The Da Vinci Code Chapter 21-23

CHAPTER 21 The Mona Lisa. For an instant, standing in the exit stairwell, Sophie forgot all about trying to leave the Louvre. Her shock over the anagram was matched only by her embarrassment at not having deciphered the message herself. Sophie's expertise in complex cryptanalysis had caused her to overlook simplistic word games, and yet she knew she should have seen it. After all, she was no stranger to anagrams – especially in English. When she was young, often her grandfather would use anagram games to hone her English spelling. Once he had written the English word† planets† and told Sophie that an astonishing sixty-two other English words of varying lengths could be formed using those same letters. Sophie had spent three days with an English dictionary until she found them all. â€Å"I can't imagine,† Langdon said, staring at the printout,† how your grandfather created such an intricate anagram in the minutes before he died.† Sophie knew the explanation, and the realization made her feel even worse. I should have seen this!She now recalled that her grandfather – a wordplay aficionado and art lover – had entertained himself as a young man by creating anagrams of famous works of art. In fact, one of his anagrams had gotten him in trouble once when Sophie was a little girl. While being interviewed by an American art magazine, Sauniere had expressed his distaste for the modernist Cubist movement by noting that Picasso's masterpiece Les Demoiselles d'Avignon was a perfect anagram of vile meaningless doodles.Picasso fans were not amused. â€Å"My grandfather probably created this Mona Lisa anagram long ago,† Sophie said, glancing up at Langdon. And tonight he was forced to use it as a makeshift code.Her grandfather's voice had called out from beyond with chilling precision. Leonardo Da Vinci! The Mona Lisa!Why his final words to her referenced the famous painting, Sophie had no idea, but she could think of only one possibility. A disturbing one. Those were not his final words†¦ . Was she supposed to visit the Mona Lisa? Had her grandfather left her a message there? The idea seemed perfectly plausible. After all, the famous painting hung in the Salle des Etats – a private viewing chamber accessible only from the Grand Gallery. In fact, Sophie now realized, the doors that opened into the chamber were situated only twenty meters from where her grandfather had been found dead. He easily could have visited the Mona Lisa before he died. Sophie gazed back up the emergency stairwell and felt torn. She knew she should usher Langdon from the museum immediately, and yet instinct urged her to the contrary. As Sophie recalled her first childhood visit to the Denon Wing, she realized that if her grandfather had a secret to tell her, few places on earth made a more apt rendezvous than Da Vinci's Mona Lisa. â€Å"She's just a little bit farther,† her grandfather had whispered, clutching Sophie's tiny hand as he led her through the deserted museum after hours. Sophie was six years old. She felt small and insignificant as she gazed up at the enormous ceilings and down at the dizzying floor. The empty museum frightened her, although she was not about to let her grandfather know that. She set her jaw firmly and let go of his hand. â€Å"Up ahead is the Salle des Etats,† her grandfather said as they approached the Louvre's most famous room. Despite her grandfather's obvious excitement, Sophie wanted to go home. She had seen pictures of the Mona Lisa in books and didn't like it at all. She couldn't understand why everyone made such a fuss. â€Å"C'est ennuyeux,† Sophie grumbled. â€Å"Boring,† he corrected. â€Å"French at school. English at home.† â€Å"Le Louvre, c'est pas chez moi!† she challenged. He gave her a tired laugh. â€Å"Right you are. Then let's speak English just for fun.† Sophie pouted and kept walking. As they entered the Salle des Etats, her eyes scanned the narrow room and settled on the obvious spot of honor – the center of the right-hand wall, where a lone portrait hung behind a protective Plexiglas wall. Her grandfather paused in the doorway and motioned toward the painting. â€Å"Go ahead, Sophie. Not many people get a chance to visit her alone.† Swallowing her apprehension, Sophie moved slowly across the room. After everything she'd heard about the Mona Lisa, she felt as if she were approaching royalty. Arriving in front of the protective Plexiglas, Sophie held her breath and looked up, taking it in all at once. Sophie was not sure what she had expected to feel, but it most certainly was not this. No jolt of amazement. No instant of wonder. The famous face looked as it did in books. She stood in silence for what felt like forever, waiting for something to happen. â€Å"So what do you think?† her grandfather whispered, arriving behind her. â€Å"Beautiful, yes?† â€Å"She's too little.† Sauniere smiled. â€Å"You're little and you're beautiful.† I am not beautiful, she thought. Sophie hated her red hair and freckles, and she was bigger than all the boys in her class. She looked back at the Mona Lisa and shook her head. â€Å"She's even worse than in the books. Her face is†¦ brumeux.† â€Å"Foggy,† her grandfather tutored. â€Å"Foggy,† Sophie repeated, knowing the conversation would not continue until she repeated her new vocabulary word. â€Å"That's called the sfumato style of painting,† he told her,† and it's very hard to do. Leonardo Da Vinci was better at it than anyone.† Sophie still didn't like the painting. â€Å"She looks like she knows something†¦ like when kids at school have a secret.† Her grandfather laughed. â€Å"That's part of why she is so famous. People like to guess why she is smiling.† â€Å"Do you know why she's smiling?† â€Å"Maybe.† Her grandfather winked. â€Å"Someday I'll tell you all about it.† Sophie stamped her foot. â€Å"I told you I don't like secrets!† â€Å"Princess,† he smiled. â€Å"Life is filled with secrets. You can't learn them all at once.† â€Å"I'm going back up,† Sophie declared, her voice hollow in the stairwell. â€Å"To the Mona Lisa?† Langdon recoiled. â€Å"Now?† Sophie considered the risk. â€Å"I'm not a murder suspect. I'll take my chances. I need to understand what my grandfather was trying to tell me.