The Tower by Valerio Massimo Manfredi Read Free Book Online Page B

many years ago, Explorations in the South-eastern Quadrant of the Sahara , in which he has added phrases at the beginning of several chapters, the meaning of which I’m still attempting to decipher. Actually, I have no idea why he saw Father Antonelli and what they had to say to each other.
    ‘If I could find a way to meet him now, he might be able to give me some information, some useful lead to help me locate my father in the middle of that endless sea of sand. I hope this is enough to convince Father Antonelli to see me. I hope so with all my heart . . .’
    ‘The Book of Genesis . . .’ repeated Father Boni, as if he’d heard nothing after that. ‘The Book of Genesis is no small topic. How could your father have attempted research in such a difficult field without any training as a Bible scholar?’
    ‘I have no idea. I only know that he’d come to the conclusion that the characters in Genesis were actual historical personages.’
    Father Boni could barely contain his surprise. ‘Did you use the word “historical”?’
    ‘I did.’
    ‘I’m sorry, but I don’t understand what you mean by this term. You realize, of course, that not even the most conservative scholars believe that all humanity was born from a single couple, from a man and a woman named Adam and Eve . . .’
    ‘Not in that sense,’ said Philip. ‘No, not in that sense. If I remember correctly from my father’s writings and notes, he came to the conclusion that it was not the actual origin of man that was narrated in Genesis, but rather the passage from the Palaeolithic era to the Neolithic era. He postulated that the Garden of Eden was nothing more than a symbol for or a parable of the era in which man was part of nature and lived on the fruits of the earth and was nourished by the animals around him – that is, a symbol of the early Palaeolithic. Then man chose to eat from the tree of knowledge, of good and evil – that is, he evolved into a perfectly conscious being, a being who was equipped with a complex system of knowledge. This made him aware of the possibilities of evil and resulted in the loss of his primeval innocence.’
    Philip became more and more excited as he spoke, as if his father’s convictions were the fruit of his own research.
    ‘ “Ye shall earn your bread by the sweat of your brow,” ’ he continued, quoting from the Bible. ‘That was their punishment. “Ye shall work the land.” It was in Neolithic times that man became a sheep-herder and a farmer, developed a sense of property, forged metal to craft agricultural tools . . . But not only tools; weapons, as well. Especially weapons.’
    Father Boni raised his eyebrows. ‘Quite a simplistic hypothesis, and very banal all told. Hinted at long ago by the ancient poets of the pagan world in the myths of the age of gold and the age of iron.’
    ‘You say so? Then tell me, did man ever have the choice of not evolving, of not becoming conscious of good and evil? Wasn’t evolution an unavoidable process, provoked by a series of uncontrollable events like climatic and environmental changes and, in the final analysis, by man’s genetic predisposition as well? And if this is the case, Father, if man had no choice, what is original sin? What was the human race so guilty of? Why was man forced to bear the horror of violence, the awareness of decay and death?’
    ‘The author of Genesis was simply trying to explain the mystery of why evil is present in the world. It’s an allegory that can’t be interpreted literally.’
    Philip smiled ironically. ‘A similar affirmation would have sent you to the stake just a couple of centuries ago. You surprise me, Father Boni. But furthermore,’ he continued, ‘if evolution is not the fruit of chance but rather of the will of a divine providence who dictated the rules of the universe and the development of every form of life, well, then the problem gets even thornier, wouldn’t you say?’
    Father Boni broke in. ‘You’re