NIGHT
In which Salvatore allows himself to be discovered wretchedly by Bernard Gui, the girl loved by Adso is arrested as a witch, and all go to bed more unhappy and worried than before.
We were coming back down into the refectory when we heard some loud noises and saw some faint flashes of light from the direction of the kitchen. William promptly2 blew out his lamp. Clinging to the walls, we approached the door to the kitchen; we realized the sound came from outside, but the door was open. Then the voices and lights moved away, and someone slammed the door violently. There was a great tumult3, which heralded4 something unpleasant. Swiftly we went back through the ossarium, re-emerged in the now deserted5 church, went out by the south door, and glimpsed a flickering6 of torches in the cloister7.
We approached, and in the confusion we must have rushed outside like the many others already on the spot, who had come from either the dormitory or the pilgrims’ hospice. We saw archers8 firmly grasping Salvatore, white as the white of his eyes, and a woman, who was crying. My heart contracted: it was she, the girl of my thoughts. As she saw me, she recognized me and cast me a desperate, imploring9 look. My impulse was to rush and free her, but William restrained me, whispering some far-from-affectionate reproaches. Monks10 and guests were now rushing in from all sides.
The abbot arrived, as did Bernard Gui, to whom the captain of the archers made a brief report. This is what had happened.
By the inquisitor’s order, they patrolled the whole compound at night, paying special attention to the path that went from the main gate to the church, the gardens, and the fa?ade of the Aedificium. (Why? I wondered. Then I understood: obviously because Bernard had heard from servants or from the cooks rumors12 about nocturnal movement between the outer walls and the kitchen, perhaps without learning exactly who was responsible; and perhaps the foolish Salvatore, as he had divulged14 his intentions to me, had already spoken in the kitchen or the barns to some wretch1 who, intimi?dated by questioning that afternoon, had thrown this rumor13 as a sop16 to Bernard.) Moving cautiously and in darkness through the fog, the archers had finally caught Salvatore in the woman’s company, as he was fiddling17 with the kitchen door.
“A woman in this holy place! And with a monk11!” Bernard said sternly, addressing the abbot. “Most mag?nificent lord,” he continued, “if it involved only a violation18 of the vow19 of chastity, this man’s punishment would be a matter for your jurisdiction20. But since we are not yet sure that the traffickings of these two wretches21 hasn’t something to do with the well-being22 of all the guests, we must first cast light on this mystery. Now, you rogue23 there!” And from Salvatore’s bosom24 he seized the obvious bundle the poor man was trying to hide. “What’s this you have here?”
I already knew: a knife; a black cat, which, once the bundle was unwrapped, fled with a furious yowl; and two eggs, now broken and slimy, which to everyone else looked like blood, or yellow bile, or some such foul25 substance. Salvatore was about to enter the kitchen, kill the cat, cut out its eyes; and who knows what promises he had used to induce the girl to follow him. I soon learned what promises. The archers searched the girl, with sly laughter and lascivious26 words, and they found on her a little dead rooster, still to be plucked. Ill-luck would have it that in the night, when all cats are gray, the cock seemed black, like the cat. I was thinking, however, that it took very little to lure27 her, poor hungry creature, who the night before had abandoned (and for love of me!) her precious ox heart. ...
“Aha!” Bernard cried, in a tone of great concern. “Black cat and cock ... Ah, I know such paraphernalia28. ...” He noticed William among those present. “Do you not also recognize them, Brother William? Were you not inquisitor in Kilkenny three years ago, where that girl had intercourse29 with a devil who appeared to her in the form of a black cat?”
To me it seemed my master remained silent out of cowardice30. I tugged31 at his sleeve, shook him, whispered to him in despair, “Tell him, tell him it was to eat. ...”
He freed himself from my grip and spoke15 politely to Bernard: “I do not believe you need my past experi?ences to arrive at your conclusions,” he said.
