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In which Benno tells a strange tale from which unedifying things about the life of the abbey are learned.
What Benno told us was quite confused. It really seemed that he had drawn2 us down there only to lure3 us away from the scriptorium, but it also seemed that, incapable4 of inventing a plausible5 pretext6, he was telling us frag?ments of a truth of vaster dimensions than he knew.
He admitted he had been reticent7 that morning, but now, on sober consideration, he felt William should know the whole truth. During the famous conversation about laughter, Berengar had referred to the “finis Africae.” What was it? The library was full of secrets, and especially of books that had never been given to the monks9 to read. Benno had been struck by William’s words on the rational scrutiny10 of propositions. He considered that a monk8-scholar had a right to know everything the library contained, he uttered words of fire against the Council of Soissons, which had con1?demned Abelard, and while he spoke11 we realized that this monk was still young, that he delighted in rhetoric12, was stirred by yearnings toward freedom, and was having a hard time accepting the limitations the discip?line of the abbey set on his intellectual curiosity. I have earned always to distrust such curiosity, but I know well this attitude did not displease13 my master, and I saw he was sympathizing with Benno and giving him credence14. In short, Benno told us he did not know what secrets Adelmo, Venantius, and Berengar had discussed, 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, and he hoped that my master, however he might unrav?el the tangle15 of the inquiry16, would have reason to urge the abbot to relax the intellectual discipline that oppressed the monks—some from far places, like himself, he added, who had come for the express purpose of nourishing the mind on the marvels17 hidden in the vast womb of the library.
I believe Benno was sincere in expecting of the inquiry what he said. Probably, however, as William had foreseen, he wanted at the same time to retain for himself the possibility of rummaging18 in Venantius’s desk first, devoured19 as he was by curiosity, and in order to keep us away from that desk, he was prepared to give us information in exchange. And here is what it was.
Berengar was consumed, as many of the monks now knew, by an insane passion for Adelmo, the same passion whose evils divine wrath20 had castigated21 in Sodom and Gomorrah. So Benno expressed himself, perhaps out of regard for my tender years. But anyone who has spent his adolescence22 in a monastery23, even if he has kept himself chaste24, often hears talk of such passions, and at times he has to protect himself from the snares25 of those enslaved by them. Little novice26 that I was, had I not already received from an aged28 monk, at Melk, scrolls29 with verses that as a rule a layman30 devotes to a woman? The monkish31 vows32 keep us far from that sink of vice27 that is the female body, but often they bring us close to other errors. Can I finally hide from myself the fact that even today my old age is still stirred by the noonday demon33 when my eyes, in choir34, happen to linger on the beardless face of a novice, pure and fresh as a maiden’s?
I say these things not to cast doubt on the choice I made to devote myself to monastic life, but to justify35 the error of many to whom this holy burden proves heavy. Perhaps to justify Berengar’s horrible crime. But, according to Benno, this monk apparently36 pur?sued his vice in a yet more ignoble37 fashion, using the weapon of extortion to obtain from others what virtue38 and decorum should have advised them against giving.
So for some time the monks had been making sarcas?tic observations on the tender looks Berengar cast at Adelmo, who, it seems, was of great comeliness39. Whereas Adelmo, enamored only of his work, from which he seemed to derive40 his sole pleasure, paid little attention to Berengar’s passion. But perhaps—who knows?—he was unaware41 that his spirit, secretly, tended toward the same ignominy. The fact is, Benno said, he had over?heard a dialogue between Adelmo and Berengar in which Berengar, referring to a secret Adelmo was asking him to reveal, proposed a vile42 barter43, which even the most innocent reader can imagine. And it seems that from Adelmo’s lips Benno heard words of consent, spoken as if with relief. As if, Benno ventured, Adelmo at heart desired nothing else, and it sufficed for him to find some excuse other than carnal desire in order to agree. A sign, Benno argued, that Berengar’s secret must have concerned arcana of learning, so that Adelmo could harbor the illusion of submitting to a sin of the flesh to satisfy a desire of the intellect. And, Benno added with a smile, 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, even against his own inclination44.
“Are there not moments,” he asked William, “when you would also do shameful45 things to get your hands on a book you have been seeking for years?”
“The wise and most virtuous46 Sylvester II, centuries ago, gave as a gift a most precious armillary sphere in exchange for a manuscript, I believe, of Statius or Lucan,” William said. He added then, prudently47, “But it was an armillary sphere, not his virtue.”
