Chapter 36 Chapter Thirty-One

night Salvatore's whereabouts are discovered by Bernard Gui, the girl Adso loves is accused of being a witch, and everyone goes to bed unhappy and more worried than ever As we went downstairs and walked back to the dining room, we heard noises and saw dim lights coming from the direction of the kitchen.William quickly blew out his lamp.We leaned against the wall and approached the door to the kitchen, realizing that the noise was coming from outside, but the door to the vegetable garden was open.Then the sound and light were removed, and someone slammed the door shut. There was a commotion outside, obviously something unpleasant happened.We walked briskly past the ossuary, into the deserted chapel, and out the south door, where we glimpsed the flickering lights of torches in the cloister.

We headed that way, hurrying in the confusion, and presumably the many other monks who were already there, running either from the dormitory or the Pilgrim's House.We see the archer clutching Salvatore, whose face is as white as his eyes, and a woman, hissing and weeping.My heart cringes: it's her, the girl I miss.She saw me too, and recognized me, and gave me an urgent, imploring look.I had the urge to step forward and save her, but William stopped me and reprimanded me in a low voice.Monks and guests came rushing from all directions. The dean arrived, and Bernard Guy.The captain of the archers immediately reported to him.What happened was roughly like this:

By order of the magistrate, they patrolled the entire monastery at night, paying special attention to the main access from the gate to the chapel, the gardens, and around the cathedral (why? I couldn't help thinking).Then I understood: it was obvious that Bernard heard the rumors of movement between the outer wall and the kitchen at night from the mouth of the servant or the cook, and maybe he didn't know who the person in charge was.Maybe the stupid Salvatore had told someone else about his plan in the kitchen or in the barn other than to me, and that same person, pressed by Bernard that afternoon, told him about it. Something came out.The archers patrolled cautiously back and forth in the dark, and finally caught Salvatore and the woman at the kitchen door.

"There is a woman in this sacred place! And with a monk!" Bernard said sternly to the dean, "Master, if this matter only involves breaking the vow of chastity, this person will be handed over to you Dispose of it. But now we are not sure whether the behavior of these two villains is related to the peace of all guests, so we must first find out this matter. Now, you villain!" He pulled out from Salvatore's chest. The package that the poor man was trying to hide, "What are you hiding?" I already knew, a knife, a black cat—as soon as the bundle was untied, it screamed wildly and ran away like flying; two broken eggs, a sticky ball.Salvatore was about to go into the kitchen, kill the cat, goug out its eyes, and who knows what he promised to lure the girl to follow him.I soon understood what the promise was.The archer searched the girl, smiling sinisterly and uttering obscenities, and found a dead young rooster on her body, which had not yet been plucked.To make matters worse, on a foggy night, all the cats looked gray, and even the rooster seemed black.Still, I thought, it's such a small price to pay for a single chicken, poor girl, who lost that precious heart the night before (for the love of me)...

"Ah!" Bernard exclaimed in a serious tone, "the black cat and the rooster... I know these props," he looked at William, "you know it too, brother William? Also one of the magistrates, do you remember the time when a girl communicated with a devil who turned into a black cat?" It seemed to me that my mentor's silence seemed cowardly.I tugged at his sleeve, shook him, and begged him in a low voice in despair: "Tell him, tell him that rooster is to be slaughtered and eaten..." He broke free from my hand, and politely said to Bernard: "I believe you don't need to rely on my past experience to draw conclusions."

"Oh, yes, we have more authoritative witnesses." Bernard smiled, "Stephen of Bourbon, in his exposition of the Seven Rites of the Holy Spirit, mentioned that St. After consecration, it was announced to some of the women that they would see the master they had worshiped until then. Suddenly there sprang between them a frightening cat, about the size of a dog, with shining eyes and a blood-red tongue down to the navel, and the short tail held high in the air, so that no matter which way the animal turned, it showed its wicked rear, which stinks more than any animal. Many devotees of Satan, and Templars, It's customary to kiss the stinking anus at a party. After about an hour around the women, the cat jumped on the bell rope, climbed up, and pooped. Cats are not favored by Kasa believers According to Arana of Insulli, the word 'cat' comes from 'Catus' because the animal was the embodiment of the devil.Didn't William of Laverna also testify to this disgusting ritual in "The Devil's Tricks"?Didn't my venerable brother Jacques Fournier also recall that before the death of Magistrate Geoffrey, two black cats appeared beside his hospital bed, that is, the devil came to mock the living? "

The monks whispered to each other in horror, and many made the sign of the sign of the cross. "Dean, Dean," Bernard turned to the dean again, "maybe you don't know which sinners are used to using these props! But I know it well, God help me! The most evil I have ever seen Man, in the darkest hour of night, and his companions, use black cats to perform sorcery they can never deny: straddle certain animals, fly across the sky under the cover of night, drag their slaves, transform Lustful succubi... They firmly believe that the devil will appear to them in the form of a rooster, or some other black animal, and they even lie with him - don't ask me how. I also know that not long ago in Avignon some people even poisoned the food of our Pope with this enchanted drug, in order to murder him. He had many jewels in the shape of a python's tongue, adorned with emeralds and rubies, through which the poison in food could be manifested by divine power. The king of France gifted him eleven of these most precious tongues, thank God, That's why our Pope escaped! Yes, the enemies of the Pope are worse, and everyone knows about the heretic Bernard de Lischer; he was arrested ten years ago, by A spellbook was found in his house, and notes were written on many pages, including instructions for making wax figures to harm the enemy. Can you believe it? Also found in his house was a wax figure of the Pope, made to resemble a real person, only in The fatal parts of the body are painted with little red circles. Everyone knows that just hang the figure with a rope in front of the mirror, and stick needles in those fatal parts, and... oh, but why am I saying these orders? What about the disgusting ritual? The Pope himself has spoken of it, described it, and condemned it, in the book he finished last year! I hope your library has a copy of it, so that the monks can study it carefully ..."

