Chapter 45 Chapter Forty

morning class During a visit to the cellar where valuables are kept, Nicholas reveals many things Nicholas, who had just been appointed as the administrator, was busy giving orders to the cooks, and the cooks told him the situation of the kitchen operations in a timely manner.William wanted to speak to him, but Nicholas asked us to wait a while until he went down to the cellar where the valuables were kept to supervise the polishing of glass containers, which was still his duty, where he would have more time to speak. After a while, he invited us to come with him.He entered the chapel, went behind the main altar (the monks were busy arranging the coffin in the main chapel to guard Malachi's body through the night), and led the way down a short flight of stairs.Descending the stairs, we found ourselves in a room with a very low vaulted ceiling supported by massive stone columns.This cellar is the place where the wealth of the monastery is stored, and it is also a place that the abbot protects with all his heart and does not easily open or allow people to enter.

Cages, large and small, were piled up here and there, their beautiful and precious objects shining in the light of the torches (which were carried by two of Nicholas' trusted assistants).Golden cassocks, golden crowns inlaid with jewels, metal boxes engraved with humanoid landscapes, carvings of black gold and ivory.Nicholas showed us a Gospel book bound in enamel pins of various colors, inlaid with gold and silver details, and held in place with precious stones as nails.He also showed us a fine building with two gold pillars in front, with the encrusted Christ inlaid, a golden cross below, thirteen diamonds set on an onyx base, and a small pediment made of sea scallops. into, embedded with rubies.Then I saw a gold and ivory diptych, divided into five parts, depicting the life of Christ, with a marvelous lamp in the center, separated by silver threads and glass panels, with a central colored figures.

Nicholas had a proud look on his face as he explained the items to us. After admiring what he had seen, William asked Nicolas Malaki what he was like in life. Nicholas wet a finger and rubbed an unpolished crystal surface, then he half-smiled without looking at William, and replied: "Many people say that the city of Malachi is very deep, on the contrary But he is a very simple man. According to Alinardo, he is a fool." "Alinardo is holding a grudge for a long-ago matter, because he was denied the librarian's honor." ※Bandhammer Academyの重学E书※ "I've heard that too, but it was a long time ago, fifty years at least. When I first got here, the librarian was Robert of Bobbio, and the old monks secretly called Alina What an injustice. One of Robert's assistants died, and Malachi, who was young at the time, was sent to take his place. Many said Malachi was useless, though he claimed to know Greek and Arabic. But it is not true, he is only good at imitating, can trace the ancient manuscripts of those words with beautiful characters, but does not know what he copied. Aliardo hinted that the reason why Malachi was appointed as the assistant administrator, It's a plot by his - Alinardo's - enemies. But I don't know who he's referring to. That's the whole story. People say that Malachi looks at the book like a watchdog room, not knowing what he was looking at.

"Speaking of which, when Malachi appointed Berengar as his assistant, there were objections. They said that the young man was no wiser than his predecessors, that he was only a conspirator. And they said—perhaps you have heard it yourself. Said the rumours—he had a strange relationship with Malachi... old saying. And then, you know, all the talk about Berengar and Adelmo, the young scribes said that Malachi Jealousy as hell, and people talking about Malachi and George. No, not what you'd think—no one would criticize George's morals—but Malachi, as a librarian, was traditionally supposed to go to the dean. Long confession, but all the other monks go to Jorge for confession (or Alinardo, but the old man is in a daze now)...well, they say Malachi goes to Jorge too often for counsel though , as if the Dean directed Malachi's mind, but George ruled his body, his actions, his work. In fact, you probably know, and have even seen, that if one wants to know Where are the forgotten ancient books, he will not ask Malachi, but will go to George. Malachi keeps the catalog, and he is the only one who can freely enter and leave the library. But George knows that each book has a different title. What's the point..."

