Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco

Author:Umberto Eco
Format: mobi, epub, azw3, pdf
Published: 2010-01-29T21:05:50+00:00

54

The prince of darkness is a gentleman.

—Shakespeare, King Lear, III, iv

It was autumn. One morning I went to Via Marchese Gualdi, because I had to get Signer Garamond’s authorization to order some color photographs from abroad. I glimpsed Aglie in Si-gnora Grazia’s office, bent over the file of Manutius authors, but I didn’t disturb him, because I was late for my meeting.

When our business was over, I asked Signor Garamond what Aglie was doing in the secretary’s office.

“The man’s a genius,” Garamond said. “An extraordinary mind, keen, learned. The other evening, I took him to dinner with some of our authors, and he made me look great. What conversation! What style! A gentleman of the old school, an aristocrat; they’ve thrown away the mold. What knowledge, what culture—no, more, what information! He told delightful anecdotes about characters of a century ago, and I swear it was as if he had known them personally. Do you want to hear the idea he gave me as we were going home? He said we shouldn’t just sit and wait for Isis Unveiled authors to turn up on their own. It’s a waste of time and effort to read when you don’t even know whether the authors are willing to underwrite the expenses. Instead, we have a gold mine at our disposal: the list of all the Manutius authors of the last twenty years! You understand? We write to our old, glorious authors, or at least the ones who bought up their remainders, and we say to them: Dear sir, are you aware that we have inaugurated a series of works of erudition, tradition, and the highest spirituality? Would you, as an author of distinction and refinement, be interested in venturing into this terra incognita, et cetera, et cetera? A genius, I tell you. I believe he wants us all to join him Sunday evening. Plans to take us to a castle, a fortress—no, more, a villa in the Turin area. It seems that extraordinary things are to happen there, a rite, a sabbath, where someone will make gold or quicksilver. It’s a whole world to be discovered, my dear Casaubon, even if, as you know, I have the greatest respect for science, the science to which you are devoting yourself with such passion. Indeed, I am very, very pleased with your work, and yes, there’s that little financial adjustment you mentioned; I haven’t forgotten it, and in due course we’ll talk about it. Aglie told me the lady will also be there, the beautiful lady—or perhaps not beautiful, but attractive; there’s something about her eyes—that friend of Bel-bo’s—what’s her name—?”

“Lorenza Pellegrini.”

“Yes. There’s something—no?—between her and our Belbo.”

“I believe they’re good friends.”

“Ah! A gentleman’s answer. Bravo, Casaubon. But I do not inquire out of idle curiosity; the fact is that I feel like a father to all of you and...glissons, a la guerre comme a la guerre...Good-bye, dear boy.”

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