Ian Caldwell - The Rule of Four

In the final print, the child has torn out the still-beating hearts of the two women from their corpses and fed them to birds of prey. The innards he feeds to eagles, Then, after quartering the bodies, he throws the rest to the dogs, wolves, and lions that have gathered about.

When Polia awakens from this dream, her nurse explains that the child is Cupid, and that the women were young maidens who offended him by refusing the affections of their suitors. Polia deduces that she has been wrong to rebuff Poliphilo.

Taft pauses, turning his back to the audience in order to contemplate the enormous images that seem to float in the air at his back.

But what if we suppose that the explicit meaning is not the real meaning? he says, his back still to us, in a disembodied voice that resonates through the microphone on his chest. What if the nurse's interpretation of the dream is not, in fact, the right one? What if we were to use the punishment inflicted on these women to decipher what their crime truly was?

Consider a legal punishment for high treason that survived among certain European nations for centuries before and after the Hypnerotomachia was written. A criminal convicted of high treason was first drawn-meaning that he was tied to the tail of a horse and dragged across the ground through the city. He was brought in this way to the gallows, where he was hanged until he was not fully dead, but only half-dead. At this time he was cut down, and the entrails were sliced from his body and burned before him by the executioner. His heart was removed and displayed to the assembled crowd. The executioner then decapitated the carcass, quartered the remains, and displayed the pieces on pikes in public locations, to serve as a deterrent to future traitors.

Taft returns his focus to the audience as he says this, to see its reaction. Now he circles back toward the slides.

With this in mind, let us reconsider our pictures. We see that many of the details correspond to the punishment I've just described. The victims are drawn to the location of their deaths-or rather, perhaps a bit ironically, they draw the executioner's chariot themselves. They are dismembered, and their limbs are shown to the assembled crowd, which in this instance consists of wild animals.

Instead of being hanged, however, the women are slain with a sword. What are we to make of this? One possible explanation is that beheading, either by ax or sword, was a punishment reserved for those of high rank, for whom hanging was deemed too base. Perhaps, then, we may infer that these were ladies of distinction.

Finally, the animals that appear in the crowd will remind many of you of the three beasts from the opening canto of Dante's 'Inferno,' or the sixth verse of Jeremiah. Taft looks out across die lecture hall.

I was just about to say that… Gil whispers with a smile.

To my surprise, Charlie hushes him.

The lion signifies the sin of pride, Taft goes on. And the wolf represents covetousness. These are the vices of a high traitor-a Satan or a Judas-just as the punishment seems to suggest. But here the Hypnerotomachia diverges: Dante's third beast is a leopard, representing lust. Yet Francesco Colonna includes a dog instead of a leopard, suggesting that lust was not one of the sins for which the two women are being punished.

Taft pauses, letting the audience chew on this for a moment.

What we are beginning to read, then, he begins again, is the vocabulary of cruelty. Despite what many of you may think, it is not a purely barbaric language. Like all of our rituals, it is rich with meaning. You must simply learn to read it. I will therefore offer one additional piece of information, which you may use in interpreting the image-then I will pose a question, and leave the rest to you.

Your final clue is a fact that many of you probably know, but have overlooked: namely, that we can tell Polia has misidentified the child, simply by noting the weapon the child is carrying. For if the little boy in the nightmare had truly been Cupid, as Polia claims, then his weapon would not have been the sword. It would have been the bow and arrow.

There are murmurs of assent in the crowd, hundreds of students seeing Valentine's Day in an entirely new light.

Therefore I ask you: who is this child that brandishes a sword, forces women to draw his war chariot through a difficult forest, then slaughters them as if they were guilty of treason?

He waits, as if preparing to deliver the answer, but instead says, Solve this, and you will begin to understand the hidden truth of the Hypnerotomachia . Perhaps you will also begin to understand the significance not only of death, but of the form death takes when it comes. All of us-we of faith and we who lack it-are too accustomed to the sign of the cross to understand the significance of the crucifix. But religion, Christianity in particular, has always been the story of death in the midst of life, of sacrifices and martyrs. Tonight, of all nights, as we commemorate the sacrifice of the most famous of those martyrs, it is a fact we should be loath to forget.

Removing his glasses, and folding them into his breast pocket, Taft tips his head and says, I entrust you with this, and place my faith in you. With a plodding step back, he adds, Thank you all, and good night.

Applause erupts from every corner of the hall-at first awkwardly, but soon to a heavy crescendo. Despite the earlier interruption, the audience has been seduced by this strange man, mesmerized by his fusion of intellect and gore.

Taft nods his head and shuffles toward the table by the podium, meaning to sit down, but the applause continues. Some in the audience take to their feet, continuing to clap.

Thank you, he says again, still standing, hands pressed atop the back of his chair. Even as he speaks, the old smile returns to his features. It's as if he has been watching the audience all along, never the other way around.

Professor Henderson rises and strides toward the lectern, silencing the applause.

By tradition, she says, we will be offering refreshments this evening in the courtyard between this auditorium and the chapel. I understand that the maintenance and ground crews have set up a number of space heaters beneath the tables. Please come out to join us.

Turning to Taft, she adds, That said, let me thank Dr. Taft for such a memorable lecture. You certainly made quite an impression. She smiles, but with a certain restraint.

The audience applauds again, then slowly begins to filter through the exit.

Taft watches it do so, and I in turn watch him. This is one of the few times I have ever seen the man, recluse that he is. Now I finally understand why Paul finds him so magnetic. Even when you know he's making a game of you, it's almost impossible to take your eyes off him.

Slowly Taft begins to hulk across the stage. As the white screen mechanically retracts into a slot in the ceiling, the three slides become a whisper of gray over the blackboards beyond. I can barely make out the wild animals devouring the women's remains, the child floating off into the air.

You coming? Charlie asks, lingering behind Gil by the exit.

I hurry after them.

You couldn't find Paul? Charlie asks once I've caught up.

He didn't want my help.

But when I mention what I overheard outside, Charlie looks at me as if I shouldn't have let him go. Someone stops beside us to greet Gil, and Charlie turns to me.

Did Paul go after Curry? he asks.

I shake my head. Bill Stein.

Are you guys coming to the reception? Gil calls out, sensing a quick getaway. We could use the turnout.

Sure, I say, and Gil seems pacified. His mind is elsewhere; we're returning to his element.

We'll have to avoid Jack Parlow and Kelly-they only want to talk about the ball, he says, returning to our sides. But it shouldn't be bad.