Chapter 54 Chapter 52

How Gao Kangda built the Thereme Abbey for Friar John In the end, Brother John was the only one left. Gao Kangda planned to ask him to be the abbot of Saiyi, but he refused.Gao Kangda wanted to give him the Abbey of Bourgès or Saint-Florent, as he chose, or, if he liked, both; but the monk replied directly that he did not want to be responsible or Manage monks. He said: "I don't even care about myself, how can I care about others? If you think that I have done a little bit for you, and there may be something useful in the future, then please build a monastery according to my plan. "

Gao Kangda happily agreed to his request, and gave him the whole Teraimei area on the Royal River, two miles away from the great forest of Ouport.He also asked Gao Kang to allow him to create a sect that was completely opposite to all other sects. Gao Kangda said: "The first thing is, don't build walls, because there are no other monasteries that are not strictly guarded." "Yes," said the monk, "that's why gossip, jealousy, and rivalries abound wherever there are walls in front of and behind them." What's more, there are still some monasteries in the world. When women go to the monastery (I'm talking about decent and well-behaved women), they have to clean up their past.We have made it a rule that if a priest or a priestess occasionally comes to our convent, the ditches and crevices they walk through must be carefully washed.And because in the monasteries in the world, all work is regulated, restricted and controlled according to the hour, but we stipulate that there are no clocks and sundials in the monastery, and all work is allocated according to ability and need.Gao Kangda said that as far as he knew, nothing was more time-consuming than counting time-what good is that? ——The most absurd thing in the world is not to listen to correct reason and wisdom, but to let the sound of the bell govern you.

Similarly, the women sent to the church at that time were nothing but one-eyed, lame, hunchbacked, grotesque, crippled, crazy, stupid, demonic, and incomplete; , Is a burden at home. The monk said: "By the way, what is the use of a woman who is neither beautiful in appearance nor good in character?" "Send it to the church," Gao Kangda said. "Yes," said the monk, "or make underwear." ?. In the new monastery, it will be stipulated that older ones are not allowed unless they are beautiful in appearance, sound in physique, and normal in temperament; men are only required to have good facial features, sound in body, and gentle in temperament.

Similarly, in general nunneries, men cannot enter except by sneaking around. The new monastery will stipulate that where there are men, there must be women, and where there are women, there must be men. ① Refers to the abbot of Saiyi Monastery. ② Bourgueis Abbey and Saint-Florent Abbey are the two oldest and wealthiest abbeys of the Benedictines in Angjou, France. ③ The Teraimei region is fictionalized by the author. He placed it in a region near the port of Yuou on the Royal River, where there are fertile grasslands rich in Bolaimeng cows.Theme, according to the Greek, means: "will, desire", which may be conceived in order to comply with the rules of the school of Theme, "do as you please, do as you please".

① The medieval French word "she" (elle) has the same pronunciation as "cloth" (toile), so "what's the use of her?" in the previous sentence can also be interpreted as "what's the use of cloth?" Therefore, he Answer your own question "go to underwear". And because, no matter men or women, once they become monks, they have to be priests for life after a one-year trial period; the new monastery stipulates that no matter men or women, after admission, as long as they want to, they can go out at any time, completely free and without force .

In addition, ordinary monks must make three vows, namely: chastity and non-sexuality, poverty and self-sufficiency and observance of religious regulations.In the new monastery, it is stipulated that they can marry openly, get rich freely, and have their own way of life. As for the admission age, it is stipulated that the females are from ten to fifteen years old, and the males are from twelve to eighteen years old.