Chapter 5 prelude

In the beginning there was Tao, and Tao was with God, and God was Tao. Before the truth is revealed, What we see are but fragments in a misunderstanding... In the beginning there was Tao, and Tao was with God, and God was Tao. This matter begins with God, and every devout monk repeats his eternal duty with humble praise every day.But now we look through a cloudy glass, and we see fragments in misinterpretation, (oh, how ambiguous!) before the truth is plainly revealed, so we must faithfully speak of its signs , though to us the signs are so dark and elusive, and seem entwined with an evil will.

My sinner's life is at the end of his life, gray-haired, I am old with the world, waiting to sink into the bottomless abyss of silence, bathed in the light of angels.Now I am sitting in this small room of Melek Abbey with my sick and frail body, ready to write on the parchment in front of me what I witnessed when I was young, and now the scenes are reappearing in my mind, which is both incredible and very strange. Horrible truth.Word for word, literally, as if intended to be left to those who search for the relics of God (if the Antichrist hadn't come first) to decipher the prayer. By the grace of God, I became a witness of that event.For the sake of god, I cannot name the monastery.It was the end of 1327. Emperor Louis came to Italy in person to restore the dignity of the Holy Roman Empire, follow the will of God, and intended to expel the usurpers, businessmen and pagan founders who shamed the apostles' holy names in Avignon ( I am speaking of Jacques the Sin, whom the godless call John XXII).

Perhaps, in order to make the events I was involved in easier to understand, I should trace the historical facts that happened during that period, based on my understanding, experience, and what I can remember now, plus what I heard later. Other stories - only wish my old memory could still tie so many complicated events together. At the beginning of this century, Pope Clement V moved the seat of the Pope to Avignon, causing Rome to be poisoned by local ambitious monarchs. Gradually, this Christian holy city became a circus, or a brothel, Divided among the lords; republic in name but not, raided by armed armies, plundered.Clergy—including parish priests—directed gangs of thugs and thieves, swords in hand, to commit crimes and organize nefarious deals.How can we prevent Cap Mendi from once again justifiably wearing the crown of the Holy Roman Empire and restoring the dignity of the secular domain originally owned by Caesar? ※Bandhammer School & E-Book of Fine School※

So in 1314, the five German princes of Frankfurt elected King Louis of Bavaria as the supreme ruler.But on the same day, on the other side of the main stream, the Count Palatine of the west of the Rhine and the Archbishop of Cologne elected Frederick of Austria to the same highest rank.Two emperors want to fight for one throne, and there can only be one pope in the two regiments.In this case, great commotion and chaos were formed... Two years later, at Avignon, a new pope was born, Jacques of Cahors, an old man of seventy-two who took the name John XXII, and luckily no other pope was so notorious.He was a Frenchman, loyal to the King of France (these people only care about their subjects on that rotten land, and cannot regard the whole world as their spiritual sustenance), and supported Philip IV against the most shameful crimes that the King unjustly accused. The Order of the Templars, in order to collude with the apostate clerics, appropriated the property of the Order of the Knights.

In 1322, Louis of Bavaria defeated his rival Frederick.John would rather see two heroes fighting than one king, and excommunicated Louis in fear.In the same year the Franciscan Order assembled at Berrougier, and Michael of Cezena, superior of the order, accepted the request of the Episcopal Conference (which I will occasionally refer to later) to declare that Jesus was poor as far as Faith and Doctrine were concerned. Yes, if its apostles had something, it was only "practical need".It was a venerable revolution, intended to preserve the morality and purity of the Order, which greatly displeased the Pope, who perhaps discerned in this declaration a principle which would jeopardize his rights as Head of the Church and deny the Empire There is the right to elect the pope, and it is further advocated that the pope can authorize the emperor.For these reasons, in 1323 John condemned the claims of the Franciscan Order with the decree Cum inter nonnullos.