The distressed dean hurriedly confirmed: "We have, we have." "Very well," Bernard concluded, "now I think the matter is clear. A seduced monk, a witch, and some kind of ritual which fortunately has not yet taken place. What is the purpose? We shall find out Yes, I am ready to sacrifice a few hours of sleep to find out. Will the Dean arrange for me a place that I can freely use to detain this person?" "There are several rooms in the basement of the foundry," said the Dean. "Fortunately, they are seldom used. They have been vacant for several years."

"Lucky, but also unfortunate." Bernard commented.He ordered the archer to find someone to lead the way, take the two prisoners to lock in two different rooms, and then use several loop holes embedded in the wall to tie Salvatore tightly, and Bernard will later Go there and question him yourself, and take a good look at his face.As for the girl, he said her identity was obvious enough that there was no need to question her at night.She had many more trials to face before she was burned at the stake as a witch.If she was really a witch, she would not say so easily.But the monk might regret it (he stared at the trembling Salvatore, as if to make Salvatore understand that this was the last chance he offered), and would tell the truth and confess his accomplices.

The two of them were dragged away, one dejected and silent, who seemed to have fainted; the other was crying and screaming, kicking like an animal about to be taken to a slaughterhouse.But neither Bernard nor the archer, nor I, could understand her native dialect.So even though she yelled, it was the same as keeping her mouth shut.There are words which frighten men, and others which only confuse them—that is, the vulgar language of fools, to whom God has not given the grace of self-expression, as has the learned and the powerful. I tried to follow her again, but William stopped me with another frown.

"Don't act rashly, fool," he said. "The girl is finished. She is cremated flesh." I watched the scene in horror, glared at the girl, and as thoughts raced through my mind, I felt someone touch my shoulder.I don't know why, but I recognize Ubertino without looking back. "You're looking at that witch, aren't you?" he asked me.I know that he can't know about me, so he said that only because he, who is perceptive, saw my anxious eyes. "No," I argued, "I wasn't looking at her... Or, I was, but she's not a witch... We don't know for sure, maybe she's innocent." "You see her because she's beautiful. She's beautiful, isn't she?" he asked me in an uncharacteristically affectionate tone, pressing my arm. "If you see her because she's beautiful and you're She's haunted (and I know you're troubled, because her suspected evil makes her all the more fascinating to you), and if you look at her and feel longing, she's a witch for that alone. Be on the lookout, kid ...the beauty of the body is only superficial. If men could look beyond the surface, they would shudder at the sight of a woman. In that grace is mucus and blood, bodily fluids and bile. Just think of the nostrils, throats and stomachs There's something hiding in there—it's all filth. How can we long to hug pouches full of feces if you feel sick to touch mucus and feces with your fingertips?" I have a nauseous feeling.I don't want to hear any more.My mentor, who also heard his words, came to my rescue just in time, and suddenly he went to Ubertino, took his arm, and made him let go of my hand. "Enough, Ubertino," said William, "that girl will soon be tortured and then burned. She will become what you call mucus, blood, bodily fluids, and bile. But from her skin Dig out all that God wants to protect and adorn with skin, us men. You're no better than her when it comes to the bottom of the soul. Stop messing with that kid." Ubertino was a little embarrassed: "Maybe I have committed a crime." He murmured, "I have indeed committed a crime. What can a criminal do?" Everyone has gone back to their rooms, commenting on the incident.William and Michael lingered a little longer, and a few Menorite monks who asked him what he thought. "Bernard has an argument, though vague. There are magicians in the monastery, doing things like poisoning the Pope in Avignon. First of all, the argument is not proven and cannot be used as a hindrance. An excuse for tomorrow's meeting. Tonight he'll try to wring another lead out of that poor wretch, but I'm sure he won't use this one right away tomorrow morning. He'll keep it and bring it up later to interfere with the discussion process, if the direction of the discussion displeases him." Michael asked: "Will he force the monk to say something that can be used to criticize us?" William hesitated and said, "I hope not." I realized that if Salvatore told us everything he had told us—about his past with the administrator, or their short-lived relationship with Ubertino—it would probably create a very embarrassing situation. situation. "We'll see, anyway," said William quietly. "Everything has been decided beforehand, Michael. But you'll have to try." "Yes," said Michael, "and God help me. May St. Francis intercede for us all." "Amen." Everyone echoed. "But that's not necessarily possible." William said surprisingly, "St. Francis may have gone somewhere to wait for the Judgment Day, instead of seeing God face to face." "Curse that heretic John!" I heard Bishop Jerome whisper. "What will become of us poor sinners if he now deprives us of the help of the saints?"