Benno admitted that his enthusiasm had carried him away, and he resumed his story. The night before Adelmo’s death, Benno followed the pair, driven by curiosity, and he saw them, after compline, go off together to the dormitory. He waited a long time, holding ajar the door of his cell, not far from theirs, and when silence had fallen over the sleep of the monks, he clearly saw Adelmo slip into Berengar’s cell. Benno remained awake, unable to fall asleep, until he heard Berengar’s door open again and Adelmo flee, almost running, as his friend tried to hold him back. Berengar followed Adelmo down to the floor below. Cautiously Benno went after them, and at the mouth of the lower corridor he saw Berengar, trembling, hud?dled in a corner, staring at the door of Jorge’s cell. Benno guessed that Adelmo had flung himself at the feet of the venerable brother to confess his sin. And Berengar was trembling, knowing his secret was being revealed, even if under the seal of the sacrament.
Then Adelmo came out, his face pale, thrust away Berengar, who was trying to speak to him, and rushed out of the dormitory, moving behind the apse of the church and entering the choir from the north door (which at night remains48 open). Probably he wanted to pray. Berengar followed him but did not enter the church; he wandered among the graves in the cemetery49, wringing50 his hands.
Benno was wondering what to do when he realized that a fourth person was moving about the vicinity. This person, too, had followed the pair and certainly had not noticed the presence of Benno, who flattened51 himself against the trunk of an oak growing at the edge of the cemetery. The fourth man was Venantius. At the sight of him Berengar crouched52 among the graves, as Venantius also went into the choir. At this point, fearing he would be discovered, Benno returned to the dormitory. The next morning Adelmo’s corpse53 was found at the foot of the cliff. And more than that, Benno did not know.
Dinner hour was now approaching. Benno left us, and my master asked him noting further. We remained for a little while behind the balneary, then strolled briefly54 in the garden, meditating55 on those singular revelations.
“Frangula,” William said suddenly, bending over to observe a plant that, on that winter day, he recognized from the bare bush. “A good infusion56 is made from the bark, for hemorrhoids. And that is arctium lappa; a good cataplasm of fresh roots cicatrizes skin eczemas.”
“You are cleverer than Severinus,” I said to him, “but now tell me what you think of what we have heard!”
“Dear Adso, you should learn to think with your own head. Benno probably told us the truth. His story fits with what Berengar told us early this morning, for all its hallucinations. Berengar and Adelmo do something very evil together: we had already guessed that. And Berengar must reveal to Adelmo that secret that remains, alas57, a secret. Adelmo, after committing his crime against chastity and the law of nature, thinks only of confiding58 in someone who can absolve59 him, and he rushes to Jorge. Whose character is very stern, as we know from experience, and he surely attacks Adelmo with distressing60 reprimands. Perhaps he refuses absolution, perhaps he imposes an impossible penance61: we don’t know, nor would Jorge ever tell us. The fact remains that Adelmo rushes into church and prostrates62 himself before the altar, but doesn’t quell63 his remorse64. At this point, he is approached by Venantius. We don’t know what they say to each other. Perhaps Adelmo confides65 in Venantius the secret received as a gift (or as payment) from Berengar, which no longer matters to him, since he now has a far more terrible and burning secret. What happens to Venantius? Perhaps, overcome by the same ardent66 curiosity that today also seized our friend Benno, satisfied with what he has learned, he leaves Adelmo to his remorse. Adelmo sees himself abandoned, deter67?mines to kill himself, comes in despair to the cemetery, and there encounters Berengar. He says terrible words to him, flings his responsibilities at him, calls him his master in turpitude68. I believe, actually, that Berengar’s story, stripped of all hallucination, was exact. Adelmo repeats to him the same words of desperation he must have heard from Jorge. And now Berengar, overcome, goes off in one direction, and Adelmo goes in the other, to kill himself. Then comes the rest, of which we were almost witnesses. All believe Adelmo was murdered, so Venantius has the impression that the secret of the library is more important than he had believed, and he continues the search on his own. Until someone stops him, either before or after he has discovered what he wanted.”
“Who killed him? Berengar?”
“Perhaps. Or Malachi, who must guard the Aedificium. Or someone else. Berengar is suspect because he is frightened, and he knew that by then Venantius pos?sessed his secret. Malachi is suspect: guardian69 of the inviolability of the library, he discovers someone has violated it, and he kills. Jorge knows everything about everyone, possesses Adelmo’s secret, does not want me to discover what Venantius may have found. ... Many facts would point to him. But tell me how a blind man can kill another man in the fullness of his strength? And how can an old man, even if strong, carry the body to the jar? But finally, why couldn’t the murderer be Benno himself? He could have lied to us, impelled70 by reasons that cannot be confessed. And why limit our suspicions only to those who took part in the discussion of laughter? Perhaps the crime had other motives71, which have nothing to do with the library. In any case, we need two things: to know how to get into the library at night, and a lamp. You provide the lamp. Linger in the kitchen at dinner hour, take one. ...”