“Oh, no, there are far more authoritative32 witnesses.” Bernard smiled. “Stephen of Bourbon, in his treatise33 on the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, tells how Saint Dominic, after preaching at Fanjeaux against the heretics, announced to certain women that they would see the master they had served till then. And suddenly into their midst sprang a frightful34 cat the size of a large dog, with huge blazing eyes, a bloody35 tongue that came to its navel, a short tail straight in the air so that however the animal turned it displayed the evil of its behind, more fetid than any other, as is proper for that anus which many devotees of Satan, not least the Knights36 Templar, have always been accustomed to kiss in the course of their meetings. And after moving about the women for an hour, the cat sprang on the bell rope and climbed up it, leaving his stinking37 waste behind. And is not the cat the animal beloved by the Catharists, who according to Alanus de Insulis are so called from ‘catus,’ because of this beast whose posterior they kiss, considering it the incarnation of Lucifer? And is this disgusting practice not confirmed also by William of La Verna in the De legibus? And does Albertus Magnus not say that cats are potential devils? And does not my venerable brother Jacques Fournier recall that on the deathbed of the inquisitor Geoffrey of Carcassonne two black cats appeared, who were no other than devils come to taunt38 those remains39?”
A horrified40 murmur41 ran through the group of monks, many of whom made the sign of the holy cross.
“My lord abbot, my lord abbot,” Bernard was saying meanwhile, with a virtuous42 mien43, “perhaps Your Mag?nificence does not know what sinners are accustomed to do with these instruments! But I know well, God help me! I have seen most wicked men, in the darkest hours of the night, along with others of their stripe, use black cats to achieve wonders that they could never deny: to straddle certain animals and travel immense spaces under cover of night, dragging their slaves, transformed into lustful44 incubi. ... And the Devil shows himself to them, or at least so they strongly believe, in the form of a cock, or some other black animal, and with him—do not ask me how—they even lie together. And I know for certain that not long ago, in Avignon itself, with necromancies of this sort philters and oint?ments were prepared to-make attempts on the life of our lord Pope himself, poisoning his foods. The Pope was able to defend himself and identify the toxin45 only because he was supplied with prodigious46 jewels in the form of serpents’ tongues, fortified47 by wondrous48 emer?alds and rubies49 that tough divine power were able to reveal the presence of poison in the foods. The King of France had given him eleven of these most precious tongues, thank heaven, and only thus could our lord Pope elude50 death! True, the Pontiffs enemies went still further, and everyone knows what was learned about the heretic Bernard Délicieux, arrested ten years ago: books of black magic were found in his house, with notes written on the most wicked pages, containing all the instructions for making wax figures in order to harm enemies. And would you believe it? In his house were also found figures that reproduced, with truly admirable craft, the image of the Pope, with little red circles on the vital parts of the body. And everyone knows that such a figure, hung up by a string, is placed before a mirror, and then the vital parts are pierced with a pin, and ... Oh, but why do I dwell on these vile51, disgusting practices? The Pope himself spoke of them and described and condemned52 them, just last year, in his constitution Super illius specula! And I truly hope you have a copy in this rich library of yours, where it can be properly meditated53 on. ...”
“We have it, we have it,” the abbot eagerly confirmed, in great distress54.
“Very well,” Bernard concluded. “Now the case seems clear to me. A monk seduced55, a witch, and some ritual, which fortunately did not take place. To what end? That is what we will learn, and I am ready to sacrifice a few hours’ sleep to learn it. Will Your Magnificence put at my disposal a place where this man can be confined?”
“We have some cells in the basement of the smithy,” the abbot said, “which fortunately are very rarely used and have stood empty for years. ...”
