The first words that met my eyes were a lengthy and learned dedication to Ambassador Buonvisi, and then another no less polished prologue addressed to the reader.
There followed a table entitled 'Calculation of the Introitus of the Sun', which I did not read. Finally, I found a 'General Discourse on the Year 1683':
It will begin, according to the Custom of the Holy Roman Catholicke Church, on the First of January and according to the ancient Astronomical Style, when the Sunne has completed its Round of the Twelve Signs of the Zodiac, returning again to the Cusp of the Sign of Aries, because Fundamentum principale in revolutionibus annorum mundi et introitus Solis in pritnum punctum Arietis. Thus, it is by Means of the Tychonian System…Irritated by all this show of astronomical wisdom, I gave up. Further on, I read that there would be four eclipses during the course of the year (none of which would, however, be observable in Italy); then came a table with a mass of figures, all of them completely incomprehensible to me, entitled 'Direct Ascension of the Celestiall Figure in Winter'. I felt discouraged. It all seemed to me to be unconscionably complicated. I was only trying to find some prediction for the current year and, what was more, I had little time. At long last, I found a promising heading: 'Lunations and Combinations with other Planetary Aspects for all the Year 1683'. I had finally discovered detailed predictions, set out according to the seasons and months and covering the entire year. I skimmed through the pages until I came to the four weeks of September:
Saturn, Ruler of the Eighth House, threatens the aged, endangering their lives.
I was perturbed. This prediction referred to the first week of the month, but it was clear that, only a few mornings earlier, old Mourai had died a mysterious death. I looked hurriedly for the second week, since Mourai had died on the 11th, and soon discovered:
As regards Maladies, Jupiter rules the Sixth House and will strive to bring Health to many who are sick; however, Mars, in a Fiery Sign attd in Opposition to the Moon seems intent on subjecting many Individuals to malignant Fevers and venomous Distempers, for it is written that in this position Lunam opposito Martis morbos venenatos inducit, sicut in sig- nis igneis, terminaturque cito, amp; raro ad vitam. Saturn rules the Eighth House, and greatly threatens senile Age.
Not only had the author clairvoyantly perceived that the aged were again threatened by Saturn, which fully corresponded with the demise of Signor di Mourai, but he had also foreseen the sufferings of my master and Bedfordi as a result of 'malignant Fevers and venomous Distempers'. Not to mention the fact that the reference to poison perhaps concerned the aged Frenchman most of all.
I went back a few lines and resumed my reading for the first week, with the firm intention not to leave off from it, even if Cristofano were to knock yet again.
The Emergencies which resultfrom the Study of the heavenly Bodies during this Week are directed by Jupiter in his quality as Ruler of the governing House, which, being in the Fourth House with the Sunne and Mercury, seeks with fine Astuteness to reveal a hidden Treasure, the same Mercury, dignified by Jupiter in a terrestrial Sign, signifies Outbreaks of subterranean Fires, and Tremors with Terrors and Alarums for Mankind; wherefore it is written: Eo item in terrae cardine, amp; in signo terreo fortunatis ab eodem cadentibus dum Mercurius investigat eumdem, terraemotus nunciat, ignes de terra producit, terrores, amp; turba- tiones exauget, minerias amp; terrae sulphura corrumpit. Saturn, Ruler of the Seventh House, in the Third House, promises great Mortality as a Consequence of Battles, and Assaults against the City, and, being square with Mars, means the Surrender of a considerable fortified Place, as foreseen by Ali and by Leopoldus Austriacus.
Despite some difficulties (as with the learned references to masters of astrological doctrine) I did in the end succeed in understanding. And again, I shuddered; for, in the prediction of the revelation of 'a hidden Treasure and Outbreaks of subterranean Fires, and Tremors, with Terrors and Alarums for Mankind', I recognised clearly the most recent occurrences at the Donzello.
What was the 'hidden Treasure' which was to be brought to light in the first days of the month if not the enigmatic letters hidden in Colbert's study and appropriated by Atto just before the minister's death? It all seemed so clear and terrible in its inevitability. Above all, the death of Colbert, who surely did not die young, coincided perfectly with the threats to the aged of which the gazette spoke.
Even the earthquakes and subterranean fires were familiar to me. I could only think of the rumbling which we had at the beginning of the month heard coming from the cellars. The tremendous reverberation had made us fear that an earthquake was coming; fortunately, it had left no more trace than a crack in the wall of the stairs leading to the first floor. But Signor Pellegrino almost had a seizure.
And what could one say about the 'great Mortality as a Consequence of Battles, and Assaults against the City' as foreseen by Ali and by Leopoldus Austriacus? Who would not see in this the battle against the Turks and the siege of Vienna? The very names of the two great astrologers were disturbingly reminiscent of the Emperor Leopold of Austria and the followers of Mahomet. I grew afraid of reading on and went back to the preceding pages. I stopped at the passage concerning the month of July, in which, as I expected, the Ottoman advance and the beginning of the siege were predicted:
The Sun in the Tenth House signifies… the Subjection of Peoples, Republics and Neighbours by a stronger bordering Power, as foreseen by Ali…
At that precise moment, Cristofano knocked on my door. I hid the astrological gazette under the mattress and rushed out. The doctor's call came almost as a relief: the accuracy with which events seemed to have been guessed at by the author of the gazette (especially, sad and violent events) had upset me deeply.
In the kitchen, while I was preparing luncheon and at the same time assisting Cristofano with the preparation of a number of remedies for Bedfordi, I kept turning matters over and over in my mind. I was spurred on by my anxiety to understand: I felt as though I were somehow a prisoner of the planets, and all our lives, in the Donzello as in Vienna, no more than a vain struggle in narrow fore-ordained straits, in some invisible torrent which might bear us where we would perhaps rather not go, while our sad but trusting prayers languished under a black and empty heaven.
'What rings you have around your eyes, my boy! You have not perchance been insomniac these last few nights?' Cristofano inquired of me. 'Insufficient sleep is quite a serious matter: if the mind and the heart remain awake unceasingly, the pores no longer open and allow the evaporation of the humours corrupted by the cares of the day.'
I admitted that I was indeed not sleeping enough. Cristofano then warned me that he could not do without my services, especially now that, with my help, he was at last managing to keep the lodgers in perfect health. And truly, he added in order to encourage me, all had praised the quality of my assistance.
It was plain that the physician was unaware that I had as yet given no treatment to Dulcibeni, to young Devize or even to Stilone Priaso, in whose company I had, however, spent almost an entire night. And so, the health of at least these three guests was due to Mother Nature and not to his remedies.
Cristofano, however, planned to do more: he set to work on a preparation to make me sleep.
'All Europe has tried it thousands of times. It restores sleep and is good for most of the body's intrinsic infirmities, as well as healing all manner of wounds. If I were to tell you here and now all the wonders I have wrought with this, you would not believe me,' the Tuscan assured me. 'It is known as magnolicore, the great liquor; and it is prepared in Venice too, at the Apothecary of the Bear, on Campo Santa Maria Formosa. The process of preparation takes quite some time, but can be completed only in the month of September.'
And, with a smile, he pulled out from his bags, the contents of which had already spilled onto the great kitchen table, a curious clay jar.
'It is necessary to begin preparation of the magnolicore in the springtime, boiling twelve pounds of common oil together with two of mature white wine…'
While Cristofano, with his usual extreme meticulousness, listed the composition and miraculous qualities of his preparation, my mind continued to wander.
'… and now that it is September, we shall add balsamic herbs and a good quantity of Master Pellegrino's finest aqua vitae.'
I awoke abruptly from my thoughts upon hearing this news of the latest spoliation of my master's cellar for apothecary's purposes.
'My boy, what is it that so preoccupies your heart and your mind?'
I told him that I had awoken that morning with a sad thought: if, as some affirmed, our lives were governed by the planets and the stars, then all was in vain, including the medicines which Doctor Cristofano himself was preparing with such care. But I at once excused myself, explaining away my ravings as the fruit of fatigue.