"How did George know so much about the library?" "He's the oldest besides Alinardo, and he's been here since he was young. George must be eighty years old, and it's said that he's been blind for more than forty years, maybe more..." "How did he become so learned before he was blind?" "Oh, there are many legends about him. It seems that when he was only a boy, he was very gifted. He studied Arabic and Greek in his hometown of Castile, and then, even though he was blind After a while, and even now, he often stays in the library and asks someone to read the catalog to him and bring him the book, and he will find a novice to recite it aloud for him for hours at a time. "

"Now that Malachi and Berengar are dead, who else knows the secret of the library?" "Dean, now the dean must tell Ben Nuo these secrets...if he wishes..." "Why do you say 'if he wishes'?" "Because Benno was still young, and he was named assistant during Malachi's lifetime; the meaning of assistant administrator is quite different from that of librarian, and according to tradition, librarian will succeed the dean in the future... " "Ah, so that's why... that's why many people covet the position of librarian. So, Abo was also a librarian?"

"No, not Abbot. He took over before I got here, about thirty years ago. His predecessor was Paul of Remini, an oddball they used to talk about. He seemed Is the most voracious reader, knows all the books in the library, but he has a strange disease, he can't write, they say he has agraphia... He became the dean when he was very young , it is said that he has the support of Argida of Clooney... but this is a rumor among the old monks. Anyway, Paul became the dean and Robert of Poggio took over as the librarian, but he was afflicted by a disease Pale and emaciated, they knew he couldn't run the monastery, and when Paul of Remini disappeared..."

"Is he dead?" ※Bandhammer Academyの精学E Book※ "No, he disappeared, and I don't know what happened. One day he went on a trip, but he never came back. Maybe he was killed by thieves during the trip. In short, after Paul disappeared, Robert couldn't continue his work. The location, and there were some ambiguous inside stories at the time. It is said that Abo was the illegitimate son of the lord of this district, and he grew up in the monastery of Fossanova. I heard that he took care of St. Thomas when he was young. When St. Thomas died In their monastery, he was also responsible for carrying the great body down the steps of a tower... It is a glorious memory... The fact is that he was elected abbot, although he was not a librarian, The secret of the library, I think, was probably taught to him by Robert. Now you understand why I don't know if the dean will instruct Benno, and it would be no different than nominating him as the next dean, a rash young man, What does a half-savage grammarian from the North know of this country, of this monastery, and of its relation to the territory of this district?"

"But neither Malachi nor Berengar is Italian, and they are both assigned to manage the library." "There is a difficult thing you should know. The monks are talking about the fact that the monastery has been abandoning tradition for more than half a century... That's why, more than fifty years ago, maybe earlier, Arenado would Desire the position of librarian. Librarians have always been Italian—there is no shortage of great minds in these lands. And, you know..." Nicholas hesitated for a moment, seeming reluctant to say that he wanted Said, "...you know, Malachi and Berengar are dead, so they can't even try to be the headmaster."

He shook, stretched out his hand and waved it in front of his eyes, as if wanting to banish unrighteous thoughts, and then crossed himself on his chest: "What am I talking about? You see, in this country, shameful things have happened from time to time for many years." things, even in monasteries, the Holy See, the Church... Conflicts for power, accusations of heresy for taking someone's salary... It's ugly! I have less and less faith in humanity, I see everywhere Intrigues and tricks. Our monastery has come to be like this, hiding a bunch of vipers in esoteric magic. Look, these are the past of this monastery!"

