登陆注册
3553900000067

第67章 BOOK Ⅴ(4)

'It is you who are in error,'returned the Archdeacon with dignity;'Ddalus is the foundation;Orpheus is the wall;Hermes is the edifice—the whole structure.Come whenever it please you,'he continued,turning to Tourangeau.'I will show you the particles of gold left in the bottom of Nicolas Flamel's crucible which you can compare with the gold of Guillaume de Paris.I will instruct you in the secret virtues of the Greek word peristera.But before all things,you shall read,one after another,the letters of the marble alphabet,the pages of the granite book.We will go from the doorway of Bishop Guillaume and of Saint-Jean le Rond to the Sainte-Chapelle,then to the house of Nicolas Flamel in the Rue Marivault,to his tomb in the cemetery of the Holy Innocents,to his two hospices in the Rue de Montmorency.You shall read the hieroglyphics with which the four great iron bars in the porch of the Hospice of Saint-Gervais are covered.Together we will spell out the f des of Saint-Cme,of Sainte-Geneviève-des-Ardents,Saint-Martin,Saint-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie—'For some time past,Tourangeau,with all his intelligence,appeared unable to follow Dom Claude.He broke in now:

'Pasque Dieu!but what are these books of yours?'

'Here is one,'replied the Archdeacon;and opening the window of his cell,he pointed to the mighty Cathedral of Notre-Dame,the black silhouette of its two towers,its stone sides,and its huge roof sharply outlined against the starry sky,and looking like an enormous two-headed sphinx crouching in the midst of the city.

For some moments the Archdeacon contemplated the gigantic edifice in silence;then,sighing deeply,he pointed with his right hand to the printed book lying open on his table,and with his left to Notre-Dame,and casting a mournful glance from the book to the church:

'Alas!'he said.'This will destroy that.'

Coictier,who had bent eagerly over the book,could not repress an exclamation of disappointment.'Hé!but what is there so alarming in this?Glossa in Epistolas Pauli.Norimberg?,Antonius Koburger 1474.That is not new.It is a book of Petrus Lombardus,the Magister Sententiarum.Do you mean because it is printed?'

'You have said it,'returned Claude,who stood apparently absorbed in profound meditation,with his finger on the folio which had issued from the famous printing-press of Nuremberg.Presently he uttered these dark words:'Woe!woe!the small brings down the great;a tooth triumphs over a whole mass!The Nile rat destroys the crocodile,the sword-fish destroys the whale,the book will destroy the edifice!'

The curfew of the cloister rang at this moment as Doctor Jacques whispered to his companion his everlasting refrain of'He is mad!'To which the companion replied this time,'I believe he is.'

It was the hour after which no stranger might remain in the cloister.The two visitors prepared to retire.

'M re,'said Compère Tourangeau,as he took leave of the Archdeacon,'I have a great regard for scholars and great spirits,and I hold you in peculiar esteem.Come tomorrow to the Palais des Tournelles,and ask for the Abbot of Saint-Martin of Tours.'

The Archdeacon returned to his cell dumfounded,comprehending at last who the personage calling himself Compère Tourangeau really was:for he called to mind this passage in the Charter of Saint-Martin of Tours:Abbas,beati Martini,scilicet Rex Franci?,est canonicus de consuetudine et habet parvam p endam quam habet sanctus Venantius,et debet sedere in sede thesaurii.4

It is asserted that from that time onward the Archdeacon conferred frequently with Louis XI,whenever his Majesty came to Paris,and that the King's regard for Dom Claude put Olivier le Daim and Jacques Coictier quite in the shade,the latter of whom,as was his custom,rated the King soundly in consequence.

1 Of Predestination and Free-Will.

2 Goodman,gossip.

3 Writing from right to left and back again from left to right without breaking off the lines.

4 The Abbot of Saint-Martin,that is to say the King of France,is canon,according to custom,and has the small benefice which Saint-Venantis had,and shall sit in the seat of the treasurer.

Chapter 2-This Will Destroy That

Our fair readers must forgive us if we halt a moment here and endeavour to unearth the idea hidden under the Archdeacon's enigmatical words:

'This will destroy That.The Book will destroy the Edifice.'

To our mind,this thought has two aspects.In the first place it was a view pertaining to the priest—it was the terror of the ecclesiastic before a new force—printing.It was the servant of the dim sanctuary scared and dazzled by the light that streamed from Gutenberg's press.It was the pulpit and the manu,the spoken and the written word quailing before the printed word—something of the stupefaction of the sparrow at beholding the Heavenly Host spread their six million wings.It was the cry of the prophet who already hears the far-off roar and tumult of emancipated humanity;who,gazing into the future,sees intelligence sapping the foundations of faith,opinion dethroning belief,the world shaking off the yoke of Rome;the prognostication of the philosopher who sees human thought volatilized by the press,evaporating out of the theocratic receiver;the terror of the besieged soldier gazing at the steel battering-ram and saying to himself,'The citadel must fall.'It signified that one great power was to supplant another great power.It meant,The Printing-Press will destroy the Church.

同类推荐
  • CONCERNING CIVIL GOVERNMENT

    CONCERNING CIVIL GOVERNMENT

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 仿指南录

    仿指南录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • On the Ruin of Britain

    On the Ruin of Britain

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 林登州集

    林登州集

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 沈阳日记

    沈阳日记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 重生之将门无弱女

    重生之将门无弱女

    上天捉弄,看来真要重活一世了!此生将不惜一切代价改变苏家的命运,若失败,必与父亲一同战死边城!!!无论何时死,何地死,因何而死,我也再不因他而死了……
  • 你与星光同曜

    你与星光同曜

    【极致宠文·我对你,永远怀着炙热的心和热烈的情。】☆初见,落堇棉看着远处的权景琛,终于知道什么叫一见钟情。再见,她一口吃了个硬豆腐,惹得琛爷对这海绵宝宝上了心。后来,落堇棉只要笑一笑,权景琛连命都想给她。最后,权景琛当着很多人的面,将一枚戒指套上了堇棉的手指。“新婚快乐,权太太!”☆我对你,无非一腔热忱和潜藏于心底的欢喜,你若爱我,我保证我们携手共进,白头到老。记者:“琛爷,云城那么多美人,你怎么就偏偏看上落小姐这朵嚣张跋扈的富贵儿花了呢?”琛爷:“谁叫我偏偏只喜欢她。”我的喜欢不仅是藏在眼里心里,所以我只想放肆地拥抱你,死也要在一起。
  • 共和国勋章

    共和国勋章

    设立国家勋章的意义非常重大,她可以使那些对国家发展和民族振兴作出突出贡献的人们获得相应的荣誉和奖励,名至实归、名副其实。更重要的是,设立国家勋章也是贯彻宪法,贯彻宪法至上精神的具体体现。本书收录了作者收藏的各种类型的勋章,并对其作了详细的介绍。
  • 校霸王子,我饿了!

    校霸王子,我饿了!

    传说中的钢琴天才夏安然,为找双胞胎哥哥,女扮男装成为博雅男子学院的插班生。不料初次见面便将校霸洛秋摔在地上,两人结下梁子。一次意外,他偶然发现她的秘密,从此踏上一条不归路。她渴了,他迅速奉上一杯果汁,“泰国新到芒果做的芒果西米露,不加冰。”她饿了,他撸起袖子换上围裙,“正巧法国空运过来一批大虾,法国料理如何?”她累了,他上前揉肩锤腿,“打人这种苦差事儿交给我就好,万一伤到手怎么办?”众人吐槽:喂,说好的高冷呢?说好的霸道呢?某校霸翻了个白眼:“那东西又不能当饭吃,哄住他的呆萌小可爱才是王道!”【本文轻松幽默,甜宠搞笑,1V1】
  • 增补评注柳选医案

    增补评注柳选医案

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 尊贤

    尊贤

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 欢迎来到诸神黄昏后的冒险世界

    欢迎来到诸神黄昏后的冒险世界

    神话是异界的现实。在时间的洪流里,诸神亦如凡人。诺思穿越到了诸神黄昏的一万年后的北欧神系世界。蛰伏的黑暗力量仍蠢蠢欲动,身形湮灭的神族在探索如何存续。以神的意志,用利刃与符文唤醒崩坏的秩序。欢迎来到这永恒轮回中,沧海一粟的故事世界……
  • 营养保健粥

    营养保健粥

    要健康,多吃粥。《本草纲目》中李时珍有云:"每日起食粥一大碗,空腹虚,谷气便作,所补不细,又极柔腻,与肠胃相得,最为饮食之妙也。
  • 瀛洲女帝

    瀛洲女帝

    上炎仙子本是大椿树的花朵化形而来,却因触犯天条被打回原形,几乎灰飞湮灭,就连她的本体大椿树也被天帝连根拔起拍出了九重天。海南星,一个巨大无比的星球,大椿树从天而降落入大海竟然使得沉入海中万年的瀛洲仙山重新显现海上。上炎仙子靠着仅剩的一丝魂魄回归大椿树,休养万年,她终于再次成功化形。面对这个连一只蚂蚁随时都能把自己踩死的世界,李上炎却表现得无比淡定,为了生存,她甚至还在仙山开起了酒店。
  • 神通渡世

    神通渡世

    《我意仗剑斩诸天》,新书上线,喜欢的朋友可以去瞧瞧!