“A theft?”
“A loan, to the greater glory of the Lord.”
“If that is so, then count on me.”
“Good. As for getting into the Aedificium, we saw where Malachi came from last night. Today I will visit the church, and that chapel72 in particular. In an hour we go to table. Afterward73 we have a meeting with the abbot. You will be admitted, because I have asked to bring a secretary to make a note of what we say.”
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con
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| n.反对的观点，反对者，反对票，肺病；vt.精读，学习，默记；adv.反对地，从反面；adj.欺诈的 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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lure
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| n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引 | |
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incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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plausible
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| adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的 | |
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pretext
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| n.借口，托词 | |
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reticent
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| adj.沉默寡言的；言不如意的 | |
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monk
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| n.和尚，僧侣，修道士 | |
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monks
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| n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 ) | |
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scrutiny
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| n.详细检查，仔细观察 | |
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spoke
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| 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 | |
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rhetoric
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| n.修辞学，浮夸之言语 | |
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displease
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| vt.使不高兴，惹怒；n.不悦，不满，生气 | |
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credence
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| n.信用，祭器台，供桌，凭证 | |
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tangle
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| n.纠缠；缠结；混乱；v.(使)缠绕；变乱 | |
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inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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marvels
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| n.奇迹( marvel的名词复数 )；令人惊奇的事物（或事例）；不平凡的成果；成就v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的第三人称单数 ) | |
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rummaging
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| 翻找，搜寻( rummage的现在分词 )； 海关检查 | |
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devoured
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| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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castigated
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| v.严厉责骂、批评或惩罚（某人）( castigate的过去式 ) | |
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adolescence
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| n.青春期，青少年 | |
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monastery
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| n.修道院，僧院，寺院 | |
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chaste
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| adj.贞洁的；有道德的；善良的；简朴的 | |
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snares
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| n.陷阱( snare的名词复数 )；圈套；诱人遭受失败（丢脸、损失等）的东西；诱惑物v.用罗网捕捉，诱陷，陷害( snare的第三人称单数 ) | |
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novice
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| adj.新手的，生手的 | |
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vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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scrolls
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| n.（常用于录写正式文件的）纸卷( scroll的名词复数 )；卷轴；涡卷形（装饰）；卷形花纹v.（电脑屏幕上）从上到下移动（资料等），卷页( scroll的第三人称单数 )；（似卷轴般）卷起；（像展开卷轴般地）将文字显示于屏幕 | |
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layman
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| n.俗人，门外汉，凡人 | |
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monkish
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| adj.僧侣的，修道士的，禁欲的 | |
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vows
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| 誓言( vow的名词复数 )； 郑重宣布，许愿 | |
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demon
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| n.魔鬼，恶魔 | |
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choir
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| n.唱诗班，唱诗班的席位，合唱团，舞蹈团；v.合唱 | |
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justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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ignoble
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| adj.不光彩的，卑鄙的；可耻的 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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comeliness
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| n. 清秀, 美丽, 合宜 | |
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derive
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| v.取得；导出；引申；来自；源自；出自 | |
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unaware
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| a.不知道的，未意识到的 | |
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vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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barter
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| n.物物交换，以货易货，实物交易 | |
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inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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shameful
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| adj.可耻的，不道德的 | |
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virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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prudently
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| adv. 谨慎地，慎重地 | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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cemetery
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| n.坟墓，墓地，坟场 | |
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wringing
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| 淋湿的，湿透的 | |
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flattened
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| [医]（水）平扁的，弄平的 | |
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crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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meditating
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| a.沉思的，冥想的 | |
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infusion
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| n.灌输 | |
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alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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confiding
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| adj.相信人的，易于相信的v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的现在分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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absolve
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| v.赦免，解除（责任等） | |
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distressing
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| a.使人痛苦的 | |
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penance
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| n.（赎罪的）惩罪 | |
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prostrates
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| v.使俯伏，使拜倒( prostrate的第三人称单数 )；（指疾病、天气等）使某人无能为力 | |
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quell
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| v.压制，平息，减轻 | |
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remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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confides
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| v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的第三人称单数 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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deter
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| vt.阻止，使不敢，吓住 | |
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turpitude
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| n.可耻；邪恶 | |
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guardian
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| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
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impelled
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| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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chapel
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| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
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afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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