“Fortunately or unfortunately,” Bernard remarked. And he ordered the archers to have someone show them the way and to take the two prisoners to separate cells; and the men were to tie the monk well to some rings set in the wall, so that Bernard could go down shortly and, questioning him, look him in the face. As for the girl, he added, it was clear who she was, and it was not worth questioning her that night. Other trials awaited her before she would be burned as a witch. And if witch she were, she would not speak easily. But the monk might still repent56, perhaps (and he glared at the trembling Salvatore, as if to make him understand he was being offered a last chance), telling the truth and, Bernard added, denouncing his accomplices57.
The two were dragged off, one silent and destroyed, almost feverish58, the other weeping and kicking and screaming like an animal being led to the shambles59. But neither Bernard nor the archers nor I myself could understand what she was saying in her peasant tongue. For all her shouting, she was as if mute. There are words that give power, others that make us all the more derelict, and to this latter category belong the vulgar words of the simple, to whom the Lord has not granted the boon60 of self-expression in the universal tongue of knowledge and power.
Once again I was tempted61 to follow her; once again William, grim, restrained me. “Be still, fool,” he said. “The girl is lost; she is burnt flesh.”
As I observed the scene with terror, staring at the girl in a swarm62 of contradictory63 thoughts, I felt someone touch my shoulder. I don’t know why, but even before I turned I recognized the touch of Ubertino.
“You are looking at the witch, are you not?” he asked me. And I knew he could not know of my story, and therefore he was saying this only because he had caught, with his terrible penetration64 of human passions, the intensity65 of my gaze.
“No,” I defended myself, “I am not looking at her … or, rather, perhaps I am looking at her, but she isn’t a witch. ... We don’t know: perhaps she is innocent. ...”
“And you look at her because she is beautiful. She is beautiful, is she not?” he asked me with extraordinary warmth, pressing my arm. “If you look at her because she is beautiful, and you are upset by her (but I know you are upset, because the sin of which she is suspected makes her all the more fascinating to you), if you look at her and feel desire, that alone makes her a witch. Be on guard, my son. ... The beauty of the body stops at the skin. If men could see what is beneath the skin, as with the lynx of Boeotia, they would shudder66 at the sight of a woman. All that grace consists of mucus and blood, humors and bile. If you think of what is hidden in the nostrils67, in the throat, and in the belly68, you will find only filth69. And if it revolts you to touch mucus or dung with your fingertip, how could we desire to em?brace70 the sack that contains that dung.”
An access of vomiting71 seized me. I didn’t want to hear any more. My master, who had also heard, came to my rescue. He brusquely approached Ubertino, grasped his arm, and freed it from mine.
“That will do, Ubertino,” he said. “That girl will soon be under torture, then on the pyre. She will become exactly as you say, mucus, blood, humors, and bile. But it will be men like us who dig from beneath her skin that which the Lord wanted to be protected and adorned72 by that skin. And when it comes to prime matter, you are no better than she. Leave the boy alone.”
Ubertino was upset. “Perhaps I have sinned,” he murmured. “I have surely sinned. What else can a sinner do?”
Now everyone was going back inside, commenting on the event. William remained a little while with Michael and the other Minorites, who were asking him his impressions.
“Bernard now has an argument, ambiguous though it be. In the abbey there are necromancers circulating who do the same things that were done against the Pope in Avignon. It is not, certainly, proof, and, in the first place, it cannot be used to disturb tomorrow’s meeting. Tonight he will try to wring73 from that poor wretch some other clue, which, I’m sure, Bernard will not use immediately tomorrow morning. He will keep it in reserve: it will be of use later, to upset the progress of the discussions if they should ever take a direction unpleasing to him.”
“Could he force the monk to say something to be used against us?” Michael of Cesena asked.
William was dubious74. “Let’s hope not,” he said. I realized that, if Salvatore told Bernard what he had told us, about his own past and the cellarer’s, and if he hinted at something about their relationship with Ubertino, fleeting75 though it may have been, a highly embarrassing situation would be created.
“In any case, let’s wait and see what happens,” William said with serenity76. “For that matter, Michael, everything was already decided77 beforehand. But you want to try.”
