Chapter 60 Chapter 58

Teabing's "study" was unlike any other study Sophie had ever seen.The lord's study was six or seven times larger than the most luxurious office, a mixture of laboratories, archives and flea markets.Three chandeliers hang from the ceiling to illuminate the room, and a large workbench sits on the tiled floor.The workbenches are stacked with books, artwork, imitations, and an astonishing amount of electronic equipment: computers, projectors, microscopes, copiers, and scanners with flat-bed printers are all there. Teabing walked in quickly, and said a little shyly, "This is converted from a ballroom, because I rarely dance."

Sophie felt that she was roaming in a magical world all night, and everything was so new. "Are you using these for work?" Teabing said, "The search for truth is my favorite, and the Holy Grail is my favorite lover." "The Holy Grail is a woman." Intertwined concepts flashed through Sophie's mind. "You say you have a picture of the Holy Grail?" "There is one. But I didn't call her the Holy Grail. Jesus called her that." Sophie scanned the wall and asked, "Which one is it?" "Hmm..." Teabing made a look as if he had forgotten. "The Holy Grail, the cup Jesus used at the Last Supper, the Chalice." He turned suddenly, pointing to a far wall.It was an enlarged, eight-foot-long photograph of The Last Supper, exactly like the one Sophie had just seen. "There she is!"

Sophie was sure she had missed something just now. "This is the one you showed me just now." Teabing blinked mischievously. "I know, but this zoomed-in photo looks more exciting. Doesn't it?" Sophie turned around and asked Langdon for help, "I'm confused." Langdon smiled and said, "Yes, the Grail did appear in The Last Supper. Leonardo put her prominently." Sophie said, "Wait a minute. You say the Grail is a woman, but the Last Supper shows twelve men." Teabing asked suspiciously, "Really? Take a closer look." Sophie was a little uncertain. She walked up to the painting and looked at the thirteen figures one by one: Jesus Christ in the middle, six disciples on the left, and the remaining six on the right. "They're all men," Sophie said firmly. "Oh?" Teabing said. "And the one in the prominent position? The one on Jesus' right hand."

Sophie watched carefully the man on Jesus' right hand.She examined the face and figure of that person, and couldn't help but be amazed.The man had flowing red hair, slender white hands, and the outline of breasts could be seen.Yes, it was a woman. Sophie exclaimed, "That's a woman!" Teabing laughed loudly. "It's amazing, it's amazing. Believe me, it's true. Da Vinci was very good at portraying the differences between men and women." Sophie could hardly take her eyes off the woman. The Last Supper was supposed to depict thirteen men! Who was this woman? Although Sophie had seen the painting many times, she had never noticed such an obvious anomaly."Nobody noticed," Teabing said. "The perception of the painting that we've developed over the years has become so ingrained that it blinds us to the anomalies."

Adds Langdon: "We're so familiar with a lot of things that the brain sometimes works from impressions." “The other reason you’re ignoring this woman is that a lot of the photographs in art books are from before 1954,” Teabing said. It was done by some clumsy craftsmen in the 18th century. Now, this mural has finally been cleaned up to be exactly like the original one." He pointed to the photo and said, "That's her." Sophie approached the big picture.The woman next to Jesus looks young and sincere.She was dignified, with beautiful red hair, and she was peacefully clasping her hands.Is this the woman who can smash the Holy See with her bare hands?

Sophie asked, "Who is she?" Teabing replied, "My dear, that's Mary Magdalene." Sophie turned and asked, "The whore?" Teabing gasped, as if stung by the words. "She was not a prostitute. This unfortunate misconception was left over from the wars waged by the Holy See in the early years. The Holy See had to discredit Mary in order to conceal the dangerous secret she carried and her role as the Holy Grail." "Her role?" Teabing said, "As I just said, the early days of the Holy See taught the world that Jesus, who lived on earth, was God. Therefore, any Gospel that describes Jesus' mortal life had to be removed from the Bible. Unfortunately, however, Those early writers found a recurring theme in the Gospels, depicting the earthly life of Jesus, vexing for them. That was the Gospel about Mary Magdalene." He paused. Then, "The subject of her marriage to Jesus, more specifically." "What did you say?" Sophie turned from Langdon to Teabing.

"It's documented," Teabing said. "Da Vinci must have known it. The Last Supper is actually saying 'Jesus and Mary Magdalene were a couple.'" Sophie looked back at the mural. Pointing to the two figures in the middle of the mural, Teabing said to Sophie, "Look, Jesus and her clothes match." Sophie stared, dumbfounded.Indeed, the colors of their clothes corresponded.Jesus wears a red smock with a blue cloak; Mary Magdalene wears a blue smock with a red cloak.One yin and one yang. Teabing said, "There's something even more amazing. Look here, Jesus' hips and hers are next to each other, and they're about to separate to make room for this obvious entity between them."

Before Teabing could point it out, Sophie had noticed a distinct V-shape at the focal point of the painting—exactly the same as the one representing the Holy Grail and a female womb. "Finally," Teabing said, "if you look at Jesus and Magdalene not as figures but as compositional elements, you'll notice a distinct silhouette." He paused, then Say: "Outline of a letter." Sophie recognized it right away.And it was not so much that she saw the letter as that all of a sudden she could see only the outline of the letter.There is no doubt that there is a huge and perfect "M" silhouette in the middle of this painting.

Teabing asked, "It's too perfect to be a coincidence. What do you think?" Sophie was stunned. "Why is this happening?" Teabing shrugged: "Theorists will say it stands for 'Matrimonio' ​​or 'Mary Magdalene.' There is indeed a hidden 'M' on the top. Many things related to the Holy Grail contain an invisible M, whether it is a watermark, or an underlying color or compositional hint. Of course, the most dazzling 'M' is London' Our Lady of Paris 'The one on the altar. It was designed by the former head of the Priory, Jean Cocteau."

Sophie thought for a while and said, "I have to admit that the story of the Invisible M is indeed fascinating. But I don't think anyone has enough evidence to prove the marriage between Jesus and Magdalene." "No," Teabing said, walking over to a table piled high with books. "As I said just now, the marriage of Jesus and Magdalene is recorded in history." He began to search hard in the library. "Also, saying that Jesus was a married man is stronger than the biblical view that he was a bachelor." Sophie asked, "Why?" Teabing was busy looking for books, and Langdon took over. "Jesus was a Jew, and according to tradition at the time, Jewish men had to marry. According to Jewish customs, celibacy was condemned, and a Jewish father was obliged to find a suitable wife for his son. If Jesus had not married, At least there are Gospels in the Bible that mention it and give some explanation for Jesus' celibacy."

Teabing found a large book and drew it to him.The leather-bound book was the size of a poster, like a large map.The cover of the book reads: The Gnostic Gospels.Teabing opened the book, and Langdon and Sophie walked over.Sophie discovered that the book contained blown-up photographs of some ancient documents, written on tattered grassy paper.Sophie couldn't read the ancient writing, but there were translations printed on the margins of every page. "These are the photographs of the Coptic Scrolls and the Dead Sea Scrolls that I just mentioned, the earliest Christian documents," Teabing said. "The headache is that they don't line up with the Gospel in the Bible." ’” Teabing turned the book to the middle, pointed to an article, and said, “It’s best to start with the Gospel of Philip.” Sophie read the text: The companion of the Savior was Mary Magdalene.Jesus kissed her often and loved her more than the other disciples.The other disciples were annoyed and expressed their displeasure.They asked Jesus, "Why do you love her more than all of us?" This passage surprised Sophie, but it said nothing. "It doesn't mention marriage." Teabing pointed to the first line and smiled. "On the contrary, as any Aramaic scholar will tell you, at that time 'companion' actually meant ' spouse'." Langdon nodded in agreement. Sophie read the first line again.The consort of the Savior was Mary Magdalene. Teabing flipped through the pages, pointing out several other passages to Sophie.The articles clearly document the romantic relationship between Magdalene and Jesus.Sophie was very surprised by this.Reading these articles, she suddenly recalled an event that happened in her childhood. That day, an angry priest smashed the door of her house desperately.When little Sophie opened the door, the priest stared down at her angrily, and asked loudly, "Is this Jacques Saunière's house? I want to discuss this article he wrote with him." The priest raised his hand. a newspaper. Sophie called her grandfather, who led the man into the study and closed the door. "What did grandpa write in the newspaper?" Sophie ran into the kitchen immediately, quickly flipping through the morning newspaper.She found the article her grandfather had written on the second page and read it.Sophie didn't fully understand the content of the article, but she knew roughly that the French government, under the pressure of the priests, seized an American movie called "The Last Temptation of Jesus". The story of a lady named Mary Magdalene having sex.And the grandfather commented that the Holy See is too arrogant and should not have seized the film. Sophie thought, no wonder the priest was so excited. "It's porn! It's blasphemy!" the priest came out of the study and rushed to the front door. "How can you approve of such a thing! This American named Martin Scorsese is a blasphemer, the church will never allow him to promote such things in France!" The priest rushed out and closed the door with a bang. Door. When grandfather came into the kitchen, he found Sophie reading the newspaper and said frowning, "You're pretty quick." Sophie asked, "Is it because you think Jesus had a girlfriend?" "No, honey. I mean the church shouldn't be telling us what to believe and what not to believe." "So, did Jesus have a girlfriend?" Grandpa was silent for a moment, then said, "If there is, will it be bad?" Sophie thought for a while, then shrugged and said, "I don't care." Sir Ray Teabing went on: "I don't want to say any more about the marriage of Jesus and Magdalene, which has been rotten by contemporary historians. Instead, I'm going to tell you this." He pointed to another article. , "This is an excerpt from the Gospel of Mary Magdalene." Sophie had never heard of the Gospel about Magdalene.She read the text: Peter said, "Did the Savior really talk to a woman behind our backs? Should we turn around and listen to her? Doesn't he like her more than us?" Levy replied, "Peter, you've always had such a bad temper. Now, I see, you're fighting that woman and making her your enemy. If the Lord thinks she's worthy of love, what right do you have against her?" Of course the Lord understands her. That's why He loves her more than us." Teabing explained, "The woman they're talking about is Mary Magdalene." "Just because Jesus preferred Mary?" "Not only that. There were other interests at stake besides liking. The Gospel states that Jesus suspected that he would be arrested and crucified. Therefore, he told Mary Magdalene how she should continue to govern him after his death." church. As a result, Peter was very displeased with following orders from a woman. Dare I say he was a sex supremacist.” Sophie argued, "That's St. Peter! Jesus relied on him to build the church." "True. But according to these unaltered gospels, Jesus didn't command Peter to build the Christian Church, but Mary Magdalene to do it." Sophie looked at him in amazement and said, "You mean the Church of Christ was founded by a woman?" "That was the plan. Jesus was actually a feminist. He wanted Mary Magdalene to run his church." Langdon said, pointing to The Last Supper, "Peter was upset about that. He's here. You can tell Leonardo was fully aware of Peter's hatred of Mary Magdalene." Sophie was speechless again.Peter is pictured leaning viciously against Mary, his hand across her neck like a blade.Exactly the same menacing pose as in Madonna of the Rocks. Langdon pointed to a few disciples next to Peter, and said, "Look here, it's a bit unlucky, isn't it?" Sophie squinted and saw a hand protruding from the group of disciples. "Is this the hand that holds the dagger?" "Yes. There are even stranger ones. If you count their arms, this one belongs to...it belongs to no one. A nameless hand." Sophie was at a loss. "Sorry. I still don't understand how all of this makes Mary Magdalene the Holy Grail." Teabing yelled again, "Ah! That's it!" He turned to the table, pulled a large sheet of paper, and laid it out in front of Sophie.It was an elaborate family tree. "Very few people know that Mary was not only Jesus' right-hand man, but she was already a very powerful woman." Sophie saw the name of the family tree. The Benjamins Teabing pointed to the top of the family tree and said, "Here is Mary Magdalene." Sophie was taken aback. "She turned out to be from the Benjamin family?" "Yes," Teabing said, "Mary Magdalene was a royal descendant." "But I always thought Magdalene was poor." Teabing shook his head. "To call Mary Magdalene a prostitute is to cover up her connection to her powerful family." Sophie turned to Langdon, who nodded.She looked at Teabing and asked, "Why did the Holy See in the early days care whether Magdalene had royal blood?" Teabing smiled and said, "Dear child, rather than saying that the Holy See cares about whether Mary has royal blood, it is better to say that they are more concerned about her husband and wife relationship with Jesus, who also has royal blood. As you know, according to " According to the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus belonged to the family of King David and was a descendant of King Solomon of Judea. After marrying the powerful Benjamin family, Jesus united the two families and thus formed an effective political alliance. In this way, He may legally claim the throne and restore King Solomon's royal family." Sophie felt that he was finally getting to the point. Teabing looked excited. "The legend about the Holy Grail is actually a legend about the royal blood. The 'cup of Jesus' blood' mentioned in the Holy Grail legend... actually refers to Mary Magdalene - the woman who carried the royal blood of Jesus .” The words seemed to pass through the whole study, and passed back again, before finally fully reaching Sophie's ears.Mary Magdalene passed on Jesus' royal lineage? "But how could Jesus have offspring? Unless..." She stopped suddenly and looked at Langdon. Langdon smiled softly. "Unless they have children." Sophie froze. "Wait a minute," Teabing announced. "The following is the greatest secret in human history. Jesus Christ is not only married, he is also a father. My dear, Mary Magdalene is The Holy Grail. She is the Holy Grail that gave birth to the royal descendants of Jesus Christ. She is the woman who carries the royal lineage of Jesus Christ, the vine that bears the divine fruit." Sophie felt the hairs all over her body stand on end. "However, how could such an important secret be kept silently for so many years?" Teabing exclaimed: "My God! The secret has never been 'silently' kept! The enduring legend of the Holy Grail has always revolved around the royal descendants of Jesus Christ. The story of Magdalene has also been used in all kinds of metaphors and various It has been publicized for hundreds of years in various languages. There are legends about her everywhere if you pay attention." Sophie said, "So, what about those documents about the Holy Grail? It is said that there is evidence that Jesus had descendants, isn't it?" "yes." "So the Grail legend is all about royal blood?" Teabing said, "Indeed. The word Holy Grail comes from 'SanGreal.' In the earliest days, 'Sangreal was broken in different places." Teabing wrote two words on a small piece of paper, and handed give her. Sophie looked at the note. SangReal She immediately understood what it meant. "SangReal" literally means "RoyalBlood" (royal blood).