He pointed to the treasures scattered about, leaving the cross and other vessels behind, and took us to the reliquary, which represented the glory of the place. "Look," said he, "there is the point of the spear that went into the side of the Savior!" We saw a gold box with a crystal top, and inside it was lined with velvet, and placed a triangular piece of iron, once covered with rust, which had now been polished with wax and oil.But that was nothing, because in another box inlaid with onyx I saw a piece of wood from the Holy Cross, which Empress Elena herself had brought to the monastery.Elena, the mother of Constantine the Great, made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, excavating Mount Gorgata and the Holy Sepulcher of Jesus Christ, and built a Catholic church there. Then Nicholas showed us other items, all of which were so precious and rare that I can't describe them all.Inside a green jade box, there is a nail of the Holy Cross.In a small glass bottle, there are several dried small roses on the back, and a crown of thorns is placed on it.In another box, still under a layer of dried flowers, was a small piece of yellowing cloth cut from the tablecloth of the Last Supper.There is also a leather bag woven with silver thread, which is said to have been used by St. Matthew during his lifetime.Inside a cylinder tied with a purple ribbon is an arm bone of Saint Anne.Most amazing of all, under a glass clock, on a red doily inlaid with pearls, is a small piece of wood from a stocking barrel in Bethlehem, and a small fragment of the purple robe worn by St. John the Evangelist Cloth, the two chain-links that bound the feet of the apostle Peter in Rome, the skull of St. Venta, the sword of St. Stephen, a shin of St. A ribbon of Sophia, the next of St. Abelard, the shoulder bones of St. Chlesothon, the engagement ring of St. Joseph, a tooth of John the Baptist, the stick of Moses and the wedding dress of the Virgin Mary a small piece of Others, though not sacred relics, were exotic objects from distant lands, bequeathed to the monastery by monks who had been to the extreme ends of the world.Stuffed snakes and sea serpents, the horn of a unicorn, an egg within an egg, a piece of manna eaten by the Hebrews when they crossed the desert, a whale tooth, a coconut, a certain A shoulder bone from an animal, an ivory, a dolphin's rib, and many more holy relics I don't recognize.The reliquaries containing these items may be more precious than the items themselves, and some (judging by the blackened silver craftsmanship) are quite ancient!Numerous bones, fragments, cloth, wood, metal, glass, small vials of black powder, one of which was the remains of the burned city of Sodom, and one of which contained the stucco of the walls of Jellicoe.All objects, even the humblest, were of great value, representing not only the unrivaled authority of the abbey that held them, but a truly great fortune. I walked up and down dumbfounded.Nicholas had stopped explaining, but everything was accompanied by a scroll of briefings.I wandered at will among these precious treasures, admiring them sometimes in the light, sometimes in the gloom, as Nicholas' assistant went off to another part of the cellar with a torch.I was mesmerized by the yellowed cartilage, both mysterious and disgusting.And those rags from who knows how many years ago, old, faded, unthreaded, sometimes rolled up in a bottle, like faded manuscripts.Among the dilapidated objects were mixed the underlying textiles, and the remains of animals, in crystal or metal cases, seemed to have been turned into minerals.Is this the saint who was buried and waited for the bodily resurrection?From these fragments, will those organs that can perceive everything and see various images be reconstructed? William interrupted my contemplation by touching my shoulder. "I'm leaving," he said, "I'm going to the office, I have something to look up..." "But books can't be borrowed now," I said. "The dean gave Benno an order..." "I'm just going to recheck the books I read that day, and they're still in the office, on Venantius's desk. You can stay here. This cellar is what you hear about these days, about The epitome of a poverty argument. Now you know why your brothers fought each other for the position of headmaster." "Do you really believe what Nicholas is suggesting? Are these crimes connected to a re-election conflict?" "As I have told you, I do not wish to present my assumptions at present. Nicholas has said many things, some of which interest me. But now I shall pursue another lead, perhaps the same one. Clues, just from different directions. Don't be too obsessed with the charms of these boxes. I have seen many relics of the Holy Cross in other churches. If these are all true, our Lord was not nailed to two planks instead of being nailed in a whole grove." I yelled in horror: "Teacher!" "It is true, Adso. Some churches have even richer treasures. Not long ago, I saw the skull of John the Baptist at the age of twelve in Cologne Cathedral." I exclaimed in surprise, "Really?" Then I said incredulously, "But John the Baptist was executed after he was old!" William said solemnly: "That skull must be another treasure." I never could tell when he was mocking and when he was serious.In my country, when you make a joke, you say ridiculous things and laugh a lot, so everyone can share the joke too.But William laughed only when he said serious things, and was very serious when he told jokes.