“I do,” Michael said, “and the Lord will help me. May Saint Francis intercede78 for all of us.”
“Amen,” all replied.
“But that is not necessarily possible,” was William’s irreverent comment. “Saint Francis could be off some?where waiting for judgment79 day, without seeing the Lord face to face.”
“A curse on that heretic John!” I heard Master Jerome mutter, as each went back to bed. “If he now robs us of the saints’ help, what will become of us, poor sinners that we are?”
收听单词发音 |
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wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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heralded
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| v.预示( herald的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布（好或重要） | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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flickering
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| adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的 | |
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cloister
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| n.修道院；v.隐退，使与世隔绝 | |
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archers
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| n.弓箭手，射箭运动员( archer的名词复数 ) | |
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imploring
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| 恳求的，哀求的 | |
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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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monk
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| n.和尚，僧侣，修道士 | |
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rumors
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| n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷 | |
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rumor
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| n.谣言，谣传，传说 | |
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divulged
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| v.吐露，泄露( divulge的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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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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sop
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| n.湿透的东西，懦夫；v.浸，泡，浸湿 | |
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fiddling
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| 微小的 | |
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violation
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| n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯 | |
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vow
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| n.誓(言)，誓约；v.起誓，立誓 | |
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jurisdiction
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| n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权 | |
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wretches
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| n.不幸的人( wretch的名词复数 )；可怜的人；恶棍；坏蛋 | |
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well-being
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| n.安康，安乐，幸福 | |
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rogue
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| n.流氓；v.游手好闲 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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lascivious
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| adj.淫荡的，好色的 | |
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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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paraphernalia
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| n.装备；随身用品 | |
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intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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cowardice
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| n.胆小，怯懦 | |
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tugged
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| v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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authoritative
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| adj.有权威的，可相信的；命令式的；官方的 | |
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treatise
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| n.专著；(专题)论文 | |
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frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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knights
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| 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 | |
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stinking
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| adj.臭的，烂醉的，讨厌的v.散发出恶臭( stink的现在分词 )；发臭味；名声臭；糟透 | |
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taunt
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| n.辱骂，嘲弄；v.嘲弄 | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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horrified
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| a.(表现出)恐惧的 | |
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murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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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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mien
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| n.风采；态度 | |
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lustful
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| a.贪婪的；渴望的 | |
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toxin
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| n.毒素，毒质 | |
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prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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fortified
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| adj. 加强的 | |
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wondrous
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| adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地 | |
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rubies
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| 红宝石( ruby的名词复数 )； 红宝石色，深红色 | |
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elude
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| v.躲避，困惑 | |
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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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condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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meditated
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| 深思，沉思，冥想( meditate的过去式和过去分词 )； 内心策划，考虑 | |
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distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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seduced
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| 诱奸( seduce的过去式和过去分词 )； 勾引； 诱使堕落； 使入迷 | |
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repent
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| v.悔悟，悔改，忏悔，后悔 | |
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accomplices
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| 从犯，帮凶，同谋( accomplice的名词复数 ) | |
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feverish
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| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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shambles
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| n.混乱之处；废墟 | |
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boon
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| n.恩赐，恩物，恩惠 | |
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tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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swarm
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| n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入 | |
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contradictory
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| adj.反驳的，反对的，抗辩的；n.正反对，矛盾对立 | |
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penetration
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| n.穿透，穿人，渗透 | |
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intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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belly
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| n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛 | |
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filth
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| n.肮脏，污物，污秽；淫猥 | |
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brace
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| n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备 | |
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vomiting
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| 吐 | |
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adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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wring
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| n.扭绞；v.拧，绞出，扭 | |
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dubious
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| adj.怀疑的，无把握的；有问题的，靠不住的 | |
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75
fleeting
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| adj.短暂的，飞逝的 | |
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76
serenity
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| n.宁静，沉着，晴朗 | |
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77
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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78
intercede
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| vi.仲裁，说情 | |
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79
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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