† â€Å"What about the embassy?† Sophie felt guilty turning Langdon into a fugitive only to abandon him, but she saw no other option. She pointed down the stairs to a metal door. â€Å"Go through that door, and follow the illuminated exit signs. My grandfather used to bring me down here. The signs will lead you to a security turnstile. It's monodirectional and opens out.† She handed Langdon her car keys. â€Å"Mine is the red SmartCar in the employee lot. Directly outside this bulkhead. Do you know how to get to the embassy?† Langdon nodded, eyeing the keys in his hand. â€Å"Listen,† Sophie said, her voice softening. â€Å"I think my grandfather may have left me a message at the Mona Lisa – some kind of clue as to who killed him. Or why I'm in danger.† Or what happenedto my family. â€Å"I have to go see.† â€Å"But if he wanted to tell you why you were in danger, why wouldn't he simply write it on the floor where he died? Why this complicated word game?† â€Å"Whatever my grandfather was trying to tell me, I don't think he wanted anyone else to hear it. Not even the police.† Clearly, her grandfather had done everything in his power to send a confidential transmission directly to her.He had written it in code, included her secret initials, and told her to find Robert Langdon – a wise command, considering the American symbologist had deciphered his code. â€Å"As strange as it may sound,† Sophie said,† I think he wants me to get to the Mona Lisabefore anyone else does.† â€Å"I'll come.† â€Å"No! We don't know how long the Grand Gallery will stay empty. You have to go.† Langdon seemed hesitant, as if his own academic curiosity were threatening to override sound judgment and drag him back into Fache's hands. â€Å"Go. Now.† Sophie gave him a grateful smile. â€Å"I'll see you at the embassy, Mr. Langdon.† Langdon looked displeased. â€Å"I'll meet you there on one condition,† he replied, his voice stern. She paused, startled. â€Å"What's that?† â€Å"That you stop calling me Mr.Langdon.† Sophie detected the faint hint of a lopsided grin growing across Langdon's face, and she felt herself smile back. â€Å"Good luck, Robert.† When Langdon reached the landing at the bottom of the stairs, the unmistakable smell of linseed oil and plaster dust assaulted his nostrils. Ahead, an illuminated SORTIE/EXIT displayed an arrow pointing down a long corridor. Langdon stepped into the hallway. To the right gaped a murky restoration studio out of which peered an army of statues in various states of repair. To the left, Langdon saw a suite of studios that resembled Harvard art classrooms – rows of easels, paintings, palettes, framing tools – an art assembly line. As he moved down the hallway, Langdon wondered if at any moment he might awake with a start in his bed in Cambridge. The entire evening had felt like a bizarre dream. I'm about to dash out of the Louvre†¦a fugitive. Sauniere's clever anagrammatic message was still on his mind, and Langdon wondered what Sophie would find at the Mona Lisa†¦if anything. She had seemed certain her grandfather meant for her to visit the famous painting one more time. As plausible an interpretation as this seemed, Langdon felt haunted now by a troubling paradox. P. S. Find Robert Langdon. Sauniere had written Langdon's name on the floor, commanding Sophie to find him. But why? Merely so Langdon could help her break an anagram? It seemed quite unlikely. After all, Sauniere had no reason to think Langdon was especially skilled at anagrams. We've never even met.More important, Sophie had stated flat out that she should have broken the anagram on her own. It had been Sophie who spotted the Fibonacci sequence, and, no doubt, Sophie who, if given a little more time, would have deciphered the message with no help from Langdon. Sophie was supposed to break that anagram on her own.Langdon was suddenly feeling more certain about this, and yet the conclusion left an obvious gaping lapse in the logic of Sauniere's actions. Why me? Langdon wondered, heading down the hall. Why was Sauniere's dying wish that his estranged granddaughter find me? What is it that Sauniere thinks I know? With an unexpected jolt, Langdon stopped short. Eyes wide, he dug in his pocket and yanked out the computer printout. He stared at the last line of Sauniere's message. P. S. Find Robert Langdon. He fixated on two letters. P. S. In that instant, Langdon felt Sauniere's puzzling mix of symbolism fall into stark focus. Like a peal of thunder, a career's worth of symbology and history came crashing down around him. Everything Jacques Sauniere had done tonight suddenly made perfect sense. Langdon's thoughts raced as he tried to assemble the implications of what this all meant. Wheeling, he stared back in the direction from which he had come. Is there time? He knew it didn't matter. Without hesitation, Langdon broke into a sprint back toward the stairs. CHAPTER 22 Kneeling in the first pew, Silas pretended to pray as he scanned the layout of the sanctuary. Saint- Sulpice, like most churches, had been built in the shape of a giant Roman cross. Its long central section – the nave – led directly to the main altar, where it was transversely intersected by a shorter section, known as the transept. The intersection of nave and transept occurred directly beneath the main cupola and was considered the heart of the church†¦ her most sacred and mystical point. Not tonight, Silas thought. Saint-Sulpice hides her secrets elsewhere. Turning his head to the right, he gazed into the south transept, toward the open area of floor beyond the end of the pews, to the object his victims had described. There it is. Embedded in the gray granite floor, a thin polished strip of brass glistened in the stone†¦ a golden line slanting across the church's floor. The line bore graduated markings, like a ruler. It was a gnomon, Silas had been told, a pagan astronomical device like a sundial. Tourists, scientists, historians, and pagans from around the world came to Saint-Sulpice to gaze upon this famous line. The Rose Line. Slowly, Silas let his eyes trace the path of the brass strip as it made its way across the floor from his right to left, slanting in front of him at an awkward angle, entirely at odds with the symmetry of the church. Slicing across the main altar itself, the line looked to Silas like a slash wound across a beautiful face. The strip cleaved the communion rail in two and then crossed the entire width of the church, finally reaching the corner of the north transept, where it arrived at the base of a most unexpected structure. A colossal Egyptian obelisk. Here, the glistening Rose Line took a ninety-degree vertical turn and continued directly up the face of the obelisk itself, ascending thirty-three feet to the very tip of the pyramidical apex, where it finally ceased. The Rose Line, Silas thought. The brotherhood hid the keystone at the Rose Line. Earlier tonight, when Silas told the Teacher that the Priory keystone was hidden inside Saint- Sulpice, the Teacher had sounded doubtful. But when Silas added that the brothers had all given him a precise location, with relation to a brass line running through Saint-Sulpice, the Teacher had gasped with revelation. â€Å"You speak of the Rose Line!† The Teacher quickly told Silas of Saint-Sulpice's famed architectural oddity – a strip of brass that segmented the sanctuary on a perfect north-south axis. It was an ancient sundial of sorts, a vestige of the pagan temple that had once stood on this very spot. The sun's rays, shining through the oculus on the south wall, moved farther down the line every day, indicating the passage of time, from solstice to solstice. The north-south stripe had been known as the Rose Line. For centuries, the symbol of the Rose had been associated with maps and guiding souls in the proper direction. The Compass Rose – drawn on almost every map – indicated North, East, South, and West. Originally known as the Wind Rose, it denoted the directions of the thirty-two winds, blowing from the directions of eight major winds, eight half-winds, and sixteen quarter-winds. When diagrammed inside a circle, these thirty-two points of the compass perfectly resembled a traditional thirty-two petal rose bloom. To this day, the fundamental navigational tool was still known as a Compass Rose, its northernmost direction still marked by an arrowhead†¦ or, more commonly, the symbol of the fleur-de-lis. On a globe, a Rose Line – also called a meridian or longitude – was any imaginary line drawn from the North Pole to the South Pole. There were, of course, an infinite number of Rose Lines because every point on the globe could have a longitude drawn through it connecting north and south poles. The question for early navigators was which of these lines would be called the Rose Line – the zero longitude – the line from which all other longitudes on earth would be measured. Today that line was in Greenwich, England. But it had not always been. Long before the establishment of Greenwich as the prime meridian, the zero longitude of the entire world had passed directly through Paris, and through the Church of Saint-Sulpice. The brass marker in Saint-Sulpice was a memorial to the world's first prime meridian, and although Greenwich had stripped Paris of the honor in 1888, the original Rose Line was still visible today. â€Å"And so the legend is true,† the Teacher had told Silas. â€Å"The Priory keystone has been said to lie' beneath the Sign of the Rose.† Now, still on his knees in a pew, Silas glanced around the church and listened to make sure no one was there. For a moment, he thought he heard a rustling in the choir balcony. He turned and gazed up for several seconds. Nothing. I am alone. Standing now, he faced the altar and genuflected three times. Then he turned left and followed the brass line due north toward the obelisk. At that moment, at Leonardo Da Vinci International Airport in Rome, the jolt of tires hitting the runway startled Bishop Aringarosa from his slumber. I drifted off, he thought, impressed he was relaxed enough to sleep. â€Å"Benvenuto a Roma,†the intercom announced. Sitting up, Aringarosa straightened his black cassock and allowed himself a rare smile. This was one trip he had been happy to make. I have been on the defensive for too long.Tonight, however, the rules had changed. Only five months ago, Aringarosa had feared for the future of the Faith. Now, as if by the will of God, the solution had presented itself. Divine intervention. If all went as planned tonight in Paris, Aringarosa would soon be in possession of something that would make him the most powerful man in Christendom. CHAPTER 23 Sophie arrived breathless outside the large wooden doors of the Salle des Etats – the room that housed the Mona Lisa.Before entering, she gazed reluctantly farther down the hall, twenty yards or so, to the spot where her grandfather's body still lay under the spotlight. The remorse that gripped her was powerful and sudden, a deep sadness laced with guilt. The man had reached out to her so many times over the past ten years, and yet Sophie had remained immovable – leaving his letters and packages unopened in a bottom drawer and denying his efforts to see her. He lied to me! Kept appalling secrets! What was I supposed to do? And so she had blocked him out. Completely. Now her grandfather was dead, and he was talking to her from the grave. The Mona Lisa. She reached for the huge wooden doors, and pushed. The entryway yawned open. Sophie stood on the threshold a moment, scanning the large rectangular chamber beyond. It too was bathed in a soft red light. The Salle des Etats was one of this museum's rare culs-de-sac – a dead end and the only room off the middle of the Grand Gallery. This door, the chamber's sole point of entry, faced a dominating fifteen-foot Botticelli on the far wall. Beneath it, centered on the parquet floor, an immense octagonal viewing divan served as a welcome respite for thousands of visitors to rest their legs while they admired the Louvre's most valuable asset. Even before Sophie entered, though, she knew she was missing something. A black light.She gazed down the hall at her grandfather under the lights in the distance, surrounded by electronic gear. If he had written anything in here, he almost certainly would have written it with the watermark stylus. Taking a deep breath, Sophie hurried down to the well-lit crime scene. Unable to look at her grandfather, she focused solely on the PTS tools. Finding a small ultraviolet penlight, she slipped it in the pocket of her sweater and hurried back up the hallway toward the open doors of the Salle des Etats. Sophie turned the corner and stepped over the threshold. Her entrance, however, was met by an unexpected sound of muffled footsteps racing toward her from inside the chamber. There'ssomeone in here! A ghostly figure emerged suddenly from out of the reddish haze. Sophie jumped back. â€Å"There you are!† Langdon's hoarse whisper cut the air as his silhouette slid to a stop in front of her. Her relief was only momentary. â€Å"Robert, I told you to get out of here! If Fache – â€Å"Where were you?† â€Å"I had to get the black light,† she whispered, holding it up. â€Å"If my grandfather left me a message – â€Å"Sophie, listen.† Langdon caught his breath as his blue eyes held her firmly. â€Å"The letters P. S†¦ . do they mean anything else to you? Anything at all?† Afraid their voices might echo down the hall, Sophie pulled him into the Salle des Etats and closed the enormous twin doors silently, sealing them inside. â€Å"I told you, the initials mean Princess Sophie.† â€Å"I know, but did you ever see them anywhere else? Did your grandfather ever use P. S. in any other way? As a monogram, or maybe on stationery or a personal item?† The question startled her. How would Robert know that? Sophie had indeed seen the initials P. S. once before, in a kind of monogram. It was the day before her ninth birthday. She was secretly combing the house, searching for hidden birthday presents. Even then, she could not bear secrets kept from her. What did Grand-pere get for me this year? She dug through cupboards and drawers. Did he get me the doll I wanted? Where would he hide it? Finding nothing in the entire house, Sophie mustered the courage to sneak into her grandfather's bedroom. The room was off-limits to her, but her grandfather was downstairs asleep on the couch. I'll just take a fast peek! Tiptoeing across the creaky wood floor to his closet, Sophie peered on the shelves behind his clothing. Nothing. Next she looked under the bed. Still nothing. Moving to his bureau, she opened the drawers and one by one began pawing carefully through them. There must be something for me here! As she reached the bottom drawer, she still had not found any hint of a doll. Dejected, she opened the final drawer and pulled aside some black clothes she had never seen him wear. She was about to close the drawer when her eyes caught a glint of gold in the back of the drawer. It looked like a pocket watch chain, but she knew he didn't wear one. Her heart raced as she realized what it must be. A necklace! Sophie carefully pulled the chain from the drawer. To her surprise, on the end was a brilliant gold key. Heavy and shimmering. Spellbound, she held it up. It looked like no key she had ever seen. Most keys were flat with jagged teeth, but this one had a triangular column with little pockmarks all over it. Its large golden head was in the shape of a cross, but not a normal cross. This was an even-armed one, like a plus sign. Embossed in the middle of the cross was a strange symbol – two letters intertwined with some kind of flowery design. â€Å"P. S. ,† she whispered, scowling as she read the letters. Whatever could this be? â€Å"Sophie?† her grandfather spoke from the doorway. Startled, she spun, dropping the key on the floor with a loud clang. She stared down at the key, afraid to look up at her grandfather's face. â€Å"I†¦ was looking for my birthday present,† she said, hanging her head, knowing she had betrayed his trust. For what seemed like an eternity, her grandfather stood silently in the doorway. Finally, he let out a long troubled breath. â€Å"Pick up the key, Sophie.† Sophie retrieved the key. Her grandfather walked in. â€Å"Sophie, you need to respect other people's privacy.† Gently, he knelt down and took the key from her. â€Å"This key is very special. If you had lost it†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Her grandfather's quiet voice made Sophie feel even worse. â€Å"I'm sorry, Grand-pere.I really am.† She paused. â€Å"I thought it was a necklace for my birthday.† He gazed at her for several seconds. â€Å"I'll say this once more, Sophie, because it's important. You need to learn to respect other people's privacy.† â€Å"Yes, Grand-pere.† â€Å"We'll talk about this some other time. Right now, the garden needs to be weeded.† Sophie hurried outside to do her chores. The next morning, Sophie received no birthday present from her grandfather. She hadn't expected one, not after what she had done. But he didn't even wish her happy birthday all day. Sadly, she trudged up to bed that night. As she climbed in, though, she found a note card lying on her pillow. On the card was written a simple riddle. Even before she solved the riddle, she was smiling. I know what this is! Her grandfather had done this for her last Christmas morning. A treasure hunt! Eagerly, she pored over the riddle until she solved it. The solution pointed her to another part of the house, where she found another card and another riddle. She solved this one too, racing on to the next card. Running wildly, she darted back and forth across the house, from clue to clue, until at last she found a clue that directed her back to her own bedroom. Sophie dashed up the stairs, rushed into her room, and stopped in her tracks. There in the middle of the room sat a shining red bicycle with a ribbon tied to the handlebars. Sophie shrieked with delight. â€Å"I know you asked for a doll,† her grandfather said, smiling in the corner. â€Å"I thought you might like this even better.† The next day, her grandfather taught her to ride, running beside her down the walkway. When Sophie steered out over the thick lawn and lost her balance, they both went tumbling onto the grass, rolling and laughing. â€Å"Grand-pere,†Sophie said, hugging him. â€Å"I'm really sorry about the key.† â€Å"I know, sweetie. You're forgiven. I can't possibly stay mad at you. Grandfathers and granddaughters always forgive each other.† Sophie knew she shouldn't ask, but she couldn't help it. â€Å"What does it open? I never saw a key like that. It was very pretty.† Her grandfather was silent a long moment, and Sophie could see he was uncertain how to answer. Grand-pere never lies. â€Å"It opens a box,† he finally said. â€Å"Where I keep many secrets.† Sophie pouted. â€Å"I hate secrets!† â€Å"I know, but these are important secrets. And someday, you'll learn to appreciate them as much as I do.† â€Å"I saw letters on the key, and a flower.† â€Å"Yes, that's my favorite flower. It's called a fleur-de-lis. We have them in the garden. The white ones. In English we call that kind of flower a lily.† â€Å"I know those! They're my favorite too!† â€Å"Then I'll make a deal with you.† Her grandfather's eyebrows raised the way they always did when he was about to give her a challenge. â€Å"If you can keep my key a secret, and never talk about it ever again, to me or anybody, then someday I will give it to you.† Sophie couldn't believe her ears. â€Å"You will?† â€Å"I promise. When the time comes, the key will be yours. It has your name on it.† Sophie scowled. â€Å"No it doesn't. It said P. S. My name isn't P. S. !† Her grandfather lowered his voice and looked around as if to make sure no one was listening. â€Å"Okay, Sophie, if you must know, P. S. is a code. It's your secret initials.† Her eyes went wide. â€Å"I have secret initials?† â€Å"Of course. Granddaughters always have secret initials that only their grandfathers know.† â€Å"P. S. ?† He tickled her. â€Å"Princesse Sophie.† She giggled. â€Å"I'm not a princess!† He winked. â€Å"You are to me.† From that day on, they never again spoke of the key. And she became his Princess Sophie. Inside the Salle des Etats, Sophie stood in silence and endured the sharp pang of loss. â€Å"The initials,† Langdon whispered, eyeing her strangely. â€Å"Have you seen them?† Sophie sensed her grandfather's voice whispering in the corridors of the museum. Never speak ofthis key, Sophie.To me or to anyone.She knew she had failed him in forgiveness, and she wondered if she could break his trust again. P. S. Find Robert Langdon.Her grandfather wanted Langdon to help. Sophie nodded. â€Å"Yes, I saw the initials P. S. once. When I was very young.† â€Å"Where?† Sophie hesitated. â€Å"On something very important to him.† Langdon locked eyes with her. â€Å"Sophie, this is crucial. Can you tell me if the initials appeared with a symbol? A fleur-de-lis?† Sophie felt herself staggering backward in amazement. â€Å"But†¦ how could you possibly know that!† Langdon exhaled and lowered his voice. â€Å"I'm fairly certain your grandfather was a member of a secret society. A very old covert brotherhood.† Sophie felt a knot tighten in her stomach. She was certain of it too. For ten years she had tried to forget the incident that had confirmed that horrifying fact for her. She had witnessed something unthinkable. Unforgivable. â€Å"The fleur-de-lis,† Langdon said,† combined with the initials P. S. , that is the brotherhood's official device. Their coat of arms. Their logo.† â€Å"How do you know this?† Sophie was praying Langdon was not going to tell her that he himselfwas a member. â€Å"I've written about this group,† he said, his voice tremulous with excitement. â€Å"Researching the symbols of secret societies is a specialty of mine. They call themselves the Prieure de Sion – the Priory of Sion. They're based here in France and attract powerful members from all over Europe. In fact, they are one of the oldest surviving secret societies on earth.† Sophie had never heard of them. Langdon was talking in rapid bursts now. â€Å"The Priory's membership has included some of history's most cultured individuals: men like Botticelli, Sir Isaac Newton, Victor Hugo.† He paused, his voice brimming now with academic zeal. â€Å"And, Leonardo Da Vinci.† Sophie stared. â€Å"Da Vinci was in a secret society?† â€Å"Da Vinci presided over the Priory between 1510 and 1519 as the brotherhood's Grand Master, which might help explain your grandfather's passion for Leonardo's work. The two men share a historical fraternal bond. And it all fits perfectly with their fascination for goddess iconology, paganism, feminine deities, and contempt for the Church. The Priory has a well-documented history of reverence for the sacred feminine.† â€Å"You're telling me this group is a pagan goddess worship cult?† â€Å"More like the pagan goddess worship cult. But more important, they are known as the guardians of an ancient secret. One that made them immeasurably powerful.† Despite the total conviction in Langdon's eyes, Sophie's gut reaction was one of stark disbelief. Asecret pagan cult? Once headed by Leonardo Da Vinci? It all sounded utterly absurd. And yet, even as she dismissed it, she felt her mind reeling back ten years – to the night she had mistakenly surprised her grandfather and witnessed what she still could not accept. Could that explain – ? â€Å"The identities of living Priory members are kept extremely secret,† Langdon said,† but the P. S. and fleur-de-lis that you saw as a child are proof. It could only have been related to the Priory.† Sophie realized now that Langdon knew far more about her grandfather than she had previously imagined. This American obviously had volumes to share with her, but this was not the place. â€Å"I can't afford to let them catch you, Robert. There's a lot we need to discuss. You need to go!† Langdon heard only the faint murmur of her voice. He wasn't going anywhere. He was lost in another place now. A place where ancient secrets rose to the surface. A place where forgotten histories emerged from the shadows. Slowly, as if moving underwater, Langdon turned his head and gazed through the reddish haze toward the Mona Lisa. The fleur-de-lis†¦ the flower of Lisa†¦ the Mona Lisa. It was all intertwined, a silent symphony echoing the deepest secrets of the Priory of Sion and Leonardo Da Vinci. A few miles away, on the riverbank beyond Les Invalides, the bewildered driver of a twin-bed Trailor truck stood at gunpoint and watched as the captain of the Judicial Police let out a guttural roar of rage and heaved a bar of soap out into the turgid waters of the Seine.

“Discourse on the Method” by Rene Descartes Essay

Discourse on the Method is Descartes’ attempt to explain his method of reasoning through even the most difficult of problems. He illustrates the development of this method through brief autobiographical sketches interspersed with philosophical arguments. Part 1 contains â€Å"various considerations concerning the sciences.† First, all people possess â€Å"good sense,† the ability to distinguish truth from fiction. Therefore, it is not a lack of ability that obstructs people but their failure to follow the correct path of thought. The use of a method can elevate an average mind above the rest, and Descartes considered himself a typical thinker improved by the use of his method. Descartes benefited from a superior education, but he believed that book learning also clouded his mind. After leaving school, he set off traveling to learn from â€Å"the great book of the world† with an unclouded mind. He comes to the conclusion that all people have a â€Å"natural light† that can be obscured by education and that it is as important to study oneself as it is to study the world. In part 2, Descartes describes his revelation in the â€Å"stove-heated room.† Contemplating various subjects, he hits on the idea that the works of individuals are superior to those conceived by committee because an individual’s work follows one plan, with all elements working toward the same end. He considers that the science he learned as a boy is likely flawed because it consists of the ideas of many different men from various eras. Keeping in mind what he has learned of logic, geometry, and algebra, he sets down the following rules: (1) to never believe anything unless he can prove it himself; (2) to reduce every problem to its simplest parts; (3) to always be orderly in his thoughts and proceed from the simplest part to the most difficult; and (4) to always, when solving a problem, create a long chain of reasoning and leave nothing out. He immediately finds this method effective in solving problems that he had found too difficult before. Still fearing that his own misconceptions might be getting in the way of pure reason, he decides to systematically eliminate all his wrong opinions and use his new method exclusively. In part 3, Descartes puts forth a provisional moral code to live by while  rethinking his views: (1) to obey the rules and customs of his country and his religion and never take an extreme opinion; (2) to be decisive and stick with his decisions, even if some doubts linger; (3) to try to change himself, not the world; and (4) to examine all the professions in the world and try to figure out what the best one is. Not surprising, Descartes determines that reasoning and searching for the truth is, if not the highest calling, at least extremely useful. For many years after his revelation, Descartes traveled widely and gained a reputation for wisdom, then retired to examine his thoughts in solitude. In part 4, Descartes offers proofs of the existence of the soul and of God. Contemplating the nature of dreams and the unreliability of the senses, he becomes aware of his own process of thinking and realizes it is proof of his existence: I think, therefore I exist (Cogito ergo sum). He also concludes that the soul is separate from the body based on the unreliability of the senses as compared with pure reason. His own doubts lead him to believe that he is imperfect, yet his ability to conceive of perfection indicates that something perfect must exist outside of him–namely, God. He reasons that all good things in the world must stem from God, as must all clear and distinct thoughts. Part 5 moves from discussion of a theory of light to theories about human anatomy. Descartes considers the fact that animals have many of the same organs as humans yet lack powers of speech or reason. He takes this difference to be evidence of humankind’s â€Å"rational soul.† He considers the mysterious connection of the soul to the body and concludes that the soul must have a life outside the body. Therefore it must not die when the body dies. Because he cannot conceive of a way that the soul could perish or be killed, he is forced to conclude that the soul is immortal. In part 6, Descartes cautiously touches on possible conflicts with the church over his ideas about physical science. Finally, he implores his readers to read carefully, apologizes for writing in French rather than Latin, and vows to shun fame and fortune in the name of pursuing truth and knowledge.

Describe a place or enviroment where you are perfectly content what do Essay

Describe a place or enviroment where you are perfectly content what do you do or experience ther and why is it meaningful to you - Essay Example I am perfectly content in my grandparents’ house because it is a place that encourages long conversations and symbolizes the role of family as a permanent source of support, guidance, and inspiration. My grandparents have a big house that they built through decades of hard work in business, and now, it has become a friendly environment where family and peers can drop by anytime to spend time with one another, particularly sharing personal and other kinds of stories. My cousins and I used to go there daily. Sometimes, when there are no classes, we stay the whole day, playing at the wide backyard with fruit-bearing trees or just lazing around in the front yard reading comics and books. The best times are storytelling times with my grandparents. My grandma and grandpa have different genres they specialize in. My grandpa is fond of histories and documentaries, while grandma talks about folk tales and personal life stories. When I listen to them, I feel transported to their older worlds or other imaginary places. They have a way of speaking and describing characters, settings, and plots that enthrall their audiences. Even when some stories are grisly and scary, I feel safe in the have n of my grandparents’ house. Besides listening to histories and folk stories, I love the long conversations we have when we eat together. Every day, a family or friend drops by and brings food and good stories. My grandparents have a long dining table that can fit fifteen people. Around it are smaller tables. The dining room is designed with conversations in mind, where people can listen to one another and share their stories and ideas openly, but respectfully. I remember when my grandmother told their love story. Their love story has a familiar plot because she and grandpa started as friends, until they fell in love in college. I love the parts where grandpa would visit grandma and he would bring her food, instead of flowers. She prefers good food over flowers that wilt. She

EXPLANATION AND ASSIGNMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

EXPLANATION AND ASSIGNMENT - Essay Example There is often an expectation that you will ‘follow in the footsteps’ of the family’s most successful members. Along with this pressure, there is also the pressure to accept help from your family and their associates. One can be left with the dilemma of deciding between following your own path and stepping into the destiny everyone around you assumes belongs to you. In my family, the American Dream is having your children do well. It is having your children continue in your footsteps, either in the family industry or attaining a higher level of success than your parents in another industry. The preferable path is that your children pick up the family business and carry it forward. There is a great desire to continue the legacy of the family. There is great pride for someone to pass on a legacy to their offspring. However, for the offspring, this situation is not always as desirable as it may look to other people. With so much decided for you and the ease of possib le success at your fingertips, it can be difficult to discern what you truly want for yourself. Additionally, you can begin to take future success for granted. With all of the advantages at your disposal, how could your future work out to be anything but bright? But there can also be guilt. Do you deserve the place that is being set for you? Are you the person that people think that you are? What if you don’t have the same qualities and characteristics that people assume you have? What if the genetic lottery did not imbue you with the traits that are expected of you? The idea that certain traits are indelible to certain people, specifically people with a higher socioeconomic status or a family history of a certain level is a long held notion. The concept that certain people are more deserving than others is not something new. In fact, â€Å"English social hierarchy privileges aristocrats by birth over those who distinguish themselves through intellectual labor† (Vaught 65). There is certainly a segment of our society who still clings to that idea—albeit most of them belong to the social class in question and harbor this belief in order to cling to their status. The belief and the associated practices are so prevalent, there is a name for them: nepotism. Nepotism is â€Å"favoritism to kinfolk† (Schumer 46). In some instances, the practice of nepotism is a practical practice. For instance, when universities hire married couples in recognition of the fact that academics tend to marry other academics, this is a practice that helps the institution maintain retention of quality professors—which is the topic and focus of Schumer’s piece, â€Å"The New Nepotism.† However, the nepotism that is a controversial issue for most people is not the case of married couples gaining employment in the same place. The nepotism that most people have such strong feelings about is the practice of the sons and daughters or someone alre ady enjoying advantages gains employment or favor because of who their parents are. Many people are opposed to this type of nepotism and opposition to this way of life is not new either. In fact, Thomas Jefferson explained his opposition to this concept in his letter to Adams. He referred to this idea as the ‘artificial aristocracy: â€Å"I agree with you that there is a natural aristocracy among men. The grounds of this are virtue and talents†¦there is also an artificial aristocracy, founded on wealth and birth, without either virtue or talents† (Jefferson qtd. in Cullin 51). Although Adams and Jefferson

Potential Benefits and Risks of Deeper Globalization for Guidia Assignment

Potential Benefits and Risks of Deeper Globalization for Guidia - Assignment Example This essay declares that globalization therefore is considered as multi-disciplinary in nature with its roots in politics, economics, technology, sociology etc. It is however, critical to understand that major emphasis of globalization is through the economic integration where economies integrate with each other through free and unrestricted trade. As a result of this trade, not only technological transfer becomes possible but more foreign direct investment also arrives. As a result of these changes, economic growth can actually quicken. This paper stresses that term globalization has emerged during 1960s however it was during so called roaring nineties that it started to take the serious public attention. Over the period of time, the early literature on globalization however gave it a connotation that globalization is actually westernization vs. the rest including nationalism etc. Post 9/11 scenarios have made this impression much stronger with globalization taking different meanings and assumptions. The emergence of rationalism as a major framework for knowledge is considered as the first element which encouraged the development of globalization. Over the period of time, rational decision making has made it more important for nations and societies to actually expand their activities in order to grow and evolve. Capitalism is another important factor which has actually made it mandatory for producers to actually look for new markets to increase their sales volumes. Under capitalist ideology, producers of the goods a nd services actually attempt to obtain more therefore in pursuit of profits, firms attempt to expand globally. (Scholte, 2002) Technological innovation is another important factor which has resulted into the globalization. Rapid changes in the communication technologies, transport as well as other technologies have allowed better integration of economies across the globe. It is however, important to note that the changes in the way capitalism have progressed and emergence of rational thinking has actually created a social order which has fostered the technological innovation. Technological innovation therefore is considered as the result of capitalist development and rational thinking. Globalization however, gained more momentum with the spread of technological innovation. Supportive regulatory framework has also resulted into the creation and speeding up of globalization also. Supportive regulatory frameworks have actually eased out the entry and exit barriers thus allowing domesti c as well as international firms to become more proactive in entering into and maintaining their presence in the global market. Supportive framework however, has been made possible only due to the economic development and r

Gender Discrimination in Five Star Hotels Essay

Gender Discrimination in Five Star Hotels - Essay Example The essay "Gender Discrimination in Five Star Hotels" talks about the gender discrimination in five-star hotels and its impact on their career. Hotels are a part of the hospitality industry which is one of the oldest industries in the world. A hotel provides a temporary stay for its customers.A hotel provides a carefree atmosphere for its customers. It is a very sociable industry; its employees have a very high exposure to the customers. Looking at its contribution to the economy we can say that it is one of the most fast growing and biggest industries of the world. Almost 10% of the gross national product is due to this hotel industry. In 2005, it gave revenue of almost  £27 billion. After 2000 there was an increase of almost 4.5% in the hotel sector. In 2004, it gave almost  £11.5 billion revenue. This huge increase shows that it is one of the fastest-growing industries. In 2002, there were almost 280 000 employees in almost 40 000 establishments. London is the hub of hotel est ablishments in the UK.In recent years we can notice that the hotel sector has been growing very fast. The main reasons for this are mergers and acquisitions. Sheraton Park Tower Hotel, Marriott London Park Lane, The London Hilton on Park Lane, Intercontinental etc are all five-star hotels in the UK. There are many big names in this sector of the hospitality industry, there is almost nothing being done in case of human resource management. Employment opportunities in the hospitality profession abound all over the world.

Performance and strategic management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 15000 words

Performance and strategic management - Essay Example Strategic human resource provides effective management of the staff, including retention, and turnover processes, selection of employees that fit with both the organisational strategy and culture, and cost effective utilisation of employees through investment in identified human capital. Studies revealed that executives and managers put more importance on strategic management than any other subject of interest in the organisation. Also discussed in the literature are the models of strategy: the Industrial Organization (I/O) and Resource-Based View (RBV) models, first formulated by University of London Professor of Economics Edith Penrose. Penrose states that firms are heterogeneous and there is money to be made from exploiting the differences. Resources should meet the criteria of value, rarity, imperfect imitability and non-substitutability. RBV assumes that each organization forms each own data base, a collection of unique resources and capabilities from customers, employees, and competitors. And this uniqueness is the basis for a firm’s strategy. The subject of the research for this paper is the organisation Oman India Fertiliser Company, a global based in Oman. This is a partnership cooperation between the government of Oman and the India Company to manufacture ammonia and urea fertiliser. The study is conducted through a review of the literature, focusing on various aspects of performance and strategic management, HRM functions, including knowledge economy, the information revolution, and other related subjects. Qualitative research using questionnaires and interviews were used in the research. I wish to convey my gratitude to the people who have helped in the completion of this paper. To my†¦ who gave me the patience and courage to read and digest the voluminous literature from the library. To my†¦ who provided extra time in typing what have been researched. And to my tutor who

Dynamic DNS in Linux Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Dynamic DNS in Linux - Article Example The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) allowed enterprises and Internet service providers (ISPs) to assign addresses to computers on the fly as they powered up. The Domain Name System brought a method of distributing the address information automatically online through recursive queries to remote databases configured for each domain. In addition, this helped conserve the address space available, since not all devices might be actively used at all times and addresses could be assigned as needed. This feature required that DNS servers be kept current automatically as well. The first implementations of dynamic DNS fulfilled this purpose. The excessive use of the Internet by all even in people's homes brought a growing shortage of available IP addresses. DHCP became an important tool for ISPs to manage their address spaces for connecting home and small-business end-users with a single IP address each by connecting them through a Network Address Translation (NAT) router. Behind these routers (in the private network) it was possible to reuse address space set aside for these purposes . This, however, broke the end-to-end principle of Internet methods were required to allow private networks, masqueraded by frequently changing IP addresses, to discover their routable 'outside' address and insert it into the domain name system in order to participate in Internet communications more fully. Today, numerous providers, called Dynamic DNS service providers, offer such technology and services on the Internet. They provide a software client program that automates this function. The client program is executed on a computer in the private network. It connects to the service provider's systems and causes those systems to link the discovered public IP address of the home network with a hostname in the domain name system. Depending on the provider, the hostname is registered within a domain owned by the provider or the customer's own domain name. These services can function by a number of mechanisms. Often they use an HTTP service request since even restrictive environments usually allow HTTP service. This group of services is commonly also referred to by the term Dynamic DNS, although it is not the standards-based DNS Update method. However, the latter might be involved in the providers systems. Most home networking routers today have this feature already built into their firmwa re. One of the early routers to support Dynamic DNS was the UMAX UGate-3000 in 1999, which supported the TZO.COM dynamic DNS service. Dynamic DNS Preparation Unlike DSL, most cable modem providers may not allow you to host sites at home by blocking inbound HTTP (TCP port 80) and SMTP mail (TCP port 25) while allowing most other TCP traffic through. Many DDNS providers are aware of this and provide a redirect service to bypass the problem. Under the system, Web queries first hit their servers on the regular TCP ports and then these servers automatically redirect the Web clients to use the IP address of your server on a different TCP port. Registering DDNS Once you have decided to go ahead with DDNS you'll need to choose between the broad categories of Dynamic DNS service. Free Dynamic DNS: Your website name will be a sub domain of the DDNS provider's domain. For example if the DDNS provide

Social work Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Social work - Essay Example She may not even realize how â€Å"jaded† and judgmental he/she has become. This is clearly someone who has never taken the time to realize and address their own ignorances, assumptions, and embraced stereotypes that could make them less helpful and more of a hindrance. Such people lack the self-awareness that, I think, is so important to the field of social work and the kind of worker that I hope to be. Alice Miller, in Anne Bishop’s Becoming an Ally: Breaking the Cycle of Oppression in People, says that without self awareness and an ability to connect with those you aid can become just part of a routine and that, †Ã¢â‚¬ ¦morality and performance of duty are artificial measures†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (2002) In my mind this is a prime example of this line of thinking. This woman does her job, but she lacks empathy or even sympathy, but can, probably, fake it under the right circumstances. This is why it is essential for social workers to have an understanding of their own h istories, backgrounds, biases, founded or unfounded, before they will ever be truly effective in their position. How effective a social worker will be in helping others is directly related personal beliefs, attitudes and outlooks, and how self aware they are.(Heydt & Sherman, 2005) It would be very easy for someone with discriminatory thinking or unresolved personal issues be inadvertently expressed in ways that cam impede the â€Å"good works† that a social worker is supposed to do. A social worker must take the time to self-evaluate, even if it means discovering things about yourself that you are not necessarily proud of. Knowing your strengths, weaknesses, and flaws make you a more complete person that can actually be beneficial to those with whom they are working. Having the right tools are essential to completing any task. A plumber is of little use without a pipe wrench. Social workers are no different, except the tool that they use to complete their tasks and achieve t heir goals is themselves.(Heydt & Sherman, 2005) â€Å"Self awareness is the core of ethical practices.†(Lipschutz, 2012 ) That said, it may be difficult to genuinely perform their jobs ethically unless they are committed to becoming self-aware. In 2003, Sheafor and Horejsi, listed the eight most common factors that can be an interference in the helping of others and are recommended as part of a social workers self-awareness check-list; personal issues, appearance (clothing and grooming), behaviors that devalue or degrade others, distracting personal habits, difficulties in verbal communication, difficulties in cognitive functioning, problems in written communication, and poor work habits. Having reviewed all of these items, I find that I have no overwhelming or overpowering personal issues that might negatively affect my future works. I, always, attempt to dress and present myself professionally and appropriately for the work environment. I do not participate in intentionall y degrading or insulting behaviors. I have never been told that I have any distracting personal habits. I am a strong communicator, both, verbally and in written endeavors. Lastly, I think I have, both, positive and efficient work habits. That said, I am by no means perfect. There is much that I still need to learn, about my work and the people that I may eventually help. Still I am comfortable with myself and