LAUDS1
In which a new cellarer is chosen, but not a new librarian.
Was it time for lauds already? Was it earlier or later? From that point on I lost all temporal sense. Perhaps hours went by, perhaps less, in which Malachi’s body was laid out in church on a catafalque, while the brothers formed a semicircle around it. The abbot issued instructions for a prompt funeral. I heard him summon Benno and Nicholas of Morimondo. In less than a day, he said, the abbey had been deprived of its librarian and its cellarer. “You,” he said to Nicholas, “will take over the duties of Remigio. You know the jobs of many, here in the abbey. Name someone to take your place in charge of the forges, and provide for today’s immediate2 necessities in the kitchen, the refectory. You are excused from offices. Go.” Then to Benno he said, “Only yesterday evening you were named Malachi’s assistant. Provide for the opening of the scriptorium and make sure no one goes up into the library alone.” Shyly, Benno pointed3 out that he had not yet been initiated4 into the secrets of that place. The abbot glared at him sternly. “No one has said you will be. You see that work goes on and is offered as a prayer for our dead brothers ... and for those who will yet die. Each monk5 will work only on the books already given him. Those who wish may consult the catalogue. Nothing else. You are excused from vespers, because at that hour you will lock up everything.”
“But how will I come out?” Benno asked.
“Good question. I will lock the lower doors after supper. Go.”
He went out with them, avoiding William, who wanted to talk to him. In the choir6, a little group remained: Alinardo, Pacificus of Tivoli, Aymaro of Alessandria, and Peter of Sant’Albano. Aymaro was sneering7.
“Let us thank the Lord,” he said. “With the German dead, there was the risk of having a new librarian even more barbarous.”
“Who do you think will be named in his place?” William asked.
Peter of Sant’Albano smiled enigmatically. “After ev?erything that has happened these past few days, the problem is no longer the librarian, but the abbot. ...”
“Hush,” Pacificus said to him. And Alinardo, with his usual pensive8 look, said, “They will commit another injustice9 ... as in my day. They must be stopped”
“Who?” William asked. Pacificus took him confiden?tially by the arm and led him a distance from the old man, toward the door.
“Alinardo ... as you know ... we love him very much. For us he represents the old tradition and the finest days of the abbey. ... But sometimes he speaks without knowing what he says. We are all worried about the new librarian. The man must be worthy10, and mature, and wise. ... That is all there is to it.”
“Must he know Greek?” William asked.
“And Arabic, as tradition has it: his office requires it. But there are many among us with these gifts. I, if I may say so, and Peter, and Aymaro …”
“Benno knows Greek.”
“Benno is too young. I do not know why Malachi chose him as his assistant yesterday, but ...”
“Did Adelmo know Greek?”
“I believe not. No, surely not.”
“But Venantius knew it. And Berengar. Very well, I thank you.”
We left, to go and get something in the kitchen.
“Why did you want to find out who knew Greek?” I asked.
“Because all those who die with blackened fingers know Greek. Therefore it would be well to expect the next corpse11 among those who know Greek. Including me. You are safe.”
“And what do you think of Malachi’s last words?”
“You heard them. Scorpions12. The fifth trumpet13 announces, among other thins, the coming of locusts14 that will torment15 men with a sting like a scorpion’s. And Malachi informed us that someone had forewarned him.”
“The sixth trumpet,” I said, “announces horses with lions’ heads from whose mouths come smoke and fire and brimstone, ridden by men covered with breast?plates the color of fire, jacinth, and brimstone.”
“Too many things. But the next crime might take place near the horse barn. We must keep an eye on it. And we must prepare ourselves for the seventh blast. Two more victims still. Who are the most likely candidates? If the objective is the secret of the finis Africae, those who know it. And as far as I can tell, that means only the abbot. Unless the plot is something else. You heard them just now, scheming to depose16 the abbot, but Alinardo spoke17 in the plural18. ...”
“The abbot must be warned,” I said.
“Of what? That they will kill him? I have no convinc?ing evidence. I proceed as if the murderer and I think alike. But if he were pursuing another design? And if, especially, there were not a murderer?”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know exactly. But as I said to you, we must imagine all possible orders, and all disorders19.”
收听单词发音 |
1
lauds
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| v.称赞，赞美( laud的第三人称单数 ) | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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3
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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4
initiated
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| n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入 | |
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monk
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| n.和尚，僧侣，修道士 | |
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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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7
sneering
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| 嘲笑的，轻蔑的 | |
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8
pensive
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| a.沉思的,哀思的,忧沉的 | |
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9
injustice
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| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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scorpions
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| n.蝎子( scorpion的名词复数 ) | |
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13
trumpet
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| n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘 | |
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14
locusts
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| n.蝗虫( locust的名词复数 )；贪吃的人；破坏者；槐树 | |
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torment
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| n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠 | |
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depose
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| vt.免职；宣誓作证 | |
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17
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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plural
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| n.复数；复数形式；adj.复数的 | |
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19
disorders
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| n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调 | |
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