But then he realized Friar Mathieu was speaking only figuratively.
"But men of great families scorn me because I bear the name de
Gobignon," he said. "I will have to live out my life in disgrace."
"God respects you," said Friar Mathieu quietly and intensely. "Weighed
against that, the opinion of men is nothing."
_That is true_, Simon thought, and great chains that had weighed him
down as long as he could remember suddenly fell away. He felt himself
gasping for breath.
Friar Mathieu continued. "The beauty of my vows is that with their help
I have come to know who I truly am. I have given up my name, my
possessions, the love of women, my worldly position. You need not give
up all those things. But if you can part with them in your mind, you can
come to know yourself as God knows you. You can see that you are not
what people think of you."
Tears of joy burned Simon's eyelids. _Thank you, God, for allowing me to
meet this man._
"Yes," Simon whispered. "Yes, I understand."
"But," said Friar Mathieu, a note of light reproof in his voice, "I know
you have not told me everything."
Caught by surprise, Simon was thankful that the lantern up ahead started
swinging from right to left, a ball of light against the stars.