OF HOW HE CAME TO LAON TO SEEK ANSELM AS TEACHER
Sought out, therefore, this same venerable man, whose fame, in
truth, was more the result of long-established custom than of the
potency of his own talent or intellect. If any one came to him
impelled by doubt on any subject, he went away more doubtful still.
He was wonderful, indeed, in the eyes of these who only listened to
him, but those who asked him questions perforce held him as nought.
He had a miraculous flock of words, but they were contemptible in
meaning and quite void of reason. When he kindled a fire, he filled
his house with smoke and illumined it not at all. He was a tree
which seemed noble to those who gazed upon its leaves from afar,
but to those who came nearer and examined it more closely was
revealed its barrenness. When, therefore, I had come to this tree
that I might pluck the fruit thereof, I discovered that it was
indeed the fig tree which Our Lord cursed (Matthew xxi, 19; Mark
xi, 13), or that ancient oak to which Lucan likened Pompey, saying:
"... he stands, the shade of a name once mighty,
Like to the towering oak in the midst of the fruitful field."
(Lucan, "Pharsalia," IV, 135.)
It was not long before I made this discovery, and stretched myself
lazily in the shade of that same tree. I went to his lectures less
and less often, a thing which some among his eminent followers took
sorely to heart, because they interpreted it as a mark of contempt
for so illustrious a teacher. Thenceforth they secretly sought to
influence him against me, and by their vile insinuations made me
hated of him. It chanced, moreover, that one day, after the
exposition of certain texts, we scholars were jesting among
ourselves, and one of them, seeking to draw me out, asked me what I
thought of the lectures on the Books of Scripture. I, who had as
yet studied only the sciences, replied that following such lectures
seemed to me most useful in so far as the salvation of the soul was
concerned, but that it appeared quite extraordinary to me that
educated persons should not be able to understand the sacred books
simply by studying them themselves, together with the glosses
thereon, and without the aid of any teacher. Most of those who were
present mocked at me, and asked whether I myself could do as I had
said, or whether I would dare to undertake it. I answered that if
they wished, I was ready to try it. Forthwith they cried out and
jeered all the more. "Well and good," said they; "we agree to the
test. Pick out and give us an exposition of some doubtful passage
in the Scriptures, so that we can put this boast of yours to the
proof." And they all chose that most obscure prophecy of Ezekiel.
I accepted the challenge, and invited them to attend a lecture on
the very next day. Whereupon they undertook to give me good advice,
saying that I should by no means make undue haste in so important a
matter, but that I ought to devote a much loner space to working
out my exposition and offsetting my inexperience by diligent toil.
To this I replied indignantly that it was my wont to win success,
not by routine, but by ability. I added that I would abandon the
test altogether unless they would agree not to put off their
attendance at my lecture. In truth at this first lecture of mine
only a few were present, for it seemed quite absurd to all of them
that I, hitherto so inexperienced in discussing the Scriptures,
should attempt the thing so hastily. However, this lecture gave
such satisfaction to all those who heard it that they spread its
praises abroad with notable enthusiasm, and thus compelled me to
continue my interpretation of the sacred text. When word of this
was bruited about, those who had stayed away from the first lecture
came eagerly, some to the second and more to the third, and all of
them were eager to write down the glosses which I had begun on the
first day, so as to have them from the very beginning.