Sophie scrutinized Langdon in the back of the taxi. He's joking. "The Holy Grail?"Langdon nodded, his expression serious. "Holy Grail is the literal meaning of Sangreal. The phrasederives from the French Sangraal, which evolved to Sangreal, and was eventually split into twowords, San Greal."Holy Grail. Sophie was surprised she had not spotted the linguistic ties immediately. Even so,Langdon's claim still made no sense to her. "I thought the Holy Grail was a cup. You just told methe Sangreal is a collection of documents that reveals some dark secret.""Yes, but the Sangreal documents are only half of the Holy Grail treasure. They are buried with theGrail itself... and reveal its true meaning. The documents gave the Knights Templar so much powerbecause the pages revealed the true nature of the Grail."The true nature of the Grail? Sophie felt even more lost now. The Holy Grail, she had thought, wasthe cup that Jesus drank from at the Last Supper and with which Joseph of Arimathea later caughtHis blood at the crucifixion. "The Holy Grail is the Cup of Christ," she said. "How much simplercould it be?""Sophie," Langdon whispered, leaning toward her now, "according to the Priory of Sion, the HolyGrail is not a cup at all. They claim the Grail legend—that of a chalice—is actually an ingeniouslyconceived allegory. That is, that the Grail story uses the chalice as a metaphor for something else,something far more powerful." He paused. "Something that fits perfectly with everything yourgrandfather has been trying to tell us tonight, including all his symbologic references to the sacredfeminine."Still unsure, Sophie sensed in Langdon's patient smile that he empathized with her confusion, andyet his eyes remained earnest. "But if the Holy Grail is not a cup," she asked, "what is it?"Langdon had known this question was coming, and yet he still felt uncertain exactly how to tellher. If he did not present the answer in the proper historical background, Sophie would be left witha vacant air of bewilderment—the exact expression Langdon had seen on his own editor's face afew months ago after Langdon handed him a draft of the manuscript he was working on.
"This manuscript claims what?" his editor had choked, setting down his wineglass and staringacross his half-eaten power lunch. "You can't be serious.""Serious enough to have spent a year researching it."Prominent New York editor Jonas Faukman tugged nervously at his goatee. Faukman no doubt hadheard some wild book ideas in his illustrious career, but this one seemed to have left the manflabbergasted.
"Robert," Faukman finally said, "don't get me wrong. I love your work, and we've had a great runtogether. But if I agree to publish an idea like this, I'll have people picketing outside my office formonths. Besides, it will kill your reputation. You're a Harvard historian, for God's sake, not a popschlockmeister looking for a quick buck. Where could you possibly find enough credible evidenceto support a theory like this?"With a quiet smile Langdon pulled a piece of paper from the pocket of his tweed coat and handed itto Faukman. The page listed a bibliography of over fifty titles—books by well-known historians,some contemporary, some centuries old—many of them academic bestsellers. All the book titlessuggested the same premise Langdon had just proposed. As Faukman read down the list, he lookedlike a man who had just discovered the earth was actually flat. "I know some of these authors.
They're... real historians!"Langdon grinned. "As you can see, Jonas, this is not only my theory. It's been around for a longtime. I'm simply building on it. No book has yet explored the legend of the Holy Grail from asymbologic angle. The iconographic evidence I'm finding to support the theory is, well,staggeringly persuasive."Faukman was still staring at the list. "My God, one of these books was written by Sir LeighTeabing—a British Royal Historian.""Teabing has spent much of his life studying the Holy Grail. I've met with him. He was actually abig part of my inspiration. He's a believer, Jonas, along with all of the others on that list.""You're telling me all of these historians actually believe..." Faukman swallowed, apparentlyunable to say the words.
Langdon grinned again. "The Holy Grail is arguably the most sought-after treasure in humanhistory. The Grail has spawned legends, wars, and lifelong quests. Does it make sense that it ismerely a cup? If so, then certainly other relics should generate similar or greater interest—theCrown of Thorns, the True Cross of the Crucifixion, the Titulus—and yet, they do not. Throughouthistory, the Holy Grail has been the most special." Langdon grinned. "Now you know why."Faukman was still shaking his head. "But with all these books written about it, why isn't this theorymore widely known?""These books can't possibly compete with centuries of established history, especially when thathistory is endorsed by the ultimate bestseller of all time."Faukman's eyes went wide. "Don't tell me Harry Potter is actually about the Holy Grail.""I was referring to the Bible."Faukman cringed. "I knew that.""Laissez-le!" Sophie's shouts cut the air inside the taxi. "Put it down!"Langdon jumped as Sophie leaned forward over the seat and yelled at the taxi driver. Langdoncould see the driver was clutching his radio mouthpiece and speaking into it.