It was at this time, I think, that Louis saw the Franciscans, who had become enemies of the Pope, as potential allies.Their assertion of the poverty of Christ arguably also strengthened the idea of ​​imperial theology.Scholars advocating imperial theology include Mayarius, John of Zandan, and so on.At last, some months before the events which I shall relate, Louis concluded an agreement with the defeated Frederick, taking Italy, and ascending the throne at Milan. It was under these circumstances that I left the peaceful abbey at the behest of my father—I was a young novice in the order of St. Benedict at Melek Abbey—my father was a baron of Louis, and he was in the army.He thought that I should follow him to know the good things of Italy, and introduced me when the emperor came to the throne in Rome.But then the siege of Pisa made him concentrate on military affairs.I traveled alone from city to city in Tuscany, having nothing to do and wanting to learn various things.But my parents felt that this kind of undisciplined freedom was inappropriate for a teenager who had devoted himself to a life of contemplation.They therefore accepted Mayarius's proposal, and entrusted me to a well-learned Franciscan friar, Brother William of Baskerville, who was about to undertake a mission which would lead him to famous cities and ancient monasteries. Task.Thus I became William's secretary and disciple, and I have never felt wronged or remorseful, because by following him I was able to witness events worthy of telling posterity; and that is what I am doing now.

I didn't know then what Brother William was looking for, and frankly, I still don't, and I don't think he knew very well himself, but was driven by a desire to find the truth, and—I could see that he always He is harboring—suspecting that what he sees on the surface is not the truth.Perhaps during those years, worldly responsibilities compelled him to temporarily suspend his beloved studies.During our travels, William's mission was never clear to me, and he never mentioned it to me.Only later, from his conversations with the abbots we visited along the way, did I gradually get an idea of ​​the nature of the mission.But I didn't fully understand it until we arrived at our destination.Our destination is in the north, but our journey does not follow a straight line, but stops at various monasteries.So while our ultimate goal was to the east, we turned westward, almost following the mountain trails of the Pilgrimage Route from Pisa to Santiago.While we stopped at one place, there took place a dreadful incident which I do not now wish to recount in detail.It can only be said that the lords of that place were loyal to the empire, while the abbots of the monasteries were united in their opposition to the corrupt and heretical Pope.Our actions lasted for two weeks and witnessed many personnel changes.During this time, I was also able to get to know my new mentor (whom I still believe I can never get enough of).

In the chapters that follow I shall not dwell on the characters—except in the expression of the face or in a certain gesture, which obviously represents silent speech—because, as the Roman philosopher Boethius said, appearances are always fleeting. Flying away, like a flower in the wild will wither and deform in autumn.And when Dean Abo and the people around him have all returned to dust, and their bodies have decayed into the gray of dust, what is the point of saying today that he has stern eyes and pale cheeks? (Yet their souls shone with an unquenchable light.) But at least I must describe William, for his looks alone impressed me, and the young man was replaced by an older, wiser man. The taller man is attracted, not just by his pearly words or sharp mind, but also by his superficial form, as close as a father, and by his gestures, his frown and his smile, which I scrutinize , Observational - Not a speck of sensuality pollutes this form of carnal love (perhaps the only one that is truly pure).

Men used to be handsome and great (now they're children and midgets), but that's just one of the many facts proving to be a disaster in an aging world. Young people no longer want to study anything, the whole world is turned upside down, and blind people lead other equally blind people into the abyss of eternal doom. ※Bandhammer School & E-Book of Fine School※ Birds want to leave the nest before they can fly, fools rule, wolves rule.Mary no longer loves the contemplative life, Martha no longer loves the active life, Leah is barren, Rachel indulges in sex, Cato hangs around the Lane of Fireworks and Willows, and Leuclicias becomes a woman.Everything works backwards.Thank God for the desire to learn and the integrity I gained from my mentor during that time to keep me steady even when the road was twisty and bumpy.

Friar William's appearance was enough at the time to make even the most inattentive passer-by look sideways. He was taller than average, which, combined with his thinness, made him appear taller.His eyes are sharp, as if he can see into the hearts of others.The bridge of his nose is straight and slightly hooked, giving him an air of vigilance, except for certain moments, which I will describe, which inevitably lead to slowness and depression.His jaw expressed firm will, though his long, freckled face, as is often found in people from Ireland to Northumbria, showed occasional hesitation and bewilderment.It didn't take long for me to see that this seemingly unsure look was just curiosity, but at first I was ignorant of this obsessive enthusiasm.On the contrary, I believe that the rational spirit should not condone such passions, but should only focus on what is known from the beginning.

