iancaldwell&dustinthomason.theruleoffour-第28部分

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　dead　things　that　refused　to　stay　buried。
　〃Is　there　anything　that　could　change　your　mind　about　working　on　the　Hypnerotomachia？〃　Paul　asked　me　that　night…and　from　his　tense　expression；　I　knew　he'd　found　something　important。
　〃No；〃　I　told　him；　half　because　I　meant　it；　but　half　to　get　him　to　tip　his　hand。
　〃I　think　I　made　a　breakthrough　over　the　summer。　But　I　need　your　help　to　understand　it。〃
　〃Tell　me；〃　I　said。
　And　however　it　began　for　my　father；　whatever　galvanized　his　curiosity　in　the　Hypnerotomachia；　this　was　how　it　started　for　me。　What　Paul　said　that　night　gave　Colonna's　long…dead　book　new　life。
　　
　〃Vincent　introduced　me　to　Steven　Gelbman　from　Brown　last　year　when　he　saw　I　was　getting　frustrated；〃　Paul　began。　〃Gelbman　does　research　with　math；　cryptography；　and　religion；　all　in　one。　He's　an　expert　at　the　mathematical　analysis　of　the　Torah。　Have　you　heard　of　this　stuff？〃
　〃Sounds　like　kabala。〃
　〃Exactly。　You　don't　just　study　what　the　scriptural　words　say；　you　study　what　the　numbers　say。　Every　letter　in　the　Hebrew　alphabet　has　a　number　assigned　to　it。　Using　the　order　of　the　letters；　you　can　look　for　mathematical　patterns。
　〃Well；　I　was　doubtful　at　the　beginning。　Even　after　sitting　through　ten　hours　of　lectures　on　the　Sephirothic　correspondences；　I　didn't　buy　it。　It　just　didn't　seem　to　relate　to　Colonna。　But　by　the　summer　I'd　finished　the　secondary　sources　on　the　Hypnerotomachia；　and　I　started　working　on　the　book　itself。　It　was　impossible。　I　would　try　to　force　an　interpretation　onto　it；　and　it　would　throw　everything　back　in　my　face。　As　soon　as　I　thought　a　few　pages　were　moving　in　one　direction；　using　a　certain　structure；　making　a　certain　point；　suddenly　the　sentence　would　end；　and　in　the　next　one　everything　would　change。
　〃I　spent　five　weeks　just　trying　to　understand　the　first　labyrinth　Francesco　describes。　I　studied　Vitruvius　to　understand　the　architectural　terms。　I　looked　up　every　ancient　labyrinth　I　knew…the　Egyptian　one　at　the　City　of　Crocodiles；　the　ones　at　Lemnos　and　Clusium　and　Crete；　half　a　dozen　others。　Then　I　realized　there　were　four　different　labyrinths　in　the　Hypnerotomachia…one　in　a　temple；　one　in　the　water；　one　in　a　garden；　and　one　underground。　As　soon　as　I　thought　I　was　beginning　to　understand　one　level　of　plexity；　it　quadrupled。　Poliphilo　even　gets　lost　at　the　beginning　of　the　book　and　says；　My　only　recourse　was　to　beg　the　pity　of　Cretan　Ariadne；　who　gave　the　thread　to　Theseus　to　escape　from　the　difficult　labyrinth。　It's　like　the　book　understood　what　it　was　doing　to　me。
　〃Finally　I　realized　the　only　thing　I　knew　that　definitely　worked　was　the　acrostic　with　the　first　letter　of　every　chapter。　So　I　did　what　the　book　told　me　to　do。　I　begged　the　pity　of　Cretan　Ariadne；　the　one　person　who　might　be　able　to　solve　the　maze。〃
　〃You　went　back　to　Gelbman。〃
　He　nodded。　〃I　ate　crow。　I　was　desperate。　In　July；　Gelbman　let　me　stay　with　him　in　Providence　after　Vincent　insisted　I　was　making　progress　with　the　method。　He　spent　the　weekend　showing　me　more　sophisticated　decoding　techniques；　and　that's　when　things　started　to　pick　up。〃
　I　remember　looking　out　the　window　beyond　Paul's　shoulder　as　he　spoke；　sensing　that　the　landscape　was　changing。　We　were　sitting　in　our　bedroom　in　Dod；　alone　on　a　Friday　night；　Charlie　and　Gil　were　somewhere　below　our　feet；　playing　paintball　in　the　steam　tunnels　with　a　group　of　friends　from　Ivy　and　the　EMT　squad。　The　following　day　I　would　have　a　paper　to　work　on；　a　test　to　study　for。　A　week　later　I　would　meet　Katie　for　the　first　time。　But　for　that　moment；　Paul's　hold　on　my　attention　was　plete。
　〃The　most　plicated　concept　he　taught　me；〃　he　continued；　〃was　how　to　decode　a　book　based　on　algorithms　or　ciphers　from　the　text　itself。　In　those　cases；　the　key　is　built　right　in。　You　solve　for　the　cipher；　like　an　equation　or　a　set　of　instructions；　then　you　use　the　cipher　to　unlock　the　text。　The　book　actually　interprets　itself。〃
　I　smiled。　〃Sounds　like　an　idea　that　could　bankrupt　the　English　department。〃
　〃I　was　skeptical　too；〃　Paul　said。　〃But　it　turns　out　there's　a　long　tradition　of　it。　Intellectuals　during　the　Enlightenment　used　to　write　entire　tracts　like　that　as　a　game。　The　texts　looked　like　regular　stories；　epistolary　novels；　that　kind　of　thing。　But　if　you　knew　the　right　techniques…maybe　catching　typos　that　turned　out　to　be　intentional；　or　solving　puzzles　in　the　illustrations…you　could　find　the　key。　Something　like　'Use　only　primes　and　perfect　squares；　and　letters　every　tenth　word　shares；　exclude　the　words　of　Lord　Kinkaid；　and　any　questions　from　the　maid。'　You　would　follow　the　directions；　and　there　would　be　a　message　at　the　end。　Most　of　the　time　it　was　a　limerick　or　a　dirty　joke。　But　one　of　these　guys　actually　wrote　his　will　like　that。　Whoever　could　decipher　it　would　inherit　his　estate。〃
　Paul　pulled　a　single　sheet　of　paper　from　between　the　pages　of　a　book。　On　it　was　written；　in　two　distinct　blocks；　the　text　of　a　passage　written　in　code；　and　below　it　the　shorter　decoded　message。　How　one　became　the　other；　I　couldn't　see。
　〃After　a　while；　I　started　thinking　it　could　work。　Maybe　the　acrostic　with　the　Hypnerotomachia's　chapter　letters　was　just　a　hint。　Maybe　it　was　there　to　tell　you　what　sort　of　interpretation　would　work　on　the　rest　of　the　book。　A　lot　of　humanists　were　interested　in　kabala；　and　the　idea　of　playing　games　with　language　and　symbols　was　popular　in　the　Renaissance。　Maybe　Francesco　had　used　some　kind　of　cipher　for　the　Hypnerotomachia。
　〃The　problem　was；　I　had　no　idea　where　to　look　for　the　algorithm。　I　started　inventing　ciphers　of　my　own；　just　to　see　if　one　might　work。　I　was　fighting　with　it；　day　after　day。　I　would　e　across　something；　spend　a　week　rummaging　through　the　Rare　Books　Room　for　an　answer…only　to　find　out　it　didn't　make　sense；　or　it　was　a　trap；　or　a　dead　end。
　〃Then；　at　the　end　of　August；　I　spent　three　weeks　on　a　single　passage。　It's　at　the　point　in　the　story　where　Poliphilo　is　examining　a　set　of　temple　ruins；　and　he　finds　a　hieroglyphic　message　carved　on　an　obelisk。　To　the　divine　and　always　august　Julius　Caesar；　governor　of　the　world　is　the　opening　phrase。　I'll　never　forget　it…it　almost　drove　me　crazy。　The　same　few　pages；　day　after　day。　But　that's　when　I　found　it。〃
　He　opened　a　binder　on　his　desk。　Inside　was　a　reproduction　of　every　page　of　the　Hypnerotomachia。　Turning　to　an　appendix　he'd　created　at　the　end；　he　showed　me　a　sheet　of　paper　on　which　he'd　clipped　the　first　letter　of　each　chapter　into　what　looked　like　a　ransom　note；　spelling　the　famous　message　about　Fra　Francesco　Colonna。　Poliam　Frater　Franciscus　Columna　Peramavit。
　〃My　starting　assumption　was　simple。　The　acrostic　couldn't　just　be　a　parlor　trick；　a　cheap　way　to　identify　the　author。　It　had　to　have　a　larger　purpose：　first　letters　wouldn't　just　be　important　for　decoding　that　initial　message；　they　would　be　important　for　deciphering　the　entire　book。
　〃So　I　tried　it。　The　passage　I'd　been　looking　at　happens　to　begin　with　a　special　hieroglyph　in　one　of　the　drawings…an　eye。〃　He　flipped　several　pages；　finally　arriving　at　it。
　
　〃Since　it　was　the　first　symbol　in　that　woodcut；　I　decided　it　must　be　important。　The　problem　was；　I　couldn't　do　anything　with　it。　Poliphilo's　definition　of　the　symbol…that　the　eye　means　God；　or　divinity…led　me　nowhere。
　〃That's　when　I　got　lucky。　One　morning　I　was　doing　some　work　at　the　student　center；　and　I　hadn't　slept　much；　so　I　decided　to　buy　a　soda。　Only；　the　machine　kept　spitting　my　dollar　back。　I　was　so　tired；　I　couldn't　figure　out　why；　until　I　finally　looked　down　and　realized　I　was　putting　it　in　the　wrong　way。　The　back　side　was　up。　I　was　just　about　to　turn　it　over　and　try　again；　when　I　saw　it。　Right　in　front　of　me；　on　the　back　of　the　bill。〃
　〃The　eye；〃　I　said。　〃Right　above　the　pyramid。〃
　〃Exactly。　It's　part　of　the　great　seal。　And　that's　when　it　hit　me。　In　the　Renaissance　there　was　a　famous　humanist　who　used　the　eye　as　his　symbol。　He　even　printed　it　on　coins　and　medals。〃
　He　waited；　as　if　I　might　know　the　answer。
　〃Alberti。〃　Paul　pointed　to　a　small　volume　on　the　far　shelf。　The　spine　read　De　re　aedificatoria。　〃That's　what　Colonna　meant　by　it。　He　was　about　to　borrow　an　idea　from　Alberti's　book；　and　he　wanted　you　to　notice　it。　If　you　could　just　figure　out　what　it　was；　the　rest　would　fall　into　place。
　〃In　his　treatise；　Alberti　creates　Latin　equivalents　for　architectural　words　derived　from　Greek。　Francesco　does　the　same　replacement　all　over　the　Hypnerotomachia…except　in　one　place。　I'd　noticed　it　the　first　time　I　translated　the　section；　because　I　started　hitting　Vitruvian　terms　I　hadn't　seen　in　a　long　time。　But　I　never　thought　they　were　significant。
　〃The　trick；　I　realized；　was　that　you　had　to　find　all　the　Greek　architectural　terms　in　that　passage　and　replace　them　with　their　Latin　equivalents；　the　same　way　they　appear　in　the　rest　of　the　text。　If　you　did　that；　and　used　the　acrostic　rule…reading　the　first　letter　of　each　word　in　a　row；　the　same　way　you　do　with　the　first　letter　of　each　chapter…the　puzzle　unlocks。　You　find　a　message　in　Latin。　The　only　problem　is；　if　you　make　just　one　mistake　converting　the　Greek　to　Latin；　the　whole　message　breaks　down。　Replace　entasi　with　ventris　diametrum　instead　of　just　venter；　and　the　extra　'D'　at　the　beginning　of　diametrum　changes　ever