Sophie turned now and plunged her hand into the pocket of Langdon's tweed jacket. BeforeLangdon knew what had happened, she had yanked out the pistol, swung it around, and waspressing it to the back of the driver's head. The driver instantly dropped his radio, raising his onefree hand overhead.
"Sophie!" Langdon choked. "What the hell—""Arrêtez!" Sophie commanded the driver.
Trembling, the driver obeyed, stopping the car and putting it in park.
It was then that Langdon heard the metallic voice of the taxi company's dispatcher coming from thedashboard. "...qui s'appette Agent Sophie Neveu..." the radio crackled. "Et un Américain, RobertLangdon..."Langdon's muscles turned rigid. They found us already?
"Descendez," Sophie demanded.
The trembling driver kept his arms over his head as he got out of his taxi and took several stepsbackward.
Sophie had rolled down her window and now aimed the gun outside at the bewildered cabbie.
"Robert," she said quietly, "take the wheel. You're driving."Langdon was not about to argue with a woman wielding a gun. He climbed out of the car andjumped back in behind the wheel. The driver was yelling curses, his arms still raised over his head.
"Robert," Sophie said from the back seat, "I trust you've seen enough of our magic forest?"He nodded. Plenty.
"Good. Drive us out of here."Langdon looked down at the car's controls and hesitated. Shit. He groped for the stick shift andclutch. "Sophie? Maybe you—""Go!" she yelled.
Outside, several hookers were walking over to see what was going on. One woman was placing acall on her cell phone. Langdon depressed the clutch and jostled the stick into what he hoped wasfirst gear. He touched the accelerator, testing the gas.
Langdon popped the clutch. The tires howled as the taxi leapt forward, fishtailing wildly andsending the gathering crowd diving for cover. The woman with the cell phone leapt into the woods,only narrowly avoiding being run down.
"Doucement!" Sophie said, as the car lurched down the road. "What are you doing?""I tried to warn you," he shouted over the sound of gnashing gears. "I drive an automatic!"
索菲盯着汽车后座上的兰登。他一定是在开玩笑。"圣杯（HolyGrail）？"
兰登点子点头，表情严肃。"HolyGrail 就是Sangreal 的字面意义。Sangreal 由法语词Sangral 演变而来，最后分解为两个单词"SanGreal"。"圣杯。索菲为自己没能立即辨认出这几个词在语言学上的联系而感到惊奇。就算兰登所言不假，她还是难解其意。"我还以为圣杯是一个杯子。你刚才却说圣杯是揭示那些不可告人的秘密的文件。""是的，但那些文件只是圣杯珍宝的一部分。它们和圣杯埋藏在一起……它们可以揭示圣杯的真正意义。那些文件之所以能够赋予武土团极大的威力，就是因为它们揭示了圣杯的本质。"圣杯的本质？这下，索菲更加摸不着头脑了。她本以为圣杯是耶稣在"最后的晚餐"上用过的杯子，后来，阿里马西斯的约瑟夫曾到十字架前用这个杯子装过耶稣的鲜血。"圣杯是"基督之杯"，索菲说。"这再简单不过了。""索菲。"兰登将身体侧向索菲，小声说道。"郇山隐修会可不认为圣杯是个杯子。他们认为那个关于圣杯的传说是个精心编造的谎言。圣杯的故事另有寓意，意指一些更具威力的东西。"他停了一下。"那正是你祖父今晚竭力要告诉我们的东西。"索菲还是不大明白，但她从兰登那耐心的微笑和真诚的眼神中看出他正在针对她的疑惑作答。"如果圣杯不是个杯子，那它是什么呢？"索菲问道。
虽然兰登早就意料到她会提出这样的问题，但还是一时不知从何说起。如果他不适当地结合历史背景来解释，索菲还是会一脸迷惑--几个月前，当兰登向编辑递上自己的研究报告时，就从编辑的脸上看到过这样的表情。
"这份稿件说了些什么？"正在吃午餐的编辑被噎住了，喝了口葡萄酒。"你一定是在开玩笑吧。""我可不是在开玩笑，我花费了一年的时间来研究它。"
《纽约时报》的著名编辑琼纳斯。福克曼紧张地捏着他的山羊胡。无疑，他在光辉的职业生涯中已经见识过一些极为大胆的创作思想，但这次兰登递上的稿子还是让他大吃一惊。
"罗伯特。"福克曼最终开口说道。"请不要误解。我很喜欢你的作品，我们也很成功地合作过。但是，如果我同意将这样的观点发表出去的话，一定会有人聚集在我的办公室前抗议好几个月。而且，这也会毁了你的名声。看在上帝的份上，你是哈佛大学的历史学家，可不是什么梦想一夜成名的通俗撰稿人。你是从哪里找到确凿的证据来证明这个理论的？"
兰登淡淡一笑，从呢大衣口袋里拿出一张纸递给福克曼。那张纸上开列了五十多条参考书目--都是著名历史学家的著作，既包括现代的作品也包括几个世纪之前的作品--其中有许多是学术界的畅销书。所有的著作所提出的前提都与兰登的观点一致。福克曼读着这个目录，就好像突然发现地球是扁的一样。"我听说过其中的一些作者。他们是……真正的历史学家。"兰登咧嘴笑了。"正如您所见，这不仅仅是我个人的理论。它已经存在很长时间了。我只是在前人的基础上加以总结。还没有什么书从象征学的角度研究过有关圣杯的传说。我从肖像学上所找来的这些论据是很有说服力的。"福克曼仍盯着那张书单："我的上帝呀，还有一本书是雷。提彬先生写的--他可是英国皇家历史学家。""提彬一生花费了大量时间研究圣杯。我曾经与他会过面。他的大部分观点都与我的想法一致。琼纳斯，他和目录中的其他历史学家都赞同我的观点。""你是说这些历史学家都赞同……"福克曼把话又咽了回去，显然他不能再往下说了。
兰登又咧嘴一笑："有人认为，圣杯是人类历史上最为人向往的珍宝。有许多传说围绕着圣杯展开，有许多战争因为圣杯而打响，有许多人为了圣杯一生都在追寻。那么它可能仅仅只是一个杯子吗？如果是这样，那么其他的古物一定能引起人们同样的关注，甚至是更大的兴趣--比如说荆棘皇冠、耶稣受难的十字架和领衔堂--但事实并非如此。有史以来，圣杯一直是极为特殊的。"兰登笑了笑。"现在你知道原因了。"福克曼还是一个劲地摇头："既然有这么多书都这样写，为什么这个理论还不为人所知呢？"
"这些书当然比不过几世纪以来已成定论的历史，特别是当那些历史一直被作为畅销书的写作背景时，它给人们的印象已经根深蒂固了。"福克曼瞪大了眼睛："你可别告诉我《哈利。波特》实际上写的是有关圣杯的故事。"
"我参看了《圣经》。"
福克曼不得不承认："这，我知道。"
"住口！"索菲的叫喊打破了车内的平静。"把它放下！"
索菲趴到前排座位上，冲着司机大喊，把兰登吓了一跳。兰登看见司机正拿着无线电话筒，说着些什么。
索菲转过身来，将手伸进兰登的夹克衫口袋中。还没等兰登反应过来，她已经拔出了兰登口袋中的手枪，将其一晃，顶住了司机的后脑勺。司机立即扔掉了话筒，举起了不握方向盘的那只手。
"索菲！"兰登紧张地说。"这到底是怎么回事--"
"不许动！"索菲命令司机。
司机哆嗦着按索菲的命令将车停在了公园里。
这时兰登听见汽车的仪器板上传出出租车公司调度那铿锵有力的声音："……是索菲。奈芙警官……"声音暂时中断了一下。"和美国人罗伯特。兰登……"兰登僵在那里。他们已经发现我们了吗？
浑身打颤的司机将双手高举过头，下了出租车，向后退了几步。
索菲摇下了车窗，用枪指着那个摸不着头脑的司机。"罗伯特。"她平静地说。"到驾驶座上去。你来开车。"兰登可不想和一个挥舞着手枪的女人争辩些什么。于是，他下了车，绕到靠驾驶座的车门边，开门上了车。司机一边高举双手，一边咒骂着他们。
"罗伯特。"索菲坐在后排座位上说。"我相信你已经看够了我们的神奇树林？"
兰登点了点头。足够了。
"好的。把车开出这里。"
兰登低头看了看控制仪器板，犹豫了一下。他XX 的。他摸索到了变速杆，一把抓住它。"索菲？也许你--"
"走呀！"索菲大喊。
车外，有几个妓女正朝这边走来，想看看这里究竟发生了什么事。其中一个女人正用手机打电话。兰登压下了手柄，把变速杆推到了猜想中的最高速档位置。他踩下油门，看了看还剩多少汽油。
他猛地将手柄一松，伴随着车轮与地面的尖厉摩擦声，出租车疯狂地摆动着车尾向前冲去，把那群妓女惊得四散逃窜。那个拿着手机的女人跳人树丛，险些被车撞倒。
"真糟糕！"汽车东歪西斜地开上公路，索菲问。"你在干什么？"
兰登在车内的轰鸣声中喊道："我可要提醒你，这是辆自动排档汽车。"