The Human Tragedy ...........................................................................................................................................1

By Anatole France...................................................................................................................................1

FRA GIOVANNI .....................................................................................................................................1

THE LAMP .............................................................................................................................................4

THE LOAF ON THE FLAT STONE .....................................................................................................4

THE TABLE UNDER THE FIG TREE .................................................................................................5

THE TEMPTATION ..............................................................................................................................6

THE SUBTLE DOCTOR .......................................................................................................................8

THE BURNING COAL ........................................................................................................................10

THE HOUSE OF INNOCENCE ..........................................................................................................11

THE FRIENDS OF ORDER ................................................................................................................13

THE REVOLT OF GENTLENESS ......................................................................................................15

WORDS OF LOVE ..............................................................................................................................17

THE TRUTH ........................................................................................................................................18

GIOVANNI'S DREAM ........................................................................................................................21

THE JUDGMENT ................................................................................................................................24

THE PRINCE OF THIS WORLD ........................................................................................................26

In those days the holy man, who, born though he was of human parents, was veritably a son of God, and who

had chosen for his bride a maiden that folk open the door to as reluctantly as Death itself, and never with a

smile the poor man of Jesus Christ, St. Francis, was gone up to the Skies. Earth, which he had perfumed

with his virtues, kept only his body and the fruitful seed of his words. His sons in the spirit grew meantime,

Kings and queens girded on the cord of St. Francis, the poor man of Jesus Christ. Men in multitudes sought in

forgetfulness of self and of the world the secret of true happiness; and flying the joys of life, found a greater

joy. The Order of St. Francis spread fast through all Christendom, and the House of the Poor Men of the Lord

covered the face of Italy, Spain, the two Gauls and the Teutonic lands. In the good town of Viterbo arose a

House of peculiar sanctity. In it Fra Giovanni took the vows of Poverty, and lived humble and despised, his

He had knowledge by revelation of many truths that escaped clever and worldwise men. And ignorant and

simpleminded as he was, he knew things unknown to the most learned Doctors of the age.

He knew that the cares of riches make men illconditioned and wretched, and that coming into the world

He was poor and merryhearted. His delight was in obedience; and renouncing the making of plans of any

sort for the future, he relished the bread of the heart. For the weight of human actions is a heavy load, and we

are trees bearing a poisoned fruit. He was afraid to act, for is not all effort painful and useless?

He was very humble, knowing how men have nothing of their own that they should boast of, and that pride

hardens the heart. He knew moreover, that they whp possess for all wealth only the riches of the spirit, if they

make boast of their treasure, so far lower themselves to the level of the great ones of the earth.

And Fra Giovanni outdid in humility all the Monks of the House of Viterbo. The Superior of the Monestery,

the holy Brother Sylvester, was less righteous than he, forasmuch as the master is less religious than the

Observing that Fra Giovanni had a way of stripping himself of his gown to clothe the suffering members of

Jesus Christ, the Superior forbade him, in the name of holy obedience, to give away his garments to the poor.

Now the same day this command was laid on him, Giovanni went, as his wont was, to pray in the woods that

cover the Slopes of Monte Cunino. It was Winter time; snow was falling, and the wolves coming down into

Fra Giovanni kneeling down at the foot of an oak, spoke to God, as might one friend to another, and besought

Him to take pity on all orphans, prisoners and captives, to take pity on the master of the fields sorely harried

by the Lombard usurers, to take pity on the stags and hinds of the forest chased by the hunters, and on all

trapped creatures, whether of fur or feathers. And lo! he was rapt away in an ecstasy, and saw a hand pointing

When presently the sun had slipped behind the mountains, the man of God arose from his knees and took the

path to the Monastery. On the white, silent road thither, he met a beggar, who asked him for alms for the love

"Alas!" he told him, "I have nothing but my gown, and the Superior has forbidden me to cut it in two so as to

give away the half. Therefore I cannot divide it with you. But if you love me, my son, you will take it off me

So Fra Giovanni went on his way naked under the falling snow, and entered the city. As he was crossing the

Piazza with nothing on but a linen cloth about his loins, the children who were running at play in the Great

Square made mock at him. In derision, they shook their fists in his face with the thumbs stuck between the

first and middle fingers, and threw snow at him mixed with mud and small stones.

Now there lay in the Great Square some logs of timber for the woodwork of a house, and one of the logs

happened to be balanced across the other. Two children ran and took their places, one at each end of the

beam, and began playing seesaw two of the same children who had made mock of the holy man and

He went up to them now smiling, and said: "Dear little children, will you suffer me to share your game?"

And sitting down on one end of the beam, he seesawed up and down against the two little ones. And some

But after the bells had rung the Ave Maria, Fra Giovanni was still at seesaw. And it chanced that certain

Priests from Rome, who had come to Viterbo to visit the Mendicant Friars, whose fame was great through the

world, just then crossed the Great Square. And hearing the children shouting, "Look! little Brother Giovanni's

here," the Priests drew near the monk, and saluted him very respectfully. But the holy man never returned

their salute, but making as though he did not see them, went on seesawing on the swaying beam. So the

Priests said to each other: "Come away; the fellow is a mere dunce and dullard!"

Then was Fra Giovanni glad, and his heart overflowed with joy. For these things he did out of humility and

for the love of God. And he put his joy in the scorn of men, as the miser shuts his gold in a cedar chest,

At nightfall he knocked at the Monastery door, and being admitted, appeared among the Brethren naked,

bleeding, and covered with mire. He smiled and said: "A kind thief took my gown, and some children

But the Brothers were angry, because he had dared to pass through the city in so undignified a plight.

"He feels no compunction." they declared, "about exposing the Holy Order of St. Francis to derision and

The General of the Order, being warned a great scandal was ruining the sacred Society, called together all the

Brethren of the Chapter, and made Fra Giovanni kneel humbly on his knees in the midst of them all. Then,

his face blazing with anger, he chid him harshly in a loud, rough voice. This done, he consulted the assembly

Some were for having him put in prison or suspended in an iron cage from the Church steeple, while others

Anf Fra Giovanni, beaming with satisfaction, told them: "You are very right, my Brethren; I deserve these

punishments, and worse ones still. I am good for nothing but foolishly to waste and squander the goods of

And brother Marcian, who was a man of great sternness both of life and doctrine, cried: "Hear him! he talks

And Fra Giovanni said again: "Brother Marcian, I am indeed capable of every infamy but for God's good

Meantime the General was pondering over the strange behaviour of Fra Giovanni, and he besought the Holy

Spirit to inspire the judhement he was to give. And lo! as he prayed, his anger was changed into admiration.

He had known St. Francis in the days when that Angel of Heaven, born of woman, was a sojourner in this

world, and the example of the favourite follower of Christ had taught him the love of spiritual perfection.

So his soul was enlightened, and he recognized in the works of Fra Giovanni a divine innocence and beauty.

"My brethren," he said at length, "far from blaming our Brother, let us admire the grace he receives so

abundantly from God. In very truth he is a better man than we. What he has done, he has done in imitation of

Jesus Christ, who 'suffered the little children to come unto Him,' and let the Roman soldiers strip Him of his

Then he addressed the kneeling Fra Giovanni: "This, my Brother, is the penance I lay upon you. In the name

of that holy obedience you owe St. Francis, I command you to go forth into the country, and the first beggar

you meet, beg him to strip you of your tunic. Then, when he has left you naked, you must come back into the

Having so said, the General of the Order came down from his chair of state, and raising Fra Giovanni from

the ground, fell on his own knees before him and kissed his feet. Then, turning to the assembled Monks, he

said to them: "In very truth, my Brethren, this man is the good God's plaything."

In those days the truth was revealed to Fra Giovanni that the riches of this world come from God and should

Christian folk were busy celebrating the Saviour's birth; and Fra Giovanni had come to the town of Assisi,

which is set upon a mountaintop, and from this mountain first rose the Sun of Charity.

Now the day before Christmas Eve, Fra Giovanni was kneeling in prayer before the Altar under which St.

Francis sleeps in a stone coffin. And he was meditating, dreaming how St. Francis was born in a stable, like

Jesus. And while he was pondering, the Sacristan came up to him and asked him of his goodness to look after

the Church while he ate his supper. Church and Altar were both loaded with precious ornaments; gold and

silver were there in abundance, for the sons of St. Francis had long fallen from their poverty, and had

Fra Giovanni assured the Sacristan: "Go, Brother, and enjoy your meal. I will guard the Church as Our Lord

And so saying he went on with his meditations. And as he knelt there alone in prayer, a poor woman entered

"I have nothing," the holy man replied; "but the Altar is loaded with ornaments, and I will go see if I cannot

find something to give you." A golden lamp hung above the Altar, decked about with silver bells. Examining

the lamp, he said to himself: "Those little bells are but idle vanities. The true ornament of yonder Altar is the

body of St. Francis, which reposes naked under the flags with a black stone for a pillow."

And drawing his knife from his pocket, he detached the little silver bells, one after the other, and gave them

Presently, when the Sacristan, his meal finished, returned to the Church, Fra Giovanni, the holy man of God,

said to him: "Never trouble, my brother, about the little bells that belonged to the lamp. I have given them

Gorasmuch as the good St. Francis had bidden his sons to "Go, beg for your bread from door to door," Fra

Giovanni was one day sent to a certain city. Having passed the Gate, he went up and down the streets to beg

his bread from door to door, according to the rule of the Order, for the love of God.

But the folk of that city were more covetous than the men of Lucca, and harder than they of Perugia. The

bakers and tanners who were dicing before their shopdoors, repulsed the poor man of Jesus Christ with

harsh words. Even the young women, holding their newborn babes in their arms, turned their faces from him.

And when the good Brother, whose joy was in dishonour, smiled at the refusals and insults he received.

"He is laughing at us," said the townsmen to each other. "He is a born fool or say rather a vagabond

imposter and a drunkard. He has overdrunk himself with wine. It were a sin and a shame to give him so much

And the good Brother answered: "You say true, my friends; I am not worthy to stir your pity, nor fit to share

The children, who were just then coming out of school, overheard what was said, and ran after the holy man

Then Fra Giovanni went forth into the country. The city was built on the slope of a hill,and was surrounded

with vineyards and oliveyards. He descended the hill by a hollow way, and seeing on either side the grapes of

the vines that hung down from the branchesof the elms, he stretched out his arm and blessed the clusters.

Likewise he blessed the olive and the mulbeery trees and all the wheat in the lowlands.

Meantime he was both hungry and thirsty; and he took delight in thirst and hunger.

At the end of a crossroad he saw a wood of laurels; and it was the habit of the Begging Friars to go and pray

in the woods, amongst the poor animals cruel men hunt and harry. Accordingly Fra Giovanni entered the

woods, and fared on by the side of a brook that ran clear and singing on its way.

Presently he saw a flat stone beside the brook, and at the same moment a young man of wonderous beuty,

And Fra Giovanni knelt down and prayed, saying: "O God, how good art Thou, to send Thy poor man bread

by the hand of one of Thy Angels. O blessed poverty! O very glorious and sumptuous poverty!"

And he ate the loaf the Angel had brought, and drank the water of the brook, and was strengthened in body

and in soul. And an invisible hand wrote on the wall of the city: "Woe, woe to the rich!"

Following the example of St. Francis, his wellbeloved Father, Fra Giovanni used to visit the hospitol of

And if they blasphemed, he used to tell them, "You are the Chosen Sons of Jesus Christ." And there were

some lepers of a very humble spirit whom he would gather together in a chamber, and with whom a mother

But the hospital walls were very thick, and daylight entered only by narrow windows high up above the floor.

The air was so fetid the lepers could scarcely live in the place at all. And Fra Giovanni noted how one of

them, by name Lucido, who showed an exemplary patience, was slowly dying of the evil atmosphere.

Fra Giovanni loved Lucido, and would tell him: "My brother, you are Lucido, and no precious stone is purer

And observing how Lucido suffered more sorely than the others from the poisonous air they breathed in the

Leper's Ward, he said to him one day: "Friend Lucido, dear Lamb of the Lord, while the very air they breathe

in this place is pestilence, in the gardens of Santa Maria degli Angeli we inhale the sweet scent of the

laburnums. Come you with me to the House of the Poor Brethren, and you will find relief."

So speaking he took the leper by the arm, wrapped him in his own cloak and led him away to Santa Maria

Arrived at the gate of the Monastery, he summoned the Doorkeeper with happy shouts of exultation: "Open!"

he cried, "open to the friend I am bringing you. His name is Lucido, and a good name it is, for he is a very

The Brother opened the Gate; but the instant he saw in Fra Giovanni's arms a manwhose face , livid and all

but expressionless, was covered with scales, he knew him for a leper, and rushed off in terror toward the

Brother Superior. The latter's name was Andrea of Padua, and he was a man of very holy life. Nevertheless

when he learned that Fra Giovanni was bringing a leper into the House of Santa Maria degli Angeli, he was

very wroth, and coming to him with a face burning with anger, bade him: "Stay there outside with the man.

Fra Giovanni only looked on the ground without venturing any reply. All the joy was gone from his face; and

Lucido, seeing him troubled: "Brother," said he, "I am grieved you are made sad because of me."

Then he said, turning to the Superior: "Will you suffer me, my Father, to stay outside the Gate with this man,

and share my meal with him?" to which the Father Superior answered: "Even do as you please, seeing you

Now in front of the Gate was a stone bench under a figtree, and on this bench Fra Giovanni set down his

bowl. But while he was supping with the Leper, the Father Superior had the Gate thrown open and came and

sat under the figtree and said: "Forgive me, Fra Giovanni, for having given you offense. I have come hither

Then Satan sat him down on the brow of a hill and gazed down at the House of the Poor Brethren. He was

black and beautiful like a young Egyptian. And he thought in his heart: "Forasmuch as I am the Enemy of

Mankind and the Adversary of God, therefore will I tempt these Monks, and I will tell them what is kept hid

by Him who is their Friend. Lo! I will afflict these men of Religion by telling them the truth, and I will

darken their spirit, uttering to them words of verity and reasonableness. I will plunge reflection like a sword

into their veins; and so soon as they shall know the reality of things, they will be unhappy. For joy there is

none but in illusion, and peace is only to be found in ignorance. And because I am the master of such as study

the nature of plants and animals, the virtue of stones, the secrets of fire, the courses of the stars and the

influence of the planets, for this reason men have named me the Prince of Darkness. Likewise they call me

the Wily One, because by me was constructed the plummetline whereby Ulpian straightened out the Law.

And my kingdom is of this world. Well then, I will try these Monks, and I will make them to know their

works are evil, and that the tree of their Charity bears bitter fruit. Yea! I will tempt them without hate and

Thus said Satan in his heart. Meantime, as the shades of evening were lengthening along the base of the hills

and the cottage chimneys were smoking for the evening meal, the holy man Giovanni issued from out the

wood where he was wont to pray, and turned into the road leading to Santa Maris degli Angeli saying: "My

And seeing Fra Giovanni wending his way homewards, Satan thought: "Lo! here is one of those men I have

come to tempt;" and drawing his black cloak over his head, he advanced along the high road, which was

Now Satan had made himself like a widowwoman with a veil, and when he had joined Fra Giovanni, he put

on a honeyed voice and asked an alms of him, saying: "Give me an alms for the love of Him who is your

And Fra Giovanni answered: "It happens so, I have with me a little silver cup a nobleman of the countryside

gave me, to have it melted down and used for the Altar of Santa Maria degli Angeli. You may take that, lady;

and I will go tommorrow and ask the nobleman to let me have another of the same weight for the Blessed

Virgin. Thus will his wishes be accomplished, and over and above, you will have gotten an alms for the love

Satan took the cup and said: "Good brother, suffer a poor widowwoman to kiss your hand. For verily the

And Fra Giovanni replied: "Lady, be heedful not to kiss my hand. On the contrary, begone with all speed.

For, methinks you are winsome of face, abeit black as the Magian King that bore the frankincense and myrrh:

and it is not becoming I should look on you longer, seeing how danger is forever clogging the lonely man's

steps. Wherefore suffer me now to leave you, commending you to God's care. And forgive me, if I have

failed aught in politeness towards you, lady. For the good St. Francis was used to say: 'Courtesy shall be the

But Satan said again: "Good Father, inform me at the least of a guesthouse, where I may pass the night

Fra Giovanni replied: "Go mistress, to the House of St. Damian, where dwell the poor ladies of Our Lord.

She who will welcome you is Clare, and indeed she is a clear mirror of purity; the same is the Duchess of

And Satan said again: "My father, I am an adulterous woman, and I have lain with many men."

And Fra Giovanni said: "Lady, if I really deemed you laden with the sin you tell of, I would crave of you as a

high honor to kiss your feet, for I am less worthy than you, and your crimes are little compared with mine.

Yet I have received greater favours of Heaven than have been accorded to you. For in the days when St.

Francis and his twelve disciples were still upon earth, I lived with Angels of Heaven."

And Satan returned: "My Father, when I asked you an alms for the love of Him who loves you, I was

cherishing in my hearta wicked intent, and I am fain to tell you what this was. I wander the roads abegging,

in order to collect a sum of money I destine for a man of Perosa who is my paramour, and who has promised

me, on handling this money, to kill traitorously a certain knight I hate, because when I offered my body to

him, he scorned me. Well! the total was yet incomplete; but now the weight of your silver cup has made it up.

So the alms you have given me will be the price of blood. You have just sold a man to death. For the knight I

told you of is chaste, temperate and pious, and I hate him for this cause. 'Tis you will have brought about his

murder. You have laid a weight of silver in the scale of crime, to bear it down."

Hearing these words, the good Fra Giovanni wept, and drawing aside, he fell on his knees in a thornbrake,

and prayed to the Lord, saying: "O Lord, make this crime to fall neither on this woman's head nor on mine

nor on that of any of Thy creatures, but let it be put beneath Thy feet, which were pierced with the nails, and

be washed in Thy most precious blood. Distill on me and on this my sister of the highway a drop of hyssop,

But the Enemy fled away, thinking: "This man I have not been able to tempt by reason of his utter

Satan returned and sat on the Mountain that looked toward Viterbo, laughing under its crown of olives. And

He conceived this purpose in his spirit, because he had seen Fra Giovanni, girt about with a cord, and a sack

over his shoulder crossing the meadows below on his way to the city to beg his bread there according to the

So Satan took on the appearance of a holy Bishop, and came down into the. plain, A mitre was on his head

sparkling with precious stones, that flashed like actual fire in the sunlight. His cope was covered with figures

embroidered and painted so beautifully no craftsman in all the world could have wrought their like. Amongst

the rest he was despicted himself, in silk and gold, under the guise of a St. George and a St. Sebastian, as also

under that of a Virgin St. Catherine and the Empress Helena. The loveliness of the face troubled the mind and

saddened the heart. The garment was truly of a wondrous workmanship and nothing so rich and rare is to be

Thus decked in cope and mitre, and majestic as St. Ambrose, the glory of Milan, Satan pursued his way,

But he said not of what sort this peace was and Fra Giovanni supposed it was the peace of the Lord. He

thought to himself: "This Bishop who gives me the salutation of' peace was doubtless in his lifetime a sainted

Pontif and a blessed Martyr unshakable in his constancy. That is why Jesus Christ has changed the wooden

cross to a golden in the hands of this gallant Confessor of the Faith. Today he is powerful in Heaven; and lo!

after his holy and happy death, he walks in these meadows that are painted with flowers and broidered with

Such were the good Giovanni's thoughts and he was in no wise abashed. So saluting Satan with a deep

reverence, he said: "Sir! you are exceedingly gracious to appear to a poor man such as I. But indeed these

meadows are so lovely, 'tis no wonder if the Saints of Paradise come to walk here; they are painted with

flowers and broidered with pearls of dew. The Lord did very kindly when He made them."

And Satan said to him "It is not the meadows, it is your heart I am fain to look at; I have come down from the

Mountain to speak with you. I have, in bygone Centuries, held many high disputations in the Church. Amid

the assembled Doctors my voice would boom forth like thunder, and my thoughts flash like lightning. I am

very learned, and they name me the Subtle Doctor. I have disputed with God's Angels. Now I would hold

Fra Giovanni made answer: "Nay! but how should the poor little man that I am hold dispute with the Subtle

Doctor? I know nothing and my simplicity is. such I can keep nothing in my head but those songs in the

And Satan answered: "Fra Giovanni, the Venetian ladies amuse their leisure and show their adroitness in

fitting a multitude of little pieces of ivory into a box of cedarwood, which at the setoff seemed all too

small to contain many. In the same fashion I will pack ideas into your head that no one would have dreamed

it could ever hold; and I will fill you with a new wisdom. I will show that, thinking to walk in the right way

you are straying abroad all the while like a drunken man, and that you are driving the plow without any heed

Fra Giovanni humbled himself, saying: "It is most true I am a fool, and do nothing but what is wrong."

But Satan retorted: "You pretend poverty is a great good; yet all the while you are robbing the poor of a part

Fra Giovanni pondered over this, and said: "The alms I give I give to Our Lord Jesus Christ whose poverty

cannot be diminished, for it is infinite. It gushes from Him as from an inexhaustible fountain; and its waters

flow freely for His favourite sons. And these shall be poor always, according to the promise of the Son of

God. In giving to the poor, I am giving not to men, but to God as the citizens pay taxes to the Podesta, and the

rate is for the City, which of the money it so receives supplies the town's need. Now what I give is for paving

the City of God. It is a vain thing to be poor in deed, if we be not poor in spirit. The gown of frieze, the cord,

the sandals, the wallet and the wooden bowl are only signs and symbols. The Poverty I love is spiritual, and I

address her as Lady, because she is an idea, and all beauty resides in this same idea."

Satan smiled, and replied: "Your maxims, Fra Giovanni are the maxims of a wise man of Greece, Diogenes

by name, who taught at their Universities in the times when Alexander of Macedon was waging his wars."

And Satan said to him: "Look you! in scorning these, you are scorning at the same time the hardworking

men who produce them, and so doing fulfill the order given to your first father, Adam, when he was

commanded, 'In the sweat of thy face, shalt thou eat bread.' Seeing work is good, the fruit of this work is

good, too. Yet you work not, neither have any care for the work of others. But you receive and give alms, in

"Alas!" sighed Brother Giovanni, "I am laden with crimes, and at once the most wicked and the most foolish

man in all the world. Wherefore never heed me, but read in the Book. Our Lord said, 'Consider the lilies of

the field; they toil not, neither do they spin.' Again He said, 'Mary hath chosen the good part which shall not

Then Satan lifted up his hand, with the gesture of one who disputes and prepares to count off his arguments

on his fingers. And he said: "Giovanni, Giovanni! what was written in one sense, you read in another; you are

less like a doctor at his desk than an ass at the manger. So I must correct you, as a master corrects his scholar.

It is written the lilies of the field have no need to spinbecause they are beautiful, and beauty is a virtue.

Again it is written how Mary is not to do the household tasks, because she is doing lovingly to Him who has

come to see her. But you, who are not beautiful, nor yet instructed, like Mary in the things of love, you drag

Giovanni made reply: "Sir! just as a Painter will depict on a narrow panel of wood an entire city with its

houses and towers and walls so you have painted in a few words my soul and my similitude with a wondrous

exactness. And I am altogether what you describe. But if I followed perfectly the rule established by St.

Francis, that Angel of God, and if I practiced spiritual poverty to the full, I should be the lily of the fields and

But Satan interrupted him, and cried: "You profess to love the poor, yet you prefer the rich man and his

And Fra Giovanni answered: "He I love possesses not the good things of the body, but those of the spirit."

And Satan retorted: "All good things are of the flesh, and are tasted of through the flesh. This Epicurus

At these words the holy man only sighed and said: "Sir! I cannot tell what you mean."

Satan shrugged his shoulders and said: "My words are exact and literal, yet the man cannot tell what I mean. I

have disputed with Augustine and Jerome, with Gregory and him of the Golden Mouth, St. Chrysostom. And

they comprehended me still less. Miserable men walk groping in the dark, and Error lifts over their head her

monstrous canopy. Simple and sage alike are the plaything of eternal falsehood."

And Satan said again to the holy man, Giovanni: "Have you won happiness? If you have happiness, I shall

not prevail against you. A man's thoughts are only stirred by sorrow, and their meditations by grief. Then,

tortured by fears and desires, he turns anxiously in his bed and rends his pillow with lies What use to tempt

On hearing this, Satan cast away his pastoral staff, his mitre and his cope; and stood there naked and

unashamed. He was black and more beautiful than the loveliest of the Angels. He smiled gently, and said to

Now Brother Giovanni was simple of heart and spirit, and his tongue was tied; he knew not the secret of

But one day when he was praying, as his habit was, at the foot of an ancient holmoak, an Angel of the Lord

appeared to him, and saluting him, said: "I salute you, because it is I who visit the simpleminded, and

And the Angel held in his hand a burning coal. This he laid on the holy man's lips, and spoke again, and said:

"By virtue of this fire shall your lips remain pure, and they shall glow with eloquence. I have burned them,

and they shall be burned. Your tongue shall be loosed, and you shall speak to your fellows. For men must

hear the word of life, and learn how they shall not be saved but by innocency of heart. For this cause the Lord

Then the Angel went back again to Heaven. And the holy man was seized with terror, and he prayed, saying:

"O God, my heart is sore troubled, I cannot find on my lips the sweet savour of the fire Thy Angel has

"Thou wouldst chasten me, O Lord, seeing Thou dost send me to speak to the folk, who Will not hearken

unto my words. I shall be hateful to all men, and Thy priests themselves will declare, 'He is a blasphemer!'"

"For Thy reason is contrary to the reason of men. Nevertheless Thy will be done."

On that day Fra Giovanni had left the Monastery at early dawn, the hour when the birds awake and begin

singing. He was on his way to the city and he thought within himself: "I am going to the city to beg my bread

and to give bread to other beggars, I shall give away what I receive, and take back what I have given. For it is

good to ask and to receive for the love of God. And he who receives is the brother of him who gives. And we

should not consider too curiously which of the twain brothers we are, because truly the gift is naught, but

"He that receives if he have gracious charity, is the equal of him that gives. But he who sells is the enemy of

him who buys, and the seller constrains the buyer to be his foe. Herein lies the root of the curse that poisons

cities, as the venom of the serpent is in his tail. And it needs must be a Lady set her foot on the serpent's tail

and that Lady is Poverty. Already hath she visited King Louis of France, in his tower; but never yet entered

among the Florentines, because she is chaste and will not put her foot in a place of ill repute. Now the

moneychanger's shop is an ill place, for it is there Bankers and Changers commit the most hideous of sins.

Harlots sin in the brothels; but their sin is not so great as is that of the Bankers, and whosoever grows rich by

"Verily I say unto you, Bankers and Moneychangers shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven nor yet

bakers, nor dealers in drugs, nor such as practice the trade of wool, which is the boast of the city of the Lily.

Forasmuch as they give a price to gold, and make a profit out of exchange, they are setting up idols in the

face of men. And when they declare, 'Gold has a value,' they tell a lie. For gold is more vile than the dry

leaves that flutter and rustle in the Autumn wind under the terebinths. There is nothing precious save the

And lo! as he was meditating in this wise, Fra Giovanni saw that the Mountain side was torn open, and that

men were dragging great stones from its flank. And one of the quarrymen was lying by the wayside, with a

rag of coarse cloth for all covering, and his body was disfigured by bitter marks of the biting cold and

scorching heat. The bones of his shoulders and chest showed all but bare beneath the meagre flesh, and

But the quarryman made no answer, and did not so much as turn his head. So Fra Giovanni, thinking he had

At last the quarryman looked up at him sullenly, and growled: "I shall have no peace till I am dead. Begone,

cursed black crow! you wish me peace that shows you are a glozing cheat! Go to and caw to simpler fools

than I! I know very well the quarryman's lot is an utterly miserable one, and there is no comfort for his

wretchedness. I hale out stones from dawn to dark, and for price of my toil, all I get is a scrap of black bread.

Then when my arms are no longer as strong as the stones of the mountain, and my body is all worn out, I

"Brother!" said the holy man Giovanni, "it is not just or right you should hale out so much stone, and win so

Then the quarryman rose to his feet, and pointing, "Master Monk," said he, "what see you up yonder on the

"I see a Tower overtopping all the rest, and crowned with battlements. It is the Tower of the Podesta."

"But I," cried the quarryman, "I see upon that Tower a hideous giant brandishing a club, and on the club is

inscribed, OPPRESSION Yea! Oppression is lifted up above the citizens' heads on the Great Tower of the

And Fra Giovanni answered: "What one man sees, another cannot see, and it may be the horrid shape you

describe is set on the Tower of Podesta yonder, in the city of Viterbo. But is there no remedy for the ills you

endure, my brother? The good St. Francis left behind him on this earth so full a fountain of consolation that

Then the quarryman spoke after this fashion: "Men have said, 'This mountain is ours.' And these men are my

masters, and it is for them I hew stone. And they enjoy the fruit of my labour."

But the quarryman replied: "Nay! they are not mad, the Laws of the City guarantee them their ownership. The

citizens pay them for the stones I have hewn, which are marbles of great price."

And Fra Giovanni said: "We must change the Laws of the City and the habits of the citizens. St. Francis, that

Angel of God, has given the example and shown the way. When he resolved, by God's command, to rebuild

the ruined Church of St. Damian, he did not set out to find the master of the quarry. He did not say, 'Go out

and buy me the finest marbles, and I will give you gold in exchange.' For the holy man, who was called the

son of Bernardone and who was the true son of God knew this, that the man who sells is the enemy of the

man who buys, and that the art of Trafficking is more mischievous, if possible, than the art of War.

Wherefore he did not apply to the mastermasons or any of them that gave marble and timber and lead in

exchange for money. But he went forth into the Mountain and gathered his load of wood and stones, and bore

it himself to the spot hallowed to the memory of the blessed Damian. With his own hands, by help of the

mason's line, he laid the stones to form the walls, and he made the cement to bind together the stones one to

another. Finished, it was a lowly circuit of roughly fashioned stones, the work of a weakling. But who

considers it with the eyes of the soul recognizes therein an Angel's thought. For the mortar of this wall was

not worked with the blood of the unfortunate: this house of St. Damian was not raised with the thirty pieces

of silver paid for the blood of that Just Man, which, rejected by Iscariot, go travalling the world ever since,

passing from hand to hand to buy up all the injustice and all the cruelty of the earth.

"For, alone of all others, this house is founded on Innocence, established on Love, based on Charity, and

"And I tell you verily, quarryman and brother, the poor man of Jesus Christ, in doing these things, gave to the

world an example of Justice, and one day his foolishness shall shine forth as wisdom. For all things in this

earth are God's and we are His children; and it is meet the children should share alike in His inheritance. That

is, each should get what he has need of. And seeing grown men do not ask for broth, nor babies for wine, the

share of each shall not be the same but each shall have the heritage that is fitting for him.

"And labour shall be a Joyful thing, when it is no longer paid. 'Tis gold only, the cursed gold, that makes the

Sharing uneven. When each man shall go severally to the Mountain for his stone, and carry his load to the

city on his own back, the stone shall weigh light and it shall be the stone of cheerfulness. And we will build

the house of Joy and gladness, and the new city shall rise from its foundations. And there shall be neither rich

nor poor, but all men will call themselves poor men, because they will be glad to bear a name that brings

So spoke the gentle Fra Giovanni, and the unhappy quarryman thought to himself: "This man clad in a shroud

and girt with a cord has proclaimed new tidings. I shall not see the end of my miseries, for I am going to die

of hunger and exhaustion. But I shall die happy, for my eyes, before they close, will have beheld the dawn of

Now in those days there was in the very illustrious city of Viterbo a Confraternity of Sixty old men. These

counted among their number many of the chief men of the place; and their objects were the accumulation of

honours and riches and the pursuit of virtue. The Brotherhood included a Gonfalonier of the Republic,

Doctors of either faculty, Judges, Merchants, Moneychangers of conspicuous piety, and one or two old

Seeing they were banded together for the purpose of stirring up their fellowcitizens to goodness and good

order, and to bear mutual witness to the practice of these virtues, they gave themselves the title of The

Friends of Order. This name was inscribed on the banner of the Confraternity, and they were all of one mind

to persuade the poor to follow goodness and good order, to the end no changes might be made in the

Their habit was to meet on the last day of each month, in the Palace of the Podesta to make inquiry of each

other what of good had been done in the city during the month. And to such of the poorer citizens as had done

well and, orderly, they used to present pieces of money. Now on a certain day the Friends of Order were

holding meeting. At one end of the hall was a raised platform covered with velvet, and over the platform a

magnificent canopy of state, held up by four figures carved and painted. These figures represented Justice,

Temperance, Strength and Chastity; and beneath the canopy sat the officers of the Brotherhood. The

President, who was entitled the Dean, took his place in the middle on a golden chair, which in richness was

scarce inferior to the throne that once upon a time the disciple of St. Francis saw prepared in Heaven for the

poor man of the Lord. This seat of state had been presented to the Dean of the Brotherhood to the end that in

And as soon as the Members of the Confraternity were ranged in the fitting order, the Dean got up to speak.

He congratulated any servingmaids that served their masters without receiving wages, and spoke highly of

And he said: "These have done well, and we shall reward them. For it behooves that goodness be rewarded,

and it is our bounden duty to pay the price of it, being as we are the first and foremost citizens of the city."

And when he finished speaking, the crowd of the general folk that stood under the platform clapped their

But no sooner had they done applauding him than Fra Giovanni lifted up his voice from the midst of the

At this great clamour rose in the assembly, and the Dean shouted: "Who was it spoke?"

And a redhaired man who was standing among the people, answered: "It was a Monk, by name Giovanni,

who is the disgrace of his Cloister. He goes naked through the streets carrying his clothes on his head and

Next a Baker spoke up and said: "He is a madman or a miscreant! He begs his bread at the Bakers' doors."

Then a number of those present, shouting noisily and dragging Fra Giovanni by the gown, tried to hustle him

out of the hall, while others, more angry still, began throwing stools and breaking them over the holy man's

head. But the Dean rose from his seat under the canopy, and said: "Leave the man in peace, so that he may

hear me and be confounded. He asks what goodness is because goodness is not in him and he is devoid of

virtue. I answer him, 'The knowledge of goodness resides in virtuousmen; and good citizens carry within

them a proper respect for the laws. They approve what has been done in the city to ensure to each man

enjoyment of the riches he may have acquired. They support the established order of things, and are ready to

fIy to arms to defend the same. For the duty of the poor is to defend the good things belonging to the rich;

and this is how the union betwixt citizens is maintained. This is goodness and good order. Again, the rich

man has his servingman bring out a basket full of bread, which he distributes to the poor; and this is

goodness again.' These are the lessons this rough, ignorant fellow required to be taught."

Having so said, the Dean sat down, and the crowd of poor folks raised a murmur of approval. But Fra

Giovanni, stepping on one of the stools that had been thrown at his head with contempt and insult, addressed

them all and said: "Hear the words of comfort; Goodness resides not in men, for men know not of.

themselves what is good. They are ignorant of their own nature and destiny. What seems good may be evil all

the while, and what is deemed useful, harmful. No man can choose the things meet for him, because he

knows not his own needs, but is like the little child sitting in the meadows, that sucks for wholesome milk the

juice of the deadly nightshade. The babe does not know that the nightshade is a poison, but its mother knows.

"It is false to say, 'Tis I teach goodness, and goodness is to obey the city laws.' For the Laws are not of God;

they are of man, and share in man's craft and cunning and imperfection. They are like the rules children make

in the Square of Viterbo, when they are playing ball. Goodness is not in customs nor in. Iaws, it is in God and

in the accomplishment of God's will upon earth, and it is neither by lawmakers nor magistrates that God's

"For the great men of this world do their own will, and their will is contrary to God's. But they who have

stripped off pride and know there is no goodness in them, these men receive noble gifts, and God Himself

"And we must be the oak tree full of honey and dew. Humble, ignorant and simple folks these have

knowledge of God; and by them shall God's kingdom be established on earth. Salvation is not in the strength

of laws, nor in the multitude of soldiers; it is in poverty and humbleness of spirit.

"Say not, 'Goodness is in me, and I teach goodness.' Rather say, 'Goodness is in God on high.' Over long have

men hardened their hearts in their own wisdom. Over long have they set up the Lion and the SheWolf above

the Gates of their Cities. Their wisdom and their prudence have brought about slavery and wars and tlie

shedding of much innocent blood. Wherefore you should put your guidance in God's hand as the blind man

trusts himself to his dog's guidance. Fear not to shut the eyes of your spirit and have done with Reason, for

has not Reason made you unhappy and wicked? By Reason have you grown like the man who, having

guessed the secrets of the Beast, crouching in the cavern, waxed proud of his knowingness, and deeming

"God was not with him; but He is with the humble and simpleminded. Learn not to will and He will put His

will in you. Seek not to guess the riddles of the Beast. Be ignorant, and you shall not fear to go astray. 'Tis

Fra Giovanni having thus spoken, the Dean got up and said. "The miscreant has insulted me, and I willingly

forgive him the insult. But he has spoken against the laws of Viterbo, and it is meet he should be punished."

So Fra Giovanni was led before the Judges who had him loaded with chains and cast him into the city gaol.

The holy man Giovanni was chained to a massive pillar in the middle of the dungeon over which the river

Two other prisoners were plunged along with him in the thick and fetid darkness. Both these had realized and

proclaimed the injustice of the Laws. One was for overthrowing the Republic by force. He had been guilty of

startling assassinations, and his hope was to purify the city with fire and sword. The other trusted to be able to

change men's hearts, and had delivered very persuasive discourses. Inventor of wise laws, he counted on the

charms of his genius and the innocency of his life to induce his fellow citizens to submit to them. But both

had met with the same doom. When they learned how the holy man was chained alongside of them for having

spoken against the laws of the city, they congratulated him. And the one who had invented wise laws, said

unto him: "If ever, brother, we are restored to liberty, seeing you think as I do, you shall help me persuade the

"What matter of Justice being in the Laws if it is not in men's hearts? And if men's hearts are unjust, what

"Say not, 'We shall establish just laws, and we will render to every man what is his due.' For no one is just,

and we know not what is meet for men. We are no less ignorant what is good for them and what is evil. And

whensoever the Princes of the People and the Chiefs of the Commonwealth have loved justice, they have

"Give not the compass and the level to the false measurer, for with true instruments, he will make untrue

apportionments. And he will say, 'See, I carry on me the level, the rule and the square, and I am a good

measurer.' So long as men shall be covetous and cruel, will they make the most merciful laws cruel, and will

rob their brethren with words of love on their lips. This is why it is vain to reveal to them the words of love

"Set not up laws against laws, nor raise tables of marble and tables of brass before men's eyes. For whatever

So spoke the holy man, and the other prisoner,he who had committed startling murders, and contrived the

ruin that was to save the city, approved his words, and said: "Comrade, you have spoken well. Know you, I

will never set up law against law, right rule against crooked rule, my wish is to destroy the law by violence

and compel the citizens to live thenceforth in happy freedom. And know further that I have slain both

Hearing these words, the man of the Lord rose, stretched out his manacled arms in the heavy darkness and

cried: "Ill betide the violent! for violence ever begets violence. Whosoever acts like you is sowing the earth

with hate and fury, and his children shall tear their feet with the wayside briars, and serpents shall bite their

"Ill betide you! for you have shed the blood of the unjust judge and the brutal soldier, and lo! you are become

like the soldier and the judge himself. Like them you bear on your hands the indelible stain.

"A fool is the man who says, 'We will do evildoing in our turn, and our heart shall be comforted. We will be

unjust, and it shall be the beginning of justice.' Evillonging is in evil desiring. Desire nothing, and

evildoing will be done away with. Injustice hurts only the unjust. I shall suffer no harm of it if I am just.

Oppression is a sword whose hilt wounds the hand of him who holds it; but its point can not pierce the heart

"For such a one nothing is dangerous, if he fear nothing. To endure all things is to endure nothing. Let us be

good and kindly, and the whole round world shall be the same. For the sword will be an instrument for your

"You love life, and this is an affection which rules the heart of every man. Then love suffering, for to live is

to suffer. Never envy your cruel masters, rather have compassion for the commanders of armies. Pity the

Publicans and Judges; the proudest of them have known the stings of grief and the terrors of death. Happier

you, because your consciences are void of offense for you, let grief lose its bitterness and death its terrors.

"Be ye God's children, and tell yourselves, 'All is well in Him.' Beware of pursuing even the public good with

overmuch violence and avidity, for fear something of cruelty mar your integrity. Rather should your desire of

universal lovingkindness have the unction of a prayer and the soft fervour of a hope.

"Fair the table, whereat every man shall get his just portion, and the guests shall each one wash the other's

feet. But say not, 'I will set up this table by force in the streets of the city and in the public squares.' For it is

not knife in hand you must call together your brethren to the feast of Justice and Gentleness. Of its own

accord must the board be spread in the Campo di Marte, by virtue of graciousness and good will.

"This shall be a miracle; and be sure, miracles are not wrought save by faith and love. If you disobey your

masters, let it be by love. Neither fetter nor kill them, but tell them rather, "I shall never slay my brothers, nor

throw them into chains.' Endure, suffer, submit, will what God wills, and your will shall be done on earth as it

is in heaven. What seems evil is evil, and what seems good is good Striving and discontent is the true curse of

mankind Let us then be peaceful and content, and never strike the wicked, for fear we make ourselves like

Then the Judges had the holy man Giovanni brought before them chained to him who had thrown Greek fire

into the Palace of the Priors. And they said to the holy man: "You are alongside of the guilty because you are

And the holy man answered them: "There are neither good nor evil among men; but all alike are unhappy.

And they who suffer neither hunger nor contumely, they are afflicted by riches and power. It is not given to

any man born of woman to escape the miseries of life, and the son of woman is like a fever patient, who turns

and turns in his bed, and can find no rest, because he will not lie down on the Cross of Jesus, his head among

the thorns and take his joy in suffering. Yet is it in suffering that joy is found; and they who love know this.

"I companion with Love, but that man with Hate; and for this cause we can never come together. And I say to

him, 'Brother, you have done ill, and your crime is great and grievous.' And I speak so, because Charity and

Love urge me. But you, you condemn yonder guilty man in the name of Justice. But invoking Justice, you

take a vain oath, for there is no such thing as Justice among men. We are all of us guilty. And when you say,

'The life of peoples is in our hands,' you are lying, you are the coffin which declares, 'I am the cradle.' The

life of peoples is in the harvest of the fields, which grow yellow beneath the Lord's sight It is in the vines

hanging from the elms, and in the smiles and tears wherein heaven bathes the fruits of the trees in the orchard

closes. It is not in the laws, which are made by the rich and powerful for the maintenance of their own power

"Ye forget how ye are all born poor and naked. And He who came to lie in a manger at Bethlehem, has come

without profiting you. And He must needs he born again and be crucified a second time for your salvation.

"The man of violence has laid hold of the arms you forged, and is well compared to the warriors you hold in

honour because they have destroyed cities. What is defended by force shall be attacked by force. And if you

have wit to read the books you have written, you will find what I say therein. For you have put in your book

that the right of nations is the right of' war, and you have glorified violence, paying honours to conquering

generals and raising statues in your public squares to them and their warhorses.

"And you have laid it down, 'There is violence that is right, and violence that is wrong And this is the right of

nations and this is the law.' But so soon as the men shall have put you outside the law, they will be the law,

even as you became the law, when you had overthrown the tyrant that was the law before you.

"Now, he assured, it is very certain that there is no true right save in the renouncing of right. There is no

hallowed law save in love. There is no Justice save in Charity. 'Tis not by force we should resist force, for

strife only hardens the fighters' hearts and the issue of battle is aye dubious. But if we oppose gentleness to

"It is related by learned men in the Bestiaries how the unicorn, which bears on its head a flaming sword,

transfixes the hunter in his coatofmail, but falls to its knees before a pure virgin. Be ye gentlehearted,

"Put not your trust in the sword of the Condottieri for did not the shepherd boy's smooth stone pierce

Goliath's brow? But be ye strong in love, and love them that hate you. Hate, when unreturned is robbed of

half its sting; and what is left Is weak, widowed, and like to die. Strip yourselves, that other men strip you

not. Love your enemies, that they become your friends. Forgive, that ye may be forgiven Say not,

"Gentleness is a bane to the shepherds of the peoples." For how can you know, seeing these have never tried?

They profess by harshness to have lessened the evil of the world. Yet is evil still rampant among men, and

"I said to some, 'Be not oppressors,' and to others, 'Rise not in revolt against Oppression,' and neither

hearkened to me. They cast the stone of derision at me. Because I was on all men's side, each reproached me

"I said, 'I am the friend of the wretched.' But you never thought I was your friend, because in your pride, you

know not that you are wretched. Nevertheless the wretchedness of the master is more cruel than that of the

slave. My tender pity for your woes only made you think I was mocking you; and the oppressed deemed me

to be of the party of the oppressors. 'He has no bowels,' they said. Nay! but I am on the side of love and not of

hate. This is why you scorn me: and because I preach on earth, you hold me for a fool. You think my words

wander all ways, like the steps of a drunken man. And it is very true I walk your fields like those harpers

who, on the eve of battles, come to play before the tents. And the soldiers say, as they listen: "Tis some poor

simpletons come playing the tunes we heard long ago in our mountains.' I am this harper that roams between

the hosts in battle array of hostile armies. When I think whither human wisdom leads, I am glad to be a

madman and a simpleton, and I thank God, that He has given me the harp to handle and not the sword."

The holy man Giovanni was very straitly confined in gaol, where he was fastened by chains to rings built into

the wall. But his soul was unfettered, and no tortures had been able to shake his firmness. He promised

himself he would never betray the faith that was in him, and was ready to be witness and martyr of the Truth,

to the end he might die in God. And he said to himself, "Truth shall go along with me to the scaffold. She

shall look at me and weep and say, 'My tears flow, seeing it is for my sake this man is going to his death.'"

And as the holy man was thus holding colloquy of his own thoughts in the solitude of his dungeon, a knight

entered into the prison, without ever the doors having been opened. He was clad in a red mantle, and carried

Fra Giovanni accosted him and said: "What is your name, Subtle Sir, that slips through prison walls?"

And the knight made answer: "Brother, what use to tell you the names folk give me? For you I will bear the

one you shall call me by. Know this, I am come to you full of helpfulness and goodwill, and being informed

you dearly love the Truth, I bring you a word couching this same Truth that you have taken for lady and

And Fra Giovanni began to tender thanks to his visitor. But the knight stopped him in the midst, saying: "I

warn you, this word of mine will seem to you at the first empty and of no account, for it is with it as a tiny

"But the careful householder tries it in lock after lock, till he finds at last it opens a chest full of gold and

"Wherefore I say to you, Fra Giovanni, seeing you have chosen peradventure to take Truth for your Lady and

darling, it behooves you greatly to know concerning her in all that may be known. Well then, know that she is

white. And from her appearance, which I will describe you, you shall gather her nature, which will be very

useful to you in making up to her and kissing her fair body with all sorts of pretty caresses, after the fashion

of a lover fondling his mistress. Therefore take it as proven, brother mine, that she is white."

After hearkening to these words' the holy man Giovanni answered: "Subtle Sir, the meaning of your discourse

is not so hard to guess as you would seem to fear. And my wit, albeit, naturally thick and dull, was instantly

transfixed by the fine point of your allegory. You say that Truth is white to manifest the perfect purity that is

in her, and show clearly she is a lady of immaculate virtue. And truly I picture her to myself such as you

describe, overpassing in whiteness the lilies of the garden and the snow that in winter clothes the summits of

But the visitor shook his head and said: "Nay! Fra Giovanni, that is not the meaning of my words, and you

have no wise broken the bone to extract the marrow. I instructed you that Truth is white, not that she is pure;

Grieved at what he now heard, the holy man Giovanni replied: "Even as the Moon, when the Earth hides the

Sun's light from her, is darkened by the thick shadow of this World, where was wrought the crime of our

mother Eve, so, most Subtle Sir, you have obscured a plain saying under baffling phrases. Thus we have you

astray in the dark; for indeed Truth is pure, coming from God, the fountain of all purity."

But the Opponent retorted: "Fra Giovanni, your logic is at fault, or you would know that purity is an

inconceivable quality. That is what the shepherds of Arcady did, so they say, who named pure gods the gods

"Sir! your words are dark and wrapped in sadness. At times in my sleep Angels have visited me. Their words

Hereupon the subtle visitor resumed: "Come, Fra Giovanni, let us argue it out both of us according to the

But the holy man answered: "Nay! I cannot argue with you; I have neither wish nor wit for the task."

And in a moment, lifting the index finger of his left hand, he made with his right out of a corner of gown a

red cap for his finger. Then holding it up before his nose, `'Look!" he said, "look at this finger. He's a learned

Doctor now, and I am going to hold a learned argument with him. He's a Platonist, maybe Plato himself.

"Messer Plato, what is purity? I wait your answer, Messer Plato. Oh! you say. Consciousness is pure.

Consciousness only when it is devoid of everything which may be seen, heard, handled, in one word, proved

by the senses. You grant me furtheryes! you nod your cap, that Truth will be pure Truth under the same

conditions, that is to say, provided only you make her dumb, blind deaf, legless, paralytic, crippled of all her

limbs. And I am quite ready to allow in this state she will escape the delusions that make meek of mankind,

and will have no temptations to play the runagate. You are a scoffer, and you have made much mock at the

And the Opponent, dropping the corner of his gown, once more addressed the holy man Giovanni. "My

friend, these old Sophists knew not what Truth was. But I, who am a student of physics and a great observer

of natural curiosities, you may believe me when I tell you she is white, or, more strictly speaking, whiteness

"From which we must not conclude, I have told you before, that she is pure. Consider the Lady Eletta, of

Verona, whose thighs were like milk; think you for this they were abstract from the world in general,

withdrawn in the invisible and intangible, which is the pure according to the Platonic doctrine? You would be

"She gave herself and her living body," said the Opponent "to two Popes, sixty Cardinals fourteen Princes,

eighteen merchants, the Queen of Cyprus, three Turks, four Jews, the Lord Bishop of Arezzo's ape, a

hermaphrodite, and the Devil. But we are wondering from our subject, which is to discover the proper

"Now, if this character is not purity, as I have just established it cannot be in argument with Plato himself, it

is conceivable it may be impurity, which impurity is the necessary condition of all existing things. For have

we not just seen how the pure has neither life nor consciousness? And you must, yourself, I trow have learned

amply from experience that life and all pertaining thereto is invariably compound, blended, diversified, liable

"Doctor," replied Giovanni, "your reasons are nothing worth, forasmuch as God, who is all pure, exists."

But the Subtle Doctor retorted: "If you would read your books more carefully, my son, you would see it is

said by Him you have just named, not 'He that exists,' but 'He is.' Now to exist and to be are not one and the

same thing but two opposite things. You are alive, and do you not say yourself, 'I am nothing; I am as if I

were not ?' And you do not say, 'I am he who is.' Because to live, is each moment to cease to be. Again you

say, 'I am full of' impurities,' forasmuch you are not a single thing, but a blending of things that stir and

"Now do you speak wisely," answered the holy man, "and I see by your discourse that you are very deep

read, Subtle Sir, in the sciences, divine as well as human. For true indeed it is God is He who is."

"By the body of Bacchus," exclaimed the other, "He is, and that perfectly and universally. Wherefore are we

dispensed from seeking Him in any single place, being assured He is to be discovered neither more nor less in

any one spot than in any other, and that you can not find so much as a pair of old splatterdashes without their

"Admirably put, and most true," returned Giovanni. "But it is right to add that He is more particularly in the

"More than that!" added the learned Doctor; "He is actually edible in them. Note moreover, my son, that He

is round in an apple, longshaped in an aubergine, sharp in a knife and musical in a flute. He has all the

qualities of substances, and likewise all the properties of figures. He is acute and He is obtuse, because: He is

at one and the same time all possible triangles, his radii are at once equal and unequal, because he is both the

circle and the ellipseand He is the hyperbola besides, which is an indescribable figure."

When the holy Giovanni was still pondering these sublime verities, he heard the Subtle Doctor suddenly burst

"I am laughing," replied the Doctor, "to think how they have discovered in me certain oppositions and

contradictions, and have reproached me bitterly for the same. It is very true I have many such. But they fail to

And the Adversary answered: "If you knew of whom I speak you would know who I am. And my wisest

words you would be loath to listen to, for much ill has been said of me. But, if you remain ignorant who I am,

I can be of much use to you. I will teach you how intensely sensitive men are to the sounds that the lips utter,

and how they let themselves be killed for the sake of words that are devoid of meaning. This we see with the

Martyrsand in your own case, Giovanni, who look forward with joy to be strangled, then burned to the

singing of the Seven Psalms in the great square of Viterbo, for this word Truth, for which you could not by

"Verily, you might ransack every hole and corner of your dim brain, and pick over all the spiders' webs and

old iron that cumber your head, without ever lighting on a picklock to open me, my friend, you would get

yourself hanged and your body burned for a word of one syllable which neither you nor your Judges know

the sense of, so that none could ever have discovered which to despise the most, the hangmen or hanged.

"Know then that Truth, your wellbeloved mistress, is made up of elements compacted of wet and; dry, hard

and soft, cold and hot, and that it is with this lady as with women of common humanity, in whom soft flesh

Fra Giovanni doubted in his simplicity whether this discourse was altogether becoming. The Adversary read

the holy man's thoughts, and reassured him, saying: "Such is the learning we are taught at school, I am a

Then he got up and added: "I regret to leave you, friend; but I cannot tarry longer with you. For I have many

contradictions to pose to many men. I can taste no rest day or night, but I must be going ceaselessly from

place; to place, setting down my lantern now on the scholar's desk, now at the bed's head of the sick man who

So saying, he went away as he had come. And the holy man Giovanni asked himself: "Why did this Doctor

say, Truth was white, I wonder?" And lying in the straw he kept revolving this question in his head. His body

shared the restlessness of his mind, and kept turning first one side and then the other in search of the repose

"O Lord! Thy lovingkindness is infinite toward me, and Thy favour manifest, seeing Thou hast so willed I

should lie on a dunghill, like Job and Lazarus, whom Thou didst love so well. And Thou hast given me to

know how filthy straw is a soft and sweet pillow to the just man. And Thou, dear Son of God, who didst

descend into Hell, bless Thou the sleep of Thy servant where he lies in the gloomy prisonhouse. Forasmuch

as men have robbed me of air and light, because I was steadfast to confess the truth, deign to enlighten me

witb the glory of the everlasting day spring and feed me on the flames of Thy love, O living Truth, O Lord

Thus prayed the holy man Giovanni with his lips. But in his heart he remembered the sayings of the

Adversary. He was troubled to the bottom of his spirit, and in much trouble and anguish of mind he fell

And seeing the thought of the Adversary weighed heavy on his slumbers, his sleep was not like the little

child's lying on its mother's breast, a gentle sleep of smiles and milk. And in his dreams he beheld a vast

It was like those rose windows of flowerlike brilliancy that glow over the doors of the churches, the

masterpieces of Gothic craftsmen, and display in the translucent glass the history of the Virgin Mary and the

glory of the Prophets. But the secret of these rosewindows is unknown to the Tuscan artificer.

And this wheel was great and dazzling and brighter a thousandfold than the best wrought of all the rose

windows that ever were divided by compass and painted with brush in the lands of the North. The Emperor

The only man who ever beheld a wheel more splendid was the poet who, a lad leading him entered clothed in

flesh into Holy Paradise. The rose was of living light, and seemed alive itself. Looking well at it, you saw it

was made of a multitude of breathing figures and that men of every age and every condition, in an eager

crowd, formed the nave and spokes and felloe. They were clad each according to his estate, and it was easy to

recognize Pope and Emperor, Kings and Queens, Bishops, Barons, Knights, ladies, esquires, clerks, burghers,

merchants, attorneys, apothecaries, labourers, ruffians, Moors and Jews. Moreover, seeing all that live on this

earth were shown on the wheel, Satyrs, and Cyclenes were there, and Pygmies and Centaurs such as Africa

nurses in her burning deserts, and the men Marco Polo the traveller found, who are born without heads and

And from betwixt the lips of' each there issued a scroll, bearing a device. Now each device was of a hue

which did not appear in any other, and in all the incalculable multitude of devices, no two could have been

discovered of the same appearance. Some were dyed purple, others painted with the bright colours of the sky

and sea, or the shining of the stars, yet others greens as grass. Many were exceedingly pale, many again

exceedingly dark and sombre, the whole so ordered that the eye found in these devices every one of the

colours that paint the universe. The holy man Giovanni began to decipher them, by this means making

himself acquainted with the divers thoughts of divers men. And after reading on a good while, he perceived

that these devices were as much diversified in the sense of the words as in the hues of the letters, and that the

sentences differed one from the other in such sort that there was never a single one did not flatly contradict

every other. But at the same time he noted that this contradiction which existed in the head and body of the

maxims did not continue in their tail, but that they all agreed together very accurately in their lower

extremity, all ending in the same fashion, seeing each and all terminated in these words, Such is Truth.

And he said in his Heart: "These mottoes are like the flowers young men and maidens pluck in the

watermeadows by the Arno, to make them into posies. For these flowers are readily gathered together by the

tails, while the heads keep separate and fight amongst themselves in hue and brilliancy. And it is the same

And the holy man found in the devices a host of contradictions regarding the origin of sovereignty, the

fountain of knowledge, pleasure and pain, things lawful and things unlawful And he discovered likewise

mighty difficulties in connection with the shape of the Earth and the 'Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, by

reason of the Heretics and Arabs and Jews, the monsters of the African deserts and the Epicureans who all

And each sentence ended in this way, Such is Truth. And the holy man Giovanni marvelled to see so many

truths all diversely coloured. He saw red, and blue, and green, and yellow, but he saw no white not even the

one the Pope made proclamation of, to wit, "On this rock I have built my Church and committed thereto the

crowns of all the world." Indeed this device was all red as if bloodstained. And the holy man sighed: "Then

I am never to find on the wheel of the universe the pure white Truth, the immaculate and candid Truth I

And he called upon Truth, crying with tears in his eyes: "Truth! Truth! for whose sake I am to die, show

And lo! as he was wailing out the words the living wheel began to revolve, and the devices, running one into

the other, no longer kept distinct, while on the great disk came circles of every hue, circles wider and wider

Then as the motion grew faster, these circles disappeared one by one; the widest vanishing first, because the

speed was swifter near the felloe of the wheel. But directly the wheel began to spin so fast the eye could not

see it move and it seemed to stand motionless, the smallest circles too, disappeared, like the morningstar

when the sun pales the hills of Assisi. Then at last the wheel looked all white, and it overpassed in brilliance

the translucent orb where the Florentine poet saw Beatrice in the dewdrop. It seemed as though an Angel,

wiping the eternal pearl to cleanse it of all stains, had set it on the Earth, so like was the wheel to the Moon,

when she shines high in the heavens lightly veiled under the gauze of filmy clouds. For at these times no

shadow of a man carrying sticks, no mark at all, shows on her opalescent surface. Even so never a stain was

And the holy man Giovanni heard a voice which said to him: "Behold that same white Truth you were fain to

contemplate. And know it is built up of the divers contradictory truths, in the same fashion as all colours go

to make up white. The little children of Viterbo know this, for having spun their tops striped with many

colours on the flags of the Great Market. But the doctors of Bologna never guessed the reasons for this

appearance. Now in every one of the devices was a portion of the Truth, and all together make up the true and

"Alas! and alas!" replied the holy man, "how am I to read it? For my eyes are dazzled."

And the voice answered: "Very true, there is naught to be seen there but flashing fire. No Latin letters, nor

Arabic, nor Greek, no cabalistic signs, can ever express this device; and no hand is there may trace it in

"Friend, never set your heart on reading what is not written. Only know this, that whatsoever a man has

thought or believed in his brief lifetime is a parcel of this Infinite Truth; and that, even as much dirt and

disorder enter into what we call the order of nature, that is the clean and proper ordering of the universe, so

the maxims of knaves and fools, who make the mass of mankind, participate in some sort in that general and

universal Truthwhich is absolute, everlasting and divine. Which makes me sore afraid, by the by, it may

Then the holy man saw a long leg stretched out, in red hose, and inside the shoe the foot seemed cloven and

like a goat's, only much larger. And it gave the wheel of light so shrewd a kick on the rim of its felloe, that

sparks flew out as they do when the blacksmith smites the iron with his hammer, and the great wheel leapt

into the air to fall far away, broken into fragments. Meantime the air was filled with such piercing laughter

"I have no hope or wish left to know Truth if, as has been manifested to me, she only shows herself in

contradictions and inconsistencies. How shall I dare by my death to be witness and martyr of what men must

believe, now the vision of the wheel of the universe has made me see how every particular falsehood is a

parcel of general Truth, absolute and unknowable? Why, O my God, have you suffered me to behold these

things, and let it be revealed to me before my last sleep, that Truth is everywhere and that she is nowhere?"

Fra Giovanni was led before the Magistrates of the Republic to be judged according to the laws of Viterbo.

And one of the Magistrates said to the guards: "Take the chains off him. For every person accused should

And Giovanni thought: "Why does the Judge pronounce words that are not straight?"

And the first of the Magistrates began to question the holy man, and said to him:

"Giovanni, bad man that you are, being thrown in prison by the august clemency of the laws, you have

spoken against those laws. You have contrived with wicked men, chained in the same dungeon as yourself, a

The holy man Giovanni made answer: "Nay! I spoke for Justice and Truth. If the laws of the city are

agreeable to Justice and Truth, I have not spoken against them. I have only spoken words of loving kindness.

I said: 'Strive not to destroy force by force. Be peaceable in the midst of wars, to the end the spirit of God

may rest on you like a little bird on the top of a poplar in the valley that is flooded by the torrent.' I said, 'Be

Then the Judge cried out in anger: "Speak! tell us who are the men of violence."

But the holy man said: "You are for milking the cow that has given all her milk, and would learn of me more

However the Judge imposed silence on the holy man, and he said: "Your tongue has discharged the arrow of

your discourse and its shot was aimed at the Republic. Only it has lightedlower, and turned back upon

And the holy man said: "You judge me not by my acts and my words which are manifest, but by my motives,

And the Judge replied: "Nay! if we could not see the invisible and were not gods upon earth, how could it be

possible for us to Judge folk? Do you not know a law has just been passed in Viterbo, which punishes even

men's secret thoughts? For the police of cities is forever being perfected, and the wise Ulpian, who held the

rule and the square in the day of Caesar, would be astonished himself, if he could see our rules and squares,

And the Judge said again: "Giovanni, you have been conspiring in your prison against the common weal."

But the holy man denied having ever conspired against the weal of Viterbo. Then the Judge said: "The gaoler

And the holy man asked the Judge: "What weight will my testimony have in one scale when that of the gaoler

Then the Judge declared: "Anon you were talking and the words you said proved your perfidy. Now you say

nothing, and your silence is the avowal of your crime. So you have confessed your guilt twice over."

And the Magistrate they entitled the Accuser, arose and said: "The illustrious city of Viterbo speaks by my

voice, and my voice shall be grave and calm, because it is the public voice. And you will think you are

listening to a bronze statue speaking, for I make accusation not with my heart and bowels, but with the tablets

And straightway he began to gesticulate furiously and utter a raging torrent of words. And he disclaimed the

argument of a play, in imitation of Seneca the Tragedian: and this drama was filled full of crimes committed

by the holy man Giovanni. And the Accuser represented in succession all the characters of the tragedy. He

mimicked the groans of the victims and the voice of Giovanni, the better to strike awe into his audience, who

seemed to hear and see Giovanni himself, intoxicated with hate and evildoing. And the Accuser tore his hair

And the Judge who had questioned the accused before took up the word again and said:

"It is meet a citizen defend this man. For none, so says the law of Viterbo, may be condemned without having

Thereupon an Advocate of Viterbo got up on a stool and spoke in these terms: "If this monk has said and

done what is laid to his charge, he is very wicked. But we have no proof that he has spoken and acted in the

manner supposed. Moreover, good sirs, had we this proof, it would behoove us to consider further the

extreme simplicity of the man and the feebleness of his understanding. He was the laughingstock of the

children in the Public Square. He is ignorant, he has done a thousand extravagances. For my own part I

believe he is beside himself. What he says is worthless nonsense, and there is nothing sensible he can do. I

think he has been frequenting seditious societies, and goes about repeating what he heard there, without

understanding a word of it. He is too dullwitted to be punished. Look out for his instructors; it is they are to

blame. There are many difficulties in the matter, and the wise man has told us 'in doubt refrain from action.'"

Having so said, the Advocate stepped down from his stool. And Brother Giovanni received his death

sentence. And he was informed he was to be hanged in the Square where the peasant women come to sell

Next a very illustrious Doctor of Law, who was one of the Judges, got up and said: "Giovanni, it behooves

you to subscribe a consent to the sentence condemning you, for being pronounced in the name of the city, it is

pronounced by yourself, inasmuch as you are a part and parcel of the city. You have an honourable part in it,

as citizen, and I will convince you that you ought to be well content to be strangled by the city's judgment.

"Know this, satisifaction of the whole comprehends and embraces the satisfaction of the parts, and seeing you

are a parta vile and miserable part, yet still a partof the noble city of Viterbo, your condemnation which

"And I will further prove you that you should rightly consider death doom agreeable and fitting. For there is

no other thing so useful and becoming as is the law, which is the just measure of things, and you ought to be

pleased to have received this same just and proper measure. In accordance with the rules established by

Caesar Justinian, you have got your due. Your condemnation is just and therefore a pleasant and good thing.

But were it unjust and tainted and contaminated with ignorance and iniquity (which God forbid) still it would

"For an unjust sentence, when it is pronounced in the inscribed forms of law, participates in the virtue of the

said forms and through them continues august, efficacious and of high merit. What it contains of wrong is

temporary and of little consequence, and concerns only the particular instance, whereas the good in it derives

from the fixity and permanence of the organization of the laws, and therefore it is agreeable to the general

dictates of justice. Wherefore Papinian declares it is better to give false judgment than none at all, seeing how

men without justice are no better than wild beasts in the woods, whereas by justice is made manifest their

nobleness and dignity, as is seen by the example of the Judges of the Areopagus, who were held in special

honour among the Athenians. So, seeing it is necessary and profitable to give judgment, and that it is not

possible to do so without fault or mistakes, it follows that mistake and faultiness are comprised in the

excellence of Justice and participate in the said excellence. Accordingly, supposing you deemed your

sentence unfair, you should find satisfaction in this unfairness, inasmuch as it is united and amalgamated with

fairness, just as tin and copper are fused together to make bronze, which is a precious metal and employed for

The learned Doctor then proceeded to enumerate the conveniences and advantages which flow from expiation

and wash away sin as the maids every Saturday wash the courtyards of their masters' houses. And he

demonstrated to the holy man what a boon it was for him to be condemned to death by the august good

pleasure of the Commonwealth of Viterbo which had granted him judges and a defender. And so soon as the

Doctor's eloquence was exhausted and he fell silent, Fra Giovanni was fettered once more and led back to

Now on the morning appointed for his hanging, the holy man Giovanni was lying sound asleep. And the

Subtle Doctor came and opened the door of his prison cell, and pulling him by the sleeve, cried: "Ho! there,

son of woman, awake! The day is just unclosing his grey eyes. The lark is singing, end the morning mists

kissing the mountain sides. Clouds glide along the hills, soft and sinuous, snow white with rosy

reflectionswhich are the flanks and bosoms and loins of immortal nymphs, divine daughters of the river and

the sky, maidens of the morn old Oceanus leads forth along the heightsa flock multiform as his waves, and

who welcome to their cool, fresh arms, on a couch of hyacinths and anemones, the gods, masters of the

world, and the shepherd swains loved of goddesses. For there are shepherds their mothers bore beautiful and

"As for myself, who have deeply studied the secrets of nature, seeing but now these clouds curling wantonly

round the bosom of the hill, I was filled with mysterious longings at the sight, longings I know nothing of but

that they spring from the region of my loins, and that, like the infant Hercules, they showed their strength

from the very cradle. And those longings were not merely after rosy mists and floating clouds, they pictured

very precisely a wench named Monna Libetta I made acquaintance with once in travelling at Castro, at an inn

where she was servingmaid and at the free disposal of the muleteers and soldiers frequenting it.

"But the picture I framed in my mind of Monna Libetta, this morning, as I fared along the slopes of the hills,

was wondrously embellished by the tenderness and recollection and the regrets of separation, and she was

tricked out with all the pretty fancies that, springing from the loins as I said, presently sent their fragrant fire

coursing through all the body's soul, transfusing it with languishing ardours and pains that are a delicious

"For I would have you know, my Giovanni, that looking at her calmly and coldly, the girl was not greatly

different from all the rest of the country wenches that, in the plains of Umbria and the Roman Marches, go

afield to milk the cattle. She had dark eyes, slow and sullen, a sunburnt face, a big mouth, the bosom heavy,

the belly tanned and the forepart of the legs, from the knees shaggy with hair. Her laugh was ready and rude,

in a general way; but in act with a lover, her face grew dark and transfigured as if with wonder at the presence

of a god. 'Twas this had attached me to her, and I have many a time pondered since on the nature of this

"And I discovered the force that drew me toward this girl Monna Libetta, maidservant at the inn of Castro,

was the same that governs the stars in heaven and that there is one force and one only in the world, which is

Love. And it is likewise Hate, as is shown by the case of this same Monna Libetta, who was fiercely fondled,

"And I mind me how a groom in the Pope's stables, who was her chief lover, struck her so savagely one night

in the hay loft where he was bedding with her, that he left her lying there for dead. And he rushed out crying

through the streets that the vampires had strangled the girl. These be subjects a man must needs ponder if he

Thus spoke the Subtle Doctor. And the holy man Giovanni sitting up on his bedding of dung, answered:

"Nay! Doctor, is this language meet to address to a man that is to be hanged in a very short while? Hearing

you, I am filled with doubt whether your words are the words of a good man and a great Theologian, or if

But the Subtle Doctor made answer: "Who talks of being hanged? I tell you, Giovanni, I am come hither, at

the earliest peep of day, to set you free and help you to fIy. See! I have donned a gaoler's habit, the prison

door stands open. Quick! up and away!" At this the holy man rose to his feet and answered: "Doctor, take

heed what you are saying. I have made the sacrifice of my life, and I admit it has cost me dear to make it. If

trusting to your word that I am restored to life, I am then led to the place of execution, I must needs make a

second sacrifice more grievous than the first, and suffer two deaths instead of one. And I confess to you my

desire of martyrdom is vanished away, and a longing come upon me to breathe the air of day under the

The Subtle Doctor made reply: "It happens that was just my intent to lead you away under the pines rustling

in the wind with the soft sighing of a flute. We will break our fast sitting on the mossy slope overlooking the

And the holy man said. "Before going hence with you, I would fain know clearly who you are. I am fallen

from my first constancy; my courage is no better now than a straw blown about on the wasted threshingfloor

of my virtue. But I am left my faith in the Son of God, and to save my body, I would ill like to lose my soul."

"Verily," cried the Subtle Doctor, "think you verily I have any desire for your soul! Is it then so fair a maid

and sweet a lady you are afraid I would rob you of? Nay! keep it friend: I could make nothing of it."

The holy man was scarce assured by what he heard, for the other's words breathed no pious odour. But, as he

was exceeding eager to be free, he asked no more questions, but followed the Doctor and passed the wicket

Only when he was without, he inquired: "Who are you, you who send dreams to me and set prisoners free?

You have the beauty of a woman and the strength of a man, and I admire you, though I cannot love you."

And the Subtle Doctor answered: "You will love me so soon as I have made you suffer. Men cannot love but

And so conversing, they left the city and began climbing the mountain paths. And after faring far, they saw at

the entering in of a wood a redtile house, before which was a wide terrace overlooking the plain, planted

So they sat in the courtyard at the foot of a vine trunk; its leaves were gilded by the Autumn and from the

boughs hung clusters of grapes. And a girl brought them milk and honey and cakes of maize.

Presently the Subtle Doctor, stretching out his arm, plucked a scarletcheeked apple, bit into it and gave it to

the holy man. And Giovanni ate and drank, and his beard was all white with milk and his eyes laughed as he

gazed up at the sky, which filled them with blue light and joy. And the girl smiled.

Then the Subtle Doctor said: "Look at yonder child; she is far comelier than Monna Libetta."

And the holy man, intoxicated with milk and honey, and made merry with the light of day, sang songs his

mother was used to sing when she carried him as a babe in her arms. They were songs of shepherds and

shepherdesses, and they spoke of love. And as the girl stood listening on the threshold of the door, the holy

man left his seat and ran staggering towards her, took her in his arms and showered on her cheek kisses full

And the Subtle Doctor having paid the reckoning, the two travellers hied themselves toward the plain. As

they were walking between the silvery willows that border the water, the holy man said: "Let us sit; for now I

So they sat down beneath a willow, and watched the waterflags curling their swordcoloured flies flashing

And Giovanni answered him: "I have felt through you the sweet caress of living things, and I am troubled at

heart. I have tasted the milk and the honey. I have looked on the servingmaid standing at the threshold and

"What a long road I have travelled since I have known you. Do you remember the grove of holmoaks where

"You it was visited me in my hermit's cell and stood before me with a woman's eyes sparkling through a

transparent veil, while your alluring mouth instructed me in the entanglements of Right and Wrong. Again it

was you appeared in the meadow clad in a golden cope, like an Ambrose or an Augustine Then I knew not

the curse of thought, but you set me thinking. You put pride like a coal of fire on my lips; and I learned to

speculate. But as yet in the untrained freshness of my wit and raw youthfulness of mind, I felt no doubt. But

again you came to me, and gave me uncertainty to feed on and doubt to drink like wine. So comes it, that this

day I taste through you the entrancing illusion of things and that the soul of woods and streams, of sky and

"And lo! I am a miserable man, because I have followed after you, Prince of men."

And Giovanni gazed at his companion, who stood there beautiful as day and night. And then he said to him:

"Through you it is I suffer and I love you. I love you because you are my misery and my pride, my joy and

my sorrow, the splendour and the cruelty of things created, because you are desire and speculation,

and.because you have made me like unto yourself. For verily your promise in the Garden, in the dawn of this

world's days, was not vain, and I have tasted the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, O Satan."

Presently Giovanni resumed again: "I know, I see I feel, I will, I suffer. And I love you for all the ill you have