I was still young at the time, and my deepest first impression was the strands of yellow hair protruding from behind his ears and the two thick golden eyebrows.He has probably passed fifty springs, so he is already old, but his tireless body has a dexterity and agility that is even worse than mine.When he is engaged in activities, he is full of energy and tireless.But sometimes he was as weak as a cricket, swimming backward slowly, and I watched him lie on the bed in my room for hours, lazily saying few words, and the muscles on his face remained motionless.At such moments, his eyes would show a blank, blank look, and I always wondered if he had turned into a plant, but some obvious signs of life vetoed my thoughts.I do not deny, however, that during his travels he would sometimes stop by a meadow or the edge of a forest, gather some herbs (all of the same kind, I believe), and chew them intently.He kept the herb by his side and chewed it (he had chewed many times in the monastery) when he was most nervous.When I asked him what that was once, he laughed and said that a good Christian can sometimes learn from the heathen.I begged him to let me taste it too, but he replied that the herb was good for an old Franciscan friar, but not for a young St. Benedictine novice. ※Bandhammer School & E-Book of Fine School※ During our time together, life has been very abnormal.Even in the monastery we were still active at night and sluggish during the day, and we did not take part in the daily routine of the monastery: but on the journey he often went to bed after vespers.His habits were even more frugal.In the monastery, he sometimes walked about the vegetable garden, looking at the plants as if they were chrysoprase or emerald; It's as if it's just a clump of fruit.He would also spend the whole day in the library, poring through manuscripts, seemingly not looking for anything, just for the fun of it (while we were surrounded by a growing number of murdered monks).One day I found him walking aimlessly in the garden, as if he had no need to explain his work to God. I think his attitude taught me to spend my time in a completely different way.I also told him my thoughts.He replied that the beauty of the universe is not only in harmony in change, but also in change in harmony.At that time, I thought this was a natural and unsurprising answer, but I later learned that many monarchs often do what they want and don't care about reason when dealing with affairs. During our time at the monastery, his hands were now and then stained with dust from books, gold dust from decorative paintings, or something yellow that he had touched in the sanatorium.He seems to have to think with his hands, which I think is a more valuable trait than a craftsman.But even when his hands touched the most fragile things, such as codex embellished with gold powder, or pages that were as brittle as matzo bread due to age, they showed the same quality.I think he seems to have an extra delicate touch as he handles his mechanics.In fact, I will explain how this strange man carried a bag full of tools I had never seen before, which he called a wonderful machine.He said that machinery is the result of art, and art is the tendency of nature. What they regenerate is not the shape, but their own operation.From this he explained to me the wonderful structure of clocks, astrodes and magnets.But at first I was terrified that it was witchcraft, and on some clear nights I pretended to be asleep while he (with a strange triangular compass in his hand) stood observing the stars.The Franciscans I knew in Italy and in my own country were simple people, mostly illiterate, so I was amazed at his erudition.But he smiled and said to me that the St. Franciscan monks on their island are completely another type: "Roger Bacon, whom I respect as my mentor, said that the design of the gods will one day include mechanical Science; science is nothing but a miracle of nature and health. One day, by the exploitation of the forces of nature, it may be possible to create an instrument of sea-going that will allow ships to be sailed by a single man, and much faster than can be propelled by sails or oars ; In the future, there will be self-propelled vehicles' and flying appliances, as long as people sit in it and turn a design, they can flap artificial wings and fly to the sky.' There are also small instruments that can lift large weights, and A vehicle that can travel under the sea.” When I asked him where these machines were, he told me that they had been made in ancient times, some even in our own time: "Except for flying machines, I have never seen any man-made, but I know a learned man who has conceived it. A bridge could span a river without the support of columns or other cables, and all sorts of unheard-of machinery are possible. But you don't have to Worrying that they don't exist now, because that doesn't mean they won't. I tell you, that's what God wants, and they're in His heart, though friends at Occam deny such an idea; I say so too Not that we can determine the nature of God, but because we cannot limit it." This was not the only paradox I heard him say; but even to this day I am old and wiser than I was then Quite a few, and I still don't quite understand how he could trust his friends at Occam and at the same time routinely quote Bacon.But then again, in those dark times, wise men had to believe in things that contradicted themselves. Perhaps my description of Brother William is a bit out of order, as if I were only collecting from scratch the fragmented impressions I had of him at the time.What he was and what he did, you will perhaps infer, dear reader, better from his actions during our days in the monastery.What I want to tell you is not a finished design, but a story full of strange and terrible events. So, after a long journey of getting to know my Master day by day, we arrived at the foot of the mountain where the monastery is.This is where my story begins, and may my hand stay steady so that I can tell the whole story.