The Master of Verona by David Blixt Read Free Book Online Page B

Alighieri would agree. He certainly made a saint of that pagan scribbler Virgil. So many pagan poets and philosophers got fine treatment, while good churchmen were lambasted. But you missed one, Alighieri! I didn't notice the Greek philosopher Zeno in your journey through Hell."
    The aquiline lips curled beneath the black beard. "That doesn't mean he isn't there. There are so many souls, I did not have time to name them all. If there is anyone you are particularly curious about, I'll inquire on my next visit."
    The crowd erupted. Only Pietro knew how hard Dante was working to maintain his composure. Embedded in his many fine qualities was a discomfort in crowds. Over the years he'd learned to mask it with an acerbic wit.
    Above the noise the abbot leveled an accusing finger. "You, sir, are a pagan, posing as a Christian."
    "Better than an ass posing as a lamb of God." Beneath a fresh spate of laughter Dante's head turned. Oh no , thought Pietro as his father crooked a beckoning finger. "My lords, this is my elder son, named Pietro for San Pietro himself. Son, remind our host, what were the three types of heaven Aristotle named?"
    Pietro wanted to hide himself in the fluttering drapes. This is my punishment for being late . And for the hat . First the Abbot is put down for calling Virgil a scribbler. Now it's my turn . Not far off he spied his little brother's large grin. Shut up, twerp . Endeavoring to recall his lessons, Pietro took a breath. "The first he uses is closest to what we mean by Heaven. It is the seat of all that is divine."
    "Correct. And the second?"
    "Next, he uses heaven to encompass the stars, the moon, and the sun. The heavens of astrology."
    Pietro hoped his father would expound and expand, but all he was rewarded with was a curt nod. "And the third?"
    "The third... it's… well, ah –"
    "Yes?"
    Pietro took a chance. "It's — it's everything. The whole universe. It's the totality of the world, everything in and around us. Just as all the pagan gods were only aspects of Jupiter, or Zeus, so all living beings are — are aspects of heaven."
    Dante gazed at his son. "Crudely put. But not inaccurate."
    Relief. Thank God Antonia isn't here . Pietro's sister would have quoted it, exactly. In Greek.
    Cangrande's voice was rich and deep. "Sounds like Bolognese rhetoric. The body, the body, the body is all. So, my dear Abbot, it seems Heaven is all around us. Is that your argument? Are we indeed inside Heaven without our knowing it?"
    Before the abbot could answer, the fool in silk raised his head. "I don't know about your faith — I try not to learn more than I have to of the divine carpenter — but mine says that man was created outside Heaven. And that Lucifer was cast out of Heaven for warring against Jehovah. How can you be cast out of the infinite?"
    "God logic!" sneered the abbot. "We need no theology here, however fashionable. What is, is!"
    Dante pressed his lips tight. "The fool raises an interesting question. Aristotle was, of course, discussing more the nature of physics than that of astrology. But we have strayed. I did not say that there was more than one Heaven. I said that the heavens were written, and must be read. I apologize for my use of the word 'heavens'. I should have said 'the stars'."
    The abbot stamped his foot. "I object to the idea that the — that Heaven is a book ! No doubt you think it is written in the vernacular as well?" Pietro's father had written L'Inferno in the tongue the churchmen called vulgare , eschewing the Latin of the scholars. He maintained that vulgare was what the Romans had spoken a thousand years before, while the Church Latin was far removed from the common speech of all Italians, past and present. Ironically enough, when writing his treatise praising the common tongue, he'd used Latin.
    In place of defending vulgare , Dante said, "The Book of Heaven is written in a universal language, for it is our universe. It is the language spoken by all the world before