n.卧车包房，隔间；分隔的空间 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
slab
|
|
| n.平板，厚的切片；v.切成厚板，以平板盖上 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
engraved
|
|
| v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的过去式和过去分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
stunned
|
|
| adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
simplicity
|
|
| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
brotherhood
|
|
| n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
shimmering
|
|
| v.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
propped
|
|
| 支撑，支持，维持( prop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
gilded
|
|
| a.镀金的，富有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
horrified
|
|
| a.(表现出)恐惧的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
slashes
|
|
| n.（用刀等）砍( slash的名词复数 )；（长而窄的）伤口；斜杠；撒尿v.挥砍( slash的第三人称单数 )；鞭打；割破；削减 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
bloody
|
|
| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
thigh
|
|
| n.大腿；股骨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
monk
|
|
| n.和尚，僧侣，修道士 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
retrieved
|
|
| v.取回( retrieve的过去式和过去分词 )；恢复；寻回；检索（储存的信息） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
flipping
|
|
| 讨厌之极的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |