You seek the orb1 that ought be on his tomb.
Each of the carved knights2 within the Temple Church lay on his back with his head resting on arectangular stone pillow. Sophie felt a chill. The poem's reference to an "orb" conjured4 images ofthe night in her grandfather's basement.
Sophie wondered if the ritual had been performed in this very sanctuary6. The circular room seemedcustom-built for such a pagan rite7. A stone pew encircled a bare expanse of floor in the middle. Atheater in the round, as Robert had called it. She imagined this chamber8 at night, filled withmasked people, chanting by torchlight, all witnessing a "sacred communion" in the center of theroom.
Forcing the image from her mind, she advanced with Langdon and Teabing toward the first groupof knights. Despite Teabing's insistence9 that their investigation10 should be conducted meticulously,Sophie felt eager and pushed ahead of them, making a cursory11 walk-through of the five knights onthe left.
Scrutinizing these first tombs, Sophie noted12 the similarities and differences between them. Everyknight was on his back, but three of the knights had their legs extended straight out while two hadtheir legs crossed. The oddity seemed to have no relevance13 to the missing orb. Examining theirclothing, Sophie noted that two of the knights wore tunics15 over their armor, while the other threewore ankle-length robes. Again, utterly16 unhelpful. Sophie turned her attention to the only otherobvious difference—their hand positions. Two knights clutched swords, two prayed, and one hadhis arms at his side. After a long moment looking at the hands, Sophie shrugged17, having seen nohint anywhere of a conspicuously18 absent orb.
Feeling the weight of the cryptex in her sweater pocket, she glanced back at Langdon and Teabing.
The men were moving slowly, still only at the third knight3, apparently19 having no luck either. In nomood to wait, she turned away from them toward the second group of knights.
As she crossed the open space, she quietly recited the poem she had read so many times now that itwas committed to memory.
In London lies a knight a Pope interred20.
His labor's fruit a Holy wrath21 incurred22.
You seek the orb that ought be on his tomb.
It speaks of Rosy23 flesh and seeded womb.
When Sophie arrived at the second group of knights, she found that this second group was similarto the first. All lay with varied24 body positions, wearing armor and swords.
That was, all except the tenth and final tomb.
Hurrying over to it, she stared down.
No pillow. No armor. No tunic14. No sword.
"Robert? Leigh?" she called, her voice echoing around the chamber. "There's something missingover here."Both men looked up and immediately began to cross the room toward her.
"An orb?" Teabing called excitedly. His crutches25 clicked out a rapid staccato as he hurried acrossthe room. "Are we missing an orb?""Not exactly," Sophie said, frowning at the tenth tomb. "We seem to be missing an entire knight."Arriving beside her both men gazed down in confusion at the tenth tomb. Rather than a knightlying in the open air, this tomb was a sealed stone casket. The casket was trapezoidal, tapered26 at thefeet, widening toward the top, with a peaked lid.
"Why isn't this knight shown?" Langdon asked.
"Fascinating," Teabing said, stroking his chin. "I had forgotten about this oddity. It's been yearssince I was here.""This coffin," Sophie said, "looks like it was carved at the same time and by the same sculptor27 asthe other nine tombs. So why is this knight in a casket rather than in the open?"Teabing shook his head. "One of this church's mysteries. To the best of my knowledge, nobody hasever found any explanation for it.""Hello?" the altar boy said, arriving with a perturbed28 look on his face. "Forgive me if this seemsrude, but you told me you wanted to spread ashes, and yet you seem to be sightseeing."Teabing scowled29 at the boy and turned to Langdon. "Mr. Wren30, apparently your family'sphilanthropy does not buy you the time it used to, so perhaps we should take out the ashes and geton with it." Teabing turned to Sophie. "Mrs. Wren?"Sophie played along, pulling the vellum-wrapped cryptex from her pocket.
"Now then," Teabing snapped at the boy, "if you would give us some privacy?"The altar boy did not move. He was eyeing Langdon closely now. "You look familiar."Teabing huffed. "Perhaps that is because Mr. Wren comes here every year!"Or perhaps, Sophie now feared, because he saw Langdon on television at the Vatican last year.
"I have never met Mr. Wren," the altar boy declared.
"You're mistaken," Langdon said politely. "I believe you and I met in passing last year. FatherKnowles failed to formally introduce us, but I recognized your face as we came in. Now, I realizethis is an intrusion, but if you could afford me a few more minutes, I have traveled a great distanceto scatter31 ashes amongst these tombs." Langdon spoke32 his lines with Teabing-esque believability.
The altar boy's expression turned even more skeptical33. "These are not tombs.""I'm sorry?" Langdon said.
"Of course they are tombs," Teabing declared. "What are you talking about?"The altar boy shook his head. "Tombs contain bodies. These are effigies34. Stone tributes to realmen. There are no bodies beneath these figures.""This is a crypt!" Teabing said.
"Only in outdated35 history books. This was believed to be a crypt but was revealed as nothing of thesort during the 1950 renovation36." He turned back to Langdon. "And I imagine Mr. Wren wouldknow that. Considering it was his family that uncovered that fact."An uneasy silence fell.
It was broken by the sound of a door slamming out in the annex37.
"That must be Father Knowles," Teabing said. "Perhaps you should go see?"The altar boy looked doubtful but stalked back toward the annex, leaving Langdon, Sophie, andTeabing to eye one another gloomily.
"Leigh," Langdon whispered. "No bodies? What is he talking about?"Teabing looked distraught. "I don't know. I always thought... certainly, this must be the place. Ican't imagine he knows what he is talking about. It makes no sense!""Can I see the poem again?" Langdon said.
Sophie pulled the cryptex from her pocket and carefully handed it to him.
Langdon unwrapped the vellum, holding the cryptex in his hand while he examined the poem.
"Yes, the poem definitely references a tomb. Not an effigy38.""Could the poem be wrong?" Teabing asked. "Could Jacques Saunière have made the same mistakeI just did?"Langdon considered it and shook his head. "Leigh, you said it yourself. This church was built byTemplars, the military arm of the Priory. Something tells me the Grand Master of the Priory wouldhave a pretty good idea if there were knights buried here."Teabing looked flabbergasted. "But this place is perfect." He wheeled back toward the knights.
"We must be missing something!"Entering the annex, the altar boy was surprised to find it deserted39. "Father Knowles?" I know Iheard the door, he thought, moving forward until he could see the entryway.
A thin man in a tuxedo40 stood near the doorway41, scratching his head and looking lost. The altar boygave an irritated huff, realizing he had forgotten to relock the door when he let the others in. Nowsome pathetic sod had wandered in off the street, looking for directions to some wedding from thelooks of it. "I'm sorry," he called out, passing a large pillar, "we're closed."A flurry of cloth ruffled42 behind him, and before the altar boy could turn, his head snappedbackward, a powerful hand clamping hard over his mouth from behind, muffling43 his scream. Thehand over the boy's mouth was snow-white, and he smelled alcohol.
The prim44 man in the tuxedo calmly produced a very small revolver, which he aimed directly at theboy's forehead.
The altar boy felt his groin grow hot and realized he had wet himself.
"Listen carefully," the tuxedoed45 man whispered. "You will exit this church silently, and you willrun. You will not stop. Is that clear?"The boy nodded as best he could with the hand over his mouth.
"If you call the police..." The tuxedoed man pressed the gun to his skin. "I will find you."The next thing the boy knew, he was sprinting46 across the outside courtyard with no plans ofstopping until his legs gave out.
"你们寻找的圆球，本应在这位骑士的墓里。"
圣殿教堂里的骑土石像无一例外地仰面躺着，头靠在呈长方形的石枕上。索菲只觉得一阵透心凉。诗里提到的"圆球"，不禁使她想起那晚在她祖父的地下室里看到的景象。
"神婚"。圆球。
索菲不知道是否有人在这个礼拜堂里举行过这样的仪式。这件圆形房间，似乎是专门为举行这样的仪式而建造的。一张长长的靠背石椅，围着中央一块光秃秃的空地。圆形剧场，就像刚才罗伯特说过的那样。她想象着到了晚上，戴着面具的人挤满了这个房间，举着火把反复地吟唱，在屋中央上演"与上帝交流"的盛况。
她好不容易才强迫自己不去那样想，跟着兰登和提彬一道，走向第一批骑土石像。尽管提彬坚持调查要小心行事，索菲还是急不可耐的跑到他们前面，匆忙把左边五尊骑士石像打量了一遍。
她仔细审视这些坟墓，认真观察起它们之间的共性与差异来。每个骑士都仰面躺着，但有三位骑土将双腿伸得笔直。而其他两名骑士则将腿并拢起来。不过，这种奇怪的差异似乎跟失踪的圆球没有多大关系。她仔细观察他们的衣服，发现其中两位在铠甲外面穿了战袍，而其他三位骑士则穿着长达脚踝的长袍。这同样说明不了什么问题。索菲于是转而去注意他们的另外一个也是唯一的差别--即他们不同的手形位置。两名骑土剑握在手，两名在双手合十虔诚地祈祷，还有一位双手叉腰。索菲看了很长时间，才耸耸肩，她没看到任何表明圆球失踪的线索。
她感到背心口袋里密码盒的分量，便回头瞥了兰登和提彬一眼--那两个男人慢慢地走着，他们还在看第三尊骑土的石像哩，不过他们显然也没交到什么好运。她无心去等，便转过身，向另一组骑士石像走去。她穿过开阔的空地，不停地吟诵那首诗，她不知读过多少遍了，到现在，她已经完全可以凭记忆背诵出来。
"在伦敦葬了一位教皇为他主持葬礼的骑士。
他的行为触怒了上帝，因为违背了他的旨意。
你们寻找的圆球，本应在这位骑士的墓里。
它道破了玫瑰般肌肤与受孕子宫的秘密。"索菲来到第二组骑士石像群旁边，她发现这些石像跟第一批没有什么两样。尽管它们躺在地上，披着铠甲，佩戴宝剑，然而姿态却各不相同。
但第十座，也就是最后一座坟墓除外。
她忙跑过去，睁大了眼睛低头打量起来。
没看见有什么石枕，没看见披着铠甲，没看见穿长袍，也没看见它佩带宝剑。
"罗伯特，雷爵士。"她大叫起来，整个房间里都听得到她的回声。"这里有什么东西不见了哩。"那两个人不约而同地抬起头，然后开始从房间的另一头向她奔来。
"你是说圆球吗？"提彬激动地喊着，一边飞快地从对面跑了过来。他的拐杖"笃笃"地发出时断时续的声响。"是不是圆球不见了？"
"不对。"索菲皱眉望着第十座坟墓："我们好像少了一尊骑士石像呢。"
两个男人来到她的身边，低头疑惑地看着这第十座坟墓。他们在这片空地里，没看见躺了什么骑士石像。这座坟墓，根本就是个密封的石盒。这个石盒呈梯形，底部小，往顶部不断加宽，上面一个很尖的盖子。
"这位骑士石像怎么不见了呢？"兰登很是吃惊地问道。
"太有意思了。"提彬摸摸下巴，说道："这种怪事我都忘了。很多年我都没到这里来了。"
"这副棺材。"索菲说。"从外表上看，好像是与其他九座坟墓同时建造的，并且出自同一位雕刻家之手，所以，这尊骑士像为什么不是露天，而是被放进盒子里呢？"
提彬摇摇头："这是教堂的一个谜。据我所知，至今还无人知道其中的缘由呢。"
"没什么事吧？"祭台助手走了过来，神情颇为不安。"如果我冒犯了你们，还请你们多加原谅。不过，你们告诉我是来这里撒骨灰的，可我看你们怎么像是来观光的呢？"
提彬怒气冲冲地看着他，然后转身对兰登说："雷恩先生，显然你家的慷慨并没有像以前那样能给你们换来在此驻足的充足时间啊。所以，我们还是把骨灰拿出来处理算了。"他转向索菲说："雷恩夫人，你说呢？"
索菲跟着一道演戏，她从口袋里把羊皮纸包着的密码盒取出来。
"好啦。"提彬对祭台助手大声喝道："你能不能暂时离开一小会？"
祭台助手站着没动，而是紧盯着兰登，说："你很面熟啊。"
提彬动了怒气："这也许是雷恩先生每年都来这里的缘故吧。"
索菲这时害怕起来。说不定他曾在去年梵蒂冈播出的电视节目里看见过兰登呢。
"我从没见过雷恩先生。"祭台助手声称。
"你弄错了吧。"兰登礼貌地说："我相信我们去年还见过面呢。诺尔斯神父只是没正式介绍我们认识罢了，可我一进来就认出了你。好了，我知道这次多有得罪，不过，如果你多给我几分钟的时间，那我现在可能就会走开很远，并把骨灰撒进坟墓里了。"兰登说起话来一字一顿，提彬不住地点头称是。
祭台助手看来更起了疑心："可这些不是坟墓啊。"
"对不起，你说什么？"兰登接口问道。
"它们当然是坟墓了。"提彬大声地宣称："你在胡说什么呀？"
祭台助手摇了摇头："坟墓埋的是尸体。可这些是雕像。是献给真人的礼物。这些石像下面并没有什么尸体。""但这是个地下墓穴呢。"提彬嚷道。
"只有过时的历史书上才会这么讲。1950 年教堂改造期间，人们都相信这是一个地下墓穴，但结果发现里面什么东西也没有。"他转身对兰登说："我还以为雷恩先生知道这件事情呢，因为就是他家人发现了这个事实啊。"屋内一阵不安的寂静。
直到附属建筑物的门"砰"的被打开，才打破了屋里的寂静。
"一定是诺尔斯神父。"提彬开了口："你要不要去看看？"
祭台助手虽不相信，但还是大摇大摆地向声音传来的地方走去，抛下兰登、索菲与提彬三人，心情抑郁地面面相觑。
"雷。"兰登小声地说："他说什么？坟墓里没有尸体？"
提彬有点心烦意乱："我不清楚，我总以为--当然，肯定是这个地方了。我无法想象他在说些什么。这是毫无意义的。""我可以再看看那首诗吗？"兰登问。
索菲从口袋里拿出密码盒，小心翼翼地递给了他。
兰登展开了羊皮纸，一边读诗，一边将密码盒放在手中。"没错，这首诗肯定是在暗指坟墓，而不会是指雕像。""这首诗有没有可能是错的呢？"提彬问："雅克.索尼埃是否犯了跟我一样的错误？"
兰登考虑了一下，摇了摇头："雷，你在说你自己吧。这座教堂是郇山隐修会的军队圣殿骑士们建造的。有迹象表明，如果把一些圣殿骑士的尸体埋在这里，郇山隐修会的长老定会认为是个不错的主意。"提彬目瞪口呆："不过这地方很好嘛。"他突然转身面向那些骑士石像。"我们发现肯定少什么了！"祭台助手进得附属建筑物里来，却惊讶地发现里头一个人也没有。"诺尔斯神父？"我刚才明明听到开门的声音哪，他想。他继续向前走，直到能看到教堂的入口。
一位穿着晚礼服的瘦男人站在门口，抓着头皮，看起来十分的茫然。祭台助手气得大喊一声，意识到刚才让其他几个人进来后忘了重新关门，这才使可怜兮兮的乡巴佬从外面的街道上跑进来，看他的样子，倒像是在寻找去参加婚礼的路线怎么走呢。"对不起。"他喊道，从一根巨大的石柱旁边跑过去："我们还没开门哩。"
在他背后，突然响起衣服淅淅簌簌的声音。祭台助手还没来得及转身，头却先被扭转了过去。一只强有力的手，从后面紧紧捂住他的口，使他的喊声不至于被人听到。这只捂住他的手雪白雪白的，他还闻到了酒的味道。
那个一本正经穿着晚礼服的男人，平静地拔出一把很小的左轮手枪，径直瞄准了祭台助手的前额。
祭台助手觉得下身热了起来，他意识到是自己失禁了。
"你给我仔细听着。"穿晚礼服的男人低声说道："我要你马上离开这里，不要做声，然后跑掉，不要停。你听清楚了吗？"
祭台助手口不能言，只有拼命地点头。
"要是你报警的话--"穿晚礼服的男人用枪低着他："我们肯定会找你的。"
祭台助手于是迅速从外面院子里跑了出去，一刻也不敢停，直到双腿发软，精疲力竭。
收听单词发音 |
1
orb
|
|
| n.太阳；星球；v.弄圆；成球形 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
knights
|
|
| 骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
knight
|
|
| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
conjured
|
|
| 用魔术变出( conjure的过去式和过去分词 )； 祈求，恳求； 变戏法； （变魔术般地） 使…出现 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
orbs
|
|
| abbr.off-reservation boarding school 在校寄宿学校n.球，天体，圆形物( orb的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
sanctuary
|
|
| n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
rite
|
|
| n.典礼，惯例，习俗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
chamber
|
|
| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
insistence
|
|
| n.坚持；强调；坚决主张 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
investigation
|
|
| n.调查，调查研究 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
cursory
|
|
| adj.粗略的；草率的；匆促的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
noted
|
|
| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
relevance
|
|
| n.中肯，适当，关联，相关性 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
tunic
|
|
| n.束腰外衣 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
tunics
|
|
| n.（动植物的）膜皮( tunic的名词复数 )；束腰宽松外衣；一套制服的短上衣；（天主教主教等穿的）短祭袍 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
utterly
|
|
| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
shrugged
|
|
| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
conspicuously
|
|
| ad.明显地，惹人注目地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
apparently
|
|
| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
interred
|
|
| v.埋，葬( inter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
wrath
|
|
| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
incurred
|
|
| [医]招致的，遭受的； incur的过去式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
rosy
|
|
| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
varied
|
|
| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
crutches
|
|
| n.拐杖, 支柱 v.支撑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
tapered
|
|
| adj. 锥形的，尖削的，楔形的，渐缩的，斜的 动词taper的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
sculptor
|
|
| n.雕刻家，雕刻家 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
perturbed
|
|
| adj.烦燥不安的v.使（某人）烦恼，不安( perturb的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
scowled
|
|
| 怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
wren
|
|
| n.鹪鹩；英国皇家海军女子服务队成员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
scatter
|
|
| vt.撒，驱散，散开；散布/播；vi.分散，消散 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
spoke
|
|
| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
skeptical
|
|
| adj.怀疑的，多疑的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
effigies
|
|
| n.（人的）雕像，模拟像，肖像( effigy的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
outdated
|
|
| adj.旧式的，落伍的，过时的；v.使过时 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
renovation
|
|
| n.革新，整修 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
annex
|
|
| vt.兼并，吞并；n.附属建筑物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
effigy
|
|
| n.肖像 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
deserted
|
|
| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
tuxedo
|
|
| n.礼服，无尾礼服 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
doorway
|
|
| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
ruffled
|
|
| adj. 有褶饰边的, 起皱的 动词ruffle的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
muffling
|
|
| v.压抑，捂住( muffle的现在分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
prim
|
|
| adj.拘泥形式的，一本正经的；n.循规蹈矩，整洁；adv.循规蹈矩地，整洁地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
tuxedoed
|
|
| adj.穿无尾礼服的，穿（夜）小礼服的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
46
sprinting
|
|
| v.短距离疾跑( sprint的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |