It was time.
Silas felt strong as he stepped from the black Audi, the nighttime breeze rustling his loose-fitting
robe. The winds of change are in the air.He knew the task before him would require more finesse
than force, and he left his handgun in the car. The thirteen-round Heckler Koch USP 40 had been
provided by the Teacher.
正是时候。
奥迪车里出来后，塞拉斯感到浑身是劲，晚风轻拂着他宽大的教士服。不断变换的风在吹着。他知道他手头的这个任务需要更多的精细而不是暴力，所以把手())枪留在了车里。这把十三转的赫克勒·克奇USP40型手(0)枪是导师提供的。
A weapon of death has no place in a house of God.
The plaza before the great church was deserted at this hour, the only visible souls on the far side of
Place Saint-Sulpice a couple of teenage hookers showing their wares to the late night tourist traffic.
Their nubile bodies sent a familiar longing to Silas's loins. His thigh flexed instinctively, causing
the barbed cilicebelt to cut painfully into his flesh.
教堂前广场上这个时候没有什么人了，唯一能见到的是圣叙尔皮斯教堂广场远处的一两个向夜游客们展示各自器物的十几岁的妓女。她们已发育的身体引得塞拉斯两股间产生一种放肆的冲动
The lust evaporated instantly. For ten years now, Silas had faithfully denied himself all sexual
indulgence, even self-administered. It was The Way.He knew he had sacrificed much to follow
Opus Dei, but he had received much more in return. A vow of celibacy and the relinquishment of
all personal assets hardly seemed a sacrifice. Considering the poverty from which he had come and
the sexual horrors he had endured in prison, celibacy was a welcome change.
那种欲望转眼便烟消云散。十年了，塞拉斯完全克制住自己的性欲，甚至连自慰也不曾有过。这是路途。他知道为信守天主事工会教义，他牺牲了许多东西，但他得到的回报更多。宣誓要独身和放弃个人的全部财产几乎算不上什么牺牲。如果考虑到他以前的贫穷和在狱中忍受的性恐怖，独身实在是没什么不好。
Now, having returned to France for the first time since being arrested and shipped to prison in
Andorra, Silas could feel his homeland testing him, dragging violent memories from his redeemed
soul. You have been reborn,he reminded himself. His service to God today had required the sin of
murder, and it was a sacrifice Silas knew he would have to hold silently in his heart for all eternity
此刻，自从被捕、被押送到安道尔的监狱以来，他还是第一次回到法国。
The measure of your faith is the measure of the pain you can endure,the Teacher had told him.
Silas was no stranger to pain and felt eager to prove himself to the Teacher, the one who had
assured him his actions were ordained by a higher power.
"Hago la obra de Dios,"Silas whispered, moving now toward the church entrance.
Pausing in the shadow of the massive doorway, he took a deep breath. It was not until this instant
that he truly realized what he was about to do, and what awaited him inside.
The keystone. It will lead us to our final goal.
He raised his ghost-white fist and banged three times on the door.
Moments later, the bolts of the enormous wooden portal began to move
你能忍耐多少痛苦，你就有多少信仰，导师曾经这样告诫过他。塞拉斯可没少忍受痛苦，他非常急于向导师证明自己。导师曾告诉他，他的所作所为都是经一个更伟大的力量授权的。
“天主事工会，”塞拉斯用西班牙语小声唠叨着，并开始向教堂入口处走去。
他在门廊巨大的阴影里停了下来，深深地吸了一口气。直到此时此刻他才真正意识到自己要做什么，里面有什么在等着他。
拱顶石！它将引导我们走向我们最终的目标。
他举起煞白的拳头，在门上猛捶了三下。
过好一会儿，那巨大的木门的门栓开始松动。